“She is right,” Celyze agreed. “That is why I gave Selena’s guard the coordinates. Why fight the inevitable when he was going to find her anyway? I don’t want to be the reason she doesn’t make it back in time to save her mates’ lives. I will not dirty my hands anymore! Somehow, I didn’t foresee the invasion, whether the Stars didn’t want to tell me or I missed their signs. I won’t be the cause of another slaughter because our people kidnapped Selena and refused to return her.”
“What was the last thing the Stars told you?”
“To trust our StarPyre.” Celyze grabbed Tori’s hand and helped her up, his icy gaze locking with mine. “She knows what to do, and she believes we need to help you return to your clan.”
Chapter Thirteen Selena
Sounds of island life surrounded me as the wind blew my silver hair. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the saline air as the warm suns bathed me in their rays.
The rolling lavender waves crashed on the white sands, lapping my bare feet.
It was as if the island were welcoming me home.
Only I knew this wasn’t real.
Lunkai shone down on me, my four nestmates’ doors were visible, and a sealed crack lined my void walls.
This was my dreamscape world, the one I had grown with for all those years.
Warmth engulfed me as a pair of strong arms surrounded me, pulling me against a familiar, soft body. A head snuggled the top of mine, breathing in my scent.
“I’ve been waiting too long for you to come to me, my Nova. I have been worried about you and the length of time you’ve been gone,” rumbled a raspy voice I knew.
Relaxing, I closed my eyes and leaned back into his embrace.
“How long has it been?”
“More than a painfully long month,” he growled, squeezing me tighter. “Even though you’re here now, it’s not the same.”
“I know,” I sighed. “I’m just grateful that our dreamscape connecting is unhindered by distance, unlike my bonds with my nestmates. You don’t understand how relieved I am to see you, even though this isn’t real.”
The world spun as he flipped me around to face him. I gasped, and my eyes flew open. A loud growl rumbled from him, eliciting a shiver.
“Don’t ever think this isn’t real.”
His amethyst eyes locked onto mine as he grabbed my face in his strong, padded hands and smashed his lips against mine, branding me. My hands found his chest, feeling his body rumble when I pressed into him.
Something within me snapped.
I needed him—the familiarity, the reassurance, and the comfort that he was indeed alive.
Cupping my ass, he lifted me off the ground as he deepened our kiss. My legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, ankles hooking at his back.
Suddenly, my world shifted and refocused. He was now sitting on a couch under the pavilion while I straddled his lap.
Gripping his thick fur, I pulled away from the heated kiss. Zirene continued to caress me with kisses along my neck as I caught my breath.
“You may say the dreamscape isn’t real, but this is real to me, Selena,” he growled, gently nipping at my ear. “This is the closest I can get to you for the time being, so I will make the most of it. Until you are by my side, I will meet you here whenever I hear your call.”
Squeezing my sides tighter, he breathed, “I need you, Selena. I’m doing my best to hold it together, but every day without you slowly chips away at my sanity. Tell me where you are, so I can lead my whole fleet to you.”
“Zirene, I’m scared.” My voice shook as tears streamed down my face. “I don’t know where I am, only that I’m in some asteroid base beyond our galaxy. My cyan stalker, Xenak, is the commander here, he’s demanding I heal his brother or he won’t let me go home.”
Zirene’s head snapped back with pitch-black eyes and he snarled.
“It will bring me great pleasure to end that male’s life and kill anyone who supports him.” Another rumble erupted from his chest as his tail whipped violently against my leg. “No one steals my Nova—my Beacon—and lives to tell the tale.”
“Kaede will do the honors first.”
“What do you speak of?” His lip curled in anger. “Has my rogue agent found you?”
“Rogue?” Why would Kaede be searching for me without the permission or command of his Sovereign? “What do you mean?”
“I sent him after you once we found out that you had been kidnapped. My late father made a deal and paid someone to take you away. If I hadn’t defeated him and taken the throne, I would be chasing your trail with Kaede. Instead of accepting his mission, he took off in an unregistered vessel and removed himself from his family’s communication system. Even though Oeta keeps confirming he is indeed hunting for you, his actions have made me second-guess his intentions.”
My hands lost their grip on his fur as I replayed this information in my mind. I dismissed his comments about Kaede, for he had always been determined to work alone and in his unique way. Until I heard his side of the story, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions either way. Our time here was limited, and I wanted to preserve the illusion for a moment that everything would be all right.
Kaede had always been fiercely loyal to Zirene and the Aldawi Empire. There must have been a good reason why he felt it was necessary to cut all ties with Zirene and his sisters.
I could tell Zirene’s judgments were harsher and more irrational than usual. He was taking his frustration out on Kaede when all the blame lay with
