The Bear King's Captive: Curvy Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance by Milly Taiden

sir!”
    “And who is the commander, Korhonen?”
    “You are, sir!”
    Hannes picked up the marker. “Dismissed.”
    A nervous mumble circled the team. Hannes had never tossed one of his men from a tactical meeting, but he wasn’t in a tolerant mood.
    Korhonen remained in place. The machine had returned. Hannes turned to him, studied his blank eyes, then pulled the handcuffs from his jacket pocket and tossed them across the table where they slid to a stop in front of Korhonen. “I said you’re dismissed, Lieutenant.”
    Korhonen about-faced and stormed out the room, slamming the half wood, half glass door hard enough to rattle the pane.
    Hannes frowned. Paska . The men looked uncomfortable and worried. Never before had he felt a need to explain his decisions. He ran fingers through his hair. Maybe he was getting too old for this, too soft.
    “You all understand the importance of following orders without question. I would not give you an order I didn’t think was the best at the time of action. In hostile territory, it is my responsibility to keep you men alive. If I have a plan, and you stop to question me, we could all very easily die in a committee. Do you understand what I am saying?”
    His team spoke as one. “Sir, yes, sir!”
    Exhaustion set into his bones. He laid the marker down. “All right, men. We’ll resume later. Dismissed.”
    “Sir, yes, sir!” They filed out the room, re-tracing Korhonen’s blazed trail. When the last man closed the door, Hannes let out a deep sigh.
    This had been coming for some time. He folded the diagram into a small rectangle. Korhonen had been a good soldier and trusted friend for many years. He didn’t want to lose him, but the subtle insubordinations, independent decision-making, and now lying, disrupted the chain of command. And he noticed Korhonen’s bloody, scratched knuckles--not for the first time.
    He worried about Korhonen’s mental stability. Odd that he acted out in front of the men. In the past, he was able to keep everything low key. What was causing him to lose control now? He wanted to review Korhonen’s background investigation file but, unfortunately, that file sat locked away at his villa in Spain. Years had passed since he last reviewed the information. He thought back to the events that brought a young Korhonen to his attention.
                 
    During his last year of high school, Korhonen murdered his father after years of physical, mental, and sexual abuse. After the story of the father’s heinous crimes leaked out, the public became outraged when Korhonen received the maximum sentence for saving his family.
    A considerable amount of media coverage and public opposition convinced officials to offer an unprecedented arrangement. Korhonen had the option to join the military for ten years of service in recompense. This appeased the public’s sense of justice.                            
    According to psychoanalysis, Korhonen’s mind connected his lifetime of pain and suffering with his sister and mother. He took beatings for them, worked long hours in the lumberyards for them, and was punished because of them. Women meant pain. The only way to stop pain was to kill it at the source--take physical control, beat and crush it into the ground.              
    The apple never falls far from the tree.
                 
    A few miscellaneous comments were included, but they weren’t important. Since the ship confined everyone to tight quarters, he’d be patient. No need to further stress or embarrass Korhonen in front of the men. Perhaps he would work out his problems before the situation became dangerous.
    If Korhonen must leave, Hannes wanted it on good terms; he had enough enemies to fight already. The best response was to let this ride, for now. When they reached home, he’d sit down with Korhonen and talk things over.
    The sun cast a rectangular patch of light onto the table. His brain