Looking past Sasha, Dan gasped in shock, "You're alive!"

Everyone turned to see who Dan was looking at. Hope stood beside a medic; he was in the process of scanning her as well.

Seeing Dan, Hope carefully rushed to him and threw her arms around him, sobbing. He couldn't return the gesture; his hands were still bound with wrist cuffs as he waited to be checked by the medic.

Hope let go of Dan, stepping back to scan him. "Why are you bound? What did you do?" she asked him, her hands pressed on her overly thin hips. Her voice was still scratchy and weak from her ordeal.

Dan smiled. "Hi, Hope. I'm so glad you're alive. I'm bound because I was at the battle yesterday. Your brother is leading the Militia against the aliens and anyone protecting them," he told her gently. He was a big believer in speaking the truth, no matter how bad it was, and Hope deserved to know what her brother was doing.

Hope's face paled even more than it already was. She was still recovering from her near-death experience, trapped in one of the tunnel rooms as three zombies waited for her to exit. She nearly starved to death, unable to leave the room without being eaten by the zombies.

"My brother is the one leading them?" she asked, horrified. She knew her brother and was not surprised by the news. However, the fact that he led them was the problem. He had a mean, deranged streak that she couldn't explain. It was something she tried to forget.

Dan bent down and kissed her forehead. Seeran flinched at the gesture, but neither Hope nor Dan noticed. "It's worse than you think, Hope. He plans to chain up every living human female in an underground tunnel to be used as breeders to repopulate the earth. He plans on letting anyone and everyone do what they want to them."

"Is that why you left him and came here?" Hope asked him; her voice was low. It was obvious that she was trying not to cry. It was also clear that she wasn't surprised her brother would do something like that.

"No hope. He killed an alien and made a stew from the flesh. He tried to make us eat it," he stated evenly. "He's going too far. I can't sit back and watch him as he gets worse."

Tears suddenly fell from her eyes as she moved to Seeran. He put one arm around her, kissing her temple. He still had one hand on Dan's upper arm. He still had a job to do. Dan looked between the two.

"Hope is your mate, isn't she?" he asked Seeran. He didn't seem upset about it; From what he'd seen. She would be protected, even from her brother.

Seeran, still holding Hope as she cried into his chest, nodded.

Sasha's voice came from behind. "Are you sure that's what he plans? Imprisoning all the remaining females so all the men could forcibly violate them?" she asked, horrified by the news. She knew he could be bad, but she didn't think he would go that far.

Dan looked over at Sasha. "Yes, and he wanted you the most."

Sasha's face paled. "We need to stop him. That's not right." She stated, swallowing hard. There was someone in her life who had something like that happen to her. She vowed to do everything she could to protect those who were faced with that kind of treatment.

Dan looked at Sasha. "That's why I'm here. I want to stop him. I want to stop all of his deranged plans."

Seeran bent down and whispered to Hope to go back to the medic so he could finish scanning her. Medic Kaul moved to follow Seeran and the sisters who were escorting Dran into a private room.

Medic Kaul took out a set of male clothing resembling a karate Gi. The material was light and breezy. They were the same as the female gowns were.

The sisters each took a stance on either side of the door, watching the medic do his work and staying out of the way.

Dan's bindings were removed, and all his clothes were taken from him. His face turned a little pink with the sisters watching. It made him feel uncomfortable, but he didn't say anything. After putting on the Gi, Medic Kaul scanned him.

"There are no signs of contamination or disease. He needs food; he hasn't eaten in over 24 hours," he stated, giving Seeran a meaningful look. He was basically telling Seeran that he hadn't consumed the stew that Travis had provided.

Seeran nodded, then looked at Dan. "Council Leader Vorik is going to want to speak with you."

Dan nodded, "Yeah, I figured."

Seeran escorted Dan out, the sisters flanking him as they walked to the new council room. When they got inside, Council Leader Vorik was sitting at the council table, Alice on his lap as he nuzzled her neck and gently stroked her swollen belly.

Dan couldn't help himself; he smiled. He was witnessing, yet again, the effects of the mating bond, making him want it even more.

Seeran cleared his throat to get Vorik's attention. Vorik sighed loud enough for all to hear. Alice got up, kissed him gently, then left the room. Dan watched as Council Leader Vorik watched her exit the room, a longing in his eyes.

Finally turning away from his mate, he looked at Dan.

"You came to the city. What do you want?" he asked with no preamble. "Yesterday, you came here, attacking with your friends. We have quite a few people, including humans, that we need to protect. Your group is making it hard for us to do that. It's bad enough that we have to worry about zombies; now we have to worry about military groups like your friends."

Dan swallowed hard; he knew the council leader was right. "I'm sorry, sir, but I came here to help you stop them. I will give you whatever information I can to help you stop them."

Vorik studied him for a moment. Looking between Seeran, Niki, and then Aleigha, he then faced Dan and gestured for him to sit.

Seeran helped Dan sit in a chair that was placed in front of the council table.

"You want to tell me something? What is it? You came here to tell me something, or you wouldn't have come," Council Leader Vorik stated, maintaining eye contact with Dan.

Dan suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I didn't really come up with a plan. When we left after the battle, I wanted to stay here in the dome rather than going back with Travis. I saw what happened between Sasha and her mate. I have to admit, I want that too. I went back with them; Everything that took place swirled in my mind during the entire drive back to camp. When we got back, I set up my tent and just sat there thinking about it. Then I thought about what Travis wanted about the breeding and knew I didn't want to stay with him. I was planning on playing dead so he would leave me behind the next time he attempted to attack, but that decision changed when I went to dinner. I was handed a bowl of stew, and when I looked inside it, there was alien flesh. He had killed one of your kind and tried to feed it to us," he suddenly flinched. "I'm sorry, I don't think your people are an, it; I just don't know if who he killed was male or female. I mean no disrespect in my use of the word, it." Dan explained. "I set my bowl down and went straight for my tent. On the way back to my tent, I looked at the people at the campfire and noticed I wasn't the only one who didn't like what we were being given. I didn't stay to see what happened with everyone else. I went into my tent, grabbed my stuff, and headed for here while they were distracted."

"So you didn't actually have a plan when you got here?" Council Leader Vorik questioned. He leaned forward, staring at Dan, making him even more uncomfortable.

"No, Sir. I just knew I needed to leave. I've known him most of my life. He has always had a mean streak. After the invasion, I found he was hiding a lot more than a mean streak, and he is getting worse," Dan stated, swallowing hard. "He needs to be stopped."

Niki took that moment to speak. "Apparently, this ass hat, Travis, is the leader of this militia, who is also Seeran's mate's older brother. He plans to chain up all remaining females so they can be forcibly taken by anyone and everyone who wants to touch them. He wants them to breed regardless of whether they want it or not." She stated. Her disgust with the man in question was apparent.

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