“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 over, 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 the Destiny. 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 it filled 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, cleansing them 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?
It didn’t matter.
Selena was surrounded by males bonded to her in a way I could never fathom. How could I compete against those who could read her emotions and thoughts and send their own to her? How could I compare myself to Prince Zirene? He was her Shadow, and from what records I could find, his strength was based on his connection with Selena—his Nova. If others thought he was powerful now—to the point where he was almost uncontrollable when he didn’t keep himself in check—what would become of him now they had officially come together as one?
My job just became more important.
If a war broke out, it would be up to me to make sure nothing harmed Selena or her clan. Selena was the key to Prince Zirene’s sanity—whether he accepted that fact or not, I wasn’t sure. That didn’t change the fact that if something happened to her, and she was severely injured—or the unthinkable happened, and she died—Prince Zirene would frenzy until he was no more.
Therefore, I needed to stop fantasizing about how it would feel to be a member of Selena’s clan, loved and cherished by her. I saw how she looked at her nestmates, always knowing where they were. Her connections with her nestmates allowed her to see a thread invisible to most species.
Why would someone want to be constantly connected to another?
My sisters were already annoying enough, but at least I could ignore them.
I couldn’t ignore Selena even if I tried. Her blood, stored in my system, allowed me to track her as long as she remained on the moon.
I should have flipped her over, pinning her beneath me to have that image forever stored in my records. It had taken everything in me to remain calm as she straddled me when she lowered her face next to mine.
How I wished we could have met on different terms. I would have loved to be with her.
But it wasn’t Fate. The Stars didn’t shine down on us like that.
I would be a faithful guard, loyal to both Prince Zirene and to her.
It had to be enough. I didn’t know how I would be able to continue protecting
