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“I wish I could marry you right now,” he said, expressing the deep longing in his heart. The Badari ritual was uncanny and he was well and truly committed to Marushka and knew she was all in with him, but he wanted the human ceremony to seal the relationship in the manner he was used to.

“No one here would do it,” Marushka said sadly. “And there isn’t time anyway.: She pointed at the chrono on the bureau. “I’m already late—I must rush. One of my friends is covering for me but I can’t push the deception too far.”

He held her close for one last kiss and then he had to let her go.

She dressed quickly and he escorted her to the door, where they exchanged a final caress.

Before he could process her departure from his life Marushka was gone and the door closed in his face.

He concentrated on the mate bond and tried to push his love for her through the link in one big surge of emotion.

Maybe he got a pulse of her love in return but couldn’t be positive,.

Neither of them was a natural telepath and all of this Badari development was foreign to him.

In a daze he showered and got dressed himself, heading to his apartment in the athletes’ village for the last time, heart heavy.

He was at Dmitri’s a few hours later, for the farewell dinner the Badari was hosting.

All four men tried their best to be upbeat and cheerful but the conversation kept lapsing.

Dmitri’s dishes were tasteless to Benet tonight and he was drinking too much of the wine.

The Five Systems contingent was scheduled to leave for the spaceport at midnight when the departure window for Kyden’s spaceship to leave orbit opened up.

None of them wanted to linger. Better to cut the ties and go their separate ways.

Benet pitied Dmitri who’d been so happy to be part of a pack again. His pack bond would snap fairly soon after Kyden departed from Throne but the Badari swore he had no regrets.

“Even a brief time as a member of a pack of brothers has been a blessing,” Dmitri had said during one of their many toasts.

Restless, Benet kept rubbing his chest over his heart. The mate bond was putting him on edge tonight. He wondered if it was because he was leaving Marushka behind soon. The longer he sat over dinner, the worse his anxiety got.

Kyden finally remarked on it. “I’ve never seen you so unsettled, brother. You’re one of the coolest heads in the arena. Whatever is bothering you is roiling the pack bond too.”

Talinn and Dmitri nodded their agreement with the Alpha’s statement.

Benet was regretful to have caused the others discomfort. “I don’t know what it is but something’s wrong. I feel it, here, where the bond anchors.”

“Marushka?” Dmitri asked, a growl in his voice. “Are you sensing she’s in trouble? Or ill?”

Spreading his hands in a helpless gesture of puzzlement, Benet grimaced. “I’m not facile enough with the mate bond to know.”

Suddenly his com chimed. The men exchanged glances as Benet pulled his handheld from his pocket, dread cold in his gut. Other than Dmitri he only knew one person in Outlier who would com him. “Marushka,” he said, rising from the table and accepting the call.

He could hardly hear her. She was weeping and her voice shook.

“Calm down, sweetheart, take a deep breath. Tell me what’s wrong and where you are.” He wasn’t leaving the planet with his beloved in this frantic state. “Are you hurt?”

“No, not too much.” She lowered her voice. “I think I killed him. There’s so much blood. Can you come?”

The other three men were standing around him in a half circle now, listening to the conversation with their keen Badari hearing.

“Of course but you have to tell me where you are,” Benet said patiently, although inside he was terrified for her and raging to be in action, on his way to her side. As if he did possess an inner beast like the others.

She gave him an address and Dmitri snapped his fingers in recognition “I know where that is. It’s one of Prince Vasili’s town apartments which he uses to tryst with his mistresses. I’ll get the groundcar.”

Marushka cut the connection on a fresh bout of sobbing and Benet’s field of vision literally flashed red with his anger and concern for her.

Kyden put a hand on his shoulder and he staggered a step from the push of the Alpha power, which cooled his rage enough to think rationally. “I have to get to her.”

“Dmitri went for the car,” Kyden said. “We’ll be going in a minute but you have to get a grip if you’re going to be of any use to her. Take the excellent advice you gave her and calm down. Breathe.” He turned to Talinn. “I want you to go to the ship.”

“You don’t need me with you?” the gladiator asked in surprise.

“I think three Badari will be sufficient,” Kyden said in a dry tone. “I have a bad feeling about this turn of events and I want you as backup on the ship. If things go south, tell the captain to leave orbit and head for home. Elara can figure out what to do next.”

Benet could tell through the pack bond Talinn didn’t much like his orders but when the men rushed outside, he peeled off and sprinted to their vehicle, roaring off in the direction of the spaceport before he and Kyden were inside Dmitri’s car.

The elder Badari was too keyed up to let the car’s AI drive and handled the controls himself, careening through deserted streets at speeds well above the speed limit and arriving at their destination in a fairly brief time.

He parked with a protest from the engine and then Benet and his brothers ran to the building.

It was security access controlled but Dmitri had a passcode given to him by the Empress’s security forces which worked nearly everywhere so he got them inside. “Top floor penthouse,” he said as they entered the marble-floored foyer. “The gravlift is over here.”

Benet took the lead, spiraling upward in the silvery stream as fast as he could go and was already pounding on the penthouse door by the time Kyden and Dmitri arrived.

The portal slid aside and Marushka fell into his arms. She was weeping and bloody, her dress was torn and she had ugly purple bruises forming on her neck where Vasili had evidently choked her at some point.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she wailed as Benet moved her inside so the others could enter behind him. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I was trying to end things gracefully tonight, give him back his ring and explain myself—” She ended on a gulp and a shaky breath, swaying in Benet’s grasp.

“Show us,” Kyden said, taking charge. “Where’s the prince?”

“In the dining room.” She pointed in the direction of the hall.

Eyes glowing, baring their fangs, Kyden and Dmitri headed that way. If Vasili was alive, he wouldn’t be for long.

“I’ll kill him if he isn’t dead,” Benet said with fervor., hoping the other Badari would keep the man alive for his vengeance. He might not have an inner beast the way they did, but he was raging to deliver retribution to Marushka’s abuser.

She gave him a hug but her face was set in sad lines. “We’d better follow them.”

When he arrived in the dining room, Benet was astounded by the scene of destruction. The tablecloth was half off the table, with dishes and food scattered everywhere. The prince lay in a pool of blood, on his back, eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. A steak knife protruded from his gut.

“At first he was reasonable, kind even,” she said in a monotone.

“He invited me to dinner so we could part as friends. I was such a fool. I came, made a pretty speech, handed him the ring and he—he refused to take it. He grabbed me and said he’d have what he’d been promised and no dog of a Badari would get in his way.

We fought, he tore my dress and when he saw the golden circle on my shoulder, he went insane, I truly believe.

I told him it was our mate mark and he swore he’d cut it off my body.

He was choking me. I was close to blacking out and I knew he’d carry out his threat and rape me besides.

I fumbled for anything to strike back with and I felt the hilt of the steak knife.

I—I stabbed him three times before he let me go.

” She took a deep breath and Benet held her close.

“When I close my eyes I see the expression on his face as he fell.”

“I think we all agree he deserved to die,” Kyden said. “Right now we have to figure out what to do to minimize the danger to you and to us if we’re found here.”

“I’ll say I murdered him,” Dmitri announced. “Pretend I found out too late he’d lured Marushka here, I broke in to find him choking her and I killed him.”

“Which is incredibly gallant but even in Outlier the authorities must know a Badari doesn’t use a knife to kill.” Kyden flashed his talons. “We have better weapons. Will the authorities believe you?”

“Many truths are buried in Outlier cemeteries,” Dmitri said. “It’ll depend on what the Empress wants to happen. Marushka will be my witness.”

“No, no I won’t,” she said on the edge of hysteria. “I’m not going to allow you to take the blame for my actions. It was self-defense. I won’t be punished for defending myself.”

Dmitri came to her and Benet released his hold on her.

“Devochka, listen to me. The authorities are just as likely to charge you anyway if you don’t support my confession.

And the news and the gossips will have a field day dissecting your life and your relationship with Benet.

We need to get you out of here. I’ll wait for the police by myself. ”

“I’m not leaving her here in Outlier,” Benet said, “Not after this. We have to take her with us.” He glared at Kyden. He stripped off his tee shirt and gave it to Marushka, since her torn gown was gaping and revealing her lacy underthings.

“Thank you,” she said. “This is all such a mess?—”

There was pounding at the door and muffled shouts to open up.