1. Zyrus

1

ZYRUS

Honora Station - 11 Years Ago

Fun. Freedom.

Females.

After a particularly precarious mission, this leave was what I needed to loosen up and relax. Honora Station wasn't the most exciting place in the galaxy, but it was bustling with life from all corners of the universe, and there were always people looking to get into my kind of trouble.

"If you get arrested, I'm not bailing you out." Kyric sipped his beer and looked at me with a leery grimace.

So, my reputation had gotten around. I laughed and slammed down the rest of my drink before ordering another. Our time here was limited, and I was going to make the most of it. "I'm not going to get arrested."

"Again?" he prompted.

"I wasn't charged." A few hours in a holding cell had been enough to have me bouncing off the walls, about ready to confess to any crime to make it stop. No confession was needed when my eye was swollen from the sucker punch that started the fight, and they let everyone go after we were sufficiently cowed.

"Keep your comm on. We're on leave, but I've been hearing whispers. We could be recalled at any moment." Kyric didn't order a second beer.

Such was life in the Detyen Legion. We scoured the galaxy looking for clues as to who destroyed our planet a hundred years ago and taking care of any evildoers we came across in the meantime.

"Understood, Boss." I stood, taking the newly poured drink with me and leaving Kyric alone in the bar. He'd sip his drink slowly, claiming to savor the flavors, then go for a walk in the flower garden or some boring shit like that. As if he didn't feel the ticking of the clock just as strongly as I did, as if death wasn't coming for both of us, moment by unceasing moment.

I chugged the rest of my drink and set the glass aside. I was on leave; I wasn't going to spend it moping about the Denya Price or the borrowed time I was living on. I had seven years to find my mate and a whole legion of brothers behind me. Life was good.

But Honora Station was boring.

There were plenty of places to get drunk, but by station time it was still morning, and the seedier ones wouldn't open until nightfall. The station was a mix of permanent residents and travelers, people rushing to and fro, trying to get to connecting flights that would take them anywhere but here. It was like spending leave in a planet-side space port except there were hotel rooms.

But no one was giving me orders. That was something to appreciate.

I ducked into an arcade and wasted fifteen minutes spending my hard-earned credits on games that were obviously rigged. There was no way I couldn't get the ball I was tossing in a single bucket. I was a trained soldier. And I put extra credits in the machine to regain my honor. But before I could spend all my credits on proving myself to an empty arcade, I forced myself to step away.

Not worth it.

I started walking again. I wasn't going anywhere, but every time I came to a split in the hallway, a choice to go down one concourse or another, I moved without conscious thought, like instinct was guiding me somewhere I didn't know I needed to be.

I ended up in the arrivals terminal, the place teeming with people carrying luggage and rushing to get on with their journeys.

The crowd parted, and a human woman stepped through.

Denya .

The oxygen was sucked out of the room as I tried to take a deep breath. But the only way to get enough was to step closer to her—the source of the air I breathed. The whole universe seemed to shift and realign with that recognition, my soul alight with joy as I recognized my true purpose in one glance.

Her gaze shifted, and our stares connected. She looked at me for a long moment before her lips tugged up into a lopsided smile. She had dark hair that was pulled back, a few strands of it falling in front of her pale face. And as I got closer, again moving without thought, I saw the hint of freckles and the dark brown of her eyes.

She was perfect.

She was everything.

"Good evening," she said, voice low and smooth. Then she shook her head a bit. "Or morning? What time is it? I'm sorry. I've been traveling for a week."

"What time do you want it to be?" I wanted to reach out and touch her, to sweep her into my arms, kiss her, and take her away to someplace quieter where we could get to know one another and seal the bond simmering between us.

"Are you the welcome committee? Because this is stranger than any port I've landed at so far." She paused for a moment. "Good, though. I think. Do I know you?"

"You will." I held out my hand. "Let me show you around the place."

She hesitated. "I have to … I don't even know your name."

"I'm Zyrus. I can call my friend Kyric if you need a reference." Though Kyric was as likely to tell her the bad over the good. Maybe I wouldn't call him. "What's your name?" I couldn't just call her "mate," could I?

"Astrid."

"There, now you know my name. All good?" Energy buzzed in my veins. If I touched her, I might explode. If I didn't, I'd go mad.

I'd heard of the intensity of the denya bond, but nothing could have prepared me for this. The whole place could be coming down around us, and all I'd care about was Astrid.

Astrid. I let the name roll around my mind like a caress. A perfect name for a perfect mate.

She muttered something I couldn't quite make out and put her hand in mine. I closed my fingers around hers, and everything settled into place. Yes, this was exactly where I was supposed to be.

I lead her out of the arrivals terminal. "Where are you coming from?" I asked. She only had a small bag with her, so either she'd checked her luggage to her final destination, or it was waiting at the baggage claim.

"Kursica. It's a small colony no one's ever heard of. And it's about a trillion light years from anywhere. I'm only halfway through my trip."

Our trip. Or I'd ask her to return to the legion with me. It wasn't desertion when we found our mates; the legion couldn't stop the hand of fate.

Well. Except when it did. But I didn't have to think about the soulless anymore. My mate was right in front of me, and we were going to start our lives together today.

"I've never heard of it." I'd been across a lot of the galaxy, but never there.

"It's an Earth colony, and its failing. Time to move on to greener pastures."

"Are you from Earth?" That place I'd heard of, though again, never been. Not many aliens went there; it was too far out of the way.

"I suppose. What about you?" Her thumb teased my wrist, sending a shiver up my arm. "I've never seen anyone like you before."

"Detyen. But I travel all over the place. No fixed planet." That wasn't exactly true. The Legion had Detyen HQ on a frozen, inhospitable moon, but that wasn't anyone's true home, no matter how long they lived there. It was just a safe place.

Before I could get caught up in the tragedy of my people, I swept Astrid down another hall, following the distant call of music. One of the atriums was full of people swaying to the beat of a small band playing on the stage. I pulled Astrid close. "Dance with me?"

She was already in my arms. We fit together just as fate had intended. Her body molded against mine, soft and yielding. "Zyrus."

"Yes?" Anything she wanted, I'd give her. Anything she needed, I'd provide.

"What are we doing?"

That was easy. "Dancing."

"This feels … It's like magic." Her fingers teased the back of my neck, playing with the ends of my braid. "But it can't be real."

"It's real." It was a promise, a vow.

I wanted to kiss her. The moment was perfect, the lights dim, the band playing a romantic tune. And she looked up at me with those wide eyes, yearning for more.

I leaned in and covered her lips with my own. She gasped, lips parting, and I swept my tongue in, tasting her. She was sweet, like honey and spice, and I wanted to devour her.

Now.

My body pulsed with desire, need surging through me with every breath. I wanted to claim her right there, to make her mine for the whole galaxy to see. But perhaps a bit of privacy first.

The loudspeaker overhead buzzed an announcement that I couldn't quite make out, and in that same moment, my comm buzzed. I wanted to ignore it. Nothing else mattered when Astrid was right there.

But I had to report this to Kyric, to let him know my status had changed.

My comm buzzed again, and I pulled it out of my pocket, reluctantly pulling away from my mate. "I have to deal with this," I said and shuffled back a few paces to where it was a bit quieter.

Kyric had left a message telling me where my hotel room was for the next few nights and asking whether or not I wanted to get dinner with the rest of the crew on the station.

I had a feeling I'd be busy by dinner time. And good thing I had the hotel room to myself. I turned around, ready to tell Astrid the good news.

But she was gone.

I looked around, thinking she'd just wandered a little way away. I didn't see her. And when I called, she didn't answer.

I tore through the balcony, looking at every person, in every corner, but it was as if she'd disappeared into thin air.

Where was she? Had she been taken? I needed my mate.

I retraced our steps. If she'd walked away, she was only a minute or two ahead of me, but I must have chosen the wrong hallways. I couldn't find my mate.

I searched for hours, for longer than we'd spent together. I went to every gate in the departure terminal, scanned every human face, but none of them were Astrid.

This had to be some terrible mistake.

But I didn't find her that night. Or the next day. Or the next.

When my leave ended, I got on the transport alongside Kyric and headed back to the Legion. But I knew my mate was out there.

And I was going to find her again.

Somehow.