he damn well would. No matter where the threat originated.
He stepped in front of the tunnel leading to where she was hidden, blocking the way. “It just got more complicated, no question. But what I’m about to say is real simple. The commander will have to be made to understand. Nayla is under my protection. I don’t care what orders you were given, she is not to be harmed.”
21
Nayla pressed close to the rocky wall, doing her best to take in what she could. The twisted corridor kept Grif and the other two speakers blocked from view, but their deep, guttural voices bounced off the walls loud and clear.
“Are you kidding me? Your disobeying a direct order? For a hostile and a flesh trader? Are you insane?” The shouting male’s words erupted in little punches, the mix of aggression and bravado in his tone reminding her of some of the less mature pack hunters who swaggered around as if they had something to prove. “You can’t be thinking right.”
“I’m calm. I’m cool. I’ve never been more clearheaded in my life.” Grif’s voice was a low, dangerous rasp. “I understand and respect the commander’s impulse to protect his mate and young, but he doesn’t have all the facts.”
“So, she wasn’t the one who took our females prisoner?” challenged the angry one, his tone thick with mockery. “Her kind isn’t currently planning to wipe us from the planet? The commander wants all threats put down yesterday. That includes your target.”
Grif remained unruffled. “Nayla is not a hostile. She’s a young female caught in a difficult situation. She’s as much a victim as the women she took.”
Nayla pressed her hands to her belly, silencing the protest in her throat. Victim. A word she recognized. Hearing it from Grif’s mouth made her stomach hurt, as if she’d eaten the wrong kind of lanta berries. Of course he thought her weak. She’d proven him right.
“You believe that bullshit?” The smack of hands suggested the angry male had thrown his together in exasperation. “You and I are interrogators. We’re supposed to rip aside their lies, not fall for them. And you’re the one they want to run the extraction mission? Makes no sense to me.”
Nayla’s finger pressed so hard into the rock, the pads of her fingers bled.
“What are you actually proposing, Grif?” The third speaker was far calmer. “Let’s say I go back to the commander with your intel and the news that you’ve taken responsibility for her. What then? You can’t keep her prisoner forever.”
“She won’t be.”
She bolted upright. What did he mean?
“Not a chance.” The younger male seemed to understand more than she did about Grif’s intent. “She’s not one of us.”
“Malin, I’m not going to tell you again. Quiet.” The third male sounded a little less calm than before. “The commander won’t want her at the settlement. Not now.”
“I prefer her with me, anyway.” Grif hadn’t even hesitated.
Her breathing hitched.
Another long pause. “Clearly, her time here has not been a pleasure cruise.” The third man spoke once more, the rattle of chains made her think he’d nudged her restraints with his boot. “Why would she agree to come with you?”
“Agree or not, she’s coming.” The steel in Grif’s voice was familiar, thick with the same hard command he’d used with her when he’d strapped her down. “I’ll take full responsibility for her and her actions.”
Her body responded immediately, the area between her thighs heating as the urge to please washed over her. She hated it, and wanted more.
“No one is going to like having a hostile in our midst during the mission, and what if you have to keep her confined?” barked the angry male. “That will cause even more tension. You saw how Lana reacted to even the sight of the manacles. The people we’ve rescued have been through enough.”
Unwanted again. Ostracized. She’d had enough of that to last a lifetime.
“How can you be assured she won’t be plotting revenge and escape at every turn?” questioned the third male.
“I will handle it,” growled Grif. “I will handle every fucking thing when it comes to Nayla.”
“The fate of prisoners is something we all decide.” The angry male’s voice had dropped to an even more menacing rumble.
“I’m not bringing her along as a prisoner. I’m bringing her as mine.”
Shocked silence.
It mirrored Nayla’s own.
“That’s, ah…” the calmer male recovered first. “Do you…love her?”
“Love?” Grif’s shout echoed through the cave. “Hells. You see everything through romance-covered glasses now that you’re with Jade. That’s nice for