It didn’t.
“Your cortisol levels are elevated,”REI observed.“You’ve been standing at this console for three hours without rest. Heart rate increased seventeen percent since you began reviewing CEG security protocols.”
“I’ll rest when she’s safe.”
“Define safe. In your current state of hypervigilance, I doubt any condition would satisfy your parameters.”
Kaede’s jaw tightened. REI wasn’t wrong. That made it worse.
“Sheissafe,”her Oetsae continued.“The villa’s perimeter is secured. The Fab Five are deployed. Eshe is guarding her and the clan. Nothing is amiss planetside. I made sure of that. Z wouldn’t have any complaints.”
The mention of Z sent a ripple of something complicated through Kaede’s chest. Pride in his leader’s thoroughness. Frustration that the male wasn’t allowing others to share the burden. The Sovereign wouldn’t let anyone in. Not even Selena, which had caused enough damage to their relationship and with her confidence and self-worth.
Kaede wasn’t surprised that Z had reached for Royak without hesitation, pulling him in at his side like it was the most natural thing in the galaxy. Those two had always worked side by side, even though their planned positions were now reversed. And Masmi, too. Not as decoration. Not as a token. As support with weight. With teeth.
It was… change. The kind that didn’t happen in speeches. The kind that happened when a Sovereign acted, tossing old traditions away for what mattered: survival and justice.
Females had always carried the empire on their backs. Supply lines. Logistics. Triage. Quiet sacrifices no one bothered to sing about. But this was different. This was Z saying aloud what the old guard hated:they fight too.Not just to win a war—but to mend the generational fracture that had taught half their people to shrink themselves down.
Kaede could respect that.
He could also respect the strategy.
Guarding the Lunkai Sol system wasn’t glamour. It was necessity. It was the spine of everything they couldn’t afford to lose: Liskta, the origin planet. Lunkai, the new Aldawi capital.And Destima—its orbiting moon, sanctuary built around the Beacon and her refugees.
If Destima fell, the war wouldn’t matter. Not really.
Yet behind it all, guilt twisted in Kaede’s gut—sharp and mean. How dare he feelanythingabout this, feel frustration clawing at him, when Z was already racing toward the front to keep the empire from collapsing.
He belonged at Selena’s side. That was his assignment. His purpose. His penance and his privilege all at once: keep her safe, keep the cubs safe, make sure no one got close enough to breathe on them—much less touch.
No one reached his star.
Not while he still had blood in his veins.
“Eshe is competent.”Kaede acknowledged it without turning from the display as tension coiled in his muscles like a predator scenting blood.“But she’s limited. Her shadow abilities are defensive at best—positioning, extraction, tactical withdrawal. When we reach the CEG, we won’t have the villa’s security systems. We won’t have the Fab Five. We’ll have whatever we bring with us.”
And that was the problem.
Kaede pulled up another display, this one showing the proposed team composition for the CEG mission. Him. Ryzen. Zyxel. Eshe. Four individuals responsible for protecting the most important person in the galaxy while she stood before beings who might want her dead.
Three of them had abilities that complemented each other. Mental coordination. Ranged precision. Close-quarters dominance.
One did not.
His gaze lingered on Zyxel’s file, the image showing the serpent’s crimson-scaled Ezzaska form. A medic’s profile. Healing certifications. Notes about his species’ unique geneticadaptation capabilities—the same capabilities that ran through Selena’s blood, making her something the galaxy had never seen before.
Nothing about combat readiness outside playful skirmishes at the asteroid base.
Nothing about working as part of a unit.
And worst of all, that form would draw attention the moment they set foot on the CEG station. His Ezzaska form didn’t exist within this galaxy and the Rkekh were supposed to be extinct, hunted to near-annihilation by the Yarrkins. The Verya had continued that work in their own galaxy. If anyone recognized what Zyxel truly was—if they connected his genetics to Selena’s unique biology—
The implications cascaded through Kaede’s tactical mind like falling petals.
“REI, send a summons to Zyxel. My location. Immediately.”
“Transmitting. Should I include context for the request?”
