Page 53 of Mated to Team Shadow

They didn't look at me, which hurt me to the core. This man ordered them away from me, and they didn't stop him. I don't know what I expected. I had thought that they'd act like they cared about me.

They walked away without a backward glance, and at that moment, my world collapsed.

"Is there a problem, Miss Lee?" said Melkot.

"Um, no. I'm just concerned about my friend, Surma."

"And how do you know Miss Jones?"

"We went to college together. She was my roommate."

"Miss Jones will be fine. We're taking her to the ship, and she'll be cared for there."

"Oh."

"We'll get you to town and call the consulate. They'll help you get a temporary passport so you can go home."

It wasn't that easy, and I spent a couple uncomfortable hours while some men in nondescript uniforms hauled off Morgan's body and "tidied" the beach. I didn't pay much attention because I couldn't fathom that Ryker, Damon, Gunner, and Kane had left. I didn't understand why they did, or why that doctor insisted they go with him, or if I'd ever see them again. If they disappeared in the giant maw of the black ops military machine, how could I ever find them again?

It confused me and left me distraught, and a great open hole opened in my heart at once. This wasn't right. Those men were mine and had no business leaving me here on the no-name island with people I didn't know. They should stay with me, dammit. That's what they said, and what they insisted on, and now they weren't here.

I had never felt so alone or abandoned in my life.

Ryker

Jeanine is in my arms, and I've kissed her so many times her lips are red from the scruff of my beard. She is beautiful, and her hot channel holds me so tightly I feel every pulse of her heart. Jeanine is mine in a way no other woman has ever been, and I take her again, and again, and I never get enough of her. I gaze into her crystal blue eyes, and she smiles. Then her gorgeous face morphs into sadness and disappointment like the day on the beach when that fucking asshole Melkot forced me to leave her.

I wake breathing hard, and I concentrate on controlling it. Melkot cannot learn we've taken a mate. He would rip away her autonomy and subject her to constant tests in the name of "national security," and we could not allow it. Each of my team suffered the casual cruelties of Melkot's experiments.

As soon as we were on the raft, Melkot, that bastard, shot us with tranq darts in rapid shots that took us all by surprise. As a result, I woke up groggy and disoriented in this room, pissed as hell and with nothing I could do about it. The past couple days passed with no contract from Melkot and only food pushed through a narrow slot in the door at regular intervals.

This was Melkot's way to wear us down. He did it often enough when we were teens, but we were grown men now, and graduates of the SEAL torture techniques class. I could withstand this even if my cat growled for its freedom. I pitied the man that opened that door because when you cage my cat, you take your life into your own hands.

The clock on the wall in my room told me it was too early in the morning to be up, at least for here. Still, I woke and used the small bathroom to shower and do the usual stuff. I don't hurry because the day would be long enough as it is.

The only easy day was yesterday. That's a SEAL truism, and we've survived hellish conditions to earn our trident, the hardware we wear on our uniforms which identified us as SEALs. The badge depicted an Eagle perched atop an anchor, a trident in one claw. The other clutches a flintlock pistol representing the sea, land, and air that makes up the environments SEALs operate in. It is the only mark that tells you someone is a SEAL when in uniform. We don’t wear patches or any other badges announcing what we are.

Our code weds us to anonymity. We SEALs don't discuss our status or our missions, not even among friends and family. It's part of the reason the divorce rate among SEALs is ninety percent. How can you keep a relationship going when you can't share a huge portion of your life with your significant other?

What right did I have to claim Jeanine as my mate? What kind of life can I give her? I can't do it in uniform. Damon was right. We had to leave the service if we wanted to claim our mate permanently. And that bastard Melkot won't let us.

I paced my cell. Pitted and painted white cement walls marked the four corners of my world. They reminded me of the barracks at the Marine training base Parris Island when I went there as an instructor for a short time. The barracks were sparkling clean but carried a worn look, despite new paint on the walls, as if the despair of men training hard seeped into the walls. My room here featured a single bunk, a dented metal locker, and a simple desk and chair. A thin mattress and pillow, old sheets, a rough blanket covered the bunk and sported the same world-weariness as Parris Island.

Navy gray paint colored the cement floor. A ceiling light with a cage over the bulb or a recessed light inset in the ceiling providing the only illumination in the room. The small bathroom carried only basic toiletries—toothpaste, a comb, soap, and toilet paper. For reading material, a few worn military strategy books and a porn mag sat on the desk. Only the best for our troops. I didn't bother to look at the porn mag. Jeanine in my dreams is what makes my blood run hot.

Yeah, I was in a cage, and not a nice one.

That bastard Melkot cut off my contact with my CO. He's not supposed to, but then why would Melkot allow his prized lab rats to go? Sometimes I think we are his only reason he gets such generous funding from the government. But he performed plenty of testing on us before they sent us to SEAL training. Why is he so interested in us now?

Worse yet, he's cut off access to the rest of my team. He knows how that will go. We're bonded in a way other cats are not. Melton taught us all about cat behaviors so we could track how they manifested. We found out we had a few niggles that may result from our human DNA mixing with Jaguar. When kept apart too long, we get aggressive. The bond between us made an effective team and worked against anyone who attempted to separate us. Melkot knew this, so I have to wonder what game he's playing.

My extra-sharp hearing catches the stamp of boots coming at me. The door lock buzzed and the metal door opened.

"Chief Hardin," said the young guard. He couldn't be more than eighteen and no match for me if I took him. "Dr. Melkot wants to talk with you."

I thought briefly about refusing, but that wouldn't get my team or me anywhere. It was time to do a little recon, so I followed the guard down the halls, memorizing the twists and turns as they taught me in special ops school. This was not the research facility I initially stayed at, and I wondered what that meant. Did Melkot get some promotion or demotion? It was hard to tell.

The guard led me to a standard office. He opened the door, and I spotted Melkot sitting behind a desk with his back to me while he looked at his cell phone. Two windows sat on opposite ends of the wall, but something glazed the glass so I could not see outside to get an idea of where I was. The guard shut the door behind me.

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