Page 101 of Bruised MC Bear

“Does this give you special powers over your species?”

The question made him bristle at first, but then he allowed a smile to return to his face. She was brainwashed by the Regent, which was why she accepted much of what she had learned without question. To him, that knowledge made him more confident. Changing her mind would actually be easier.

“First of all, do you view witches as a species?” he asked.

“Well, no. We’re humans, born with certain abilities to connect ourselves to supernatural forces and practice witchcraft.”

“So you’re human.”

“Correct.”

“And are shifters not born human?”

Her facial expression changed when she must have realized how illogical it was to refer to shifters as a species. “Yes… all right. So you are human. Does being alpha give you any unique abilities or powers over your… troops?”

“Here is another clarification for you. I do not exert my will over my men. That is not how I lead. We are all equal.”

She tilted her head to the side, and asked, “Not to be rude, but what does it matter that you are the alpha? I do not understand.”

Holding back his temper was proving to be difficult. A part of him wanted to lash out at her, to make the point that no one in the Regent’s coven really cared about him or his soldiers, but he held his tongue. Verbally attacking her would not serve his purpose.

“Being alpha means I speak for my group. It also means they listen to me and accept that my direction is for the benefit of our pack.”

She nodded, biting down on her full, sexy bottom lip. Something inside Xander stirred as he watched her. What would those lips taste like?

“I see. Regarding the trainees, the Regent wants to ensure that I am fully prepared to transform the hundred and fourteen men at the ceremony in nine days.”

“I am aware of that,” Xander answered, his voice tight. If he got his way, that sorcery would not happen.

“Although the past few days of brisk weather do lead me to believe we may have our first winter storm before that time.”

He nodded. “That could be.”

“When may I visit your camp to meet them?”

“Today, tomorrow… It is up to you, and when you visit, you will see with your own eyes.”

“See what?”

“The overcrowding. The deplorable conditions. Our base needs to be rebuilt. It can serve as a training center and for planning and operations, but not as a year-round residence. We are ready to return to our families. We have been living like prisoners for too long.”

Something in her eyes sparked to life at his last sentence, and she nearly leaped to her feet. “Why do you insist on using such words?”

“Because that is what we are,” he roared, unable to keep calm. “The day a man is transformed, he is doomed to spend the rest of his life in the camps your Regent created for us. Our camps are nothing like life in the fortress. The place is no kind of home.”

“They are warm and comfortable, though. Correct? I was told you have everything you could need.”

“Is that the rubbish you and your fortress witches have been fed?”

He watched her expression change again as she thought it over. “How on earth would I know how you live?”

He huffed out a breath. This discussion was becoming more tenuous, but some of this frustration was necessary. “Perhaps you would be more aware if you cared enough to open your eyes, venture out of your room in the fortress, and find out for yourself. All you have done is accept the information Minassus saw fit to provide to you. Do you think that makes you innocent? It does not. It makes you complicit.”

“I would like to focus on today, Commander Oslo,” she insisted. “And on our upcoming meetings over the next few days, where my eyes will be open and I will indeed venture out of the fortress to meet you. One thing we can both agree on is that we need you…and your soldiers. Without you, Sector Two citizens would probably all be dead by now.”

Something about the way Kiera stated that fact got under his skin. He shot up to his feet, and didn’t care how intimidating he might look now that he towering over her. “Why should our ability to protect the Sector preclude us from holding on to our freedom? Can we not choose? And tell me something. I do not understand how a slew of scientists, scribes, researchers and so many witch covens cannot come up with other ways to fight them. You’re all intelligent, resourceful and powerful, and yet creating an army of slaves makes the most logical sense to you?”

Kiera looked up at him. Her eyes were full of fear. He needed to regain a level of control. Taking a seat again, he centered his thoughts. The last thing this sweet, innocent, young witch in training needed was to be scared to death by a full-grown polar bear roaring in her face if he lost control and turned.