Forced Bonds (The Bonds That Tie, #4)(10)

I’m still furious that our time together had been cut short thanks to the attack, finding out about the Shield’s death, Sage’s possible betrayal, and now trying to figure out what the hell is really going on around here. Knowing that she's going to sleep in someone else’s bed tonight is incredibly frustrating, especially since North had kept her in his rooms for days after they’d bonded. Not that I’m pissed at Oli, none of this is her doing. Having five Bonds to split her time with would be fucking hard in the best of circumstances.

The poor girl has to deal with five alpha males with huge egos, overprotective tendencies, and impossible safety standards… not to mention Nox fucking Draven’s issues here.

The streets are still looking as though the Resistance came here on a mission just to destroy as much as they could which, honestly, might be the case. There’s a reason their camps are all made out of temporary structures; cheaper, easy to replace, and everyone who lives amongst the tents are entirely disposable to the higher families of the East Coast.

Even Silas Davies.

Sure, he’s powerful. Really fucking powerful. The type that makes warning bells sound in your head the moment you step into a room with him, but he’s not at the top of the food chain. Someday, I’ll talk to Oli about him… about where he sits, about who he’s Bonded to, about all of his weaknesses and the ways that the higher families keep him in line.

Someday, when her best friend isn’t in question and she’s not completely fucking fried by the fact that maybe we’ve all been flirting with the goddamn enemy here.

I find Shore in the small town square area with a group of TacTeam personnel surrounding him. Black isn't there, thank God, and I would have a lot to say if he had been given an out just because of his high position within Shore’s team. Rockelle is there though, and when he spots me coming, a sly smirk stretches across his smug, mouthy-asshole face.

When he opens his mouth, Shore cuts him off before he can let out any of the bullshit brewing in his brain. “Focus, Rockelle, we're not here to talk shit. We're here to get this mess cleaned up and the holes in the security fixed before nightfall. Get your head on straight before I get you removed from rounds and put on probation.”

Rockelle doesn’t let the threat to his job affect him in the slightest. Instead, he jerks his head in my direction and snarks back, “Oh, my head is where it needs to be, but I doubt yours will be for much longer. No doubt there'll be an exception for your Bond Group bullshit though, won't there?”

If I were a Rockelle’s superior, I would have knocked him on his ass for that disrespect. Sure enough, the look that Shore gives him would make a much stronger man’s balls shrivel away to fucking pebbles.

His voice is light in a very obviously fake way as he says, “I’ll see you at the training rooms tomorrow morning, first shift. I’ve needed a new training partner. Good of you to offer.”

The guys surrounding them both start to snicker and murmur to each other and finally Rockelle looks as though he’s regretting opening his stupid fucking mouth.

His mouth is downturned and his tone is rueful as he gripes, “I’m not in the first rounds. I was assigned the third so that I can check over new recruits—“

Shore cuts him off. “And now I’m reassigning you to the first rounds. If you have any complaints, feel free to go and raise them with my superior.”

Rockelle pulls a face and turns away from him, muttering under his breath, “You don’t have one.”

Shore turns to face Rockelle fully and the way he moves is deceiving. You’d guess he was a Shifter or some other physically Gifted with the sheer presence he has when he’s pissed off, but then I guess the level of Neuro he is isn’t something to be taken lightly.

My father would sell his soul to have access to the inner thoughts of others like that.

Shore’s voice drips with derision as he says, “Exactly. No one cares about your opinion on how things are done around here. You’ve gotten away with too much because of your counselor daddy, but that ends here. Shut your mouth and get back to work. All of you.”

The group disperses quickly, none of the other personnel have a single thing to say back to their commanding officer. Shore stays with his back to me until he’s sure they’re all heading off to where he’s assigned them. Rockelle practically runs away from us both.

I scoff at the sight of it which catches Shore’s attention. He finally looks over his shoulder to acknowledge me, his face hard. The scar on his face is darker with the exhaustion he’s clearly feeling. It makes him look older and angrier, but I’m sure the weight of the day is heavy on his shoulders.

He and Draven both carry the brunt of it all to keep the Bond Group, and more importantly, Oli, safe.

“What can I do for you, Bassinger? I thought we already assigned you cleanup duties.”

I shrug. “I’ve given them to Ardern. We thought it would be smarter if I went to speak to my sister, to see if we could figure this shit with Benson out a little faster.”

That gets his attention.

He turns on his heel to face me fully and says, “You want to speak to her? That was one of your hard lines. You really think she’s going to know something?”

I let out a frustrated breath and try not to just shrug at him again. This feels like another interrogation, and I have to remind myself that he’s doing all of this for Oli. We’re all doing it for Oli.