Chapter 12
Zharina
Sweat ran down my back as I walked to the armory to put away my weapons, Lenora hot on my heels.
I loved sparring with my cousin as she always kept me on my toes and held nothing back.
With Aunt Lee as her mother, it wasn’t surprising that she had grown into such a badass fighter.
After all, Lee was deemed the best fighter in all of Veredia.
“So?” Lenora asked in a conspiratorial tone, her eyes sparkling with curiosity. “I need deets!”
I scrunched my face and shrugged. “There’s nothing to say.”
“What do you mean?! He’s been at your house for a couple of days now in a private suite!” Lenora exclaimed, disbelieving.
“He’s injured,” I said in a grumpy tone.
“He’s not that injured anymore!” she countered with a dismissive gesture. “In fact, he’s not injured at all. You healed him. You said he just needs to rebuild his muscle mass.”
I glared at her, wishing she would just back off.
But the look in her eyes made it clear she wouldn’t let go unless I brutally shut it down.
As persistent as she could be, Lenora understood and respected boundaries.
A part of me wanted to tell her to piss off, but the other really wanted someone to talk to.
After all, I couldn’t see myself going to my mom to ask her how I should go about convincing my boyfriend that I was ready and willing to have sex with him.
I glanced around us to make sure no indiscreet ears were in the vicinity before heaving a sigh.
“Gavin doesn’t initiate,” I said in a discouraged tone.
The air of sympathy that descended over her beautiful features actually hurt. I didn’t want pity, just solutions.
“Why?” my cousin asked softly. “Did his injuries hurt his libido?”
I snorted and shook my head.
“Oh no, his libido works just fine,” I said, my mind flashing back to the freaking tree trunk between his thighs when he got turned on. “I think he just doesn’t want to come on too strong.”
“That’s a good thing!” Lenora exclaimed in a self-evident manner as we stopped near the bleachers, away from any potential eavesdropper.
“Yes and no,” I said with a pout. “I want him to initiate. We’re both adults, but he’s way too respectful. I mean, I get it. We waited this long, and we haven’t had that much time together in the same space. But we talked for the past fifteen years. We know each other, and we’re soulmates.”
“Then you do it!” Lenora said.
I scrunched my face. “What if he thinks I’m too forward?”
She snorted and gave me an unimpressed look.
“There’s a high probability that he fears you’ll think the same about him. Females get a free pass on that whereas males are always accused of being sex starved and obsessed when they make a move.”
“I know,” I said, shuffling uneasily on my feet. “But every time I think of making a move, I get super embarrassed and self-conscious.”
Lenora rolled her eyes. “Whatever happened to Miss I’m-so-badass-and-don’t-put-up-with anyone’s-nonsense? Gavin is your soulmate! The guy literally died to save you. Believe me, he’s more than happy to do all kinds of inappropriate things to you. Just talk to him.”
“Fine, you bully!” I muttered.
She chuckled and flicked my pouty bottom lip with her index finger.
For all my whining, I had indeed decided I was going to force the issue.
I just needed the extra little boost to get me over the last hurdle.
A part of me empathized with him. The same way I craved someone to discuss it with, he likely did as well.
But who could he talk to here? Certainly not my brothers.
I could picture it from here, Gavin walking up to Vahl or Rhad to ask them how he should go about getting into my pants.
The bloodbath that would ensue would be epic.
I was about to make some comment to that effect when my cousin suddenly jerked her head to the right to look at something behind me. Curious as to what had caught her attention, I glanced over my shoulder to see Nolar hesitantly approaching.
From all accounts, he had been an epic jerk who multiplied the ways to get under Gavin’s skin. I eyed him wearily as he closed the distance between us.
“Sorry to bother you, Sehas,” Nolar said in a subdued tone. “We were just wondering how Aldriss is doing.”
My jaw nearly fell off its hinges. The fact that he would use the Xelixian term for ‘lady’ or ‘Madam’ to greet us was already a notable form of respect. But that he would inquire about Gavin really took my breath away.
“He’s doing good. He’s fully healed but still needs a few more days to regain some of the power he lost due to muscle atrophy,” I replied in a neutral tone.
I previously vetted with Gavin what information he was comfortable with me sharing with anyone who inquired about him.
The big Braxian emitted a noncommittal grunt in acknowledgement.
“It’s good to hear. When you next talk to him, you can tell him he did our clan proud and we await his return.”
Each word seemed to scorch his lips, not because he was speaking untruths, but because he was embarrassed to express that he had now grown to care for the man he spent so much time belittling.
Braxians respected strength and fierceness in battle.
Few could have pulled off what my mate did.
In truth, to this day, I still didn’t understand how he managed to accomplish such a feat, even as I bore direct witness to it.
I caught myself smiling, my instinctive dislike for him solely based on Gavin’s previous accounts of his behavior fading away.
“You can tell him yourself when he returns. I’m sure he will greatly appreciate it,” I said in a soft voice laced with a hint of teasing.
I understood perfectly well that he was trying to spare himself the embarrassment of admitting to Gavin that he was in awe of what he had accomplished.
But if they were to have the type of united bond Gavin hoped to achieve with his fellow Braxians, they needed to talk like adults instead of Nolar using me as the mediating messenger.
Before he could respond, the chiming sound of the com went off, warning of an imminent important message.
Seconds later, the artificial voice of the com system called for all troops to immediately gather on the training grounds for compulsory address.
We exchanged confused and slightly worried looks before making our way to our respective unit positions on the terrain.
It took about twelve minutes to round up everyone, the same curious expression plastered on every face as we watched my father and Ghan walk up to the dais.
Where everyone would just see his usual stoic and professional expression, I instantly recognized the deep concern brewing inside of him by the typical slight crease on the left side of the second ridge of his crihnin.
Something bad happened.
Vahleryon and I exchanged a look, our silent communication resonating loud and clear. Things were going to radically change, and whether we were ready for it or not didn’t matter. Fate had put her wretched finger on the scale.
“Thank you for gathering so swiftly and with such impeccable discipline,” my father said in a solemn tone.
“Today, I wish I was merrily addressing you to provide further details about the upcoming celebration to acknowledge our new recruits. Unfortunately, it is darker events that require for us to rise to the challenge and serve as we all pledged to. For some of you, it comes much sooner than we intended.”
He tapped something on the control panel integrated into the podium he spoke at.
Behind him, and on each side of the bleachers, giant screens came to life, displaying a montage of various locations exploding, being bombarded, spaceships fighting, and portraits of multiple high-profile individuals with a ‘DECEASED’ label at the bottom of their picture.
My stomach dropped at the realization of what this meant.
“On the vidscreens, you can see some of the reports that have been streaming in an almost incessant flow for the past sixteen hours, with more reports coming in,” Dad said grimly.
“Hundreds of attacks have been perpetrated on multiple planets, each one targeting powerful people in leadership positions, be it political figures, high-ranking military personnel, thought leaders, and heads of large corporations. The reports link those incidents to growing tensions over interplanetary trade.”
The images shifted to a star map displaying both the Eastern and Western Quadrants with a red X marking multiple planets and what appeared to be random locations in space.
“As you can see, the attacks took place in both Quadrants, although a greater number occurred in our neighboring Sector,” Dad continued.
“The culprits remain unknown, but the attacks share too many similarities and happened in too narrow a time-frame to be unrelated. Tensions are building everywhere, with countless accusations being flung around. It is not our place to speculate whether they are founded or not. But it is our duty to help mitigate further unnecessary death and destruction.”
It took every ounce of my willpower not to look around at everyone else. My mind was reeling, and I could only guess how freaked out the others had to be. Was this the beginning of the Great War? Had the attack against us during our training mission been one of the first salvos?
“Many of you likely wonder if this is the start of the Great War,” Dad said as if he had read the thoughts crossing my mind.
“No. It is not. Could the current events lead to it? Maybe. But if things are not mitigated, then my response will shift to definitely. I wish we had more time to prepare all of you, especially the newer recruits. However, we are peacekeepers. We deal with facts, not wishful thinking.”
Behind him, the star map zoomed in on the Western Quadrant. Multicolored pins marked various locations. Their hue indicated the danger level in those areas.