The air filled with screams as humans scattered this way and that, doing their best to get out of his way. They should. At full speed he could take out a concrete wall, so a frail human body would stand no chance. Even the other B’Kaar quickly stepped out of his way. His feet left the floor as he dived, hitting Rohn in the midriff as he took the big K’Saan warrior off his feet.
They hit the floor in a tangle of limbs. Rohn managed to throw him off with a hard punch to the ribs, but the pain didn’t register as he slid across the highly polished floor. With a snarl, he slammed his hand out, claws fully extended to slow his slide. There was the tearing of leather as his black claws came into play, and he used them to get purchase as he leapt toward Rohn again.
“Stop! Please… Stop! Cade!”
Elise’s panicked shout broke through his rage, and he froze in place, still crouched ready to leap. Slowly he turned his head to look at her. She flinched as they locked gazes, and the sudden swell of her terror in the air made him realize he was scaring her.
“See! The Vorr is an animal!” Rohn spat, clambering to his feet with a hand on his side. He was favoring his left, and the way he moved stiffly said Cade had broken a couple of his ribs. “He’s not fit for company. He should be returned to the ship or…” He looked at Cade with a curled lip. “Put down.”
“Don’t. Ever. Touch. Her.” Cade’s growl was low with warning as he looked at the prince again.
Rohn blinked. “What? The female? She was about to agree to my claim.”
“I was not,” Elise snapped, her voice loud and clear as she glared at the prince. “You grabbed me and tried to manhandle me into that damn circle. I didn’t agree to anything. In fact, I told you to leave me alone.”
He turned to look at his cousin, the emperor. “She would have agreed. I call for a claiming bout.”
“She accepts,” Cade snarled and rose to his feet. This piece of draanthic would pay for laying a hand on his Elise. His female. “I will defend.”
“If anyone is going to fight to defend her, it will be me,” Cameron Murphy announced, his face like thunder as he appeared next to Elise. Cade slid him a glance, noting the tense set of his body and the hard look he leveled at the K’Saan Prince. Well draanth, if the human president didn’t suddenly look like the most dangerous warrior in the room. Given the look on Murphy’s face, he didn’t like Rohn’s chances at all.
“There will be no claiming bout,” Daaynal announced, his firm proclamation bringing an end to the argument. “Because this female is not an eligible female.”
The room filled with a hushed silence and Elise turned toward him, surprise on her beautiful features. “How did you know that?”
Cade's heart stuttered in his chest and he took a step toward her without realizing. “You aren’t?”
She shook her head, not looking at him. How could she not be eligible with the way she’d clung to him last night? The way she’d touched him? The only other male he’d smelled on her was Murphy, but he hadn’t smelled anything of an intimate nature or the other male wouldn’t still be breathing. Cade wasn’t built to share, and he absolutely wasn’t going to share his fated mate.
“Of course she isn’t,” said Daaynal. “Their president would not put any eligible females in the teams dealing with us. Correct?”
He saw the surprise flow over Elise’s face in the way she looked around at the faces of all the females around them. From the change in her expression, he realized that the emperor was correct… All these are females were mated or otherwise ineligible for the program.
Cameron Murphy shook his head. “Of course we wouldn’t. Although we have plans to slowly introduce your eligible warriors to the first of the women who have been approved for the mate program.”
Daaynal crossed his arms over his broad chest, obviously unhappy about the subterfuge. “That would be appreciated… And very much overdue. Unless of course, you do wish to hold a claiming bout for your own sister.”
The crowd around them gasped, everybody looking toward Cameron and Elise. Lady's tits, now the emperor had pointed it out, he could see the family resemblance. They both had the same tall, lean look… Well, more slender on Elise… The same dark hair and eyes. They even moved the same way, with the same kind of easy grace that was mesmerizing on Elise and dangerous on Murphy.
“He’s not my brother.” Elise looked stricken, her hand rising to cover her throat.
“We have test results,” Murphy growled, his body language loose and unconcerned. It was a front. Cade easily picked up the worry in his scent. “We’re not related. It’s just coincidence that we look alike.”
Risyn moved slightly, drawing attention to himself standing next to the emperor. “Our DNA tests are much more accurate. We can go back many, many generations to establish a genetic link. We will require samples from both of you.”
Elise exchanged a glance with the president, and for a moment it looked like they would refuse.
“It looks like you have something to hide,” Daaynal growled. “Why not take the test?”
“Fine.” Cameron glared at his counterpart. “Whenever you’re ready.”
“How about now?” The B’Kaar war commander offered. “We have the equipment in our intelligence suite. It won’t take long. We're already running eligibility tests for the program so we can roll these in as well.”
Murphy inclined his head, indicating the door to the gymnasium. “Of course. After you.”
9
At Cameron’s words, the small group headed toward the exit of the gymnasium. Behind them, the other Lathar were dismissed, the demonstration obviously at an end now that the VIPs were leaving. The command staff began to usher them toward the exits.
She ignored the crowds filling the corridors behind them, her mind racing at a mile a minute. This was bad, so bad. She tried to catch Cam’s eye as they turned the corner toward the bank of elevators, but he wouldn’t look at her. Instead, he kept his attention on Daaynal and the prince who accompanied him. She nibbled at her lip, worrying the flesh that still felt swollen from Cade’s kisses last night. This was so bad…
It didn’t matter that it was all bullshit. That they weren’t actually brother and sister. The very fact that the Lathar were looking into it… The very fact there was a possibility that they might be related would be enough for some people. It could cause some to start looking at Cameron more closely, and they couldn’t afford that. He had a shit-ton of skeletons in his closet. She should know. She was one of them… probably the most minor. If those skeletons were found out and dragged into the light of day, they would be used to bury Cam politically.
They weren’t related. She already knew that. The DNA tests they’d taken had found no link between them. They weren’t even second cousins sixteen times removed or anything like that. He was her brother in every way, apart from genetically. As much as she knew that, she still couldn’t help the little hope she’d always kept tucked away in her heart. The "what if" that perhaps the DNA tests had been wrong. That perhaps they were related after all, and she wasn’t just some abandoned orphan, thrown away and rejected. If Cam was her brother, she really did have a family.