It had been a long night, and Xylo had gotten no sleep. He couldn’t rest when his nestqueen was lying on his infirmary’s table, unconscious to the world. He was relieved that Oeta had been there to help. She’d been able to defend his nestqueen from the deranged intruder.
How dare he invade another’s mind without their consent? Selena wasn’t a criminal, nor had she done anything to deserve such a violation.
When the princes had scried her mind and accidentally triggered her deepest survival instincts, they hadn’t appeared within her bare void chamber but the mental construct she’d visited all the times Zirene had dreamwalked to her. Xylo couldn’t understand how this male had bypassed that defensive layer unless he had severely damaged the chamber’s walls.
Maybe the key difference was that Selena had allowed the princes to enter, while this male had entered through brute force.
Xylo and Odelm had never asked Selena if they, too, could experience what the princes had because they didn’t want to pressure her. Not after she was recently attacked—and now, they might never ask if her invader wasn’t caught. He didn’t want her to feel obligated to allow them access only because they were connected to her, especially if their intrusion could trigger some sort of traumatic memory.
He hoped she didn’t—for the clan’s own good—but if she woke from her sleep unable to maintain her mental shields, he would stand beside her to support her, for all times. The same was true of her clan. They all knew how strong she was and how much she’d grown throughout the two moons they had spent together. Selena was truly meant to adapt, even if her transition wasn’t always graceful.
The most important thing was to see his nestqueen wake up and gracing him through their connection once again. He didn’t like the veil that had cloaked his connection to his nestqueen since she’d been injured. Xylo knew the barrier was her mind’s defense mechanism as it tried to heal the damage done to its walls, but it still unnerved him that she wasn’t in control of the veil.
Xylo’s fists shook in anger, his vines quivering around his torso with the urge to strangle something.
During the whole process, he’d had to remain level-headed for his nestqueen’s sake, to try to aid her with a clear mind. Oeta had been correct to put Odelm into a deep sleep, for his nestbrother’s extreme emotions had made it impossible for him to focus at the time. He knew it wasn’t his fault he reacted strongly; Xylo blamed his time as a severed male. Studies had proven that severed males tended to be more unstable and sensitive to their position in the world. Last night had shown how accurate that research was.
But if he were in Odelm’s position, and their nestqueen had been injured while he had finally been alone with her on their first date, Xylo had a feeling he would have been devastated as well. He couldn’t fathom how it must’ve felt to turn around after Odelm had played his dedicated song to his nestqueen, only to find that his declaration of his feelings had gone unheard. Instead of smiling with happy tears, Selena had been lying in a pool of her blood on the floor, unresponsive... Somehow Selena had been mentally attacked, knocking her out of her chair with enough force to smack her head on the floor, leaving a concussion.
A groan sounded from the infirmary’s lobby, followed by a thud and grunt.
Xylo smirked. Odelm must be waking up from his forced slumber.
Now he didn’t need to face this burden alone, as the princes occupied the cubs to distract them from their mother’s absence. The last he’d heard, they planned to take them fishing with Pavryn and Vikvez, in hopes the exciting adventure would keep them entertained.
The princes knew they would’ve been no help waiting in the infirmary’s lobby for their nestqueen to wake up, yet they were too distracted by her status to lead. The moon’s citizens could wait a few days for the princes’ presence, and Vagren was more than capable of assisting them in the meantime.
Sitting up in his chair, Xylo greeted his nestbrother with a nod and gestured to the chair in front of his desk. “Morning, nestbrother. Do you need any medical assistance?”
Odelm rubbed the back of his head with a frown as he plopped down in his seat. “What the Stars happened?”
Xylo lifted an eyebrow at his nestbrother’s groggy demeanor. “What part? You finding our nestqueen injured during your date? Or Oeta knocking you out for thrusting your extreme emotions upon the infirmary?”
Odelm’s pale eyes sharpened as if just the mention of last night had brought his memories flooding back. “Both. Selena first, and then tell me what that female did to me.”
Xylo held up his hand. “She only did what we all wanted her to do. If it had been up to Kaede, he would’ve partaken in your favorite sport and dropped you in the middle of the ocean to swim your way home in hopes of burning off your anger. Just be glad that his attention was occupied elsewhere.”
Odelm sat up, lifting himself enough to glance over the back of his chair, through the two panels of plated glass that separated them from their nestqueen. Sighing, he relaxed and faced Xylo with solemn eyes. “What’s her status? Any updates?”
“Her invader returned to attack her during your performance.” Xylo held up his hand to prevent Odelm from interrupting. “We have a name, ‘Xenak of Verya,’ and supposedly he’s working with something called a ‘Cosmic Soul’ to get his brother back, and he claims Selena has something to do with his disappearance. I don’t believe any of it. How can our nestqueen be responsible for his missing brother when we’ve been with her since we discovered her? But none of
