Chapter 33 #2
“Hello, general,” I responded in kind.
“The walls of this house told me you’re hungry,” he joked, and I blushed. My stomach must have given me away, but if he heard that, he definitely heard me talking to Kiara too. “So, I’ve been thinking about something.”
“I hope it’s food.” I smiled, famished.
His hands opened and closed at his sides, nervous.
“Do you want to go out to dinner with me?”
My smile faltered at his words. I wondered if I’d heard him right, but Zion just kept waiting for an answer.
When it finally clicked, a spontaneous, satisfied smile spread across my lips as I noticed how nervous he seemed about the invitation.
There were entire constellations in his eyes as he waited for my response.
Their brightness stirred something in me, making warmth spread through my chest. I was looking at my partner, my equal.
I melted, remembering the sonar’s words: “the one who will save our people.” The phrase echoed in my mind, and I was so happy my heart seemed to overflow with light.
“Are you asking me on a date, general?” I saw the brightness in his eyes dim a little and his smile wavered, but he held firm.
“I offer you my hand and you already want the whole arm? Have mercy on this poor soldier.”
“The arm? You have no idea what I want.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted them, but his gaze intensified as it swept over my body, and my toes clenched tighter.
“At the moment, I can only offer you my hands,” he said, clearing his throat to keep his voice steady.
“Your hands are enough for today.” I smiled, descending the stairs and placing the two vouchers in his palm. He stared at them, confused—he’d been expecting my hand, not papers.
“I won the vouchers in a bet with Adele. I suppose today’s a good day to use them, but I need to get ready first. Can you wait a bit?”
“Take all the time you need. I’ll be right here.”
His smile had me hooked, but I remembered I needed to be quick.
“I’ll be right back.” I practically ran up the stairs.
My heart might as well have been a hummingbird’s wings, with only my rib cage keeping it trapped in place.
No heart had ever beaten faster than mine in that moment, and with each beat I grew more anxious.
Kiara looked at me mockingly from her spot near the window, as if she knew exactly where my thoughts were heading.
“Okay, I know you’re judging me and I don’t care,” I whispered to her while applying my makeup.
Just foundation and concealer to hide the dark circles, mascara to make my eyes pop, and a burnt rose lipstick to add some color to the whole look.
I chose black high-waisted jeans and a black long-sleeved crop top.
On top, I added a nude overcoat and pinned golden clips in my hair, creating a teased topknot while letting my wavy hair fall free.
I was ready, but I wasn’t prepared.
Δ
“Your female is in heat.”
Zion choked when he heard Kiara’s mental voice. She wasn’t anywhere in sight.
“What?” he asked, though he didn’t want to hear it again.
“Your. Female. Is. In. Heat.”
She repeated it slowly, pausing between each word so there’d be no doubt. He still didn’t know what to say.
“Yesterday she came back from your room reeking of heat, and not even that stinky spray could cover the scent.”
Zion choked for the second time. So the lavender scent that had irritated his nose was actually meant to cover Kyller’s intimate scent.
He started laughing to himself, sitting there on the couch.
Last night he’d been so shaken he hadn’t paid attention, but now it made sense.
She must have seen him naked, and even though he didn’t want to admit it, he felt ecstatic knowing his partner desired him too.
He’d been vulnerable last night, broken and shaken by what he’d seen and done on the battlefield.
When he arrived, he’d just thrown himself into the bathtub as he always did when he felt empty, wanting to be alone to keep his demons in check.
Then she came: a breath of fresh air in the middle of his personal hell, a ray of sunlight cutting through his darkness.
She welcomed him, touched him, and chased away every demon trying to swallow his soul.
Kyller brought them all to their knees and then opened her arms so Zion could breathe and nestle there.
Through it all, seeing him broken and empty, just a remnant of the man he was, she’d seen him whole and felt attraction, even when the bond was suffocated by his anguish.
It probably wasn’t even a tenth of the desire that shook him every time she touched his skin, but he was already amazed to know she’d gotten aroused even without them touching.
He immediately felt himself growing hard, but he controlled himself, thought about battlefields, about mocking students, and managed to stay in control.
For Kyller, he would stay in control. He was learning to deal with the hormones the bond sent, and in recent days it had started to get easier—actually, it had started to become more bearable, because easy it would never be.
He would learn to control his mate impulses to stay close. He knew staying away was impossible.
Over the past five years, Zion had built dikes around his own heart.
He’d constructed each barrier carefully, preparing himself for the day he would see her again.
He knew he wouldn’t be able to contain the physical reactions triggered by the partnership bond, but he believed with stubborn faith that he could at least keep the current of feelings under control.
His father had always told him that loving meant throwing yourself headfirst into unknown currents, so the general had convinced himself that if the dikes ever collapsed, the flood would take everything: the shore, the bridge, the lake, the heart.
He’d imagined a million scenarios where he ended up drowned and abandoned somewhere along the way.
What he hadn't imagined, however, was that love could also arrive softly.
Kyller… wasn't a current. Wasn't an avalanche or a raging river.
She was a spring, a thread of water that trickled slowly, lightly, moistening the soil around it without haste or violence.
She didn't break down defenses, didn't invade with savagery—she simply slipped through the cracks with the gentleness of someone who only wished to stay.
Her source didn't tear down dikes; it settled between the wooden slats, not demanding, just fitting in.
And while Zion thought he was resisting the water, he was the one who began dismantling the barriers—stone by stone, gesture by gesture, until everything opened up to the girl.
The dam didn't collapse: it surrendered.
And more than ever, he was afraid.
Afraid to open his arms and let her truly in.
Afraid of losing control and having his world shaken by something so delicate.
He feared, desperately, that the sea of steel he'd forged for himself wouldn't know what to do when faced with that sweet stream flowing without asking permission.
And now, for the first time, he realized that not everything that invades has to hurt.
Not every feeling is war. Perhaps, just perhaps, love was only this: a place where he could lay down his weapons.
He heard the bedroom door open and rose from the couch to wait for her at the base of the stairs. Kyller appeared at the top. Beautiful as a crimson shooting star, cutting through the skies straight toward his heart.
“I heard you laughing?” she asked curiously.
He remembered the air freshener spray again and held back his laughter, managing only a crooked smile.
He gazed at the girl with her exotic eyes and restrained smile.
She was spectacular. The only certainty in his life was that his partner was exactly what he'd been searching for: joy, lightness, and a touch of comedy to balance his dark days.
“I'm laughing at something I heard earlier,” he replied, still amused, trying to change the subject. For the first time, Zion felt his heart race just from watching his partner come down the stairs, her hair swaying around her. Then he held out his hand to her.
“Can I hear the joke?” Kyller asked. Her face lit up as she reached her hands toward the general.
“For your own good, you're better off not knowing,” he teased, suppressing a half-smile. When their hands met, the general pulled her closer and swept her up into his arms. “But one day I'll tell you.”
Her scent of plum and macadamia filled the general's senses, and surprise flickered in Kyller's eyes when she found herself caught in his arms, inches from his face. Then the two vanished into the shadows.
In the back of Zion's mind, the chimera still whispered.
“If you keep ignoring it, another male will mount her.”
“It'd be fun to watch them try,” he replied confidently, imagining how he'd break the hands of anyone who dared touch her that way.
He blocked the chimera from his thoughts. Today he would start by reaching out. He prayed his feet would hold firm when his body begged for more.