Page 10 of The Alien Reindeer's Bounty
The facility keptMads until his next birthday when he reached his majority. His lack of enthusiasm irritated the staff but they had no grounds to hold him against his will. He completed every task as instructed. He memorized phrases and echoed them back, his eyes empty and hollow.
His compliance did not please the staff. They wanted to make himbelievethat he was wrong about the mate bond, not just agree and nod his head.
Physical correction did not work. He never cried, even when bleeding and bruised.
They withheld food and water. They withheld sleep.
They pumped him full of drugs designed to bring him into rut, tossed him in a cell with a female, and waited for biological urges to overpower him.
He refused. He would always triumph in a contest of wills. The drugs turned his body into a traitor, but he would not touch another being other than his bonded mate. They told him he had no bond mate, that his body reacting to another female proved this.
They lied. They manipulated facts to suit whatever narrative suited them that day.
He filed away every cruelty, noting it with indifference. Nothing they did to him mattered. Nothing they made him do held significance. This was not his real life. One day he would return to his mate.
He had to survive until that day.
Nine YearsAgo
Rage consumed him.The military did not particularly care what Mads believed if he followed orders.
Returning to Earth proved complex. As a protected planet, the only vessels allowed near the sector were military. Mads took every mission he could to earn the ability to transfer to a unit of his choice. When that time came, he requested to join the patrol that would bring him closest to Earth.
He was denied. His interest in Earth and humans was deemed an aberration. The military, it seemed, cared somewhat what he believed and would not tolerate deviant behavior.
Five YearsAgo
It was easierin his four-legged form.
Simpler.
Anger and rage faded to a distant noise and he finally found some small bit of peace.
One Year Ago
“Svallin—”
“No. I won’t send you to Earth.”
Mads ran his hand up the back of his head. “I speak the language fluently. I have an intimate knowledge of the culture. I understand the way the targets think. No one is more qualified than me.”
His friend tilted his head back, eyes fixed on the ceiling, and sighed. “That intimate knowledge is the problem. You’re a high risk to defect. No one in their right mind would send you to Earth. If I do, I’ll be under scrutiny.”
Arms folded behind his back, Svallin could not see the way Mads clenched his fists in frustration. He was allegedly a free citizen of Reilen yet his movements were restricted. He held no great love for the planet of his birth and loathed the attitude that reilendeer were superior beings. Still, Mads kept his expression neutral.
“Reilen is the dominant planet in this sector. Indeed, in any sector. Of every species we’ve encountered in our explorations, none have matched the reilendeer,” Mads lied. “Why would I defect?”
“Pretty words but empty nonetheless,” Svallin said.
Mads shrugged one shoulder, a very human gesture the re-education facility had not managed to remove. He did not fit in Reilen society. Other reilendeer regarded him as an oddity, a wild male who lived too long with primitive beings.
“Ask after you have proven your loyalty,” Svallin said.
Chapter 3
Odessa
Now
