Chapter 8 #2
And suddenly peace stopped being an abstract concept and became something achingly specific.
Mornings in the nestbed with her body warm against his.
The sound of cubs laughing in the hatchery.
Odelm’s music drifting through the halls.
The steady presence of his clanbrothers, no longer just males bound by duty but family in a way he’d never expected to experience.
Selena had given him a taste of what peace could be. And now the universe was ripping it away.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. The words felt like failure. “In all my years, I’ve never found that peace myself. Not until you.” His forehead pressed against hers, their breath mingling in the narrow space between them. “You are my peace, Nova. The only peace I’ve ever known.”
“Then don’t leave.”
The plea was barely a whisper. He felt it more than heard it—a tremor through their bond, raw and desperate and immediately retracted.
She knew he had no choice. They both did.
“I will come back.” Zirene cupped her face more firmly, tilting her chin up until their eyes met.
Hers shimmered with unshed tears. His probably did too, if his species could cry, though his shadow would never let the moonlight reveal it.
“I will find you in the dreamscape every night I’m able.
You won’t be alone even when the stars separate us. ”
“And if you can’t? If the fighting is too intense, or you’re injured, or—”
“Then I will reach for you anyway.” His thumb traced the curve of her cheek, memorizing the texture of her skin. “Because you are the reason I have anything worth fighting for. You and our cubs. This family you’ve built from broken pieces and impossible bonds.”
She pressed into his touch, eyes squeezing shut. A tear escaped down her cheek and he caught it with his thumb, the warmth of it searing into his memory.
“And when this war ends,” he continued, voice dropping low, “I’m taking you somewhere no one can find us.
Just us. No crowns. No duties. No galaxy demanding our attention.
” His shadow curled tighter around them both, a physical manifestation of the vow.
“Just Zirene and Selena, for as long as you’ll have me. ”
Her eyes opened. Something flickered in those ocean depths—hope, maybe, or the desperate need to believe him.
“For as long as I’ll have you?” A watery laugh escaped her. “Zirene, I will have you until the stars burn out and the universe goes cold. I will have you beyond that, into whatever comes after, until we fade into star dust—”
He kissed her.
Not gently. Not with the careful reverence he usually showed her when she was vulnerable and fragile in ways she’d never admit. This kiss was desperate, claiming, the kind of kiss that said everything words couldn’t capture.
I love you. I’m terrified. I don’t know how to leave you. I don’t know how to stay.
She kissed him back with equal ferocity, her fingers threading through his mane, her body pressing as close as her soft belly would allow.
When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathing hard.
“I’ll hold you to that,” Selena whispered against his lips. “The place where no one can find us. The peace we deserve.”
“It’s a vow, not a promise. Unbreakable.”
Her smile was small and sad and fierce all at once. “Then I have something to look forward to. Something to hold onto when you’re gone.”
The word gone landed like a psyblade between his ribs.
But she was already taking his hand, tugging him toward the villa path. “Come. The clan is waiting.”
“Selena—”
“One last night.” She turned back to him, her spots shifting through deeper shades of violet. The color of longing. Of love so intense it ached. “Before dawn takes you away. I need all of you—every male in my constellation. I need to feel complete one more time before the war fractures everything.”
Zirene followed without another word.
The need to hold onto something precious before it slipped away.
He shouldn’t be comfortable leaving his Nova behind. Everything in him screamed to stay, to abandon the war, to let the empire burn if it meant keeping her safe within arm’s reach.
But she wasn’t alone.
She had Kaede, whose protective instincts rivaled Zirene’s own.
Xylo, who would tend to her health with scholarly dedication.
Odelm, whose devotion ran so deep it bordered on worship.
The princes, whose combined strength could hold off armies.
And Zyxel, the newest addition, still learning the shape of this family but already committed beyond measure.
She had friends who’d become family—ambassadors and allies who’d proven their loyalty through trial after trial. She had cubs who adored her, royal guards who’d die for her, a whole planet that had become sanctuary.
Selena would be fine.
She had to be fine.
Because if Zirene let himself believe otherwise, he’d never be able to board that ship tomorrow. Never be able to do what duty demanded.
The villa’s lights glowed warm through the windows as they approached—a beacon in the darkness, promising shelter and love and one last night of peace before the storm.
He would carry this image with him into battle. The warmth of her hand in his. The way moonlight caught her silver hair. The sound of her voice saying I will have you until the stars burn out.
The Stars wouldn’t destroy what they had. Not after everything they’d survived—the captivity, the trials, the political machinations, the enemies who’d tried to tear them apart again and again.
Would they?
Zirene pushed the question aside as they reached the door.
Tomorrow was for war. For duty. For the weight of the crown he’d never wanted.
Tonight was for his family.
Whatever the Fates had in store for them, he would face it.
But first, he would have this.
One last night. One last taste of the peace she’d given him.
And a vow, burning in his chest like a second heartbeat: he would find his way back to her. Across any distance. Through any war. Against any enemy.
Because Selena was his home.
And Zirene had spent all his life homeless.
He refused to lose her now.