She Abandoned Our Wedding Four Times, So I Married the Gover

The alarms started blaring the moment I got back to base.

A quartermaster rushed toward us with a temperature-controlled case. "We've got an S-class beast tide! Neural load is expected to reach 90 percent."

He opened the case. "This serum protects your nervous system from overload. One dose each."

Before I could take mine, someone tugged gently on Sienna's uniform.

Ryan.

He looked pale, his eyes red and his hand trembling.

"Sienna, the mutants sound terrifying. My hands are shaking so badly I can barely hold the control stick."

He swallowed hard. "Without the serum, someone as useless as me would probably die in that cockpit. But that's okay. I'm just scared I'll never see you again."

Sienna's face immediately softened.

She reached past me, took both doses from the case, and pressed them into Ryan's hands.

"Don't be scared. I'm here. I won't let anything happen to you. You're too frail to take any chances, so keep both doses."

My hand stopped halfway to the case.

"Sienna, one of those doses is mine."

I forced down my disbelief. "The co-pilot in a two-pilot mecha takes 60 percent of the neural load. My brain won't be able to handle it without the serum."

When Sienna turned to me, the tenderness she'd shown Ryan was gone. Her expression hardened, though a hint of pleading remained in her eyes.

She stepped closer and gently brushed my cheek, her gaze softening.

"Kane, I know this isn't fair to you. But you're the best co-pilot on this base. You have incredible mental strength. You can make it through without the serum, can't you?"

She sighed. "Ryan can't. He's an orphan, and I'm all he has. He barely passed the B-class assessment. Without both doses, he could die out there. Kane, you love me. Just let him have it for my sake, okay?"

I stared at the woman who never stopped talking about love. My chest tightened.

She wanted me to risk my life just to indulge Ryan?

When I said nothing, Ryan's eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Sienna, is this my fault? Did I make you two fight? Kane's right. I don't deserve something this valuable." He choked back a sob and held the doses out to me, but never actually let go. "I should give them back. At worst, I'll die in the contamination zone. As long as you two are safe."

"Nonsense!" Sienna pulled him into her arms. When she looked at me again, her disappointment was obvious. "Kane, you were never this selfish before. It's just one dose. Do you really have to fight a poor orphan over it?"

I said nothing as I stared at her familiar face.

Ten years ago, my former captain had held my hand on his deathbed and asked me to take care of Sienna.

He'd saved my life three times in that battle.

So I'd made myself a promise. No matter what Sienna did, I would forgive her three times.

I lowered my hand and kept my voice calm. "Fine. I'll go without."

Sienna sighed in relief, then took Ryan with her to inspect the mecha.

I watched them leave side by side.

A humorless laugh came from behind me.

Eve Cromwell, governor of Base Seven, walked over in a crisp black uniform.

"You're actually going to take on an S-class overload without the serum?" She held my gaze. "Once your nervous system collapses, you'll be permanently disabled. Is a woman who doesn't love you really worth that?"

"She's my former captain's daughter." I looked away.

"You've spent ten years as her co-pilot. You paid off that debt a long time ago." Eve stepped closer.

"Kane, you're the only person in the Alliance who can pilot a mecha alone. Why do you keep putting up with this?"

I looked at her.

Eve had liked me for years. Everyone on the base knew it.

Sienna knew it too, but she'd never seen Eve as a threat.

She'd always believed I'd stay by her side forever.

"Even so..." I took a deep breath. "I'll give her two more chances. If she still treats me this way, I'll leave."

Eve blinked, then smiled.

"All right, Kane. I'll be waiting."