“Good.” Zorin picks me up and carries me back into the shower. When he’s finally calm, he eases himself out of me and sets my feet on the ground again. Then he washes every inch of me and refuses to let me help.
“I have not properly cared for my mate,” he defends. “That changes, starting today.”
Zorin dries me off, wraps my hair in a towel and folds it over my head like he knows what he’s doing. He puts our dirty clothes in a bin in the wall and grabs me a fresh set. He doesn’t bother with caring for himself until I’m taken care of.
“You should pilot your ship into the hangar on Viriden’s vessel. I will ensure I am clean and presentable to your long lost family.”
I hesitantly leave him behind to take the pilot’s seat.
“Tessi,LumenCommand. Come in.”
I answer. “This is Tessi.”
“Do you need assistance? Our scanners showed a ship out your way.”
“No. Zorin handled it.”And me.
I notice Zorin bracing his injured side.“Are you okay?”
“Fine.” Zorin stretches through his obvious pain, releases his side, and enters the bedroom.
I roll my eyes as I guide us into position with Viriden’s ship. Zorin comes out later in his cleaned uniform, however damp, and his cleaned vest with wiped down weapons.
I request a dock site through the dash and am approved for a hangar. The door opens in Viriden’s ship, and I hover us inside.
Zorin is quiet as we hike down the ramp and are greeted by Viriden’s guards. They escort us to a large meeting hall where other Shifters and Isonians gather.
Viriden looks up from a table screen as someone speaks into his ear. He stalks toward us, smiles at me, and frowns at Zorin. “You disobeyed orders.”
Zorin’s body sags.
I take his hand in mine. “Any punishment you give to him, you also give to me.”
“Tessi, don’t say that. You don’t deserve that.”
I confidently face Viriden. “I am the opposite of my father. I unmask, see through shields, even those around hearts. Zorin is a good soldier. If you punish him for any reason, it will discourage others from wanting to be like him.”
Viriden chews a lip and nods. “Walk with me. We need to discuss the future with your brother and your M-pack.”
40: Azrim
Viriden greets our crew as we descend Bloodmoon’s ramp into the hangar. With him are Tessi and my brother, who bring with them the aroma of a fresh bond. And I couldn’t be happier for both of them. He displays the slight shyness I never had as he steals another glance down at her.
They look happy.
Carnas carries Esrynne into Viriden’s ship, while I carry Rorsar. Corzin assists Spike. Marne helps Ignus, while Davarok and Kren support us where they can.
Isonian nurses guide hovering beds up to us, and we lay down our injured for them to cart off and care for. I thank them as I always do. Today they smile and thank us for our sacrifice.
Those of us still on our feet follow Viriden into a room filled with gold orbs, fine as mist over a warm lake in the morning. They coalesce into a map of the surrounding cosmos and the ships in the area.
“Your M-pack has been very effective,” Viriden says. “While many of your pack has been lost, and there are a few members left in other packs, I would like to suggest a collective effort to officially workforeach other, not your M-pack under my leadership. I have a ship I can dedicate to your crew, and you can have the two Nebulous ships you have taken. But we would like to help you separate from your world. It is clear the traditional packs are a threat to our allied ones. And we do not want to lose your infiltration skills.”
Viriden moves the ships into an arrangement that shows which one will be dedicated to us. “Azrim will command as he is your alpha and is best suited.”
“I am not certain I am, sir.”
“Statistics do not lie, Aegeris,” Onidus remarks as he paces behind Viriden. He has not bothered to clean the blood off of his uniform. I am starting to like him more than before.
