Taming the Queen of Beasts

RIKA

Rika stared at Jared and took a beat too long to answer, and cursed herself for it. "Yes! I told you—"

"You told me he was bound and yet, I just watched him successfully fight off four human soldiers. You want me to believe that he didn\'t fight bonds? He has incredible strength, yet there isn\'t a single mark on his body—not a bruise, not a rope rub, nothing. He\'s dirty and a bit edgy, but… no injuries. Didn\'t you say you had to untie him?"

She nodded, stomach plummeting. "Maybe he was smart enough not to fight them? Maybe they don\'t hurt as easily as we do, I don\'t know!"

Jared looked disappointed. "You\'re making me more and more suspicious, Rika."

"But—"

"I can\'t leave you free."

Seeing an out, Rika took it. "That\'s fine. Keep me under guard, or whatever. Just as long as you take me home, I don\'t care. Just… don\'t make me stay here, with them. I want nothing to do with fighting the Anima!" she said genuinely.

Jared\'s lips thinned. "There will be no fighting. When the time comes, we\'ll just neutralize all of them. You know that, Rika."

Rika\'s entire body went tight with fear. "But if you shoot them all, we\'ll be left with none of the best—"

"No one said anything about shooting."

Rika licked her lips. "I don\'t… I don\'t know what you\'re saying."

"Good. Because I\'m not giving information to an Anima sympathizer."

Rika\'s mouth dropped open. "What? What the heck are you talking about?"

Jared gave her a tight look, then raised his command device. "I had someone dig a little deeper," he said, tapping the screen. Then he began to read again. "This is your last journal entry before you were taken.

"All signs point to an intelligent, emotionally stable, and complex society of human-like creatures with social hierarchy and psychological depth. Despite cultural differences, I believe there is ample room for harmony with humanity, suggesting our work might best be served by negotiating with the Anima for mutual benefit in which both worlds and peoples benefit by working together, rather than fighting for dominance. I will present arguments to the board at the first opportunity."

Rika swallowed. "I… I never logged that message. It was a draft—"

Jared shook his head. "Digital is forever, Rika. Drafting it on a device was a mistake."

Rika\'s breath went shallow and she licked her lips again. "That was… before I had to live with them. That was when I had only observed them… from a distance—"

"Please don\'t patronize me." He didn\'t seem to be taking joy in defeating her. But his mind was made up.

Rika closed her eyes. No wonder they sent the team after her. When she\'d traveled the week before they came back to let the devices log, they must have picked this up. What had she been thinking?

She\'d been thinking she wanted a way to get to know Gar without being a traitor. Daydreaming about how they could unify the two worlds and… and she\'d known even then it was never going to happen, Which was why she\'d never logged it. Deleted it.

But they had it.

"We have a problem, Rika," Jared said quietly. "Because I need what\'s in your head, but I don\'t trust you to give it to me."

"I have told you the absolute truth."

"You told me that one of their leaders wants to mate you."

Rika froze. Then blinked. "I told you where they were and what they\'re planning."

Jared shrugged. "Only in small numbers. Keeping me still and focused was an excellent distraction while they send a horde at us from another direction."

"I\'m not distracting you from another horde. These people are terrifying."

"Interesting choice of word, \'people.\'"

Rika\'s stomach sank. She was only digging herself—and Gar—deeper with every word. So she stayed quiet, watching him. Wary.

"I\'ll admit, when you were taken, your performance was convincing. Your vitals spiked. The team was convinced you\'d been taken against your will."

"I was."

"And yet… here we are."

"It is possible to see value in a group of creatures and not want to be one of them."

"So, if we test you, we aren\'t going to identify the bond?"

"I… what?"

Jared\'s face went hard. "It turns out that when an Anima mate-pair take a bond, it shifts their DNA. Did you know that?"

"No."

"So, I\'ll ask again, if we test you, are we going to find a mate bond?"

"No."

He looked skeptical. "And I assume that means you\'re happy to be tested?"

"Of course."

Jared smiled "Very good. Shall we?"

"What, now?" Her stomach began to twist.

"Is there a better time? Is there a reason to delay?"

"I suppose not."

Rika\'s breath was shallow and rapid, her head screaming at her to run as the military man stood, bound her hands behind her back, and turned her for the door. She braced her legs and balked when he tried to nudge her forward, her trauma response beginning to trigger.

Thrub, thrub, thrub, her heart pulsed in her ears.

"Rika—"

"P-please. Do I have to be t-tied?" Her body was beginning to tremble. "It\'s… I have a… a phobia—"

Jared sighed. "I\'m not going to hurt you, Rika, but I have a responsibility to keep everyone here safe. I don\'t know what these creatures have brainwashed you into doing."

"I haven\'t been b-brainwashed! I\'m just me!"

"Well, I\'m sorry, but you are going to have to come with me, bound. If there\'s no bond I\'ll reconsider—" he pushed her forward as he spoke, not unkindly, But panic washed over Rika in a wave, her entire body fighting, her system demanding freedom, until she couldn\'t hear his voice, or think beyond the need to run, to escape.

A strange, guttural cry broke from her throat and she twisted in his hands, kicking out, screaming when he caught her with barely a grunt, did something weird and quick with his body, foot-tripped her, bearing her to the ground. As she started to fall, she screamed again, but Jared held her, taking her weight on her arms so she didn\'t hit the ground hard with no hands to catch herself. But even so, she ended up pressed on her stomach down into the dirt, his knee on her back.

She was screaming. She knew she was screaming, but she couldn\'t stop. Pleading. Demanding. And just making the noises of her fear. She couldn\'t stop fighting or trying to escape, even though he had her pinned and the bonds cut into the skin of her wrists. Even as Jared bellowed an order and the light in the tent rose and fell and more people rushed in. And even when a sharp, nervy pain appeared in her upper arm and she screamed again.

But her body immediately began to relax.

She was crying, she realized. Tears tracked down her cheekbone, to patter into the dirt. Her heart pounding despite whatever sedative they\'d given her.

"No bond…" she sobbed. "Theresss no bond. Why\'d you do thisss?" She yanked at the bonds and felt them cut deeper.

Jared and the women who had given her the shot looked at each other and he nodded. There was another pinch in her arm and everything went black.