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Dmitri was pleased to see both Kyden and Talinn were upset and angry on behalf of their friend as the account unfolded. The two men had their talons deployed and their eyes were glowing amber.

“So I dragged myself to my apartment rather than die like a dog in the street and Dmitri and Marushka found me, passed out on the floor in a pool of my own blood.”

“He was dying,” Dmitri took up the tale. “I’d had a vision from the Great Mother a few days earlier and she told me our blood was the magic. With Benet bleeding out, I knew we had to get my blood into him, which is where Marushka came in.”

“I’m a licensed veterinarian,” she said, spreading honey on a roll. She licked her fingers and took a bite before adding, “It’s illegal for me to work on humans but many of the principles are the same?—”

Kyden held up a hand. “Wait, I thought you were a Grand Duchess.”

“I am. I always loved animals and I used to follow the vets at my father’s country estate when I was a kid. Actually, Imperial Princess Alessandra encouraged me to fight for what I wanted and to insist I be allowed to go to school for it. She fought long and hard to become a doctor. I miss her.”

“What happened to her?” Kyden asked.

“She was the Empress’s heir apparent but then she disappeared on a trip to Freemarket, the pleasure planet.

” Marushka lowered her voice and they all leaned in to hear her next words.

“I have it on good authority she and her former lover got together and managed to escape somewhere in the galaxy to live a life they wanted, not the life the empress decreed for her. Ekatereen kept them apart for twenty years and we all believed she’d executed him.

But against all odds they reunited on Freemarket.

” The Grand Duchess’s envy of the happy outcome was plain in her face and voice.

“It’s been a few years now and there hasn’t been any sign of them. ”

“Believe me, the Empress has searched, which tells us the couple succeeded. I liked Alessandra,” Dmitri said. “She would have made a good empress. But getting back to Benet, Marushka agreed to do a transfusion for me.”

“How could that have worked?” Talinn asked. “We’re not remotely human for all we have red blood.”

“It shouldn’t have,” Marushka agreed. “But there was nothing else to be done. I couldn’t just sit there and watch him die.” Tears shimmered in her eyes and Benet gave her a quick hug.

“The will of the Great Mother,” Dmitri said. “Over the course of the next few hours Benet began to heal as we do and by morning he was ambulatory.”

“I could tell I’d been beaten up,” Benet said, rubbing his chin, “But I should have been dead. And since then I’ve gained extra muscle mass, more endurance, definitely more speed, and now I discover I have telepathy. With you anyway.” He pointed to Kyden.

“It’ll improve as we practice more,” Kyden assured him. “You should be able to communicate with Talinn and Rennyr as well. And Dmitri.”

Clearing his throat, Dmitri addressed Kyden directly. “The Great Mother also gave me a message for you. I’m to tell you’re your mate requires your blood if you hope to have children.”

There was silence as everyone stared at him but he’d said what he had to say and there was nothing to add.

“Now I owe you two debts which can’t possibly be repaid,” Kyden said. “Elara and I’d been hoping to start a family but at least in our Generation we were told we’d been created to be sterile.”

“To quote the goddess, the magic is in the blood,” Dmitri repeated.

Kyden looked around the table. “This entire topic needs to remain a Badari secret. The last thing any of us want is for non-Badari to suspect our very lifeblood confers such benefits.”

Dmitri marveled at the push of sheer Alpha power he felt as Kyden spoke. The man was strong in his role, even more than the Alpha Dmitri had followed at the labs. The energy washed over him in a wave and he savored the taste of what he’d known in the distant past, when he was part of a pack.

Marushka had to take her leave and after she was gone the conversation veered toward news from the Five Systems and updates for Benet from Kyden and Talinn on events he’d missed.

From there the three men shared what he could tell were favorite stories of arena triumphs and mishaps.

Dmitri envied the easy air of friendship between the trio and took full note of the respect Benet and Talinn obviously had for Kyden.

Decision made, he rose from his chair and knelt on the carpet beside Kyden. “I wish to swear my allegiance to you as my Alpha. Now, tonight.”

He ignored a gasp from Benet and Talinn stiffening in his chair, keeping himself focused on Kyden.

“Why must it be now?” Kyden asked. “We’ve barely met.”

Dmitri rubbed his chest where the ache never subsided.

“All these centuries I’ve been without the pack bond.

The loss is a constant grief, a never-ending pain and a reminder of all that was torn from me when I was brought here by the scientists to be a gift to the empress at the time.

I’ll gladly give you my fealty in return for the joy of becoming part of a pack of Badari again. ”

“We’re an odd pack,” Kyden said in a contemplative tone, glancing at Talinn, who dipped his head in agreement.

“And small. You should know I wasn’t born an Alpha but took the title once I gained control of my gladiatorial House and had found Rennyr.

The Great Mother has signified her approval of my presumptuousness. ”

“I have no doubts you’re every bit an Alpha, however you came to the role,” Dmitri said, still on his knees, hope burning in his chest next to the void where the bond should be anchored.

“I’ve observed how you interact with your men and I’ve listened to your words.

My inner beast has done its assessment of yours and we both want nothing more than to be a part of your pack, to call you our Alpha. ”

“And what if my first order to you as your Alpha is you must find a way to come with me to the Five Systems?” Kyden asked.

“I would answer I must remain here, where the Great Mother placed me.” Uttering the words nearly crushed Dmitri but he owed the Alpha the truth.

“Until she releases me from this place, I can’t leave.

She said nothing on the subject when I saw her in the vision.

With the utmost respect, the commands of the goddess override even those of an Alpha.

” Would Kyden refuse him now? But all a Badari had was his honor and Dmitri couldn’t lie, nor could he make plans to flee Outlier.

Kyden nodded slowly as if he’d expected the answer to be as Dmitri presented it.

“You do realize the pack bond will cut off when I leave Outlier, which will happen as soon as these damn Games are over? At most you’ll have the bond for a couple of weeks, although I’ll always consider you part of my pack and my family. ”

Suppressing his excitement as it seemed the Alpha was going to grant his dearest wish, Dmitri swallowed hard and again spoke his truth.

“To have a pack bond again after all this time, to belong to an Alpha such as yourself, would be like rain in the desert to my soul. I—I think it would give me the strength and courage I need to face yet more endless years in Outlier as an Asset to the Crown. I know it’ll be a near mortal blow when the bond severs once you’ve departed from orbit but I need whatever time I can have as a Badari within a pack once again. ”

Rising to his feet, Kyden said, “Very well. I’ll be honored to accept you into my pack. This should be done in the grove of the Great Mother and with due ceremony, song and ritual but our circumstances here are hardly ideal.”

Talinn left his chair and came to brace Dmitri, who remained on his knees but raised his chin to give Kyden the best access to his carotid artery.

“I swear to accept you as my Alpha from now until death, obeying your orders in all things, fighting at your side, protecting the pack from enemies, keeping the Badari secrets.” He readied himself to hold steady while Kyden completed the pact.

“Save only that as we discussed, I must remain here in Outlier until the goddess releases me.”

“In turn I give you my promise to put the welfare of the pack above all else and to rule as a just and fair leader, preserving the Badari tradition. Accept my mark, Hendon of the Badari and by so doing pledge your fealty to me.” Moving so fast he was practically invisible, Kyden extended his fangs and blooded Dmitri to seal the bond between them.

The lights in the room darkened and the floor beneath Dmitri’s knees quivered.

The pack bond slammed into him but there was no pain, only joy and warmth as the sense of belonging once more to something bigger than himself drove out all the loneliness and despair of centuries.

He rose to his feet and Kyden embraced him, while Talinn pounded his back.

“Welcome to the pack, brother,” the Tzibir said.

Drawing back from the Alpha’s hug, Dmitri said with heartfelt gratitude, “I can die a happy man now, having tasted the joy of being a pack member once more.”

“Here’s to a long and happy life,” Benet said, raising his glass of wine as the other men each picked up a goblet and joined the toast, clinking the glasses together and drinking.

Kyden set his glass on the table and stared at Benet.

“Are you ready? If I’m adding members to my pack tonight in this unusual way, we might as well extend the pack bond to you now.

I was going to wait until we could do this in the grove at the House, with Rennyr in attendance to sing the proper paeans to the Great Mother, but now I think we should lock it all down. ”

Benet blinked hard and took another gulp of wine.

He and Kyden had an unbreakable bond after all the years of fighting in the arena together, guarding each other’s backs as best they could, and helping each other defeat their previous owner’s nefarious schemes.

Close as he was to Kyden he’d known the three Badari had a whole other kind of bond and brotherhood.

They shared things to which he wasn’t privy, although he was included in anything to do with the running of the House and its business.

He was Kyden’s second in command there and even Rennyr and Talinn accepted his authority.

But he had to admit there’d been times when he was a bit jealous of the way the Badari were a solid unit, with him as part of their group at times and not at others.

Having watched Dmitri take the oath and accept the pack bond, he knew what was involved.

He’d been hit with a bit of power in the backwash when the bond took root in Dmitri’s heart and he was a little shaken by the secondhand experience, not to mention watching Kyden nip the other man’s artery to seal the deal.

Was he ready to be a part of whatever pack membership entailed?

Seven hells yes .

He set the goblet on the table with a thunk, straightened his shirt and walked to stand in front of Kyden, whose eyes were positively golden with power and emotion. “I’d be proud to join the four of you.”

“You carry our blood now, you are truly our brother,” Kyden said.

“I’ve thought of you as my enforcer ever since I bought the House and established our chain of command.

To have you in my pack will be an honor.

It feels right. A human cannot accept the pack bond.

It isn’t for them. But even though you don’t have the inner beast or all the attributes we carry, you are Badari at the most fundamental level.

Can you accept our Great Mother as your goddess?

We owe everything to her and do our best to walk in the light of her commandments. ”

“If she’ll have me as an adherent, which I’m guessing here she will, considering she’s the one who told Dmitri about the blood, then yes, I can accept her presence in my life. I’ve always admired you and the way you live your life and uphold your principles.”

“Kneel then and speak the words required to bind you to my pack.”

Benet expected to feel a bit ridiculous kneeling on the floor in Dmitri’s apartment but now the moment had arrived, he felt as if he was floating in a daze of sunshine and happiness.

Talinn and Dmitri moved to support him and he tilted his head to bare his neck.

The words of the simple oath came easily to mind.

“I swear to accept you as my Alpha from now until death, obeying your orders in all things, fighting at your side, protecting the pack from enemies, keeping the Badari secrets.”

Giving the pledge meant more to him than any other oath he’d ever sworn, including the one where he’d joined his home system’s military. That had been life changing in many ways but was still a human ritual without major impact. This was so much more.

Kyden repeated his own half of the vow and moved so fast Benet couldn’t see what he was doing.

, There was a quick sting at his neck and then the pack bond buried itself in his heart.

He gasped for breath as the sheer power of the Alpha’s acceptance of him as a Badari flooded his mind and body.

Benet struggled to hang onto consciousness, not in pain but on an ecstatic high he didn’t want to come down from.

No wonder Dmitri and the others had mourned the loss of this incredible connection when they were severed from their original packs by the Khagrish scientists.

He could sense Kyden, Talinn and Dmitri through the link, not intrusive but there if he needed them.

The men raised him to his feet and Kyden embraced him. “Now we’re truly brothers.”

“Rennyr’s going to be surprised when we get home,” Benet quipped.

His companions laughed good naturedly. “I’ll send him a com over the secure link once we’re on our way out of Outlier space,” Kyden said. “I don’t want to spring this huge surprise on him without warning. He’ll be pleased. He thinks highly of you as a friend and comrade.”