Chapter Fourteen Selena
A warm hand held mine, instantly pulling me awake as I snapped my eyes open
“Hello, my little Nova,” Zirene purred. “How are you feeling?”
It took me a moment to realize where I was—and why. I took a mental inventory of how I felt. My body was completely fine other than a slight headache that threatened to worsen. Placing my hand on my forehead, I felt a spot that was slightly raised and tender to the touch. Hissing, I pulled my fingers away.
“Chyox, is there something you can do for her head? Usthu, please wake her nestmates. They are sleeping in our nestbed.” Zirene raised his paw toward the Wudox assistant healer. “Yes, you’re allowed to enter her room. Ayces, could you get something for her to drink, one of her favorites. And someone wake Oeta, I want her here to perform a scan.”
Xylo’s team sprang into a frenzy as they rushed to comply with Zirene’s orders. He sat still beside my bed, holding my hand. At least the male wasn’t being overly demanding; he was only taking charge of the situation. Personally, I believed he was overreacting a little about my condition, but I wasn’t going to complain. He was within his rights to be concerned.
Almost instantly, one by one, my nestmates called out to me with worried voices. Wincing, I closed my eyes at the sudden burst of attention through our golden threads. I could hardly make out what they were saying, as each one spoke freely without waiting for the others. Only the princes took turns addressing me, and they granted each other that courtesy solely due to their closeness.
Grabbing all four threads, I yanked, instantly silencing them as I caught their attention.
“I’m shaken, but fine. There’s a slight lump on my forehead, but Chyox is about to give me something to reduce the swelling. I have a headache brewing, either due to the head injury or my mental assault, but I would appreciate it if we could calm down on the chatter until it goes away.”
“We are on our way,” Xylo replied.
Releasing their hold, I felt all four of them slowly drift away, though their threads told me they were near.
Something pinched my shoulder. Gasping, I snapped my eyes open in time to see Chyox pull away with a needle in his hand.
“A warning next time?” I hissed, as I tried to reach for the injection site.
He batted my hand away. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”
“Why?” Zirene interjected, glancing between the two of us.
“Because any added pressure upon the location could cause a reaction—”
“Chyox,” Xylo chastised. “Don’t take that tone with my nestqueen.”
Chyox pursed his lips and stepped away from me, eyeing the room of angry males.
“She shouldn’t touch her injection site, to ensure it stays clean and free of any germs on her hands,” he scuffed. “You know how curious she is! I don’t need her contracting some rare disease because she wanted to touch something she shouldn’t.”
Rolling my eyes at the old Ulax, I sat up and crossed my arms. “I wonder how you came to be Senior Healer because your bedside manner needs serious work.”
The green Ulax shot me a glare. “You should know that I’ve been healing male warriors since before the Yaarkins invaded. There’s no reason to warn the patient before simple injections—”
“Because the only males you treated were already missing limbs or hanging onto life by their last thread,” I concluded. “I get it, Chyox, but you need to understand that you are no longer on a warship. You’re on a paradise-like moon, working with multiple other species and subspecies, able to live out your days without fear of the future. As you know, I am not Circuli, and I have no medical experience beyond being experimented on. I was always cleaned up before they let me go, so I never had to deal with the basics. So next time you see a patient making a simple mistake, instead of harshly reprimanding them, calmly explain why. All this tension could have been averted if you had only explained to me what you were doing and what you expected me not to do.”
The infirmary fell silent as Chyox’s green coloring slowly shifted to a nervous brown.
“I’m sorry, Queen Selena,” the Master Healer mumbled, averting his eyes. “It won’t happen again.”
Gently, I reached for the subdued male, not understanding the abrupt switch in demeanor. Grabbing his closest tentacle, I halted his retreat as a shiver passed through him.
Reinforcing my shields, I looked beyond my walls and saw Chyox’s violet sphere a short distance from my own. He had two solid mental threads connecting him to the Circuli princes, and surprisingly, a very faint thread led to me. If I hadn’t focused on his mental sphere, I would never have spotted our connection.
Was it because we were touching? Or because both of his princes were in my clan?
In an instant, my dark-golden thread reached out, intertwining with his faint violet as a rush of warmth spread to me.
“I’m sorry for any embarrassment I may have caused you, Chyox,” I whispered, sending my concerns to him. “I appreciate all the sacrifices you have made, for both your species and my moon. I hope you will forgive me and continue to work for me—for Xylo—as we move past this. I wasn’t myself, and I took my stress and confusion out on you.”
The Senior Healer turned toward me, keeping his tentacle in my grasp, and his coloring normalized. His gaze landed on my hands before flicking up to meet mine. His violet-colored eyes seemed to have flared to life.
“You were in your right to correct me on my bedside manner. I’ve grown so used to working with the Circuli that sometimes I
