Trisha hesitated. “She had more faith in 880 than any of you did.” Tears filled her eyes. “I’d do anything for you and you’re the love of my life, Slade. You’re my mate, my heart. Alli did that for 880 and she doesn’t even know him. You should give her a raise and be damn grateful we have a doctor with that kind of loyalty. All she was thinking about was him and giving him the best chance at survival.”

The room became silent and Slade drew closer to pull her into his arms. She let him hold her.

Justice finally sighed.

“Tiger, go to Security and escort Dr. Allison to her home.” He paused. “I don’t know what to do with her but she doesn’t belong in a cell. She worked for us and she may not be safe outside our gates due to her association. Have an officer placed at her door and let her know she’s confined to her house. I want her made very comfortable until we decide how to handle this.”

“Understood.”

Trisha lifted her head and stared into Slade’s gaze. “Thank you.”

“I can’t stand to see you hurting.” He turned his head to peer at Justice. “Thank you.”

“Trisha made valid arguments.” Justice paused. “This is a hell of a mess.”

880 stared at the females and softly growled a warning, unsure of what their presence meant. He didn’t welcome the sight of them. One of them looked too similar to his mate for comfort.

The tall dark-haired one growled back. “I am Breeze and that is not how you make friends. Just be blunt if you are trying to initiate sex. I am not interested but I don’t want to worry about you attacking me either.”

Shock filled him at her frank statement and the way she evenly stared at him. 46 had avoided speaking to him when he was in a bad mood unless she wanted to argue. This one seemed to want to challenge him.

“You remind me of her.”

The female’s gaze softened. “Your mate?”

“Yes.”

“What was she called?”

“46.”

The female took a seat in his room while the other two stayed by the door. Breeze pointed to his bed. “Sit. You make me nervous. I don’t know how in control you are or how you will react around females.” She then pointed to the other two. “They will jump on your ass if you attack me. Are we clear?”

His eyebrows lifted as he glanced at the two females before taking a seat on the edge of the bed to study the one named Breeze. “I will not strike out at you.”

“That is good to know.” She smiled. “How are you doing with knowing freedom? You look strong and healthy. I heard you ventured outside today to take a walk.”

“I am well.”

“You don’t speak much to others, do you?”

“I am adjusting. It is strange.” He avoided discussing why he wasn’t talkative, unwilling to admit he didn’t feel comfortable around so many after his solitary life with only his mate.

Sympathy flashed in Breeze’s eyes. “We all understand that but trust me, you have it way better than we did. Humans had to deal with us after we were rescued. It was tough on them, as well as us, to find a happy middle ground. You’re surrounded by your own kind.”

“Why would I feel trust? I don’t know you.”

He wanted to be honest.

She grinned and he relaxed slightly when her features softened.

“True. We’re your kind though and you are ours. We have to stick together and you can depend on us to have your back. Do you know what that means?”

“You are telling me I can trust you.”

“That’s right. You can.” She leaned forward a little. “How are you really doing?”

“I’m growing stronger.”

“I mean how are you doing inside your head?

I know you lost your mate. Are you filled with rage?”

He nodded. “I want revenge for her death.”

“We have the assholes who killed her.”

He tensed. “They are here?”

“We captured them when you were rescued.

They were sent to a cage of their own and will pay for her death. Does that help? They will never be free again.”

“I want to be taken to them.”

She shook her head. “You desire to make them bleed but you can’t. We don’t kill humans. We lock up the ones who committed crimes against us. They suffer. They are now caged and under the mercy of humans themselves.” Her smile looked forced. “Does that help?”

“They should die.” Anger boiled inside him.

“I agree but we are better than the ones who imprisoned us. We show mercy.”

“I don’t.”

Her gaze sparked with amusement. “You have a heavy sense of justice inside you.”

He said nothing but wasn’t sure what she meant.

“You would have done anything to protect your mate, right? Broken any rule to keep her safe?”

“Yes. They killed her without provocation. I did nothing to anger them.”

“Those Mercile employees were mean assholes.” She took a deep breath and glanced at the females by the door before speaking softly to them. “How does it look?”

The one with streaked red hair glanced away.

“We’re still clear.”

Breeze met his gaze. “We’re not supposed to be here but sometimes we are bad at following orders. I had an officer who owed me a favor turn off the cameras.” She pointed to the corner.

“They are there for your protection and to make sure you are in no danger but are currently off.”

He became alarmed. “Is there a threat to my life?”

“Not from us.” She cocked her head. “Do you know who is in danger?”

“Who?” He quickly became confused.

One of the women by the door revealed her hand, which had rested behind her back. It held a clear bag with material inside, which pulled it out and tossed to him. It was a shirt. The sweet scent he inhaled was familiar and a soft growl tore from his throat before he could stifle it.

“Her name is Alli.” Breeze hesitated. “Dr. Allison Baker. She’s human but never worked for Mercile. She risked her ass to save yours. I like her.” She jerked her head toward the other two women. “They like her too. Do you want to know why? Alli is a good human. She’s sweet and our friend.”

He fisted the female’s shirt in his hands but said nothing. He wasn’t sure what they expected from him. Part of him worried they were trying to spot a reaction that would betray his emotions.

He tensed, alert, and schooled his features not to reveal anything. He wanted to know more about Alli but refused to admit as much. He shouldn’t care. She was human but he was curious.

“You were unconscious and wouldn’t wake after you were rescued. The truth is that we all thought you would die. No one here knows you and you were kept separated in the Mercile facilities from all our females. None of us have ever shared sex with you. Mercile used to take us to males for breeding experiments, attempting to make more of us. We know nothing about you and feared you were going to be insane. It’s what we call feral. It means your mind was so broken by the abuse you suffered that you couldn’t be saved.

“Alli refused to give up on you though and stole you from this place to take you somewhere where she could do what none of us would. She put her life in danger by trying to wake you with her female scent. You males are horny creatures who are driven by your dicks. Maybe she thought you’d want to mount her enough to wake.”

Breeze shrugged. “Knowing her as I do though, she probably didn’t consider you might want to share sex but instead just thought having a female near you would bring you back. She’s naïve that way. All the males she’s met are pretty protective toward us and they don’t approach her for sex.”

He wasn’t sure how to digest that information.

Part of him was glad to know no other males approached Alli for sex. Anger stirred at the memory of the masked humans touching her when he’d stumbled outside. He’d wanted to kill them for making her scream in terror. Breeze’s voice drew him from his musings.

“It worked. You smelled her and woke when she was in trouble. Maybe you wanted to mount her or perhaps you mistook her for your mate. I don’t know. Do you?”