by Alana Serra
Ren followed their gaze, seeing Drann standing on a literal bridge above them. He looked like the weight of the world rested on his shoulders, and thanks to the Freedom Fighters and the Nikhiza, it did.
Guilt assaulted her, and a cold sweat prickled at her brow as she wondered if all of these people were gathered for a double execution. Sensing her fear, Rhavos reached out an arm and drew her even closer. Surprisingly, none of the guards seemed to care about this.
If they're going to kill us, I guess it doesn't matter.
"Is that everyone who wishes to be here?" Drann called.
A voice answered from far behind them, muffled in the crowd. "Yes, Pathfinder."
"Prepare for flight, then."
Flight? Were they going to enact the alien equivalent of making someone walk the plank?
Drann's gaze found the two of them and she froze. This far away, she couldn't see many details in his expression, but he definitely wasn't smiling. Rhavos clutched her tighter.
"The ceremony will begin soon, but I wanted to address the issue of culpability first, while everyone is present to hear it."
Ren swallowed the lump in her throat. Her stomach was in knots, and she could feel herself trembling.
"I know many of you place the blame with the human Ren Alvarez, as well as her mate, Rhavos fer Rhakvar. Let me be clear: They are not to blame for my father's death."
Ren sucked in a breath, her eyes wide as she looked up at Drann. Was this… some kind of trick? Was he going to add a "but" to that? The Karuvar around them spoke in hushed tones, apparently wondering the same thing.
"Ren is as much a victim in this as my father," he continued. "She may not have paid with her life, but she paid with her freedom. After extensive investigation, my best programmers confirmed that she was indeed being controlled by the leader of the human resistance group. She had no choice, no say in what happened to my father. Doctor Monroe tells me she lost five years of her life to these humans."
Mouth agape, Ren sought out Addison. The woman gave a slight smile and dipped her head. When Ren's gaze returned to Drann, she found him looking directly at her.
"I'm sorry we made things worse for you," he said softly. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."
"I-I…"
What could she even say? Rhavos gave her a squeeze, lending his silent support, but she couldn't wrap her head around any of this.
"I want everyone on this ship to understand that this human could have fled. She could have left us to the fate we created for ourselves. But she stayed and she fought, and because of her efforts, we now have information that will be invaluable in the fight to come." He paused, letting that sink in, then bowed his head in her direction. "Thank you."
One by one, the Karuvar around her also bowed their heads, and Ren was overcome by emotion. She'd fought so hard all of her life, and almost every time it was thankless. The people around her told her not to stir the pot; that she would be responsible for any recourse visited upon her and those she cared about.
But the Pathfinder wasn't laying the weight of this on her shoulders. He was thanking her for carrying it this far; making everyone else aware of it by praising her actions.
And yet…
"I wouldn't have gotten there without Rhavos," she said, directing her words to Drann. "Whatever you're thanking me for, you need to be thanking him, too."
"I will be all right," Rhavos assured her.
"I don't want to sound ungrateful," she continued, "but if I'm being pardoned, he deserves to be, too. I know you feel like he dishonored the Karuvar, but he—"
"He aided in a prisoner's escape," Drann said, cutting her off. "He assaulted several of his fellow Karuvar, practically destroyed our brig, and stole one of our pods."
Ren's hands balled into fists. No. He couldn't do this. She wouldn't let him. Rhavos was—
"It's hard to see honor in those actions, but I don't think there's any bonded male that would have behaved differently."
Drann's gaze left her for a moment, and Ren followed it to a young human woman. It was only for the slightest moment, but enough to make her wonder.
"Where I do see honor is in the fact that Rhavos also chose to help the Karuvar while helping his mate. It would have been easy to kill the humans that were responsible for hurting her, but he recognized they were more valuable to his people if they were kept alive. Because of those actions, we now have their leader secured in this very ship, and I am confident we will be able to extract information from him." His voice was hard, and Ren’s heart ached for him. He seemed to recover, though, and dipped his head again, his gaze on Rhavos this time. "Thank you. I always had trouble seeing how my father's views aligned with yours, but now I understand." His attention returned to the crowd. "These two are to be treated as the heroes they are, by Karuvar and human alike."
Murmurs of agreement came from the crowd, and Ren felt like her head was spinning. She thought they'd been brought here for an execution. Instead, they were literally given a hero's welcome.
It was so, so surreal, but apparently, it wasn't over yet.
"Rhavos. Conqueror." She could feel her mate draw in a breath behind her, and she smiled as she imagined his expression. "We need to launch a counter-assault. I can't do this without you. Without either of you."
"I would be honored to serve, Pathfinder." Rhavos' voice was filled with pride.
"What he said," she added with a smile.
And, to her relief, Drann smiled back.
Before anything else could be said—and before she could process the fact that the Karuvar around her were cheering for the two of them—the thrusters kicked in and the Zavellan started to lift away from Earth.
What followed was, to put it mildly, a humbling experience.
The Zavellan rose slowly, through sky and clouds and eventually the surface of the planet itself. Black space stretched across the panoramic windows and Ren sank back into Rhavos, the beauty of it rendering her completely speechless.
Her mate was somber, as were most of the other Karuvar, and she soon understood why. When Drann returned to the bridge, he was holding an urn. Though she hadn't known Drol'gan well, she ached for the loss of a great leader, and she could feel how much her mate mourned, too.
Drann initiated a ceremony that involved a last rites of sort. Once he'd said everything he wished to say, he carefully set the urn into a compartment. Her eyes widened when she heard something breaking, but no one else seemed concerned. Rhavos' gaze turned toward the window to their right, and Ren gasped at what she saw.
Drol'gan's ashes were held almost in stasis outside the ship, shimmering against the inky blackness of space. They'd almost looked like…
"From the Stars we are born, to the Stars we return," Drann said, and every Karuvar in the room repeated it in chorus.
Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes, especially when she saw Drann's gaze linger. He turned back to his people, and even at a distance, she could tell he wasn't okay. She couldn't imagine the burden he'd been forced to carry.
"My father was… instrumental in the survival of the Karuvar," he said, addressing the crowd. "If he had not sought peace with the humans, our kind would be doomed. I never thought I'd inherit his legacy at the start of a war, but I promise you, I will see his vision continue. Karuvar adapt. It's the one thing we do better than any other species in the galaxy. We are strong, and with the humans at our side, we are even stronger."
Again his gaze drifted to the younger woman who stood apart from the crowd.
"We will meet the challenges that await us head on, and there is no doubt in my mind that we will thrive. We will build a legacy that our kits can be proud of. That my father would be proud of. And we will do it together."
Gooseflesh prickled along her skin as everyone cheered at the speech.
Almost everyone.
When she turned in Rhavos' arms, she found he wasn't looking at Drann, but at her. His eyes shone with more than Ren could ever name, and a smil
e spread across her own features as the rest of the world faded away.
"There is much to do," he said, "and I will need a partner. Someone who has helped me understand that true strength is shared. Someone who has captured my heart, my soul, and every part of my being. Someone who looks at me and sees how much better I can be with her in my life."
Ren didn't even try to stop the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. Instead, she reached up, taking his face in her hands and bringing him down for a kiss.
"I think I might know someone like that," she said with a smile.
As they stood there, wrapped in each other's arms amidst both Karuvar and humans, Ren felt a weight lift from her heart. For the first time in her life, she didn't have to go it alone.
Rhavos was there, and no matter what happened, she knew he always would be.
Epilogue
Two Years Later
Ren stood at her terminal aboard the Kruvian, her fingers poised at the keyboard. She was used to staring at code. She could look at strings and values for hours on end and never lose her cool.
But this syllabus was getting on her last nerve.
Addison brought up the idea the last time she and Rhavos were planetside, and she hadn’t been able to contain her enthusiasm. Being invited to teach a class was one thing, but teaching a class that would be attended by women who were forced to flee their homes? That was something special. The only reason she’d gotten as far as she had in life was because she’d been given something to work at; something to strive for, along with the tools to actually achieve her goals.
The idea that she could provide those tools to women who’d had everything taken from them—or never had anything to begin with—was incredible.
She’d worried about bringing it up with Rhavos. She’d enjoyed their time in space so, so much. There were so many experiences she wouldn’t trade for anything in the world, not to mention everything she and Rhavos had been able to do for the Karuvar so far. But the opportunity to teach was as precious to her as all the stars in the universe.
And Rhavos had understood that. Of course he had. They still had their differences, and the occasional battle of wills, but he was always supportive of the things she wanted to do.
She suspected he had an ulterior motive this time, though. Ren felt a flutter in her midsection as that motive made itself known. Taking a much-needed break from the syllabus, she rested her hands atop her swollen belly as her very rambunctious child kicked her mercilessly.
“Okay, I’m sure my spleen had it coming, but could you hold back just a little bit, mija?”
A deep chuckle came from behind her and she smiled as her mate approached. His arms were around her, his hands resting atop hers in no time, and she leaned back into him gratefully as he pressed a kiss to her neck.
“She is restless again?”
“Always,” Ren said.
She and Rhavos had actually taken precautions for a good, long while. They both agreed the middle of a war really wasn’t the time for a kit. Not when they were both so crucial to the Karuvar’s success. But once things calmed down and Drann stopped sending them on so many missions, they decided to start trying for a family of their own.
Of course Rhavos had knocked her up on the first try.
Now she was six months pregnant and very, very round. So she suspected her mate’s desire for her to be planetside was also influenced by his desire to keep her and their kit safe. He’d become ultra protective over the last few months. And while it sometimes grated on her, for the most part it was sweet.
“Lovak expects to breech Earth’s atmosphere within the next hour,” he said, nuzzling just behind her ear in a way that made her sigh.
“I guess that gives me time to figure out what I’m doing with this syllabus,” she muttered.
“Or we could put that time to better use.”
Her mate’s hand moved suspiciously higher until he wasn’t touching her stomach at all. She couldn’t say she was surprised when his fingers brushed her breast, but she still gasped. They’d filled out a lot more than she'd expected during her pregnancy, and Rhavos was fascinated by how sensitive they were.
He was also fascinated by the fact that her sex drive had skyrocketed about three months in. Addison and Meg had both assured her it would subside, but here she was, three months later and still being played like a fiddle by her mate. She moaned as he brushed her nipple, the fabric of her shirt rubbing against it. His teeth caught her earlobe and she melted against him, utterly helpless to resist.
But two could play at that game.
Ren shifted her hips and arched back against her mate, nestling her rear against his already prominent erection in a way she knew drove him crazy. He growled low in his throat and her lips quirked in a triumphant smile.
“Don’t you have Conqueror work to do?” she teased.
Rhavos didn’t answer her immediately. His hand moved to her hip and he turned her to face him, lifting her into his arms with another growl. Ren squeaked but didn’t protest, her hands resting on his shoulders as he brought her over to a window bench that was definitely more Karuvar height than human height.
“What do you think I am doing right now?” he finally asked, tugging on her pants.
Ren tried to stifle her laugh, but she just couldn’t help it. “Wow. Wow. You should be docked points for that, I mean hones—”
Her words tapered into a moan as Rhavos dropped to his knees before her, his breath hot against her skin. She tried to speak, tried to tease him even more, but her mate made it impossible to focus on anything other than the wicked things he was doing to her. That, and the single-minded devotion he showed whenever they were together. She wasn’t sure she could distract him even if she wanted to.
And right now, she definitely didn’t want to.
An hour or so later, Ren stood in the cockpit with her mate as the Kruvian breeched the Earth’s atmosphere.
They descended through clouds and sky, gradually slowing as the canyons that surrounded Everton came into view. As much as she enjoyed traveling the galaxy with Rhavos, Earth was and would always be her home. Coming back to it felt like being pulled into a warm hug by a dear friend—a comparison that only became more relevant the closer they got to the Earth’s surface, as she could see a group of people waiting for them. Addison and Kor’ven. Verkiir and Meg. Even Drann was there, with Ashley by his side.
Over the past two years, she’d grown incredibly close to all of them. Maybe it was just the effects of the war, but they were her family now, and she was theirs. Seeing them now as the Kruvian touched down was just one more reminder of everything she’d gained. No matter where she went, no matter what she was doing, she was never alone.
Leaning into Rhavos, she smiled. “Ready?”
He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips, his eyes meeting hers. He didn’t have to say it. No matter what they were facing, Ren knew he would always be by her side. Her partner. Her mate. The one person she could depend on more than any other.
“Always.”
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