The scents from their mating flooded the area.
A scuff from a boot sounded in the shadows, causing his ears to flick in that direction, his tail waving agitatedly.
“What is it, Agent Kaede?”
The familiar figure lurking in the darkness stepped out in front of him. Kaede saluted him before kneeling before him with his head bowed.
“There have been reports of your name being screamed. Some thought you were in trouble. I silenced their doubts, but you may need to make an official statement to put everyone at ease.”
He studied the male before him. Something about the tone of his voice felt as if he was jealous.
“Did you watch?”
Kaede’s hand lightly gripped his knee before he calmed it. If it wasn’t for his Aldawi night vision and his focus on Kaede’s posture, he would have missed it.
“Yes, Sire,” he whispered.
“Is there something I should be worried about?”
Kaede lifted his head, his visor pointed straight at him. “No, Sire.”
“Then my Nova and I will retire for the evening. Please make sure our wing isn’t disturbed.”
Kaede bowed. “As you wish.”
Zirene refrained from saying anything else to the male. Now wasn’t the time to question him any further about his reason for investigating in person. There was no need to visit in person when he had drones and the ability to teleport wherever his drones were.
Zirene stepped into Selena’s private master bedroom and smiled at the scene before him.
Her four nestmates were entangled with each other, sleeping together along the center of the large bed. When Zirene designed this villa for Selena, he filled it with everything she would ever need. He had foreseen she would not stop at taking in her first nestmates, and since the Circuli thrived on sleeping together as a unit, he needed to create a larger version of the nestbed provided on theDestiny. While the Royal Nestbed held eleven, the villa’s version could sleep twenty comfortably, with room to spare.
Zirene assumed every male Selena took in wouldn’t be the same species and they might not be as welcoming to share a bed with other males—with or without Selena. That was one reason why he’d created a whole wing for her potential mates—even if she never filled it with males, they were available if needed. Zirene wasn’t delusional. The more males she took in as mates, the fewer opportunities he would have to touch her—to hold her at night.
The fact they left room for him in the center of the nestbed—finally able to sleep with his Nova tucked in by his side—meant a lot to him. Her nestmates were truly thoughtful males.
Zirene stepped onto the bed, feeling its softness under his feet as he carefully walked over to the clearing, trying not to wake the others. Slowly, he placed Selena onto the bed before lying down himself.
He leaned over and lapped at her open marks, cleansingthem with his saliva that helped heal any damage he made. He hoped they wouldn’t scar; he didn’t want to be the reason for any imperfections on her body.
Satisfied with his work, he grabbed the folded blanket off to the side and thanked whichever nestmate had left it there for him. Careful to not wake her, he pulled it over Selena and him, making sure he covered them both, then threw an arm over Selena’s waist, pulling her closer as his eyelids drooped.
Selena was officially his—finally. He would never let anyone take her away from him—not again. He was willing to share; duty prevented him from always being by her side, and he wouldn’t deny her happiness. Not when her life was filled with darkness. He would be the one to help his Nova shine brightly.
Selena was a female who could both create and end wars—and Zirene would make sure he was on the victorious side, for there was no life without her. A Shadow couldn’t live without his Nova.
EPILOGUE
Kaede
The heavy scent of Selena’s ravishing blanketed the night air. It took all of my control not to step in and throw Prince Zirene off her. How dare he have her scream his name and announce it to the whole island as if he owned her?
No one owned Selena. She was a free female and deserved to be treated as such.
Taking in deep breaths, I paced Selena’s porch and tried to calm myself as I scanned aimlessly through the active drones. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get her taste out of my mouth—her essence tainted every intake of air.
Why did she have to be destined to him?
Out of all the males in the universe the Fates could bind her to, why did it have to be the one male I had sworn myself to?
