Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Odelm
Odelm stood, amazed, in the doorway of the room that now held his belongings.
He knew his collection of instruments took a lot of space—he owned more things than most as the son of two merchants—but he could not believe it all fit, with room to spare. Each of the five spare rooms in the Royal Suites was as large as his entire cabin.
There had been no problem updating his registry.
The princes had approved it—perhaps a little surprised—wishing him and Selena well.
Xylo had found a few others to help transfer Odelm’s belongings, and the entire move had gone quickly and painlessly.
He was the only one still struggling to catch up with the changes.
He glanced at his wristband and noticed the time.
It was getting late.
Odelm closed his door and returned to the social space. Xylo nursed a silver drink, staring out over the terrarium.
“I thought Selena would be here by now,” Odelm said to his nestbrother, concerned at her long absence.
“Check your bond thread,” Xylo said absently, his focus clearly elsewhere. “You should be able to feel her enough to tell she is well. She is with Kaede in his cabin. I am testing him—I want to see what he does with her.”
Odelm closed his eyes and focused on the faint golden thread that connected him to Selena.
His bond thread was limited, allowing him only to bypass her mental shields enough to detect any high emotions her aura projected.
A few times he’d picked up loudly broadcast thoughts since their bonding, but nothing compared to what the Wudox were able to hear.
Right now, her aura was indeed calm, lessening his worry.
“I can sense she is calm, but that does not explain why she is not here.”
Xylo turned around and faced him. “I am assuming she is sleeping, given the peacefulness she is projecting. My question is why she is not sleeping here, where she belongs.”
Their wristbands beeped simultaneously with incoming messages.
Odelm flipped his wristband’s screen up and clicked to read the incoming message.
“SELENA IS SAFE WITH ME IN MY CABIN. WE DECIDED TO COME HERE AND TALK. SHE FELL ASLEEP. I DIDN’T WANT TO DISTURB HER WHILE YOU FINISHED UP. -K”
Odelm reread the message a few times before shutting his wristband’s screen.
He looked up at Xylo.
“I am assuming you got the same message?” Xylo asked, glancing down at Odelm’s wristband.
“About Selena falling asleep in Kaede’s cabin?”
“Yes. It seems Kaede passed my test. Let us go get our nestqueen and bring her back where she belongs.”
Odelm followed Xylo down the hall, but he still could not figure out why Xylo had felt he needed to test Kaede. From what he had seen, Kaede was a respectable male who had been hired to protect her.
Why would Xylo doubt him?
Certainly, some nestmates might feel threatened by an outside male helping protect their nestqueen, but Selena was a unique case.
Xylo had proven he was not threatened, given he had not minded Odelm spending so much time alone with Selena.
Given all the obstacles facing her, he seemed to feel they could use any help they could get to keep her safe and healthy.
But if Xylo saw something that bore watching in Kaede, Odelm would keep a watchful eye on him as well.
As they approached the lift, Xylo stretched a hand out toward a nearby door scanner, but it opened before his hand connected. He paused, glancing with surprise at his hand before walking cautiously through the doorway. Odelm followed right behind him, scanning the room as he entered.
Kaede sat in one of the chairs along the terrarium wall, typing on his armband.
Selena lay on her side stretched out on the couch, a dark green blanket spread over her.
Her face was serene, silver hair spread across the pillow her head rested on.
Kaede closed his armband’s screen with a snap and stood, nodding to them both.
“She wanted to talk to me here and fell asleep shortly after having a cup of hot tea. I left her here to sleep, knowing you were still moving Odelm’s things, and it would be hectic in your suite.
I knew you’d look for her once you were done.
If I assumed wrong or worried you, I’m sorry,” Kaede whispered, trying not to wake Selena.
Odelm surveyed the dimly lit room. His gaze landed on the table in the center of the seating area, and he noticed the empty mug near Selena. His eyes roamed over her once more before he returned his gaze to Kaede.
Xylo spoke up, “You assumed correctly. Thank you for keeping an eye on her. I did not want her trying to help. She would have insisted on carrying things. A lot of Odelm’s belongings were too heavy for her to lift, especially in her pregnant state.”
Kaede studied Odelm for a moment before returning his gaze to Xylo.
“I’d like to take a more active part in Selena’s daily life.
I’ve been supervising her from a distance since I arrived, but I’d like to play a more active role.
It’s likely I will be assigned as her permanent Head of Security once we arrive at CEG HQ.
Earning your trust, and hers, would make the job of keeping all of you safe much easier. I’d like us to become friends.”
Odelm was stunned. He would not have thought Kaede capable of that level of emotion or that he would wish to become close to them all. He tried to get a read on Kaede’s aura, but his mental shields were too strong. Kaede’s emotions were mute to him.
“What did you have in mind?” Odelm asked.
Sometimes, he was able to sense when others were lying, and he wondered if he could do so if he kept Kaede talking.
“I’d like to continue going with you to breakfast and the infirmary each morning.
I know you want to give Selena swimming lessons before lunch, and the exercise is good for her.
I can use that time here to do my work. Then I figured I could meet up with you and Selena for lunch.
Perhaps help Selena with her research while we listened to your performance.
I can either join you for dinner or leave you alone if you wish some private time as a clan.
It can be flexible. I just thought it might benefit Selena to take advantage of the nine years I have spent in close association with the Aldawi and CEG.
” Kaede shrugged, keeping his tone matter-of-fact.
Odelm glanced at Xylo. He liked Kaede’s plan but knew Xylo felt hesitant about trusting Kaede. A mental brush came across his shields. Odelm grabbed the teal strand that matched his nestbrother’s eyes and accepted it, allowing Xylo to bypass his mental shields.
“What do you think?” Xylo’s deep mental voice asked, the aura of his thought a stressed black.
“I believe it would be smart to accept his offer. I would rather work with him than against him—”
“True,” Xylo interjected. “The princes warned me to work with him since Kaede would be within his rights to pull rank and override me if it came to an argument.”
Odelm continued, “Plus, Selena seems to trust him enough to fall asleep alone in his cabin. If you are correct about her delivering soon, we need to be sure someone is with her at all times. That will be much easier with assistance, even if he is not part of our clan. And Xylo, if you do not trust him yet, this gives us an opportunity to keep an eye on him.”
“Good thoughts. Give Kaede a chance to prove himself.” Xylo’s thought aura shifted to a pleased violet.
Odelm felt Xylo disengage, and his shield snapped back into place. It really was stronger than before—remarkable.
He turned back to Kaede, watching as he looked between the two of them.
“You’re doing that secret conversation shit, aren’t you?” Kaede questioned dryly.
“Yes. I was asking my nestbrother’s opinion. You will have to get used to it because that is how our species communicates—both within the clan and broadcasts from our leaders,” Xylo explained crossly.
Odelm put a steadying hand on Xylo’s arm and squeezed.
He mentally brushed Xylo’s shields and sent his pale green strand to try and calm him.
He felt Xylo accept his strand and take a deep, calming breath.
He was clearly battling conflicting emotions.
There was something about Kaede that bothered Xylo, and he was struggling to move past it.
“It is getting late. Before anyone says or does something we might regret, how about Xylo and I take Selena back to our room. We will see you for breakfast in the morning,” Odelm proposed.
“I didn’t mean to sound so harsh or to denigrate your species’ ability.
I’m just a simple soldier, and I keep myself—and my charges—alive by always knowing what is happening around me.
So, conversations that exclude me—especially when they are clearly about me, but I cannot defend myself—are difficult.
And I’ll confess, I don’t fully understand this mental bond the three of you share. ”
Odelm nodded at Kaede’s generous admission and apology.
“Thank you. We will think about it. Just know, mental communication is important to our species and prevents a lot of miscommunication.” Odelm glanced between Xylo and Kaede.
Tugging at Xylo’s arm, Odelm added, “Let us get Selena and go to bed.”
Xylo nodded at Kaede. “See you at breakfast. Do not come for us; I will message you when we are about to leave. Selena may end up sleeping in more often now, at least until she gives birth, and I do not want to wake her.”
“Confirmed. I’ll wait for your message.”
Odelm released Xylo’s arm and withdrew his mental strand.
He walked over to the couch and carefully pulled back the blanket.
Selena groaned, and he paused until she settled again, then carefully picked her up in his arms. He unwound his tentacles from his torso and secured her with them before turning back to the other two males.
Xylo nodded and led the way to the exit.
Odelm followed at a cautious pace, afraid of waking Selena. Xylo held the door open, waiting for Odelm to exit. He passed through the doorway, careful not to bump her and heard Xylo wish Kaede a good night. Odelm was almost halfway to their suite before Xylo caught up with him.
They entered their bedroom in silence, afraid of waking Selena. Xylo rushed ahead to the nestbed, pulling back the silver blanket in the center. Odelm carefully and reverently climbed the nestbed’s stairs and knelt on the center mattress, his emotions high at the significance of the moment.
His nestqueen.
He never thought he would be able to say that again.
He unwrapped his tentacles and slid his arms from beneath Selena. Xylo covered her tenderly with the blanket, then took off his wristband and set it on the nestbed table, staring at her all the while. Odelm followed his lead.
A mental brush caressed his mental shields once again, and Odelm accepted Xylo’s teal mental strand.
“Even though you have not given her your bonding spores, I believe it would be beneficial if we formed our own connection—like the unbonded males and close nestbrothers do. It will help in moments like this when we need to communicate and do not want to wake Selena. We can keep a strand loosely connected to one another and our shields will incorporate it, like they do with our bond-strand to Selena. It will not have the strength of the deep bonded connection to Selena, but any connection is better than none. I think it worth the loss of privacy if it helps us protect Selena and our clan.”
Odelm looked up from Selena’s peaceful face to Xylo and met his gaze.
He agreed though he knew it was a big decision.
Allowing anyone, other than your nestqueen, to roam the shallow parts of your mind freely was a sacrifice of privacy.
Though it could also create a special bond of friendship.
How had he gone from being alone, to being blessed by the Fates with a second chance for a nestqueen to now being blessed with a nestbrother who wanted to form an intimate connection?
He was overwhelmed with gratitude.
Odelm sent his strand to Xylo, who accepted it right away. Xylo sent his own strand back to Odelm, and together, they willed the connection. He felt a jolt as their strands fused together to form one thicker strand, pale green and teal entwined.
Thoughts and emotions flowed from Xylo—contentment at the new connection, traces of thoughts about what he needed to study tomorrow—and Odelm was able to pick them up easily through the new nestbrother strand that linked them.
Each of their personal golden nestqueen strands to Selena remained unchanged.
Odelm sighed with happiness.
“If you turn the lights off and lower the curtains, I will grab you a blanket.”
Odelm nodded in agreement.
When Xylo returned, he handed Odelm a silver blanket before lying down next to Selena.
Odelm stood there, awkwardly, examining the glowing bioluminescent patterns on Xylo’s body before he covered himself with his blanket.
When had Selena offered Xylo the center spot? He stared at all the empty spots in Selena’s gigantic nestbed and wondered which he should take.
“Lie on the other side of her. There is plenty of room and no other nestbrothers to worry about. If she has a problem with it, she will say so in the morning, but I believe she would want you there, just as she wants me here. It was difficult for me to fathom at first too.”
Odelm was about to nod and settle beside Selena when his gaze fell on the glowing white bite mark on Xylo’s neck. Selena? He glanced at her and saw that her white spots also glowed.
“Result of our coupling. I will explain tomorrow if needed. For now, go to bed. It is pretty late.”
Nodding again, Odelm gingerly lay down next to Selena, using his tentacles to pull the blanket up. He shifted to lie on his side, facing Selena, tracing her glowing white spots with his eyes.
He could feel his mind relaxing as his eyes grew heavy. It had been a long and eventful day.
“Thank you for everything,” he whispered to his new clan as sleep claimed him.