Page 42 of Bonded By Savages

“Foolish thought, Athena,” I say to myself, as I get up and stretch. I don’t know the first thing about piloting. If I get off this planet, it’ll be with the help of those two warriors.

But do they want to leave?

Or do they want to be treated like royals, one of the only triads on the entire planet with a Bonded Mate?

I yawn, my jaw cracking, and roll my neck back and forth, the constant movement reassuring. The bedroom is laid out simply enough. A huge bed big enough to fit a football team, a nightstand and desk—black wood, of course, and stone floors. The walls are the same black granite, and they open on a big window which looks out to the city. There’s a door leading into the bathroom, with black marble countertops and an open shower.

It's luxury I never thought I’d live in, back when I was on the space station of my birth.

Then I was thrust into a Toad’s mansion and pulled into an alien world.

I haven’t had control of my life since I was staying up late, reading scanning reports and learning Aurelian. My mind got me top marks on those exams, and my mind got me a position on the mining ship that got sabotaged.

My mind’s got me into a hell of a lot of bad situations, and now I need to get myself out of this.

Tarak and Damian have wounds, wounds I fear will never heal. When I first felt their presence in my mind, they were different. They were more pure. Their auras were almost golden in my mind, a noble triad of protectors.

Now they have a molten, iron rage that threatens to ignite everything that made them good.

Damian got ice cold when I mentioned they’d changed since I first felt them. I walk to the bathroom, turn the tap, and splash fresh water onto my face. I turn it as cold as it will go, enjoying the icy chill as I wake myself up.

I’m linked to these two men for the first of my life. I need to understand them. They’re in my mind now, and they must have felt Raython in their minds the same way.

What would it be like, to have someone you shared every waking moment with, someone you grew up with, trained with, someone you couldfeeltheir emotions, ripped out from your mind?

No wonder they hate the Aurelian Empire. I don’t know how Raython died, but he was an Aurelian soldier. It’s a safe bet he didn’t die peacefully in bed, surrounded by people who loved him. No, those two blame the human Queen and the Aurelian Empire for the death of their loved one, and that hurt poisons them.

You can’t take back brands or tattoos.

And you can’t take back the Bond.

I rub my temples, feeling the Bond deep in my being. It’s like a harp, ready to be played at any moment, a thrum of pleasure and need that brings up everything I’ve wanted.

For better or worse, I’m linked to them—Gods, for better. Anything is better than that Toad.

I learned to live under that bastard’s thumb. Terror would make my hand slip when I poured, and terror would have lost me a limb, or worse. I learned to control terror. I learned to control hate. I learned to be detached.

I’ll use that now.

I used to dream of noble protectors. I trusted that vision, I kept it secret and safe in my heart, not telling a soul.

These two will protect their Mate. As for the rest of the universe? They still want their revenge. They still want to lash out and dish out pain greater than what they experienced.

Revenge is useless. There’s still five lives in the hospital, and if I’m scared, they must be terrified.

“When shall we go to the hospital to check on the women?”I telepath the words to both of them at the same time, getting more used to it.

“After breakfast. Come,”says Damian. Even when he’s telepathing, he’s bossy, but his words are tinged with anticipation.

I press out with my mind and find the parts of their being that are good. The protectiveness. The honor that’s still there, just serving a different cause. The bravery. I let the good of them wash over me, because I need them to know everything’s all right. There’s no benefit to me being at odds with my protectors—or captors—when I’m surrounded by enemies.

I take a deep breath in and look myself in the mirror, letting happiness well up in me.

I’m not in fear of my life. I’ve got food in my belly. I’d forgotten what it was like not to have constant, gnawing hunger, hunger so bad I was tempted to chew leaves from plants that grew in the wet corridors of the Toad manor.

And I’ve got two men, who though flawed would do anything to keep me safe. I’m living in a mansion with a pool that even if I don’t know how to swim in, looks beautiful, a growing garden thriving in the sun, and with a baker who makes the freshest, most delicious bread I have had in my life.

I smile to myself and let myself feel the moment, not detaching myself into the little part of my mind I hide in when things are bad.

---