“Want to hold her? I believe you haven’t met our daughter,” I whispered, trying not to wake Meti up.
He smiled and held his hands out. “I would love to.”
I passed her to him and watched as he fell for her. I knew females were cherished by both species, but seeing him look down at her in awe, I knew this meant a lot to him. Odelm lay carefully back next to me, placing her in the middle of his chest.
“Our sons are hungry too, Selena,” Xylo whispered.
Looking up at Xylo, I saw he held both of our sons—one in each arm—and was waiting to place them on my chest. I smiled and settled one, helping him latch on, while Xylo helped the other. Their cries stopped as their mouths went straight for my nipples. As they frantically drew, purrs radiated from them both.
I looked down at their downy heads with an indulgent smile.
My sons were nearly identical, but for one minor difference. The one latched onto my left breast had silver fur around his eyes, while the one on the right had a thin silver line along the center of the arch of his nose. Both had my blue-green eyes and shared the same striped fur. Their faces and chests faded from the black of their back and sides, to midnight, and finally to steel. Thin silver stripes patterned the black fur of their back and sides. Both sons had a short tail, black on top and midnight underneath, with a steel tuft at the end.
Their tiny clawed hands kneaded my breasts as they drank hungrily, watching me. I could tell they were going to be fierce like their sire, intense about everything. And they were likely to be very protective of their sister.
“Xylo. What are the Aldawi words for protector or watcher? Perhaps hunter or something along those lines?” I asked as I watched my sons eat.
“Nocrez means dark shield, as in a hidden protector. And Neazzos means shadow, like a forever slayer. Those are fierce names for males who you want to stick together, and I believe, are what you are looking for,” Xylo said with a smile on his face as he lay down next to me, watching our sons drink.
I rubbed the son with the silver highlights around his blue-green eyes. “Your name is Nocrez. You and your brother shall become fast friends with your sister, Meti, and be her protector. The three of you shall stay together, causing mischief wherever you go.”
His eyes drifted closed as he rubbed his head against my hand. His fur felt incredibly soft. Nocrez purred louder and his breathing slowed. He fell asleep on me.
I guess he liked the name.
I slid my hand to our other son, tracing a finger up the thin silver line on his nose, stroking his head, then down his back. His drags on my nipple slowed, and from his half-lidded eyes, I could tell he was about to follow his siblings into sleep.
“And last, but certainly not least, you shall be Neazzos. Our future may be unknown right now, but you will be loved, and we will remain together as a family.”
Neazzos stopped feeding and leaned back against my hand. His lids closed and his purr deepened.
I leaned back with a smile, scanning the room.
Odelm cuddled against me cradling Meti on his chest. Xylo lay on my other side and had just scooped up Nocrez to sleep in his arms. The princes stood beside the nestbed watching me with indulgent smiles as their vines and tentacles entwined. The three healers had their wristband screens up and were typing frantically on them while sitting on the L-shaped couch in the corner.
“Where’s Kaede?”
Epilogue Kaede
I’d known I messed up as soon as I’d opened my mouth to offer to ease her pain. I shouldn’t have allowed her to get under my skin and let me expose myself to those in the room.
I’d planned to stand in the corner, out of sight, and observe. And yet I’d let her tears and her cries break through my detachment, slipping past the wall I’d built to keep everyone out. To keep me focused on the mission.
Although, if I was honest with myself, she had already slipped past my wall. I cared far more than was safe. If anyone tried to harm her or the cubs, I would kill them. It didn’t matter who it was. The lives of Selena and her cubs were worth more to me than the lives of anyone on this ship, my own included. But I couldn’t afford to let her distract me.
And she was a distraction. One I needed to address. I had to find a way to keep her at arm’s length.
This mission was one I could not fail.
Selena didn’t know it, but she had connections to one of the most powerful males in the galaxy. Her cubs' sire would kill anyone that kept her from him or thought to harm them. And once the galaxy found out about Selena and their cubs? There would be plenty trying. Most would fear my client and steer clear, but for some? It would paint a target on Selena and the cubs.
Those were the ones my half-sisters and I would hunt down and kill, while my client kept her safe. Our mission would allow Selena to have the freedom to live her life as she wanted without any fear.
And now I’d allowed my obsession with her to cloud my judgment.
The last nine years my mission—an order only to me—was to search for Selena and bring her back to my client. Yet here I was, tempted by her, jeopardizing the successful completion of my mission.
It had been nine years suffering long periods of isolation. I had not spent much time with my crew—my half-sisters—for most of that time. Their strengths
