She walked to the massive bathroom, and splashed cold water on her face, washing away the last of her tears and forcing her to confront reality. The woman staring back at her from the ornate mirror looked fragile, defeated—everything Tess had sworn never to become again after her mother’s death. Red eyes told the story of her breakdown, but beneath the evidence of grief, something else flickered in her green gaze.
I was standing so close to something great.
The thought came unbidden but rang with truth. Not just the potential relationship with Korran. But the investigation itself—the chance to solve a decade-long medical mystery, to expose potential corruption, to finally use her skills to save someone instead of watching them slip away despite her best efforts.
I could have saved King Voran. I could have allowed myself to get closer to Korran. I could have seen what developed between us.
But now what? Did he even want her here? The bear shifters had made their prejudice clear from the moment she arrived. She could simply leave, return to her safe but precarious life on Earth, maybe manage to keep her job despite failing to achieve what she’d been hired to do.
The easy choice. The safe choice.
She studied her reflection more intently, looking past the tear damage to the woman beneath. There—in the set of her jaw, the straightening of her shoulders—she caught a glimpse of the fire that had carried her through graduate school in a male-dominated field. The determination that had landed her the research position despite being one of a hundred applicants, most of them men who assumed they deserved the role more than she did.
I proved I belonged when everyone said I didn’t.
The memory of those battles sparked something fierce in her chest. She’d handled discrimination, condescension, and outright sabotage from colleagues who thought a woman had no place in serious scientific research. She’d pushed forward after her mother’s death when grief threatened to destroy her career entirely.
I’m not about to give up now.
The decision crystallized with sudden, blazing clarity. King Voran deserved justice. Queen Lysia deserved answers about what had truly killed her mate. And if there was corruption orconspiracy behind the king’s death—if someone had murdered him while hiding behind medical authority—they needed to be exposed and held accountable.
The stolen vials are still in Korran’s mini-fridge.
Her scientific mind seized on the concrete lead, grateful to have something tangible to focus on rather than the emotional devastation of Korran’s rejection. Those vials contained potential evidence of what had really been happening to King Voran for the past decade.
I’m going to stay here and fight for the truth. I’m going to finish what I started.
The woman in the mirror looked different now—not the broken, dismissed failure, but the brilliant scientist who’d never backed down from a challenge. Her eyes held the same fierce determination that had carried her through every obstacle life had thrown at her.
If it’s the last thing I do on Nova Aurora, I’m going to expose whatever or whoever was behind the king’s illness.
A soft knock interrupted Tess’s fierce resolution, pulling her from the mirror and back to the immediate reality of her guest suite. She crossed the room and opened the door to find Gabrielle waiting in the corridor.
The attendant’s gentle brown eyes searched Tess’s face with careful concern, taking in the evidence of her breakdown with intuitive perception.
“Dr. Holt, I hope I’m not intruding.” Gabrielle’s voice carried its usual soft cadence but underneath lay genuine worry. “I wanted to check on you after... everything.”
Tess stepped aside, gesturing for Gabrielle to enter. “Please, come in.”
Gabrielle moved into the sitting area with her characteristic quiet grace, her hands clasped in front of her simple but elegantdress. “Gerri just called. She heard about the king. She said she could take you back to Earth as early as tomorrow morning.”
The words hung in the air between them. Tess could picture it—slipping away before the funeral, before facing Korran’s continued rejection, before having to confront the failure that seemed to define her relationship with death and loss. But the woman who’d stared back at her from the bathroom mirror wouldn’t take the easy path.
“Actually, I’m staying.” The words emerged with more strength than Tess felt but saying them aloud solidified her resolve. “I’m going to finish what I started. I owe it to the king.”
Relief flickered across Gabrielle’s features so quickly Tess might have missed it if she hadn’t been watching closely.
“The queen will be pleased to hear that,” Gabrielle said carefully. “She’s back now, and I think... well, I think she hoped you wouldn’t leave just yet.”
Tess felt her pulse quicken at the mention of Queen Lysia. The woman who’d shown her nothing but kindness despite the prejudice Tess faced from others in the territory. The woman who was now facing the same devastating loss Tess had endured three years ago.
“Can you take me to her? I’d like to tell her myself.”
Gabrielle nodded without hesitation. “Of course. She’s in her private chambers.”
They moved through the estate’s corridors in companionable silence, past the ornate tapestries and carved wooden bear totems that spoke of centuries of royal tradition. Tess had walked these halls before, but now they felt different—less like a temporary workplace and more like a battleground where she’d chosen to make her stand.
The grand staircase felt endless as they descended, each step carrying Tess closer to a conversation she wasn’t sure she was prepared for. How did you offer comfort to someone whose griefmirrored your own? How did you promise to solve a mystery when the person most capable of helping you had just cast you aside?
