Page 80 of Princess

“Got it.”

I turned back to King.“The camp?”

He hugged me first, and I accepted his embrace.We both needed the contact.

He explained what we were facing and laid out his plan.

“I like it,” I said.“How many men do you think need to be on the strike teams?”

“Three teams, ten per team.”

“Agreed,” I said.“How was Desmond?”

“He got closer than I could have and located the heart of the camp.I was impressed.If we’re lucky, Barnes was in one of the structures.”

“I say we strike at 11 tonight and keep striking until morning.They’ll send troops out as soon as the sun comes up, and that’s when we send in the planes.”

“Have you heard anything about the enemy sub?”King asked.

“No.I’m worried about it.It could be traveling with the Federation ships.”

King understood.We’d left our baby on the island.

“What’s the plan for right now?”King asked after a solemn moment.

“Besides the guards on the perimeter, the men need to rest and sleep if possible.”

“Same goes for us.”King looked at the sky.“I’ll talk to the team leaders.”

The team leaders were Nokita, Alden, and Eagle.

“They can point you to our tent.I’ll see you there.”

I lay on a cot inside our tent.It kept me out of the water, but was uncomfortable as hell.Melancholy set in.I stood up and slipped off my shirt.I tore a clean shirt into strips and used it to bind my aching breasts.Once I shifted to my Warrior form, my breasts wouldn’t be a problem, but right now the heavy feeling added to my overall gloom.

I lay back on the cot and stared at the canvas ceiling about six feet above my head at the highest point.King walked in before I decided to attack the Federation right now in order to stay busy.Hunched over because his head hit the ceiling, he moved his cot next to mine and lay down.I was tall, and he was taller.His feet stuck out over a foot off the bottom while mine only hung about six inches over.

“You’re not sleeping,” he said.

“I was waiting for you.”

“I miss her too.”He took my hand and rubbed the backs of my fingers with his other one.“Close your eyes and think of mosquito swatters.”

I chuckled softly.“You always know what to say to a girl.”

“Good.I’ll save the line and use it again.”

I closed my eyes with no expectation that I would fall asleep.I was wrong.

∞∞∞

The smell of food woke me.King wasn’t in the tent.I would be pissed if he hadn’t slept.I sat up and pressed on my bound breasts due to the ache.Missy and several other women on the island who had just had babies would keep Nikayla fed.I wanted to cry because it wasn’t me holding and feeding her, but knew if I started, I might not stop.

I was stronger than this and would battle through.The first step was food.I left the tent and followed the smell.

Nokita approached.“No sign of Federation scouts or hellhounds in our area.”

King walked up behind me.I felt him before he placed an arm around me.“Stevens said they haven’t seen hellhounds in the area since arriving.If we’re lucky, it will stay that way at least until the Federation releases theirs.”

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