Through our bond, I felt his confusion swiftly transform into something fierce—he’d expected to wake beside his newenax, to spend the morning exploring this fragile and new permanentconnection between us. Instead, he watched me transform from lover to leader in the space of a heartbeat.
I couldn’t comfort him. Not now.
I expanded my mental web, reaching through my bonds with practiced precision. Kaede’s thread pulsed with that barely-leashed terror. V’dim and Z’fir’s shared connection hummed with sharp alarm as they moved in perfect synchronization somewhere nearby.
And from Destima, across the vast distance of space, my Favored radiated concern through their strained faint bonds. They’d felt it too—the ripple of wrongness that had shattered our clan’s peace. Odelm’s empathic sensitivity made him a tuning fork for collective emotion; he was probably drowning in the fear pouring off from the others. Xylo would be steadying him, preparing medical supplies, doing what healers do when war looms.
Zyxel’s new crimson thread pulsed alongside the others, still learning its place in my web. Still adjusting to beingpermanent.
“Selena.”Vowels stirred within me, his golden presence unfurling from wherever he’d retreated during my night with Zyxel.“Something approaches. Something I haven’t felt in a long time.”
My blood chilled. Vowels had existed for longer than most species remembered. If something madehimpause...
“What do you mean?” I asked aloud, drawing confused looks from both males.
“I don’t know yet.”His voice carried something I’d never heard from him before—uncertainty, suddenly sounding unsure.“But it tastes like extinction.”
Stars help us.
“Move.” Kaede snagged my satchel and pressed it into Zyxel’s hands as he passed, Ryzen’s spirit dagger bundled carefully inside. Then his grip closed around my wrist—not gentle, notrough. Efficient. He pulled me toward the tent’s exit. “The clan’s vessels are prepared for departure. Z called an emergency council.”
“Wait.” Zyxel’s voice cut through, sharper than I expected. His gaze dropped briefly to the satchel now in his hands—recognition flashing there—before his naga form coiled upright, clawed fingers flexing at his sides. “You can’t just drag her through the festival grounds. If there’s been an attack—”
“My drones are tracking every potential threat within the city.” Kaede didn’t break stride. “I know exactly what’s out there. What I don’t know is how long we have before things escalate.”
Zyxel shifted, snagging his own satchel and slinging it over his shoulder as Kaede swept a hand downward, fingers closing around the privacy shield. The sphere collapsed at once, the barrier dissolving as the noise and chaos beyond the villa’s walls surged back in, suddenly overwhelming.
“What of our children?” I cursed myself, frustrated that my wristband wasn’t on me. Hated that I couldn’t track them myself. “And the rest of the clan?”
“They await aboard for their mother.” Kaede shot me a glance, mouth pinched. “We didn’t wake you until we were ready to leave. You needed sleep—especially now.”
The villa’s private courtyard had transformed. Where yesterday there had been quiet servants and the gentle splash of fountains, now Aldawi females streamed past in battle harnesses, their fur bristling with barely contained fury. They moved with purpose—not fleeing butpreparing.
I stopped short, caught off guard by the sight of it—by how the celebration had been stripped away, scraped from the place like skin, leaving something raw and suddenly angry in its wake.
An older female paused mid-stride, her amber eyes locking onto mine. She dropped to one knee, fist to chest. “Beacon. We march to defend our empire.” Her voice rang with fierce pride.“The Quaww think they can strike while we celebrate? They’ll learn their mistake.”
More females echoed the gesture—warriors leaving families behind, leaving safety behind. Some moved with veteran confidence. Others wore new harnesses still stiff with unused straps, determination carved into faces that hadn’t seen real combat yet.
A young mother pressed a cub into her sister’s arms, her expression fierce even though her child reached out for her, wailing. “Watch her. I’ll be back.” She strapped a blade to her hip and joined the stream of warriors without looking back.
“For the Beacon!” someone shouted, and the cry rippled through the gathering crowd. “For the Empire!”
My throat tightened.
These were my people.MyAldawi, willing to lay down their lives for an empire they believed in—and for a Beacon they’d only met a handful of days ago.
“Selena.” Kaede’s grip tightened. “We don’t have time.”
I pulled against him, turning to the kneeling female. “Rise. All of you.” My voice steadied even as my pulse climbed. “May the Stars guide your blades and return you home.”
The female’s eyes blazed. “We will make them bleed for every inch of Aldawi space, Beacon. This I swear.”
Then she was gone, swept up in the tide of warriors streaming toward the transports bound for the main spaceport on the shore. More females followed, some pausing to bow their heads in my direction. Others didn’t—too focused, too locked in on their mission to spare even a glance.
The ground trembled beneath their synchronized footfalls—thousands of warriors answering the call.
A figure peeled away from the flow of warriors, moving with quiet authority. She was tall even among the others—an Aldawi female with burnt-orange fur patterned in creamy white swirls.Keen green eyes met Selena’s as she came to a halt before us, fist pressed to her chest in salute. Recognition flickered there.Eshe.
