Page 2 of Designation: Null

“That is so fucking true. Did you see Devon in there? He used me in the showers last week. I couldn’t hardly walk after. Slept like the dead. That man is a machine. I’m thinking about asking to go through my next cycle with him.”

Logan has no idea who Devon is. “Is your cycle close?”

“Next week, I think.” Shane pulls up the sleeve of his shirt. “I’m getting a rash and that means my immune system is down, which means my toxins are pretty high, so yeah. It’s soon. Assuming I survive Devon fucking the hell out of me next week, we should hang out.”

Logan smiles, agrees, and says goodbye. He knows Shane meant surviving Devon as a joke, but it doesn’t sit well with him. Not after the things he’s seen.

Best not to think about that. As his dear old father would say, Logan doesn’t have to be ruled by the past or his biology.

His apartment is on the other side of base, but the weather isn’t bad and he wants some time to clear his head, so he takes the long way around the fenced edge.

The base is split up between those who are genetically enhanced and those who aren’t. Those with designations have better quarters, earn more money, and get better food.

So it isn’t all bad.

And it isn’t like Logan can go back and undo what has been done to him, so it’s another thing he tries not to think about too much. He’s not successful at it, though. He spends way too much time thinking about his designation and what would happen to him if he wasn’t null.

But he is. And that’s what matters. He’s never been through a cycle with a partner, never wanted a Dominant so badly he was willing to do something stupid to have him. He’s one of the lucky ones.

He would have been a hell of a lot luckier if he’d been a fucking Dominant, though.

If only he’d been strong enough to stand up to his father and tell him he wasn’t going to go into the military in the first place. Fuck the consequences. Maybe they would have disowned him, maybe they wouldn’t.

But he didn’t stand up for himself. And neither did his brother, Daniel.

They both signed up. Both agreed to be altered, and both of them came out wrong. At least Logan is still around to enjoy the crisp fall day. At least he has a tomorrow.

Life could always be worse.

2

It’s two weeks later when Logan is finally called in for his first mission. Corporal Hank Patterson (who is an asshole according to everyone Logan meets) is already there waiting for him. Hank seems like the kind of guy who will take advantage of a submissive if he can get away with it.

He and Hank go into their commander’s office and stand at attention.

Their superior officer gets right to it.

“His name is Sergeant Robert Hanson and he’s being held at a Turkish black site. We want him back alive. Ransom negotiations have gone nowhere and we’ve been tasked to liberate him by force.”

“I’m surprised they’re willing to try to ransom him back. What’s so special about him?” Logan asks.

This gets him a glare from more than one person in the room. Huh. The guy really is popular.

“Robert Hanson is one of the highest-level Dominants anywhere, and his ability to manage his designation as well as influence other Dominants is unusual and incredibly valuable. That’s why he’s still alive. He’s valuable to them and he’s valuable to us. His designation makes him resistant to brainwashing and torture, but I’m sure they’ve tried. You’re going to break in and get him out.”

Logan looks through the file, but there isn’t much to it. Highly classified. It says it all over the page. (Which is dumb. What bozo gets the file, sees it’s classified and then doesn’t read it? Honestly.)

“We found the bodies of the rest of his team approximately two hundred miles away from where he’s being held.”

In the file is a picture of the Dominant in question. It’s grainy and black and white. He’s handsome enough in a bland, all-American beefcake sort of way. The buzzcut doesn’t look good on anyone. He didn’t join the military until he was twenty-three. He’s now thirty.

“Why didn’t he go straight into the military?” Logan asks.

“He went to college first. Graduated in three years and then became ill. Cancer. He enrolled in an experimental program that required a military commitment. He was cured, became a Dominant, and is now the number two in our Designation Resources. It should have been a cakewalk mission and he was mainly there to monitor the others. In case you can’t tell, he is very well-liked on base. If you don’t want this mission, if you need more time to settle in, there are a hell of a lot of volunteers I can pull from.”

“Understood. I’d like the opportunity to get out there and help, Commander.”

“Great. We’re intrigued to see your designation in action. And your father speaks very highly of you. He’s a good man. I met him several years ago at the Pentagon. He leaves an impression. Hard to believe he isn’t a Dominant himself.”

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