Bound by Romig Aleatha

Author:Romig, Aleatha
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Romig Works
Published: 2019-08-12T16:00:00+00:00

Jack

Nearly forty-eight hours earlier

The reprieve Pierce and I’d enjoyed from the Sovereign Order wasn’t without cost. Pierce had no clue of the extensive correspondence I still had with the Order. It wasn’t like we’d joined the fucking Boy Scouts and one day decided we were too cool, throwing away our blue uniforms and replacing them with football jerseys.

The Order didn’t work that way. It also didn’t forget.

Investments.

That was what every member of the Order was considered, an investment for the greater good. Not all of us were brought back from the brink of death as Pierce had been. Others were brought back from psychological terrors and others from more self-inflicted defeats. Mine had been a failure to follow command. It had the potential to become a scandal capable of stripping me of all military honors, the repercussions of which could leave a dark stain on my great military family. I was the youngest in a line of career military.

The day I agreed to enter the Order was the day I officially died. The woman I’d left stateside, my parents, siblings, and even my grandfather—still alive at the time—were notified of my demise.

The option to inform them of anything different was taken from me without consideration for the consequences. They would learn of my death and I would continue, or they would learn of my death and they’d see me in a box. In that reality, my choices gave me an opportunity to right the wrong I’d committed. As I was often reminded, it was an honor bestowed on few.

Court-martialing was off the table. That would require testimony. It would shine a light, making both my crime and the actions of others known to more than the few. That spotlight would also have brought shame on my family. That option was eradicated from the equation the moment I gave my life to the Sovereign Order.

I continued to take breaths as my remains were gathered, sealed in a military vault, and sent back to the States. The Sovereign Order’s gesture gave my family something to see and mourn, offering them closure as they said goodbye to the man who died as a hero.

Nothing prepares a man or woman for the intense transition of entering the Order.

Physical and psychological training superseded anything I’d endured in my first life. Grueling repetition as my body became stronger and my mind focused on the only thing that mattered. The three words were synonyms for the one true meaning.

Country.

Republic.

Democracy.

The crime I’d committed was buried. The man I’d killed lost forever.

I later learned it had been my commitment to country over rank that earned me the honor of entering the Order. The battle had been fierce and casualties great. I’d followed orders and taken my battalion into dangerous conditions. We were ready. We were elite fighters.

It wasn’t until it was almost too late that I realized we’d been set up, sacrificed. It wasn’t until I stared my motherfucking lieutenant in the eye that I knew...

He’d sold us out.

I wasn’t certain why.

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