Chapter 15

SARAH

After the sleek, black craft pierced the protective dome of Huren, vanishing into the azure sky, I knew all the invisible bubble crafts were gone as well. The dome's seamless closure cast a finality over the city that made my chest tighten. I turned away, the gritty surface of the training field beneath my boots crunching as a torrent of emotions threatened to overwhelm me. Hope clashed with desperation, the same way the twin blue suns of Valose clashed against the silver skies.

I had barely taken a dozen steps toward the palace when a sudden surge of movement caught my attention. A stream of Valosians and among them most of the mated women, their faces etched with anxiety and determination, flowed past me like a river of urgency. They moved with a singular purpose, their whispered prayers and hushed tones creating a current of concern that pulled me along in its wake.

"Willow!" I called out, taller than the other girls, I easily spotted her in the crowd. Her head whipped around, her eyes wide with the same fear that gripped my own heart.

"Sarah," she breathed, her voice tinged with the same anxiety I felt to the marrow of my bones.

"What's happening?" My question came out breathless, laced with the tension that knotted my stomach.

"We're heading to the hangar," Willow replied, her words hurried, punctuated by the rapid beat of our footsteps. "It's where we'll hear about the battle first—about them." Her gaze flitted away, and I knew she was thinking of her mate, Murrox.

I nodded, feeling an unexpected pull toward the place she spoke of, a need to be closer to Gunnox. The idea of him in danger sent a shiver down my spine, a cold contrast to the warmth of Valose's twin suns.

"Let's go," I said, more to myself than Willow, as I followed the throng of women, each step heavy with the weight of the unknown.

Without hesitation, I shadowed her quick steps, weaving through the throng of mated females, each one a mirror of my own mounting dread. The cool air of the hangar did little to soothe the fire of anxiety in my veins.

We reached the congregation of worried souls huddled together—a mosaic of fear and hope. I found an empty spot on the metal floor and folded into it, feeling out of place amid these women whose bonds to their mates were etched in a glowing flourish called a shawra in the center of their chests that matched their mates.

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to ward off the chill that crept up my spine despite the lack of cold. My thoughts spiraled, circling back to Gunnox with a persistence that defied logic. His image was etched into my mind, vivid and unforgettable. He was fiercely handsome with high cheekbones to rival any male model on Earth with full, kissable lips I longed to explore again.

"Are you all right?" a voice beside me whispered, an undercurrent of shared apprehension lacing the simple question.

I turned to see the soft voice belonged to Gia, mate to Nekko, the Sia of Clan Huren. I nodded, unable to trust my voice, my gaze returning to the massive command console at the front of the hangar. It loomed like a beacon of fate, its sleek screen alive with blinking lights that danced and flickered.

Each moment stretched, taut, and endless. My pulse hammered in my ears, a relentless drumbeat that matched the cadence of silent prayers. The memory of Gunnox's measured voice filled the void, a soothing balm that fought against the tide of panic threatening to overwhelm me. His words from another time whispered promises of protection, of unwavering loyalty that now battled on distant land.

"Please be safe," I murmured, the words a talisman against the uncertainty that shrouded us. I clung to the burgeoning whisper of what had to be my imagination. A thread of an echo I knew deep down in my gut didn't belong to me but had chosen to ignore.

As the wait drew on, the resonance of that seed grew louder within me, a call that echoed across the void between us, seeking the heartbeat of its counterpart. With every breath, my longing for his return intensified, entwining with the very essence of who I was becoming on this alien planet—far removed from the person I was before my abduction.

"Please," I breathed, the word lost amid the collective anticipation, "come back to me."

The cavernous hangar reverberated with the shuffle of nervous feet and the murmur of hushed voices. I scanned the sea of faces, each reflecting hope and fear in equal measure. Their shawras, delicate flourishes that matched their respective mates, were beacons of their bond, and I found myself wishing I had let things go further than the oral pleasure I'd received from Gunnox.

I watched as Willow pressed a palm over hers. "The fighting has begun," she gasped as her eyes squeezed shut. She swayed slightly, riding the waves of emotions coursing through her from another part of the world.

Layla, mate to Sakkar, let out a harsh sob, her hand flying to her mouth to stifle the escape of raw despair. Then, Isobel did the same. Her mate, Tikkot was Sia of Trisess, so naturally, he went to fight for his clan's land.

Alyssa, Drekkor's mate gasped through a turmoil only she could feel as did Marie and Elise.

This was more than mere worry; these women felt the pulse of battle, a connection so profound it bypassed distance, bypassed reason. A zing of electricity shot through me. The echo within quickened, my heart racing in time with a rush of adrenaline I knew did not belong to me.

I closed my eyes, focusing inward, on the echo I had tried so hard to ignore, I clung to it—a whisper of something not quite my own. A flicker of courage, undeterred by the specter of war, solid and unyielding. I had felt it before on Gorka after I'd first laid eyes on Gunnox, a tendril of concern and rage—so specific, so achingly familiar—it could only belong to him.

I hadn't wanted to believe it even though the proof was all around me. Soulmates truly existed on Valose.

"Gunnox," his name slipped from my lips before I could catch it, a silent invocation drawn from the depths of a newfound revelation.

His emotions brushed against my consciousness, a fleeting touch that set my nerves on fire. The sensation was cursory, yet undeniable—an intimate echo resonating within the hollow of my chest. It was both terrifying and exhilarating, a secret shared without words.

"Sarah?" A voice, laced with worry, cut through my raging thoughts. I opened my eyes to meet Willow's gaze, her brow furrowed in concern.

"I can feel him," I uttered, my voice barely above a whisper, betraying the maelstrom of emotions churning inside me.

Willow nodded. Her dark, glossy hair shifted over her shoulders. Her skin, usually bronzed like sun-kissed sands on a Hawaiian shore, now bore a pallor that starkly contrasted with her usual vibrant complexion. The worry etched into her features had drained the warmth from her cheeks, leaving them ashen and devoid of their customary radiance.

"It's real," Willow confirmed, her voice steady but holding an undertone of awe. "I hadn't wanted to believe it either. Fought hard not to bond with Murrox because I clung to the hope that one day I would be able to return to Earth."

I swallowed hard, grappling with the implications of giving into the bond that called to me.

My gaze swept across the sea of faces, each one a mirror to the soul of their absent mate. The air was electric with anxiety and hope, thick enough to strangle. A sudden wave of desperation crashed over me as I studied the faces of the other women. Like me only much more intense, they were living the battle alongside their mates through an invisible thread that bound them across the void.

"Sarah, you're trembling," Willow murmured, her hand reaching out to steady me.

I barely felt her touch. My mind spun with the realization of what it truly meant to be bonded. To share not only joy but every harrowing scrape with death, every pulse-pounding moment of combat. It was intimacy in its most raw form, a fusion of spirits that defied logic. And there I stood, on the precipice of forsaking such a connection with Gunnox for a world I had been unjustly ripped away from.

After enduring what I had on Gorka, and with every fiber of my being drawn to Gunnox, the memory of Earth felt like a fading mirage in the vast expanse of my mind.

A hush fell over the room as Zikkar raised his hand and approached the command console. "We're being hailed," Zikkar's voice boomed through the hangar, the undercurrents of his own relief palpable.

Every breath was held, and every heartbeat paused as we waited to hear the outcome of the battle with the Nuttaki.

"Trisess is secure. The Nuttaki threat is neutralized for now," Nekko's voice boomed through the comm. "Minimal injuries. No casualties on our end."

A collective sigh cascaded through the hangar like a breaking wave, washing over us with sweet relief. Tears flowed freely, some born of happiness, others of pent-up fear finally allowed release. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the news sink into my very bones.

Gunnox was alive. I knew it in the tendril that was him. To hear the words anchored me, calming the swirl of emotions in a way nothing else could. As whispers of gratitude and muted laughter began to fill the space around me, I sat silent, a sentinel among the celebration. The bond that had seemed so meager was solidifying within me, each throb of my heart syncing with an unseen rhythm that belonged to him taking me farther away from Earth and luring me home.

My chest tightened, and the air around me charged with a mixture of emotions as Nekko made another announcement. Relief had washed over us all, but the tide was quick to retreat, leaving behind an uneasy stillness. My fingers curled into my palms, nails biting into flesh. Gunnox was safe, but the electric thrum of victory was short-lived.

Gunnox wouldn't be coming back to Huren right away. He was staying there to help secure the border until a perimeter could be established. Trisess was his home and I more than anyone understood what it was to be home, but that didn't stop the sharp pang of disappointment to pierce through the bubble of joy in my heart, deflating it with rapid precision.

The information settled like lead in my stomach, weighing down the fluttering hope that had momentarily lifted me. Gunnox, would not return to the dome's sanctuary tonight. He would remain on his clan's land in the Trisess Forest.

His absence was a void, the silence of his presence deafening amongst the cacophony of relief and lingering fear. But we were connected now, tethered by an invisible thread woven from the very essence of our beings. I couldn't wait for his return, to run my fingers through the length of his silky hair, to smooth my hands over the glowing designs that marked his powerful chest and arms, to kiss his perfect lips, to set eyes on my silver splendor once again.