Sometimes, I wondered why he stayed. For a man with so many kills on his record, it would be better to use his abilities and resources elsewhere.
It didn’t seem he enjoyed being assigned to guard me, yet he stayed.
“What ails you?” Odelm asked, brushing my hair away from my face. “I can tell by the swirl of emotions coming from you, something is bothering you.”
“I just want to spend time alone with my clan, away from all the drama, so we can finally relax,” I replied, leaning into his hand, feeling the cool smoothness as he cupped my cheek.
One of Odelm’s tentacles wrapped itself around my glass, gently lifting it out of my hands, and placed it on the nearby table.
“Soon enough. We just need to get through today, and by tonight, we will be on Zirene’s ship on our way to Destima.”
I scooted closer and tucked myself into his side. Odelm wrapped an arm around my torso, holding me against him as one of his tentacles placed his shelled ocarina onto the table, setting it next to my glass.
Pavryn wore a royal purple and black loincloth with silver details as he battled my cubs. His matching crisscross bandolier lay folded on a table with his wristband sitting on top. He was leaner and shorter than his full-blooded brothers with a shorter fur coat. Instead of their striped pattern, he was solid black with pewter paws and a thin tail. As if he felt the weight of my gaze on him, he looked up from his crouched position, his lapis eyes burning into mine.
A silver and black blur landed on top of him and attacked his ear.
Giggles escaped me as a shocked expression crossed his face.
“I win! I win!” Meti cheered as she flicked his ear with her front paws. “Ma. Look! I won! I beat Pav!”
“Good job! Show him who is in charge.”
The twins also took the opportunity of Pavryn’s distraction and attacked him. My silver eye-patched Noctez tackled his tail and grabbed on, preventing Pavyrn from getting free while my silver nose-lined Neazzos jumped on his back and held on tight with his tiny nails.
Pavyrn smiled and shook his head at me.
“What? It’s not my problem my three cubs defeated you,” I said, smiling sweetly.
“They may think I am defeated, but they are wrong,” he growled playfully and slowly rolled over, dropping both Meti and Neazzos to the ground as he yanked his tail away.
The cubs protested when his body disappeared as he shadowwalked to the other side of the room.
“I would call that cheating.” I shook my head. “You would think a warrior such as yourself wouldn’t need to use such abilities to beat mere cubs. Should I be worried?”
“You questioning my skills?”
“I wasn’t the one who needed to shadowwalk away from a trio of young cubs.”
“It was three against one!”
“And?”
He was too busy staring at me, flustered in silence with his tail flipping wildly behind him, to notice the cubs slowly crawling their way to him.
In reality, I didn’t doubt his abilities and was teasing him for using an ability they wouldn’t get until they fully matured. Supposedly, that was when a Nova bond was formed—when both Nova and Shadow were fully matured. Before that, neither would know anything different about themselves—hence, why Zirene didn’t feel his bond with me until I was released from my tube and born into the world at sixteen years of age.
“I believe you should be capable of defeating three cubs without shadowstepping. Kaede was able to defeat them without any of his gadgets until that one time they beat him and were rewarded his cape. He hasn’t come back for a rematch since.”
At that moment, the twins jumped onto his feet, wrapping themselves around his legs as Meti latched herself onto his sleek tail, biting onto it to hold on.
He jumped in shock, and I laughed hard as he tried to shake them off without hurting them—or using his ability.
Pavyrn ran around the room, trying to shake them off. He could have grabbed them by the nape of their necks or used his strength, but instead tried to tire them out and allowed them to admit defeat.
Odelm pulled a decorative blanket over me with two of his tentacles, covering me as I snuggled against his cool textured chest. He removed his arm from around me only to place it on top of the covers, holding my hip.
We watched Pavyrn play hunt and prey with the cubs as he leaped over chairs to get away. They may have been small, but they were fast. However, making sharp turns was still difficult for them as they tripped over their paws when they tried.
This was what I needed—moments like this, filled with small joys.
This was supposed to be a relaxing dinner and a chance for my clan—and friends—to get to know Chamber Master Mwe and his daughter, Oeta.
But for some reason, there was an uncomfortable itch throughout my body, daring me to scratch it even though it was impossible to do. Little bumps covered my limbs as if taunting me, showing the world how nervous I was.
I appreciated my nestmates for giving me the privacy I needed to sort out my feelings. It spoke volumes. We may have had a give and take bond—my shielding abilities leaking over to them, making their own stronger, and allowing them to relax more around others as they used what I thought and felt to make sure I was taken care of—but sometimes, I didn’t want to be taken care of. I wanted to stand on my own two feet with my head pointed up proudly. I wasn’t a fool—I knew I was still in over my head when it came to laws and social norms—but I was trying.
They allowed me to have a chance to prove my own self-worth, only aiding me when I
