by Jade Waltz
Tossing the bottle to V’dim, his nestbrother gave Z’fir a confused look as he copied his actions, covering his tentacle’s suctions with the sunscreen.
Sending a prayer for the Stars to guide him, Z’fir sat next to her head as his vines did their task. V’dim shortly followed his lead, sitting near her feet as his tentacles worked along her legs.
A moan escaped Selena’s lips as she closed her eyes, her back arching into his vines, as if she was silently demanding for more. Suddenly, a burst of pleasure-filled thoughts coursed their connections, as an echo of wants and needs. Her loud thoughts gave them the directions they needed to make sure she felt good while they did their task.
Was this the trick that their nestbrothers used? By actively listening to what she was thinking, they were able to give her everything that she wanted.
Scanning her backside, Z’fir couldn’t spot any spots which lacked any shimmer from the lotion. He withdrew his vines, instantly retrieving a groan from his nestqueen.
“Selena, we need to do your front now, so we can be on our way,” he said, trying to comfort her.
She opened her eyes, flicking her gaze to his. “I know. It just felt so good.”
“Perhaps once we are done searching for shells, we can eat lunch and give you a massage as we wait for the Destima’s hottest moment to pass,” V’dim offered, as he removed his tentacles from her.
She rolled over and glanced down at V’dim, sending him a bright smile. “I would like that.”
Z’fir floated beside V’dim and Selena, his vines entangled with his nestbrother, who was their safety tether in the water. While V’dim felt at home in the ocean, Selena hadn’t been born from the water, created to cut swiftly through strong currents like the Ulax were. V’dim did like to play the pranks Ulax often inflicted on their Wudox brethren, but Z’fir assumed his nestbrother respected him too much to do so to him.
He felt Selena grab his golden thread and entwine it with his nestbrother’s. “I want to thank you both for this amazing date. I know how much these excursions meant to my Favored, but didn’t want to exclude you.”
“We wanted to experience what a date was,” Z’fir replied. “Our nestbrothers raved about how much it meant to them—even Odelm, before you were attacked.”
“We wanted to treat you to a good time since you’re usually cooped up alone in the villa while everyone else attends to their duties elsewhere on the island,” V’dim added. “What’s the use of owning a moon if you aren’t going to explore it?”
She tried to swim closer to Z’fir, but the current and her tired muscles hampered her. Instantly, Z’fir reached out with his two spare vines as V’dim dragged her closer to him. As one, they lifted her onto his stomach, allowing her to sit down above the waves. Z’fir wrapped his vines around her hips to secure them.
Even though he’d sunk lower into the water and the waves were smacking him in the face, it was worth it to keep their nestqueen safe. V’dim moved toward his head, sensing his irritation, and blocked the waves from assaulting Z’fir’s face with his back.
“Thank you, V’dim,” he told his nestbrother before checking on Selena. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, sorry,” she sighed. “I got a cramp and was struggling to grab onto you.”
“It’s okay, Selena,” Z’fir comforted. “That’s why we both stayed nearby.”
“Do you really think that I’ve been hiding in the villa this whole time?” she asked suddenly, returning to the earlier topic. “Is that what everyone thinks I’m doing?”
“Some of the citizens wonder if you’re scared to face them. Others believe you think you’re above them, like our queens on Circul. Most understand that you’re doing the best you can as a new mother with the rule of a moon thrust upon you,” V’dim replied.
“I believe your speech helped some,” Z’fir added, watching her body sway with the waves on top of him. “But to keep the citizens happy, you should make more appearances; even just stopping by a social gathering or visiting the apartment buildings will help. Your presence will soothe their doubts.”
“Do you guys doubt me?” Her mental voice was so soft that the lapping of the waves almost drowned her out. “Have I done a good job so far?”
“We don’t doubt you, Selena,” V’dim consoled. Z’fir felt him send calming sensations through their combined bond. “It isn’t our place to do so, anyway.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, snapping her gaze to him. “Of course, it’s your place to doubt me. Just because I am your nestqueen doesn’t mean I’m immune to your judgment.”
“Hold on, Selena,” Z’fir coaxed. “You asked if you were doing a good job; let me answer you. We wouldn’t have sworn ourselves to you and completed the mating bond if we doubted you or thought you were a poor leader. We aren’t demanding perfection.
“Stars, V’dim and I are nowhere near perfect, and yet here we are, with you, on this date to show you how much you mean to us. Do you think we know what we’re doing? Nestmates are meant to fulfill their nestqueen’s every demand. You haven’t demanded anything from us other than honesty, open-mindedness, and cooperation as a clan. Compared to Circuli nestqueens, you are as much a paradise as Destima is. Just as you are building it into something great, you are mirroring its progress to become the leader that this community needs. Don’t lose sight of your core goals, and keep moving forward. That is the best you can do.”
“Is that truly what you believe?” Tears fell from her face before she covered it with her hands.
“What Z’fir said is true,” V’dim confirmed. “Now, let’s get you back to the villa. You’ve gotten enough sun for the day.”
Chapter Seventeen
Selena
What Z’fir had told me cut me to the core. I feared becoming a weak leader and hiding behind my clan as I sat on my throne, giving commands. While most rulers might be satisfied with that, I didn’t intend to make it my legacy.
I knew I’d ruled Destima passively for the last month or so, but I was working to slowly change that, even if it meant spending every afternoon in the valley amongst the citizens. They were my people, even if we came from different species.
When I’d visited the caves with Xylo, I’d realized that I didn’t feel at home among the demi-humans. My treatment by my fellow demi-humans upon my ship had tainted my view of the rest of my species. I identified more with my clan—Aldawi, Ulax, and Wudox—than with those who looked similar to me. Standing on the landing pad and watching other demi-humans pass by, tending to their business, I hadn’t felt instinctively attracted to any of them like I did with Xylo, Odelm, and Zirene.
When Karfic had flirted with me, instead of feeling accepted or attracted, I’d been repulsed by his actions. The bolder he had grown, the more I’d wanted nothing to do with him ever again.
Growing up an outsider, desperate to fit in with my peers, should have driven me to work hard for the approval of demi-humans, but I felt no such drive. Was it because I now felt secure in my clan, accepted for who I was, not what I was?
Everyone in my clan was a misfit, oddly stuck together by the will of the Fates, led together as a unit by the Stars.
Xylo, the cosmic-colored Wudox Master Scholar, constantly driven to study the biology and history of all species, who had decided against following his fathers’ footsteps and researched his own.
Odelm, the violet, feminine-colored Ulax Master Musician who loved music so much he’d turned away from his chance at a permanent mating bond and lived for years as a severed male, wasting away.
V’dim and Z’fir, the traditionally colored Ulax and Wudox princes, whose appearance was envied by many other males, were turned away by Circuli nestqueens because they were a nestbrother bonded set, feeling an undeniable pull to each other since birth. Their military achievements had earned them the respect of other warriors.
Zirene, the ideal Aldawi prince, feared by all, respected by many. Somehow he’d become connected to me as his Nova, the first outside of their
species.
The five of us were all unique in our own way, but together we were kindred spirits, tied together as a clan.
We had returned to the villa right as the sun was setting. The princes had told me they had something to do and suggested that I go wash off the saltwater lingering on my skin.
Oddly, none of my other mates greeted me in our bedroom. I felt Xylo in his infirmary, and Odelm in his music room, so I knew they were around. The princes seemed to have wandered off to the warehouse, doing only the Stars knew what. Zirene was nowhere to be found.
As I entered my bedroom in a green cut of my favorite nightgown, Kaede waited for me, leaning against the far wall.
“Is something the matter?” I asked him, studying him intently as I fixed the braids of my crown. “You’ve been acting strangely since yesterday.”
“It’s not my place to tell you this, but I am going to anyway,” he announced, crossing his arms. “Zirene has been ignoring summons from his father, the Aldawi Sovereign. He has given various excuses about how he needed to investigate skirmishes along the nearby border or oversee the development of some new technology, but his father has finally had enough. He’s calling Zirene’s bluff and demanding that he return to the palace tonight, or he will intervene with force. You, your clan, and your cubs will be used as game pieces of his sick game. For everyone’s good—including yours—you need to tell him to go, to let him go. If he disobeys his father again, I fear for you, Selena. The Sovereign doesn’t regard females as equal to males. Look at Masmi,” he hissed. “You know why we only saw her face on the call? Her father mutilated her body, shipped her to a female colony, and left her to die.”
“No,” I gasped, covering my mouth in horror. “Why would a parent do that?”
“Because females are nothing more than Seedbearers to him, useful only to provide offspring. Zirene’s mother saw the monster his father was and slept with a guard during her heat. She would’ve gotten away with it, except that she became pregnant with Vagren and Pavryn. That was all the evidence he needed to order her execution. The only reason he kept the cubs was that he felt they would be good fodder to send on suicidal military missions. What more honorable way to die than for your empire?”
“And he’s supposed to just to go face him? Alone?” I shook my head. “Kaede, you and your sisters must go with him. I don’t want to hear days from now that the sire of my cubs was executed by his own father.”
“We can’t escort him,” Kaede snapped. “Believe me, I’ve already had this argument with your dreamscape male. That stubborn prince refuses to allow us to leave you unprotected. I am under direct orders to flee with you if he doesn’t come back. He has allies in high places—”
“Mwe would take me in—take us in. He wouldn’t allow—”
“Chamber Master Mwe has no rights outside his space station,” Kaede growled. “That male may be the strongest telepath in our galaxy, but he’s useless when it comes to disputes beyond his territory. That male’s moral compass is too strict, and he fears the Fates themselves would beam him up or something, returning him to the Stars.”
“So, what do you want me to do?” I demanded. “Kaede, I’m lost when it comes to these political games. What do you need me to do?”
“Zirene is waiting in the hatchery right now. Go to him, fuck him, and send him away.” He waved me off. “The sooner you do this, the safer the people of Destima will be.”
“Fuck him?” I hissed, waving my arms. “How can I do that knowing that this may be the last time I see him?”
“It will certainly be the last time you see him if you keep dragging your feet, Selena,” he warned. “Don’t make me bite you and teleport you to the hatchery, because I will if that’s what it takes.”
“You’re an ishing frax, Kaede,” I snarled. “I hate you when you act like this. Can’t you have some compassion for once?”
I stormed off, not missing his shocked expression as I spun away. I’d thought that maybe he and I had come to a mutual understanding—a mutual friendship—but like always, we took two steps forward and one step back.
Gripping my four nestmates’ golden threads, I pulled them into one conversation. “Zirene is being summoned.”
“We know,” Xylo replied.
“That’s why Z’fir and I brought you home before dinner; Kaede warned us that he was leaving tonight,” V’dim added.
“You all knew?”
“We learned right as we were about to leave for the date,” Z’fir explained. “Zirene told us not to cancel or allow the news to ruin our date. He needed time to make arrangements in case—”
“In case he doesn’t return, I know.”
“I’m so sorry, Selena,” Odelm breathed.
“We will be in our nestbed when you return,” Xylo whispered. “We know it will be a difficult night for you.”
“Thank you.”
I released their threads as I entered the hatchery, glad they were still with me through their individual connections.
In the middle of the crossing pathways stood my dreamscape male with his back turned to me.
“Is it true?” I choked out. “You’ve been summoned by your father?”
“Stars, Kaede...” he growled.
“Don’t blame Kaede for telling me about this now,” I snapped. “When were you going to tell me that your father has been summoning you this whole time? When he personally comes to drag us all off this moon?”
“This isn’t how things were supposed to go,” he replied, shaking his head and turning toward me. “I did my paperwork, paid my taxes, kept my people happy, and protected my borders. There’s no reason for him to summon me, and yet he has. I thought by throwing excuses and distracting him I could convince him to ignore me. After all, my siblings require much more attention. Royak is still searching for a Seedbearer, and my brother Izyana has run his star system into the ground.”
“It’s me, isn’t it?” I shook my head, refusing to cry. “He knows how much I mean to you, and he wants to test you, doesn’t he?”
“It’s a possibility,” Zirene drawled, his tail jerking back and forth. “I tried consulting Royak, and he doesn’t even know the reason for my summons. Our father hasn’t paid him much attention—at times, he completely ignores him.”
“How will I know if you’re okay?” I asked, advancing. “When will I see you again?”
Zirene regarded me with his amethyst eyes that I had known since the beginning and sighed, pulling me close.
“I don’t know, my little Nova,” he replied, breathing in my scent. “We have our dreamscape. I will know whenever you enter and will try to visit you as often as I’m allowed. Hopefully, once I arrive at the palace, I can appease my father enough to leave quickly. He never liked the three of us in the same location for too long. Three strong dominant auras in one room only bring anger and fights to make the other two submit.”
“But you and Royak never had that issue when you were in the same room on the space station,” I remarked. “Why didn’t you two ever fight?”
“We both know our place, and won’t ever cross each other.” Zirene shrugged. “We don’t trust our father anywhere near us, so things get heated.”
“So why can’t one of you just take over the empire?” I asked. If his father was such a corrupt ruler, then I wondered why neither one of them had tried to stop him.
“Neither of us has any interest in ruling,” Zirene replied. “Royak knows if he takes over, then he would need to find a Seedbearer right away and start producing heirs to keep the line intact. My priorities lie with my Seedbearer and my clan, not planning a coup.”
“So, how do we do this?” Tears started to fall, soaking his fur as I held onto him tightly. “I have so much to say, and now I’m forced to tell you all at once instead of moving at my own pace.”
“Don’t,” Zirene murmured. “I’m afraid if you tell me now, I won’t ever let you go. I can’t, Selena. You are my greatest strength and also my greatest wea
kness.”
“How did we become destined for each other?” I wondered. “If you’d only told me about your summons when we arrived, I would’ve spent more time with you, instead of focusing on dating my Circuli mates. My nestmates would’ve understood.”
“They may have understood, but it wouldn’t have been fair for them.” Zirene squeezed me tighter. “I don’t want to remember our last night together as you crying in my arms.”
“Then, how do you want to remember me?”
“Play hunter-and-prey with me, my Nova,” he begged, pulling away to look into my eyes. “I’d like to see you happy before I leave—not like this.”
Wiping my eyes, I nodded. “If that’s really how you want to remember me, then I will play your game.”
Zirene gave me a sad smile. “Run. Run as fast as you can, my little Nova, because once I find you, you are mine.”
I ran. I did just as he asked and ran as fast as I could through the thick foliage of the jungle surrounding our villa. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, knowing he was hot on my trail.
Shooting a glance behind me, I saw my dreamscape male following me on all fours. Oh Stars, how fast he ran, much faster than our cubs, as he thundered after me.
Suddenly, I realized he wanted to take me like an Aldawi male took a female in heat. She would play the adult game of hunter-and-prey, teasing and testing the male to make sure he was worthy enough to sire her cubs.
He wanted to play, and I was his prize.
So I ran even faster, as fast as I’d ever run before, hoping to create one of his favorite memories for the future. If he wasn’t going to return to me, then he would forever remember me in this moment.
Just like how he teased our cubs, Zirene taunted me, advancing close enough to grab my feet, only to playfully snap at my heels before backing away. He was purposely prolonging this chase for both our enjoyments, and I was happy to play along.
Somehow, this game sent a thrill of wild passion through me. How glorious it felt to be hunted, to feel the blood pumping through my veins and the burn of my lungs as I pushed myself to my limits.