Page 20 of Stolen By the Wraiths (Rift Wraiths #1)

"Beautiful," she murmured, and I felt exactly what she meant. Not the violence, but our perfect resonance.

"You're beautiful," I replied, catching her against me for a quick kiss that tasted like victory and promises. "Deadly, brilliant, mine."

"Always yours," she confirmed against my lips. "But right now, I'm your partner. Your equal."

The distinction mattered. Not just my mate to protect, but my equal to fight beside—someone who enhanced my abilities rather than creating weakness. The knowledge sent heat racing through me.

We reached the detention level ten minutes later, encountering two more security teams that learned about underestimating bonded pairs. Each engagement was swift, silent, devastating—our coordination improving as the bond provided real-time feedback.

But when the elevator doors opened, revealing the horror of the detention level, even our shared fury wasn't enough preparation.

Tsekai males with traceries faded to gray lifelessness. Akaruun pairs forcibly separated until their energy patterns barely registered as living. Species I didn't recognize, all bearing marks of psychological warfare designed to destroy every meaningful connection they possessed.

"Monsters," Alix whispered, her fury flowing into me like fire. "Absolute fucking monsters."

Her determination crystallized into something implacable. She wasn't just rescuing prisoners—she was declaring war on everyone responsible for this place.

"Can you override the security protocols?" I asked.

"Already working on it." Her fingers flew over the master control interface while I provided cover. "Sixty seconds and we'll have them all free."

I felt her satisfaction as the systems bent to her will, security protocols crumbling under her assault. She was furious and competent, and watching her work sent heat through me despite our horrific surroundings.

The prisoners' liberation was swift but careful—many were barely conscious, broken by months of systematic torture. But as cell doors opened throughout the detention level, broken beings found strength in freedom.

One Tsekai male, his traceries barely visible gray lines, looked up at Alix with recognition that slammed into me.

Not just gratitude—desperate hope, as if she were salvation itself made manifest. She knelt beside him for a moment, her hand gentle on his shoulder, and I felt her rage crystallize into something unbreakable.

"This way," she called, standing with renewed purpose, guiding confused prisoners toward emergency exits while I eliminated remaining security. "Transport is waiting."

But as we moved the last group toward the exit, proximity alarms began blaring throughout the facility. The orderly evacuation was about to become something else entirely.

"Company," I said grimly, checking the corridor while hyperaware of her warmth against my side.

The hangar bay doors were already open when we arrived, emergency lighting strobing across a scene of controlled chaos. The Raptor hung in space beyond the atmospheric barrier, its loading ramp extended. But between us and escape stood Dr. Hessler with a squad of heavily armed security personnel.

"My test subjects," she said, her calm more chilling than any rage. "You're destroying years of research."

"Research?" Alix stepped forward, her fury making the air feel charged. "You call torture research?"

"I call it evolution," Hessler replied. "Natural bonding is primitive, inefficient. What I'm developing will perfect the process—controlled connections without the mess of genuine emotion."

"You're describing slavery," I said, the pieces clicking into place. "Turning love into a weapon."

"I'm describing improvement." Her smile was cold. "Your chaotic emotional attachment makes you weak, vulnerable. My subjects will demonstrate controlled bonding—all the benefits without the exploitable attachment."

"Your subjects?" Alix's voice carried dangerous edge. "These are people. Living beings with the right to choose their own connections."

"They're research materials," Hessler corrected. "And I'm not letting you contaminate my data by removing them prematurely."

Her security team raised their weapons. "Open fire! Don't let them?—"

But something had changed in the facility's atmosphere. The rescued prisoners, despite their trauma, were no longer cowering. They were standing together, finding strength in numbers and freedom.

"You made one mistake," I said, opening my scent glands completely for the first time since bonding with Alix.

Not in panic or desperation, but as a controlled weapon.

I flooded the room with targeted signals, incapacitating pheromones designed to overwhelm anyone not genetically compatible, territorial markers that promised violence to threats.

And a broadcast of our unbreakable bond.

"You thought broken people would stay broken."

"Stop them! Don't ruin decades of—" Hessler's order cut off as the chemical assault hit her nervous system.

The security team collapsed within seconds, their equipment useless against biological warfare they'd never anticipated. Hessler tried to crawl toward an emergency comm, but the chemical overload left her convulsing on the deck.

"That," Alix said with satisfaction that echoed through me, "was beautiful."

"It was freedom," I replied, gathering her close while alarms blared around us. "Finally understanding that my abilities are tools, not weaknesses."

Her pride in my transformation was warmth between us. But underneath was something more primal—arousal at seeing me in complete control, anticipation of how thoroughly I was going to claim her once we were safe.

The Raptor's loading ramp extended fully as the crew coordinated the final extraction. Jessa handled the piloting while Thoryn helped load traumatized prisoners. My crew had come through exactly when needed.

"All aboard," Jessa called. "Consortium reinforcements incoming—five minutes out."

We helped the rescued prisoners board while the crew managed the extraction. But as the ship lifted away from the facility, all I could focus on was the woman whose hand was warm in mine.

She'd risked everything to save me, proven herself capable of operations that would challenge trained soldiers, and reminded me that love was stronger than any weapon our enemies possessed.

"No regrets?" she asked as we settled into the ship for departure, her body warm against my side.

"Only that it took me so long to trust what we have," I replied, pulling her closer while the facility disappeared beneath us. "You magnificent, deadly woman. You saved more than my life back there."

"What did I save?"

"My faith in what real connection looks like," I said, meaning every word. "My understanding that shared strength is better than controlled strength."

Her smile was radiant, a promise of beautiful chaos to come. "Good. Because I'm planning to spend the rest of our lives proving that freely chosen bonds are always stronger than forced ones."

The promise sent anticipation racing between us that was unrelated to escape and everything to do with the future we'd chosen. Whatever came next, we'd face it as partners proven unbreakable by whatever horrors our enemies devised.

But first, I intended to show my deadly mate exactly how proud I was of her strength—and exactly who she belonged to. When we were safe, when we had privacy, I would remind her in the most thorough way possible that she was mine, and I was hers, and nothing in the galaxy could change that truth.