Page 32 of Bought and Shared

With her eyes cast downward Aurora whispered back, “They grabbed me, covered my mouth, and dragged me into a shed. They said horrible things, Oren. One of them… took out his…” She can’t make herself say the word, but I’m fairly certain I’m going to have to kill someone.

Aurora took a deep breath and continued.

“I knew if I didn’t get out of there, something terrible was going to happen.

So, I screamed as loud as I could. The one that had grabbed me slammed me into the wall and squished my face against it and clamped his hand over my mouth.

But I guess they didn’t really do more than scare me, Oren.

” Her hand went to the bump I could see on her forehead, apparently from where she impacted the wall.

There was an abrasion on her cheek, and I am betting she’ll have bruises around her precious mouth.

Yes, someone is definitely going to suffer.

Lifting her chin with one crooked finger, I look deep in my mate’s beautiful brown eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Master. I’m okay. I promise.”

Satisfied she’s telling the truth, I let out a pent-up breath.

It is bad enough, but could have been so much worse.

Either way, the men will be severely punished.

Much more severely if Knox gets anywhere near them.

However, I’m most worried about the mental and physical well-being of my mate after this heinous deed.

“Tell me what happened after they accosted you,” I try to encourage more details as gently as I can.

It takes a moment, but Aurora tells me everything that happened in her own words. I don’t speak. I only listen. By the time she’s done, I can tell she has nothing left to give.

“We will speak further about this after your nap,” I say when I notice she can barely keep her eyes open.

Kissing her forehead, my mate is more than willing to surrender to sleep. I purr for her and wait for her breath to even out, then I quietly exit the room to decide what my next course of action will be.

Knox

“Tell me the truth,” Kal Wintrose, demands. He delivers a blow to the ribs of the man dangling from the ceiling so hard I actually hear them snap in two places.

The human male gasps in pain and recoils inwardly against it. “I don’t know anything,” he rasps after a long pause.

Kal isn’t letting up. He’s a hard Voltan warrior, like me, and a professional soldier through and through.

The important thing about Kal is that nobody knows he’s working with the Voltan to help locate Judas.

He’s a double agent, pretending to spy on the Voltanese government for the humans, though he’s really reporting whatever he learns back to the Voltan.

For over a year now, he’s been trying to get closer to the leader of the rebellion.

A man named Israel. We know of the man, but not much about him.

Kal sells them “intel” in exchange for cash.

In truth, it’s nothing more than antiquated information that doesn’t threaten our power.

But the humans don’t know that and pay top dollar for it while we get our man installed in their inner operations.

Kal’s been undercover for two years now. He wallows in the scum of humanity, bringing me leads like this one. Moses Smith. A weasel of a human who’s been working with the Rebels since their inception.

Kal wanders around the man’s limp form as he assesses the damage he’s inflicted. “I don’t believe you. You’ve worked with Judas in the past. You forget, Moses, I know how involved in the cause you are.”

Moses spits onto the ground. The gob is thick and tinged a rusty red. “I haven’t forgotten. I’m aware just how much of a traitor you are, Artem.” He is wheezing as he answers.

Artem is Kal’s undercover name. The one the humans refer to him by.

Smiling, Kal cocks his head to the side.

“I’m no traitor Moses. I’ve always been with the Voltan.

I am, after all, one of them. They’re my people.

It’s you and your group of defectors who’ve broken your word.

Your government, now our government, greenlighted the deal between our two nations.

You’re the one who refuses to honor your pledge, to uphold your oath, by hiding your agenda and attacking innocent women.

I’m not ashamed about what I’ve done, but you certainly should be. ”

Mose’s face scrunches with disgust. “You mean the sluts who are servicing those freaks? They aren’t innocent, Artem. They’re collaborating with the enemy! They deserve whatever they get.”

I snort with disgust. “Those women are not given a choice, you fool. You wish women to fight when human men refuse to? You’re all true cowards, Moses!”

“We are fighting you alien bastards!” Kal sneers. “You just don’t know it. You freaks think you’re invincible, but you’re not. If it bleeds, it can die,” he states smugly.

“True,” Kal agrees. He punches Moses straight in the face, and his nose erupts into a fountain of blood. Turning to me, he says, “Look Knox, he bleeds. What do you think that means?”

I smile, liking the quip. “What I already know. He and all those around him are going to die, hard and bloody, unless they are helpful to the cause. The Voltanese cause,” I clarify.

“That’s right,” Kal seconds. “So, start talking or start dying, Smith. Either way, I’ve got dinner plans in a few hours that I refuse to be late for.”

Kal had finally secured a meeting with Israel, the head of the resistance. It had taken years to get this close to the inner circle, and more leg work than we cared to admit. After all that hard work, we might actually be able to find Judas through these humans who traffic in arms with him.

“Where’s Judas? I’ve heard a little rumor that he’s selling your people munitions you should never get your grubby little hands on,” Kal raises his voice a little now, losing his patience with this useless prick.

“Fuck off!” Moses shoots back, absorbing yet another devastating strike to his already broken and swollen nose.

“Let’s try that again,” Kal says when the man’s swinging body comes to a stop. “Where. Is. Judas?”

Moses screams in frustration as he dangles in mid-air. “I don’t know! I’m never the one that meets up with the bastard. He deals with the upper brass, not with the likes of me.”

“But you know that he visits the compound,” Kal notes. “When was the last time he visited your little rat hole?”

Licking his mutilated lips, Moses thinks about it. “Two, maybe three months ago. He doesn’t come often and the foot soldiers are never present when he visits. In case you haven’t noticed, the dude likes his privacy.”

Kal cracks his knuckles as he watches his enemy squirm on a literal hook before him. “If he hasn’t been around lately, he must be due to return soon. When will that be?”

“I don’t know,” the beaten human returns. “Soon, I guess.”

I step forward then, trying another angle. “We want to know more about what happened with the most recent attack on our female draftees.”

Moses is surly when he assesses me. “Which one?”

So, there was more than one attack, as I suspected. I store that bit of information away for later. “The bus incident that happened just a few days back.”

“Don’t know nothing about it,” Moses returns mulishly.

He’s lying. I can tell by the gleeful look in his eye and the stubborn lift of his jaw.

I give Kal the signal and he fists Moses’s hair and cranes back his abused head. “Search your memory or I will help jog it.”

Moses knows what this means. If he refuses to participate in this discussion, Kal will use his fists to help encourage him to talk.

“I had nothing to do with that,” he finally admits.

“I didn’t ask you what you had to do with it. I asked you about what happened,” I remind him in a threatening tone.

Moses tries unsuccessfully to feign ignorance. He’s frightened, and he should be. As soon as we pump him for as much intel as we can, we’re going to end his miserable existence and dump his body at the closest pig farm for immediate organic disposal.

“It was a rescue mission,” Moses growls. “An attempt to set our human women free from you sick bastards!”

Kal gives the man a hard cuff on the back of the head. “Mind your tongue, human. We’re not interested in your opinions on the Voltan, just what the Rebels are up to.”

Moses grunts and shakes his head like a dog. “What we’re up to is revenge and taking back what’s ours!”

That’s what I thought. The Rebels are lashing out due to the loss of their women.

While I can understand a true male’s desire to protect his female, I notice these men rarely put themselves in harm’s way to do so.

In fact, their women are the ones that pay the price most often.

Something that, as a Voltan male who would die for my mate without thought if necessary, I can’t understand or respect.

“You could have killed those women when you drove them off the road,” I point out, bile rising in my throat. “Don’t act as though you were doing anything on their behalf. The attack was a self-motivated one.”

Moses smirks. “Better dead than sleeping with the enemy.”

I move faster than his eyes can track my fist. His head snaps back and forward before he even clocks my move. “My mate was on that bus, you dumb fuck. You’re just lucky she wasn’t hurt. Otherwise, I would have already cut your cock off and fed it to you. I still might.”

The man pales at my vicious threat. “If they’re decent women, they’d rather die than submit to the enemy. It’s the least they can do for the cause!”