Chapter Thirty-One Selena
“I…” Words failed to form as I gazed into his sad amethyst eyes, my mouth agape. “Why? Why should I trust you again after everything you have done?”
“Because I am trying… trying to make things right between us,” he sighed. “But every time I try to protect you, I push you away instead.”
“How can you protect me from something I don’t know? Don’t you see? Leaving me in the dark does nothing but cause problems. Each time you have done so, your plans didn’t go the way you wanted, and it only made things worse.”
“Selena… you are the one thing that keeps me from going… that keeps me grounded. The Fates gave you to me, and I have failed to cherish what we have.” His gaze landed on the mark on my neck. Slowly, he adjusted himself, his fur tickling my stomach as his bottom half pinned me into the warm white sand. “When you were attacked, I panicked, afraid of what was happening to you.” He brushed my hair from my face. “What would happen if they took you away from me.”
“I want to believe your sweet words, but your actions tell another story, Prince Zirene,” I sighed. “How can I know if this is real? If what you are saying is true? Are you even who you say you are?”
“How can you ask if I am real?” Zirene met my eyes in shock. “I have known you for nine years, visited you almost every night in our shared dreamscape. Is that not real enough for you?” He leaned his head down, chest pressed against mine as his mane brushed against my breasts. “Is this real?” His nose traced my jaw down to my neck. “How about this?”
He pressed his lips against my mark. I moaned, closing my eyes as he gently nibbled along my neck. My hands finding his back, I pressed myself against him. My peaked nipples dragged along his fur as I wiggled my legs, spreading the wetness forming between them.
“Tell me, Selena. Is this real?” he breathed, his breath sending shivers down my spine.
Tears fell as I shook my head in confusion.
I wanted to believe him—to finally be able to explore a relationship with him freely—but my heart ached from everything recently said and done. Was this just another trick? Why couldn’t things be easy? Why did it seem like the universe was trying to toy with me by dangling my dreams in front of me, just out of reach?
Zirene placed a gentle kiss on my mark and pulled back. Staring down at me, he gently brushed the tears from my face, his eyes filled with sadness.
“Selena… I didn’t mean to cause you such turmoil,” he murmured.
Slowly, he climbed off me. I stared at the darkening sky, hiccupping as tears continued to fall. A slight wind made me instantly miss his warmth.
Arms lifted me off the sand as the world immediately shifted to our familiar shaded porch. Zirene sat down, draping me over his legs. He pulled me close as he placed a paw on my cheek, directing my face toward him.
“Talk to me. Tell me what is going through your head.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned into his paw and sighed.
“I want to hate you. I want to believe everything we had was a lie. But every time I try, you do something like this,” I said, gesturing to the world around us.
“That was never my intention.” His eyes softened. “You have to understand that Aldawi are never around the opposite gender—I know you must have read about it, and I know Kaede warned you about our culture,” he said pointedly. “We have no guidance on how to have a relationship, be mated, or live as a family.
“While I know you through our time in the dreamscape, our time alone was in a chamber outside of reality. What happens here has no impact on reality other than what we take from it. All we have is our past conversations to use to rebuild what we once had and the trust between us.” He wiped my tears, drying all that remained. “In reality, I am the prince of a powerful empire, and you are my Nova. It is my job to keep you away from harm.”
“What is a Nova? You never fully explained it,” I breathed. “What makes me so important to you?”
He closed his eyes and sighed, dropping his hand from my face.
“The Aldawi are a proud species—proud and deadly. Our strength has always been projected as an aura-like presence. The more powerful a member is, the farther their range is, which is also the limit of where they can shadowstep,” he explained, unconsciously combing my hair. “What others don’t know is that I am stronger than Royak. He insisted we test it once when we were alone. It was a close battle of wills, but I made him submit to me.” He glanced down at me. “He said he wanted to know where he stood against me and asked if I wanted to rule. I laughed at him. Even before you came into my life, my focus has always been defeating the Yaarkins, not ruling. I have no drive to rule and never have.”
“Okay?” I said, confused by his answer and why someone didn’t want to be the sole person in charge of the most powerful empire in the CEG.
“Royak was the firstborn in our litter. It is only natural for him to be the leader. I don’t want to take that away from him—not when he would be a better ruler than me. Why take that away from him when I could remain standing by his side? Typically, if a Sovereign is challenged, it’s to the death. Why would I want to kill my brother? For what? To be stuck in a palace? I could never travel the stars and defend our territory in battle,” he sighed. “While Royak can hold
