I love you. I’m terrified. I don’t know how to leave you. I don’t know how to stay.
She kissed him back with equal ferocity, her fingers threading through his mane, her body pressing as close as her soft belly would allow.
When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathing hard.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Selena whispered against his lips. “The place where no one can find us. The peace we deserve.”
“It’s a vow, not a promise. Unbreakable.”
Her smile was small and sad and fierce all at once. “Then I have something to look forward to. Something to hold onto when you’re gone.”
The word gone landed like a psyblade between his ribs.
But she was already taking his hand, tugging him toward the villa path. “Come. The clan is waiting.”
“Selena—”
“One last night.” She turned back to him, her spots shifting through deeper shades of violet. The color of longing. Of love so intense it ached. “Before dawn takes you away. I need all of you—every male in my constellation. I need to feel complete one more time before the war fractures everything.”
Zirene followed without another word.
The need to hold onto something precious before it slipped away.
He shouldn’t be comfortable leaving his Nova behind. Everything in him screamed to stay, to abandon the war, to let the empire burn if it meant keeping her safe within arm’s reach.
But she wasn’t alone.
She had Kaede, whose protective instincts rivaled Zirene’s own. Xylo, who would tend to her health with scholarly dedication. Odelm, whose devotion ran so deep it bordered on worship. The princes, whose combined strength could hold off armies. And Zyxel, the newest addition, still learning the shape of this family but already committed beyond measure.
She had friends who’d become family—ambassadors and allies who’d proven their loyalty through trial after trial. She had cubs who adored her, royal guards who’d die for her, a whole planet that had become sanctuary.
Selena would be fine.
She had to be fine.
Because if Zirene let himself believe otherwise, he’d never be able to board that ship tomorrow. Never be able to do what duty demanded.
The villa’s lights glowed warm through the windows as they approached—a beacon in the darkness, promising shelter and love and one last night of peace before the storm.
He would carry this image with him into battle. The warmth of her hand in his. The way moonlight caught her silver hair. The sound of her voice saying I will have you until the stars burn out.
The Stars wouldn’t destroy what they had. Not after everything they’d survived—the captivity, the trials, the political machinations, the enemies who’d tried to tear them apart again and again.
Would they?
Zirene pushed the question aside as they reached the door.
Tomorrow was for war. For duty. For the weight of the crown he’d never wanted.
Tonight was for his family.
Whatever the Fates had in store for them, he would face it.
But first, he would have this.
One last night. One last taste of the peace she’d given him.
And a vow, burning in his chest like a second heartbeat: he would find his way back to her. Across any distance. Through any war. Against any enemy.
