Page 106 of Alien Captain's Prisoner

I squeeze his arm, and tell him: “Aelon, I’m coming aboard with you. It will be fine, I promise. You know the Toads won’t risk losing the prize they came here for. Youknowthis plan will work.”

Aelon takes a huge breath. If he refuses, he could lose me. If he allows me to come, however, he puts me in danger.

“Don’t make me make this choice.”

My eyes are wet, but I won’t cry. The seconds are ticking by and they can never be regained. We have to act quickly if we’re to survive.

“Aelon – you place more value on me than yourself. I feel it in your aura. You’ve been hiding your pain so long, but I can feel it.” I take a deep breath. “Please – you mean so much to me. Let me go with you, so I know you’re going to keep yourself safe.”

The first time I’d seen Aelon, I’d never thought I’d be saying something like this to him. This arrogant cocky man has so much more to offer than I’d seen at first. He’s gifted with so much more than just his confidence. Aelon’s deeper than that. Iwanthim – and I want to see how deep his being goes.

For lingering moments, he just stares at me. Then, Aelon smiles bitterly.

“You’re not going to make my life simple, are you?”

“Never.”

His aura steels. Then, his cocky grin widens, and the Aelon I’ve come to love returns fully. The fear-nothing rogue is back.

“Fuck it,” he snarls. “I wouldn’t want a coward for a Fated Mate anyway. You’re in.”

My heart lifts. Whatever now lies ahead of us – we’re facing it together.

“Vinicus! Iunia!” Aelon barks. “Get a team together to bring the Orbs to the loading bay and booby trap them. I suggest Garrick and his men - they’ve always been loyal, and they’ve got a lot to fight for.”

“Aye, captain.”

Aelon holds up his hand.

“Select unconventional explosives – nothing that can show up on a scan. Remember, we don’t need to blast through shields or armor. We just need to cripple them from the inside.”

Vinicus slaps Aelon hard on the back. Their auras are calmer now that they have a plan.

I realize now that when they winked out of my mind – as a result of that Toad blocking device, I must have winked out of theirs. They’d probably thought their Fated Mate had been killed – and that split second of grief was when they’d imagined they lost me.

I realize that I mean everything to them. All three of these magnificent warriors would trade their lives for mine in a heartbeat, and I’m putting myself in danger to make sure they keepthemselvessafe.

There’s no time to explain to my triad why I ran, and also no time to tell them why I came back – but I’m here, now, and that’s all that matters. The three of them can feel my new commitment through our Bond, and our auras are all excited and in harmony.

“To work!” Aelon claps his hands, and the loading bay is suddenly buzzing with Aurelians preparing for battle. Vinicus and Iunia rush away to secure a team to rig and pilot the Orbs being carried in the second Reaver, behind us, and Captain Aelon presses his watch to his face.

“Listen up!”

He barks out the words, and they boom through every speaker in The Instigator.

“My second in command is taking control of The Instigator while I lead a trap against the Toads. We’re going to turn their greed against them. We’re booby-trapping a payload and they’re going to take it right into their Mothership. Now, I need you guys to behungry– hungry for blood. We’ll cripple them, but you need to finish them off. Get ready to charge out at the signal – you’ll see those fuckers blown apart, and you take your Reavers and pick off anything that’s left.”

There’s a roar from the Aurelians – one that echoes across the landing bay, and that we hear from the corridors beyond. I imagine every Aurelian on this ship is cheering. It’s as if the precarious atmosphere from when I’d left – when the crew of The Instigator seemed on the knife edge of mutiny – has been resolved.

Aelon keeps talking – outlining the plan and strategies as his battalion prepares for battle. All around us, the Aurelians are lusting for blood and battle – and they’ll get it.

Even if we cripple the Toad Mothership, we’ll still have to deal with the fleets of Toad assault ships. Without the Mothership supporting those assault ships, however, it will be a one-sided battle for Aelon. The Aurelians will hunt the Toads like their ancestors used to hunt the giant tigers and beasts that were once native to Colossus.

As his men prepare, Captain Aelon takes my hand, looking down at me.

“Tasha.”

“Yes?” I feel nervous. Aelon has a challenging look in his eyes, and I’m suddenly worried he’s going to tie me up and make me sit this battle out.

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