by Zoey Draven
“No!” Pidixa exclaimed, though his breathing was labored, struggling against the warriors that detained him. “Prime Leader, she is innocent in this!”
“What are you saying?” Vaxa’an asked, but he never lowered his voice. “That your blood sister is lying to your Prime Leader or that it was you who fabricated Devix’s alleged crime? Be clear, Pidixa.”
Pidixa stared at Vaxa’an. His broken hand and wrist hung limply at his side and blood dribbled from his nose and mouth, dripping to the floor of the facev that drank the blood like water.
He was caught. He had no choice now but to confess. Or else it meant his sister’s punishment.
“It was I who lied about the crime,” Pidixa admitted, meeting the Prime Leader’s gaze. Another wave of shock rippled through the crowd. “She is trying to take blame to protect me. Ignore her and give me a tribunal in her stead.”
Vaxa’an met Devix’s eyes and pure relief exploded in his chest. Taking a deep breath, still feeling the pain from the gash in his side, he knew it was finally over.
All of it.
Pidixa had finally confessed.
It didn’t feel as Devix expected it would. He felt vindicated, yes, but he felt almost…indifferent. His only concern was being reunited with his female.
Nodding at the warriors that flanked Pidixa, Vaxa’an ordered, “Take him to the command center for imprisonment.” To Arvalla, he said, “You will accompany your brother.”
The armed guards at Pidixa’s side tugged him into motion, eliciting a pained groan from the male. Arvalla’s face was stricken as she quickly approached her brother’s side. But just as she passed Devix, she paused.
Devix had always wondered what he would feel if he ever saw Arvalla again. He’d always imagined disgust, hatred, anger. Surprisingly, he didn’t feel any of those things. It was like a numbness had spread throughout his entire body at the sight of her, a coldness, but also an understanding.
“I was trying to protect him,” was what she said, right then. “I never imagined he would do what he did. But I had to protect him. Please believe this.”
“I do believe you,” Devix replied, but his tone was like steel. “You finally made it right, Arvalla.”
“I should have told the truth eight rotations ago,” she said, swallowing. “The guilt I have felt…”
Devix didn’t care about her guilt. “Without your betrayal, Arvalla,” he started, casting a gaze over her, “I never would have found my luxiva. So perhaps I should be thanking you, for I never knew what love, what happiness was, before her.”
Arvalla’s gaze shuddered, his words stinging her to the core, he knew. She looked at the ground as she passed and Devix wondered how he’d ever thought that he’d loved her. He knew they would never speak again.
“Devix!” he heard behind him and when he turned, he saw Cara approaching him. Rixavox was close behind her, but it was his mate who reached him first. She didn’t care that he was covered in blood, both his own and Pidixa’s, when she embraced him.
“Luxiva,” he murmured, closing his eyes, leaning his forehead down to rest on her slim shoulder. Between them, he felt the press of her swelling stomach.
“I was so scared for you,” she whispered.
“It is over now,” he told her softly. “It is over.”
“It truly is,” she murmured, pulling back to look in his eyes. “They confessed. Now everyone knows what they did.”
Devix’s gaze slid to his brother, who stood just behind Cara. When his mate saw him, she stepped away, allowing the two brothers a moment.
Rixavox clasped Devix’s shoulder. “You fought well and with honor, just like the warrior I remembered you to be.”
“Thank you, brother,” Devix told him, “for all that you have done.”
Rixavox’s gaze went to his side, saw that the blood had not clotted yet. He cast a look at Cara and then said, in Luxirian, “You need to see Privanax for that.”
Devix nodded. In Luxirian, he replied, “Will you take me to him? I know my female does not like him very much, but I could use his lasers right now.”
“Yes, come,” Rixavox replied, jerking his head towards one of the back tunnels that led straight to a side entrance of the command center.
“What’s happening?” Cara asked, coming to his side, touching his arm, when Rixavox guided them to the tunnel.
And because they’d agreed to be honest with each other, he said, “I need to have some cuts mended by Privanax.”
Surprisingly, Cara nodded without a moment’s hesitation, revealing her worry for him since she had no reaction to the healer’s name. “Okay.”
“You will be…nice to him?” he tried to tease.
“For you, I will be the nicest, sweetest human being he’s ever met,” she told him.
EIGHTEEN
“IT IS DONE,” Privanax grunted, the sizzling sound of his lasers ceasing.
Cara relaxed at Devix’s side. She knew it had to hurt, getting those claw marks closed up and the wound disinfected. But her mate had showed no outward signs of discomfort, had only kept her gaze during the entire thing.
Rixavox had left shortly after bringing Devix to Privanax’s labs. He’d gone just down the hall, to oversee the imprisonment of Pidixa, and to meet with Vaxa’an and the council of elders. Not only was Devix vindicated, but Rixavox as well. The council had called for Rixavox’s resignation eight rotations ago, after all, simply because he shared Devix’s blood.
Cara blew out a breath, hardly believing everything that had transpired. And now that Privanax had closed up Devix’s wound and had endured her endless questions that her mate would be okay—the healer had assured her he would be—she could finally relax.
Devix murmured, “Are you well, Cara?”
“Dev, I’m fine,” she said.
“Truly? You have endured a lot, luxiva, leading up to that trial. And during the trial, you saw…” Devix swallowed, trailing off his words. “I had hoped to spare you from that, from seeing that violence.”
“I’m not a child, Devix,” she murmured lightly, but she was touched by his concern. “The fight wasn’t pretty. I saw everything and I’ll remember a lot of it, but the most important thing to me is that you came out of it okay. I don’t care about anything else and I definitely don’t want you to worry about me.”
Privanax returned after putting away his lasers, interrupting the conversation.
“It is your turn now, female,” he told Cara.
Cara looked at him. “My turn for what?”
“We agreed the offspring would be closely monitored,” Privanax replied, eyeing her, probably wary from the last time they’d been in the same room together, when she’d laid into him for what he said about Devix. “It has been long enough.”
Devix squeezed her hand and she nodded, knowing it would reassure her mate if anything else.
“Alright,” she said. Trading spots with Devix, she took her place on the table, lying back, just as she’d done the first time. Privanax retrieved his scanner and started up his equipment. When he came back with a familiar needle, she bit her lip and held out her palm, letting him prick her finger for a blood sample.
And as his machine did whatever it needed to do with her blood, he ran his scanner over her body, before zeroing in on her pelvic area.
The room was silent as he ran his tests and it was ten or fifteen minutes later when he finally finished.
“How is the baby?” she asked him.
“Healthy,” Privanax replied and she felt Devix relax next to her. “I see you performed a blood bond during the ravraxia. Your blood has changed. I believe it will benefit the offspring’s growth, if it hasn’t already. Your gestation will begin to accelerate rapidly, now that you have the sire’s blood in your veins.”
“Okay,” she murmured.
Privanax looked at Devix for a brief moment before his gaze flickered back to Cara. “Have you decided whether you will stay on Luxiria until the offspring is birthed?�
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Cara looked over at Devix, but his expression was careful. She knew what he wanted, that he believed they should stay on Luxiria until the birth. It was the safest option, not only for the child, but for her. If something went wrong on Rozun…
“We’ve decided to stay,” she murmured, meeting her mate’s gaze. His breath hitched and he touched her hand, hopeful. She returned her gaze to Privanax. “But we may be staying in Velraxa, not the Golden City. Are there healers there that can assist with the pregnancy if anything goes wrong?”
“Tev,” Privanax replied. “Rixavox would not allow his luxiva to live there if there were not. Kirzalla is an accomplished healer. And she will be able to transmit scans to me here, so that I can monitor your gestation as well.”
Cara nodded. “Thank you.”
Privanax jerked his head in a nod and began to put his equipment away. When he was finished, he hesitated but then straightened his spine.
“Devix,” he said, addressing her mate, “I wish to say that I was wrong about you. I heard what happened, that Pidixa confessed during the trial. I can hardly believe that a Luxirian warrior would dishonor another male that way, that a Luxirian female would allow what happened to happen and say nothing.”
Devix inclined his head, but Privanax continued.
“I wronged you, in believing them. I ask for your forgiveness.” His eyes met Cara’s. “And your forgiveness, as well, for what I said to you during our last meeting.”
“You have mine, Privanax,” Devix said. “I do not wish to hold you against your beliefs. It was a difficult tribunal. I am just glad that they finally confessed.”
Privanax inclined his head. “Thank you.”
When he met Cara’s gaze, she gave him a small smile. If Devix forgave him, so would she. Of course she would. “I forgive you as well. I’m glad we can move past this.”
Privanax’s shoulders relaxed and the male actually smiled. It was small, but it was there.
“Thank you, female,” he said. He jerked his head in a nod. “I will depart now. Take your time here, if you need to rest more.”
Then the healer left, leaving them alone in his labs.
The room was quiet, except for the humming of equipment and Cara met Devix’s gaze, happy, relieved.
He sat next to her when she pushed up from her position and, despite his injuries, drew her into his lap so he could hold her.
“You make me the happiest male in the universe,” he said to her.
“That’s funny,” she replied, “because I was thinking something similar about you.” She blew out a breath, feeling the weight of the day leave her body. “I’m so relieved, Dev. About everything.”
“I told you I would never leave you,” he rasped. “Ever.”
“You better not,” she warned. He was still covered in blood and grit from the fighting floor, but she didn’t care. They would wash it off together once they got back to their dwelling.
“Did you mean it?” he asked after a brief moment of silence. “About staying here until the offspring is born?”
“Yes,” she said, turning to meet his eyes so he would see that she was serious. She cupped his face, stroking her thumbs over his cheekbones, careful to avoid a painful looking cut. “I know that you worry about me. And you’re right. It’s safer if we stay here until our baby is born. We don’t know what can happen.”
She felt his relief through the blood bond. She hadn’t realized how much her decision weighed on him until just that moment and she felt ashamed for making him worry so much.
“And Velraxa?” he asked next.
She gave him a small smile. “Well, Cecelia kind of invited us. And I’m sure you want to be close to your brother, while we’re here. I just want you to be happy, Dev. And I know being close to him, reconnecting with him, would make you happy.”
“You make me happy,” he told her, his chest beginning to purr. She smiled. “But tev, I would like to be close to him, to take advantage of the time we have together. I have missed him.”
“I know.” Cara leaned forward to place a small kiss on his lips. Then she murmured, “Do you think your exile will be lifted now?”
Devix blew out a breath. “Nothing like this has ever transpired before. There are no laws in place that would dictate what happens, so I truly do not know.”
“But what do you think?”
Devix met her eyes. “I think it will be lifted.”
Cara grinned, relief threading through her limbs, making them feel heavy. She would sleep so well that night. They both would. “Thank God.” Teasingly, she said, “Maybe now you can start growing out your hair again.”
He chuckled, but then stopped, no doubt due to the pain from his healing wound. “Tev, perhaps. I know you would like that.”
“I most definitely would.”
Devix’s expression sobered and he reached up to brush back her hair from her face. In a soft tone, he murmured, “I love you, Cara.”
“Say it again,” she whispered, her heart fluttering in her chest.
“I love you,” he repeated, leaning down to kiss her lips. “I love you.”
Cara closed her eyes, feeling her mate against her body, feeling his warmth. It reassured her in a way nothing else could. Though their future was uncertain, she would always have him. Always.
“I love you too, Dev.”
And no matter what happened next, she always would.
EPILOGUE
FOUR MONTHS LATER…
Cara’s back arched, her sensitive, heavy breasts pushing against Devix’s chest, a silent scream on her lips as her second orgasm ripped through her.
Devix growled, nipping at the column of her neck, pounding his hips between her spread thighs in a steady, maddening rhythm. But her male was close to the edge. She could sense the pleasure rising between their blood bond, which was fully open. He could feel her pleasure and it was beginning to trigger his own release.
“Yes, baby,” she whispered, tightening her inner muscles, trying to get him there. “You feel so good!”
His pace increased, his breaths coming out in rough, harsh pants, a groan tumbling from his throat.
“Tev, luxiva,” he rasped, pulling back from her throat so he could look down into her eyes. He rolled his hips expertly, hitting all the right places. “Lojik rem.”
‘Lojik rem’ was Rozian. It roughly translated to ‘take me,’ words that she’d always found sexy. Devix knew that too and he used those words to their full advantage, whenever he pleased.
His thrusts became short and he leveraged his weight to his forearms so he could pound into her sex even harder. Cara gasped, feeling every inch of her skin tingle.
Almost there…she thought, biting her lip.
“Tev, tev, tev,” Devix hissed, his eyelids screwing shut, the tendons in his neck bulging as he gave three more powerful thrusts and then began to cum inside her, his hot semen coating her walls. Through their open blood bond, his orgasm felt like her own and she cried out, her abdomen clenching with the pleasure, stars bursting behind her closed eyes.
When she came back down, Devix had his forehead pressed against her own, sharing her breath. Their bodies were slightly damp from the exertion, but Cara didn’t mind. She was planning to wash their furs later anyways.
Happily, she huffed out a tired breath when Devix flopped over onto the other side of their bed so he wouldn’t crush her with his weight. Immediately, he drew her into his arms. Between her thighs, she felt his seed begin to leak from her sex. Nothing had ever felt more natural to her.
“Think we woke him?” she whispered, catching her mate’s eyes before tracing his lips with her fingertip. She couldn’t resist leaning forward to nibble on his full bottom lip.
“Nix,” he rumbled, keeping her there so he could kiss her properly for a moment…or two…or three. “Our offspring would sleep through a begawwi stampede.”
Cara chuckled, thinking that it was probably true. Because one thing that she was learni
ng as a new mother was that when a Luxirian-human baby slept, he slept. And when he was awake…he was awake.
Her heart melted just thinking about him. God, she loved him. At one and half months, Beven had been surprisingly easy to care for. During the later weeks of her pregnancy, when she’d been as big as a house, and worrying about everything, Cara had often confided in Devix—and Cecelia, for that matter—that she feared she’d be an awful mother. She knew next to nothing about babies, had always focused on her career back on Earth, rather than focusing on building a family one day. And it seemed that the bigger her stomach became, the worse her fears were.
But Devix had always consoled her, telling her that he’d never been a sire before and that they would figure out parenthood together.
And they were. They’d been back on Rozun for a month already and it had seemed so easy to make the transition.
Her pregnancy had been relatively easy, especially since she not only had one, but a few individuals to lean on if she needed guidance or support. After Devix’s warrior trial, they’d journeyed to Velraxa with Cecelia and Rixavox, moving into a small home close to their dwelling so they could be near each other. And Cecelia had been right…Velraxa was very, very different from the Golden City. Velraxa had been like a breath of fresh, crisp air after being in a desert for too long. The climate was more agreeable, if a tad too cold, any Luxirians that they encountered didn’t even look at Devix twice, though many of the population of the outpost were warriors, and the slow, easy pace of life there reminded Cara of Rozun.
It had been easy to live there. It had been harder to leave, but after Cara had given birth, to a beautiful baby boy with budding black horns, shimmering skin, and brown, human eyes, they knew that it was time to return to Rozun. They’d stayed for a couple weeks after Beven’s birth, to ensure that Cara’s health remained steady, but then they’d said their goodbyes.
Although…it wasn’t a goodbye. It was a ‘see you later.’ Cara and Devix considered Velraxa a second home and they would always have their dwelling there, just as Rixavox promised before they left. Devix and his brother also spoke almost every day, through a Com line they’d opened up, and the couple was planning to come to Rozun for a week with their newborn baby to visit soon. Plus, she already knew that they would be visiting Luxiria often, staying often, especially considering that Devix’s exile had been released after Pidixa’s tribunal.
