Grace Goodwin - The Colony Boxed Set 1

“John called me. The judge denied his petition to keep you isolated,” Warden Egara told her. Her matter-of-fact tone was working on Rachel. While she wasn’t calming down, her anxiety and anger wasn’t escalating either. “You will be moved to the general population in three days.”

“So?” Rachel asked.

“So, whomever framed you for your crimes doesn’t want you to have your day in court. You won’t live to present the evidence at your appeal.”

Rachel’s mouth fell open and she stared at the warden.

“What you uncovered was dangerous to many. Keeping you alive only increases the chance for the truth to come out.”

“I gave the truth to my lawyer.”

The warden nodded. “Yes, he told me. He will continue to work your case, to seek justice, but that struggle would become unnecessary if you were dead.”

Maxim growled and pushed Rachel behind him. Warden Egara held up her hands. “I am not threatening her, just stating facts.”

Rage boiled on a low simmer in my body, but Maxim’s reaction was telling. He was always calm, always in control. He knew, as well as I did, that the warden was no threat to our mate. As I suspected, Rachel’s curves, her nearness, her scent, were pushing Maxim to the edge. I’d never seen him so riled, not even when we were being tortured by the Hive.

“Five grand, Rachel. That’s all it takes. You go into general population and you’ll be dead within a week.”

Rachel pushed against Maxim and moved around him to stand toe to toe with the warden. Bless the fire of these Earth women, the warden did not back down.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Go with your mates, Rachel. It’s not safe for you on Earth any longer.”

Ryston

“I want to talk to my lawyer. Now.”

From the gleam in Rachel’s eyes, I knew she was adamant. We weren’t getting her to transport without the conversation.

“Very well.” The warden turned to an underling who was looking on, gave the signal for the request to be put through.

Rachel paced the transport room as we waited.

“Rachel?” A male voice came through some speakers hidden in the wall.

She looked up, hope alighting her beautiful features. “Hi, John. I was…um, broken out of jail.”

“Yes, I’ve heard. I got a call a few minute ago.” He paused and there was silence in the room. “Warden Egara did the right thing. Going off planet is the only thing guaranteed to keep you alive.”

“But—”

“You will be dead before the week is out. The women who are serving life sentences without parole have nothing to lose. They will kill you and there will be no consequences for them. For you…”

He didn’t finish. He didn’t have to.

“This is bullshit. This can’t be happening.” Her voice broke then and tears slipped down her cheeks. I looked to Maxim to go to her, to soothe her, but he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not yet.

“Do you want to die?” Warden Egara asked.

Rachel wiped the tears from her cheeks with the backs of her hands. “Of course not! But I want to be able to decide my own fate!”

“Rachel,” the lawyer’s voice cut through the room. “You do have a choice. You go back to jail and wait for a shiv in the shower, or you go with your mates to a new world and you live.”

“It is your choice,” Warden Egara added.

“Those aren’t the choices I want. I want to go home, to my job, to my fucking cat!”

“That life is gone. I will work on the appeal, on seeing justice done, but you need to take care of yourself. Get the hell out of here,” John insisted.

She spun and faced us, her hair swirling over her shoulders as she moved. “I don’t know you. Either of you.”

Maxim finally spoke up. He put his hand to his broad chest. “You know me, here. The match, it was almost perfect. Our minds need time to catch up. Deep down, you know I will take care of you.”

“This isn’t what I wanted,” she countered, studying our sizes as she crossed her arms over her chest. So brave.

Maxim slowly shook his head. “I am sorry, mate. But I just found you. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t stand by and allow you to risk your life.”

She sighed, turned away. She ran a hand over her face, groaned in frustration. “God. This is unreal.”

“You will die, Rachel,” the lawyer repeated. “Go. Fuck all these bastards. Get the hell out of here. You have a chance at a new life. Live it.”

She shook her head, but the lawyer couldn’t see her. “This isn’t my life,” she repeated.

“It is now.”

Turning on her heel, she faced Warden Egara. “The rules of the Interstellar Brides Program state that I have thirty days to accept my match, correct?”

The warden nodded while my stomach plummeted. I wasn’t familiar enough with the rules of the match to have known this.

“That is correct. You may refuse the match within thirty days, however—” the warden walked over and took Rachel’s hand, “—you have been matched to The Colony, therefore if you reject Maxim and his second, the testing center will match you to another warrior there. You will not come back to Earth.”

“You came back,” Rachel countered. “Surely, other brides have come back.”

The warden’s face smoothed out, hiding all emotion. “Yes, I did. As have two others. Each incident was a very special case, nothing like yours. A woman matched to Trion returned recently, but her mate was believed dead and she was transported in the middle of a battle. She has since returned to Trion with her son. My mates were both killed by the Hive and I accepted reassignment to assist others in finding happiness. Your men are alive and no longer fighting on the front lines. There is peace on The Colony and your match is strong. You may choose to be matched to another, if these two fail to win you over, but you will not return.”

“Make your choice, Rachel,” the lawyer said. “You’re an escaped convict now and while I can smooth things over, the longer I take to respond, the worse it will be for you if you decide to go back to prison.”

Rachel’s agitation spiked and she ripped her hand from the warden’s to pace, her hands trembling. I ached to pull her into my arms, but I didn’t dare touch her. It seemed she would shatter with the slightest increase in pressure. And I also knew she would not be happy with what came next. Maxim stood, his face expressionless, as he waited for her decision. But the Prillon collar we’d brought for her hung limply in his palm. That collar would connect our mate to both of us in the most intimate bond possible. Her emotions would become ours. She would become acutely aware of exactly how badly I wanted her. Combined with what I knew Maxim must be feeling, I had no doubt our volatile little mate would be overwhelmed.

Tense silence stretched as Rachel rubbed her hands over her face and neck, through her hair in self-soothing gestures I longed to handle for her. The tenderness welling up within me was both welcome and completely unexpected. I’d been a hard fucking bastard for a long time. I’d believed myself incapable of such soft feelings. But that was the miracle of a mate and I prayed to the gods she would not refuse us.

“Fine. Fine! I’ll go.” She didn’t sound convinced, but that didn’t matter. She’d agreed. Once we had her on The Colony, we could show her how much we wanted her. Needed her. She would discover what it meant to be loved and protected by two ruthless Prillon warriors.