How could he be so dimwitted?
Even with the short time Selena spent with him, Kaede knew she preferred being told the truth and having all the facts from the beginning. Yes, Kaede knew he had been blunt with her, but after she cooled down, she realized he was right, even if his way of expressing it may not have been the most tactful. Something about her always made him say the wrong thing.
But it didn’t matter, for he could not—would not—pursue Selena. She was Prince Zirene’s Nova, first and foremost. Xylo was a mistake, her foolish actions resulting in their court bonding, and she didn’t want to break it because she hoped he would always protect her. She took Odelm in because she pitied him. And the banished Circuli princes? The only reason she court-bonded with them was to reward them and protect them from their mothers. That was it—a political arrangement.
Kaede was furious Selena had gathered these Circuli males who didn’t deserve her.
He was the one who hunted for her for nine years—who fought and killed to bring her to where she belonged. If any male other than Prince Zirene should be at her side, it should be him.
It should be him watching her right now, guarding her on her first night away from her nestmates willingly.
Kaede halted in his tracks and growled, turning toward his display wall. In a moment of rage, when he’d ported infrom his argument with Selena, he had put the four drones assigned to following her on passive mode, not wanting to be reminded of her dismissal of him in favor of his sisters, whom she had just met.
How could she blindly trust them?
They were his sisters and wouldn’t do anything to harm her, but they also were known for getting carried away. It was something they couldn’t afford to do—especially when they weren’t on their own turf.
He refused to believe it was jealousy he felt, so he settled on the one thing that mattered—she was punishing him for keeping his distance from her. The distance he created in hopes of learning to control himself around her and calming the instincts that had been begging him to track, claim, and protect.
He fell back onto his bed and shut his eyes, allowing his drones to flood his inner vision, sending their feed directly to the A.I. part of his brain and allowing him to expand himself in as many directions as needed.
His control over the drones was personal—they were a part of him in a way no one else in the galaxy could experience. His experience was more personal than ones in dreamdomes used to build worlds or pilot Prince Zirene’s fleet.”
The Aldawi implants were simple imitations of the ones Kaede and his half-sisters had, the Aldawi’s capabilities only a mere fraction of true versions they had.
No one knew that Kaede secretly had a back-up plan if anything went awry. He’d implanted a self-destruct program he could trigger anywhere and at any time if anyone betrayed him, Selena and her clan, or the Aldawi Empire. He would not allow the Aldawi Empire to betray them, and with hisnewfound ability, he could make sure she was safe from harm as long as he had a drone near.
Without his drones, he’d depend on his AI to hack into the system and wreak havoc until he could get to her.
He scanned through his drones; they were all on autopilot and doing whatever task he assigned them. Most were patrolling aimlessly around the space station as they listened to random conversations. Others were following specific targets—politicians and questionable citizens—in hopes of finding any secrets they may be hiding. A select few of them were stalking Selena and her clan members’ every move, making sure they were safe from those around them.
Hundreds of screens minimized, leaving only the six surrounding Selena.
Kaede snarled at what he saw.
Selena was grinding herself all over Qraniebi with his hands all over her.
Something about her movements seemed off. Kaede commanded his drones to focus on her as he zoomed in the extended vision they gave him.
Her eyes were cloudy as she stared aimlessly around the room. Her face and exposed flesh were flushed and sweaty, as her spots glowed pink—something the Ulax saw as arousal, displayed when one was flirting or trying to court someone.
Something triggered deep inside Kaede, and dread filled him.
In an instant, he jolted to his feet as he minimized the screens in his visor, giving him enough space to actually see with his own eyes.
Kaede closed his eyes as he felt his body shift as if itcollapsed into his uniform’s core. In an instant, sounds of the club assaulted his ears as his feet touched solid ground once more. A slight feeling as if his body was expanding washed over him. Now wasn’t the time to readjust himself. He refused to take a precious moment to settle the slight uneasiness that happened whenever he ported.
