They ate in comfortable silence, Brenn clearly understanding that Jade needed time to process her arrival on this alien world. The food was surprisingly familiar—grilled vegetables and what tasted like chicken, though the spices carried exotic notes she couldn't identify.
Fifteen minutes later, Brenn glanced at her watch with the precision of someone accustomed to military schedules. "We really should head back to the command center for training."
Jade's pulse quickened. Going back to the command center meant she might see Raikar again, and despite her best efforts to maintain professional distance, the prospect sent anticipation racing through her veins.
Focus on the work. Prove yourself. Everything else is just distraction.
But as they prepared to leave, she couldn't shake the feeling that her careful control was about to be tested in ways she'd never experienced before.
SIX
RAIKAR
Raikar's office felt like a cage. For two solid hours, he'd tried to focus on the stack of reports littering his desk—supply inventories, patrol logs, border assessments. None of it registered. His panther prowled just beneath his skin, a relentless, heated pressure against his bones, furious at the distance he'd placed between them and their mate. Each breath pulled her scent from the fabric of the chair across from his desk where she sat just mere hours ago, the lingering trace of lavender and citrus unraveling him thread by thread.
A sharp rap on his door was a welcome distraction. "Enter."
Veynor stepped inside, his posture military-straight and his eyes missing nothing. "Sir. Jade has started her training with Talia and Brenn on the southern grounds."
"And?"
"There are… murmurs. Questions about why a human is here, receiving instruction from two of our best."
Raikar's jaw tightened. The situation was spiraling faster than a jungle vine snake. He couldn't command his people to silence their curiosity without looking like he had something to hide, which he did. He couldn't announce Jade was his fated mate because the woman herself didn't know. The truth ofthe situation would make him look weak and compromise his authority. A general who brought his fated mate here on false pretenses? The council would feast on that.
He leaned back in his chair, the leather groaning under his weight. "Tell them she's here because I'm recruiting warriors for special missions. It's a new initiative."
Veynor's jaw twitched. "That story seems pretty thin. They will wonder why you recruited a human female from Earth and not any other capable shifter warrior from Nova Aurora."
"Well, then tell them she's an asset that I personally selected." Raikar's voice dropped, a low growl of warning. "It's not exactly a lie."
"They'll question why an 'asset' is housed with two of your warriors and not housed in a more secure location."
"Then they can question my judgment to my face." Raikar stood, the movement abrupt, forcing Veynor to look up at him. "The point is, nothing leaves your lips about mates. Not a whisper. Understood?"
Veynor gave a single, sharp nod. "Understood." He turned to leave, pausing at the door. "For what it's worth, the early reports from Talia are that Jade is… capable."
The door clicked shut, leaving Raikar alone with the beast roaring inside him.
Capable.
The word was fuel on a fire.
He crossed to the wide window that overlooked the training grounds carved into the jungle's edge. The twin suns cast long, dappled shadows across the hard-packed earth below. Talia moved with aggressive, explosive energy, demonstrating a disarming technique—one of his own drills. Brenn stood to the side. And in the center, Jade moved.
And his breath caught.
It wasn't the fluid, instinctual grace of a shifter. It was something else. Something calculated. She had watched Talia's demonstration with total focus, her brown eyes clearly tracking every micro-shift of weight and every angle. When she mimicked the move, she didn't just copy it. She absorbed it. Her body, lean and tightly muscled, executed the technique with a precision that was almost clinical. No wasted motion and pure, distilled efficiency.
Watching his mate perform his drills, the combat forms he'd honed through blood and war, did something dangerous to him. A possessive, primal heat flooded his veins.
Mine.
His panther pushed hard against his skin, demanding to be down there, beside her, feeling the heat of her body through the humid air. But he'd told her he was busy. To show up now would signal that she was a distraction he couldn't ignore.
He watched as Talia advanced, shifting to a sparring stance. Jade mirrored her, settling into a ready position that was purely her own—lower center of gravity, hands up in a guarded, open-palmed guard he'd seen in Earth martial arts. Talia lunged but Jade didn't meet it with force. She deflected it, using Talia's own momentum to unbalance her, following up with a sharp, controlled tap to the ribs that would have been a debilitating strike if she'd put power behind it.
A fierce pride burst in Raikar's chest.
