Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

Q 'tar's hearts thundered against his chest as he raced back towards the cabin. He'd just completed his message to Behran when one of his alarms was triggered. Frek . How could have been stupid enough to have left his female? He should have known that the slistok wouldn't have given up.

Icy fury consumed him as he burst into the clearing and saw Julie being dragged away by two strangers. Every detail registered - the bruise forming on her arm, the smell of her fear, the cruel twist of the male's lips as he held her.

The first attacker spun toward him, his jaw dropping at the sight of Q'tar's blue skin. He hadn't reactivated his disguise but it didn't matter - the male wouldn't live long enough to tell anyone. He didn't hesitate, feinting left to draw the male's attention before pivoting with inhuman speed. His fist connected with crushing force, shattering the male's jaw. The satisfying crunch of bone vibrated through his arm as the attacker crumpled to the ground.

The second male's grip on Julie went slack, his face draining of color as he stared at Q'tar. The acrid smell of urine filled the air as the male's bladder released in terror.

"You dare to touch my female?"

His voice emerged as a guttural growl as he advanced on the male, his vision tinged with red. The male released Julie and stumbled backwards, hands raised.

"Please… we didn't know… we was just following orders!"

The words meant nothing. He advanced with the predatory grace honed by years of training, but this was different. This wasn't a cold, calculated mission. This was personal. This was about Julie.

"Are you injured, m'shka?"

He didn't look at her, but he heard her rise and move behind him.

"N-no."

Her voice shook but he couldn't take the time to comfort her.

"Return to the cabin. I'll be right there."

"O-okay."

He heard her moving away as the male in front of him gave a despairing cry, looking past him.

"Don't leave me with him."

She paused, then her footsteps continued. The male sobbed, clutching his head in his hands. Pathetic. Weak.

"Please. He didn't say nothing about monsters," the male whimpered. It was the last thing he ever said.

He dropped both bodies in the dense undergrowth beyond the clearing to deal with later. Blood stained his hands - a deeper blue against his skin. The familiar rush of combat faded, replaced by an unfamiliar ache in his chest as he returned to the cabin.

Julie was still on the porch, her face pale. When he approached, she flinched and drew back further, her eyes wide with terror. The same look he'd seen countless times on his targets' faces - but never on hers. Never from her.

His stomach churned. In his rage, he'd forgotten her past trauma with violence. He'd acted on pure instinct, letting his warrior nature take control. Now she trembled before him just as she must have trembled before her ex-husband.

"M'shka." He kept his voice soft, forcing his hands to remain at his sides even though every fiber of his being yearned to hold her. "I would never harm you. You must know this."

She wrapped her arms around herself, gaze darting between him and the trees where he'd disposed of her attackers. Her breath came in short gasps.

"I…" Her voice cracked. "I know. But seeing you like that…"

The words struck deeper than any weapon. He had killed countless times without remorse, but her fear cut him to his core. He'd sworn to protect her, yet his very nature terrified her. He took a step back, giving her space. Blood dripped from his knuckles onto the cabin's wooden planks, and each drop felt like an accusation.

He lifted his palms upward, displaying empty hands in the ancient gesture of peace. The motion felt foreign - he'd spent his life wielding weapons, not offering surrender.

"I regret that you witnessed this."

The words came out stiff, formal. He meant them, but not in the way she might think. The deaths themselves were necessary, justified. But the fear in her eyes - that he regretted more than any kill in his long career.

His muscles tensed with the need to go to her, to wrap her in his arms and erase that haunted expression, but she gripped the porch railing like a lifeline, her knuckles white against the weathered wood. Their earlier intimacy felt like a distant dream.

He clenched his fists, waiting for the words that would banish him from her presence. He'd comply - to a point. He'd fade into the shadows and watch over her unseen. But abandon her completely? Never.

However when she finally spoke, it wasn't the rejection he expected.

"How did they know where to find me?"

He frowned, the question piercing his guilt. The only ones who knew about the cabin were the Behran officials with whom he worked and while he no longer obeyed them blindly, he didn't suspect them of being involved. Which meant…

Frek.

"There must be a tracker somewhere on you or in your belongings. I thought that someone in witness protection had betrayed you. It didn't occur to me that the answer might be even simpler."

"But how? I didn't take anything from my old life."

He scowled as another possibility occurred to him.

"Once the authorities knew that Cliff had escaped, they suspected he would come for you. Someone might have decided to improve the odds of you leading them to him," he admitted reluctantly, and her fingers tightened on the rail.

"They knew? They used me as bait?"

"I think it's possible."

"How do you know all this?" she cried, and he couldn't stand the despair on her face.

She had to know the truth, even if it meant she no longer trusted him.

"The situation is more complicated than you know." He took a step towards her, then stopped when she tensed. "Your previous mate is part of an organization that extends beyond Earth. He supplies women to alien trafficking rings."

Her face drained of color. "Alien… what?"

"The abuse you suffered was only part of his operation. He identifies vulnerable females, breaks them down, then sells them off-world. I was one of the ones sent to stop him," he admitted, the words bitter on his tongue.

"Sent? Who sent you?" Her voice trembled. "Who are you really working for?"

He inhaled deeply, his chest tight with an unfamiliar sensation - regret, perhaps. Or shame.

"I didn't lie to you. I am working for Spartan Security. But my government traced the trafficking operation to Earth. They arranged this assignment with Spartan."

She looked at him, her expression disbelieving. "And you're just now telling me this?"

"I wasn't permitted-" He stopped himself. It sounded like an excuse and he didn't make excuses. "I didn't realize how much it would hurt to deceive you," he admitted.

"You used me." The words came out raw, broken. "All this time, I was just part of some plan to catch Cliff."