Page 24 of Taming the Alien Outlaw (Brides of the Bohnari #2)

Janik

My mind is so overwhelmed that I nearly get caught twice trying to navigate the city.

All I do is keep replaying that voice—the queen’s voice—singing a song that has haunted me my entire life.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve heard the lilting notes of that melody whenever I close my eyes.

It’s as familiar to me as Mak’s growl. I would know it anywhere.

How is it possible though, to have heard that song except from the queen? There has to be some other explanation. My mother is the only one who can provide it.

I finally make it out of the city and hurry through the rainforest, not bothering to hide my tracks. There’s no point. Ever since those ships and trade lines were destroyed, nothing is—or will be—the same.

The rebel camp comes into view, but as I walk across the border toward the center of it, all is quiet. I can’t sense the presence of a single Bohnari. The place is deserted. Or at least that’s how it appears until I catch sight of a lone figure.

I recognize her and remain where I am as my mother moves toward me until, at last, she stops a short distance away. Her lip curls into a snarl and she oozes with disgust.

“The female was actually useful for something.” She sneers.

“What did you do, Mother?”

“I did exactly what needed to be done. What you ”—she jabs a finger in my direction—“were clearly not capable of doing.”

“Innocent people died.” Does she not care? “That was never part of the plan.”

She scurries a few steps closer. “It may not have been part of yours, but it was always a possibility with mine.”

Her statement causes me to rear back. “ You wished for Bohnari to die? Why would you do that?”

“Sacrifices were needed to be made to ensure all that we desire came to fruition.”

I slice my hand through the air. “Not once have my desires ever been contingent on the deaths of our people. You know this.”

“Because you’re weak. I always knew you would be. That human only made you weaker.”

“Do not speak of Olivia that way. She is my mate.” Nothing has ever felt as good as saying that out loud.

“She is nothing!” My mother screams, spittle flying from her mouth.

I study her a moment and a realization comes over me. “You knew, didn’t you? That Olivia was my heart’s fire? You knew and you kept it from me. I didn’t even know such a thing existed in our world.”

“You were never meant to know,” she says.

“Why?” The question is dragged from me in a harsh rasp. “Make me understand.”

“From the time you were a child, I knew you didn’t have what it was going to take to become the ruthless male I needed you to be. To help me destroy the king and everything he cared about.”

I’ve always known of her hatred for the king, but this feels…different. Like our goals were never really the same.

“You say the people killed were sacrifices, but for what? Explain it to me.”

She laughs, but it’s a bitter, ugly sound. “We both know the prince never took you or your threats seriously. You were doing nothing more than playing at being a rebel. Those at the palace needed to know what a true rebellion looked like.”

“So you murdered innocent Bohnari, because you thought that would force the prince to hand over a throne that doesn’t actually belong to him yet?”

My mother grins, but it’s full of madness as though she has been struck with an uncontrollable bout of mating fever. “It would appear someone has been sharing secrets with you.”

I had hoped she wasn’t aware it is the queen who rules in truth, but I was wrong. “Were you planning on having her murdered as well, then?”

My mother—no, I can no longer call her that—gestures in a vague way. “If that’s what it would have taken.”

I study this female before me. She isn’t the same one I have known my entire life. She’s a stranger to me now. Perhaps she always has been.

“How long have you been sabotaging me and my plans?” Olivia is certain someone is.

“What you call sabotage, I call adjusting,” she says.

“How long?”

“From the beginning.”

“Alik never began charging for kanet powder, did he?”

Mohneek comes a little closer. “We needed desperate males. What better way to make them so than by taking away their precious drug?”

We ?

“It was easier than we expected it to be. A few, well-placed people loyal to our cause forcing citizens to pay for their supply in the name of the prince and then whispered suggestions about forming a rebellion against the corrupt royal who is lining his pockets with our hard-earned credits.”

My blood chills at the cold, calculating manipulation of our people.

“And the messages from Alik requesting meetings? I suppose you were also responsible for those never reaching me?”

She stares at me with pity. “Of course.”

I nod. “I probably shouldn’t bother asking about Konek, then.”

“Who?”

My gut aches. “Konek. The Bohnari killed in the mine when the equipment malfunctioned.”

Her confusion clears. “Ah, yes. That was unfortunate, but also necessary.”

I run my hands down my face. Everything is a lie. I have to know. “Did the king truly even do to you what you have said he did?”

Mohneek rushes forward a few steps with clenched fists. “Of course he did. He took everything from me with complete disregard. My dignity. My life. My son. In return, I took his.”

I nearly stagger at her words. “What do you mean, you took his?”

She laughs maniacally again. “He didn’t even recognize me. He destroyed my life but it was clearly of no consequence to him. I wasn’t worth remembering.”

“What did you do?” The question is ground out through clenched teeth.

Mohneek’s eyes go blank as she speaks, and she stares straight ahead as if she’s reliving the past. “Our son was sickly from the moment he was born. A small, pitiful thing. Whimpered all the time. He wouldn’t eat, and soon, he wasted away. I buried him next to my mother.”

By the gods. I pity this poor female.

“When did you decide to take me to replace your dead son?”

Mohneek’s vision clears and she glances my way. “The grief of losing my child nearly took me to be with him, but the seed of hatred grew bigger and stronger until it nearly consumed me. I knew then what I would do.”

“So you go to Preska and wait for the perfect opportunity.” It’s not a question.

“You were the perfect revenge,” she says. “You’d kill the false prince and take his place. Of course, I would join you in the palace.”

Pain stabs me in the heart. All my life, I have called this female Mother. The one person who was supposed to care for and love me. Yet, I have been nothing more to her than a tool to use. My entire existence is a lie.

“Earlier, you said ‘we’. Who else is part of this scheme? And where are all the rebels, now?”

Mohneek grins. “They’re all doing their part in rising up against the prince.”

I step closer, the threat clear. “What are they doing?”

She cocks her head as though listening for something. I do the same. Faint sounds of explosions reach me. I whirl on her and grip her arms tightly, shaking her slightly.

“What did you do?”

“What I have always planned on doing.” Mohneek laughs and it sends a chill racing down my spine.

I shove her away and race out of the camp back toward Preska. The closer I get to the city the more I hear a shrieking alarm. The scent of smoke reaches me and burns my eyes. Through a small break in the trees, flames lick the sky. Buildings are on fire and cries of people ring out.

Olivia .

The gated entrance has been flung open, but no one guards it.

I race through the opening and make my way down street after street toward the females’ dormitory.

Bohnari stumble around, either injured or confused by the chaos.

Guards race through the city, searching for the source wreaking havoc. I nearly collide with someone.

“Ryvik?”

“I thought you were in the pit,” he says.

“What’s happening?” I demand.

“We’re taking the city.”

“On whose command?”

His confusion is evident. “Yours.”

I shake my head. “This is not my doing. Gather as many rebels as you can and get out.”

Without waiting for his compliance, I take off running again, desperate to reach my mate.

A nearby explosion almost knocks me off my feet, but I regain my balance and continue running.

It takes me far too long, but I finally reach the building that houses the females.

Guards lie scattered on the ground outside.

I wish I could stop and help, but fear for Olivia drives me.

I rush inside, yelling her name. Destruction surrounds me. Sofas and chairs lie on their sides. Potted trees have been knocked over as though a windstorm swept through. I stand in the middle of the atrium, turning in circles as I holler for my mate. My voice echoes in the vast silence.

“They’re gone.” An injured male stumbles through a doorway and I hurry to catch him before he collapses.

Blood spills from an open wound on his head. I gently set him down and wipe his face as best I can. “The females are gone?”

He nods slowly and winces. “Rebels took them.”

“How long ago?”

“Not long. They rushed the guards outside and then they swept every floor until they gathered all the humans,” he replies. “I was in the kitchen when one of them came in. We fought, but he was too strong.”

“Did you hear where they were taking them?”

“No, I’m sorry.”

A pounding sound reaches me, but the open atrium is far too cavernous to pinpoint where it’s coming from. That’s when I hear it. A mournful howl. It’s faint, but there. I glance at the male.

“The phinnek. Where would she be?”

The male clutches at his still bleeding wound. “Top floor. Last door.”

“Will you be all right?”

He waves me off. “Go. I’ll survive.”

I leave him then, and race to the lift near the building entrance.

My body thrums with impatience as it carries me upward.

Taking far too long, it finally stops and I squeeze through the opening of the door before it’s fully open.

The plaintive howls continue and grow louder the closer I get to the end of the walkway.

“Mak?”

Frantic scratching and whining comes from the other side of the door that is clearly Olivia’s.

I charge at the barrier, slamming my shoulder into, but it doesn’t budge.

I do it again, and still, nothing. Knowing it’s pointless, but desperate, I palm the bio-scanner on the wall, but it beeps angrily.

A roar of frustration erupts, and I bellow in rage.

The sound echoes back at me, but it’s not mine. I glance over the balcony to find Horek below. His agony is as evident as mine. The rebels have his mate as well. The commander disappears into the lift and moments later, he’s at my side.

“Move.”

I step out of his way as he keys in an override code into the panel.

There’s a single tone and the lock disengages.

I push the door open and Mak leaps forward, her whines breaking my heart.

I clutch her tightly to me and stroke her head.

My gaze shifts to Horek who appears to barely be holding onto his control.

“The rebels took the females.” Although it’s clear he already knows.

“If they hurt a single hair on my heart’s fire’s head, I’ll destroy each and every one of them.”

“I’ll help.”

He studies me a moment longer as though gauging the truthfulness of my statement. Then, he nods. “Let’s go.”

With Mak at my side, Horek and I take off in search of our mates.