Thalia gasped, but my father said nothing and I knew, with a sinking feeling in my gut, that he felt the same. I saw it in his eyes. He was waiting for me to step away from my mate, from my warrior brothers who would ultimately claim Bella together. For them. For a stilted version of patriotism. For a blindness that would drive a wedge in our family.
Liam and Rager turned to me. Rager’s expression was filled with annoyed disbelief. He’d never understood what it meant to belong to my family, the honor and the expectations. But Liam knew. All too well, for he’d defied his father, been disowned. He’d walked alone for many years and only now, in this moment, did I fully understand the price he’d paid. The deep sense of loss. He mourned something that was still alive.
Liam shook his head at me, the move nearly imperceptible. And that was the only reminder I needed. Even now, Liam protected me, protected our new family. He expected me to turn my back on him as his own father had, his siblings, even his mother. He wanted Rager and me to keep Bella, to make her ours. To keep the connection to my family.
Not today. No fucking way.
“Liam is innocent,” I said, holding my brother’s gaze. “I would stake my life on his loyalty. He would never betray us.” I took a step toward my brother, who wisely backed away. He’d never seen me this angry, the rage like ice in my veins. “If you speak ill of my family again, Dravon, it will be you who are no longer my blood.”
“Enough!” My father bellowed that one word and I turned to find his eyes blazing with frustration. “The truth will be revealed soon enough.” He looked at Bella. “Tomorrow. You have until tomorrow.”
“Fine.” Bella slipped her hand into Rager’s, but looked between Liam and me. “Can we go now?”
“Yes.” I settled my hand on Thalia’s shoulder in thanks and her eyes met mine, the familiar blue dark with a tempest of emotion I had no hope of unraveling. “Thank you, little sister.”
When she remained silent, her gaze drifting between the three men of her family who were all clearly at odds, I motioned to Liam. “Let’s go, Liam, and help our mate prove your innocence.”
I wasn’t sure where Thalia’s alliance rested. I would not question her about it. It wasn’t important. Proving Liam’s innocence was. I knew my family was lost to me now. Whether she was among those who would consider me a disgrace, I would have to wait and see.
Rager led Bella out the door with Liam falling in behind. I watched the soft sway of her hips beneath the cream pants, the trim shirt. While she was small like an Earth female, she looked Viken now. With our seed in her belly, the Viken clothing covering her lush curves, she was ours more than ever. I wanted to touch her, feel her, breathe in her scent to remind myself of that. She was ours. I walked at the back, as far away from Bella as I could get, afraid I’d give in and take her here, in the hall. I’d never been more desperate to claim a woman, to put my mark on her soul, as I was with our brave little human. Especially now, risking the consequences of a judicial panel for interrupting, the disrespect.
We returned to our suite in silence, but the moment the door slid closed behind us, I locked it, using a personal security code reserved for the highest-ranking officers at the IQC. Besides me, Rager and Liam, no one but one of the kings could override the locks.
Liam was facing me, Bella and Rager behind him, when I turned away from the door.
“Evon,” he said, then sighed. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“No. I should have done it a long time ago.” When he opened his mouth to protest, I raised my hand in a gesture I knew probably looked almost exactly like my father had a few short minutes ago. “I will not yield nor change my mind.”
That stopped him from speaking, his mouth parted as if he were about to argue, but I dismissed his rebuttal with a wave of my hand.
“This family is mine. Bella is ours. No one will break us. No one.” Bella hadn’t moved, her hand in Rager’s, but her eyes widened as I took a step toward her. She had no idea what I’d just done, what Liam and I were talking about. “You were magnificent, Bella. So proud. So strong. A worthy mate.”
Her cheeks darkened and I knew Rager squeezed her hand in agreement, but I was in a strange mood. The threat to my new family crystallized for me just how crucial protecting it was. And that powerful new understanding drove me now, to reassert my claim as the dominant in the room. This was my family, my mate. They were mine to protect, mine to pleasure, just…mine.
“Take off your clothes, Bella.”
She shook her head to argue. “I need a work station or a computer. Something I can use to start learning your coding system. This NPU thing is amazing.” She tapped her fingers to her temple. “It helped me decipher that tablet in record time, thank god, but I need more time if I’m going to crack open the military communications system.”