With a reluctance that was a physical ache, he released her, stepping back as if the space between them was a chasm.The jungle air rushed in where her warmth had been, a bitter replacement.
He turned his gaze to Talia and Brenn, forcing his voice into its usual, impersonal command. "Finish the session. Ensure the technique is demonstrated with precision. I won't have our standards slip."
Brenn's cheeks flushed. "Of course, General. My apologies. It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't."
He needed to leave. Every instinct screamed to put distance between himself and the curious, judging eyes. But his feet were rooted to the spot, his gaze dragged back to Jade.
She was watching him, her expression a mask of composed professionalism, but her eyes… her eyes were dark pools of confused awareness. She'd felt it too. The bond. The rightness. And she was grappling with it just as fiercely as he was.
He couldn't just walk away again. The beast inside him wouldn't allow it. He needed more. A reason to see her again.
"Jade." Her name was a command and a plea on his lips. "You'll attend dinner at my residence tonight. 1900 hours. We have formal protocols to discuss regarding your integration and duties."
It was a flimsy excuse, a threadbare veil over a desperate need to get her alone. Discussing protocols could have been a five-minute meeting in his office tomorrow. She had to know that.
Her eyebrows lifted a fraction, but she gave a single, sharp nod. "1900 hours. Understood."
Of course she accepted. She saw it as part of the job, another step in her training. Jade had no idea she'd just agreed to walk into his den—into the private space of a male whose control was fraying by the second.
"Good." The word was final, a dismissal for the watching crowd as much as for her.
He turned on his heel and walked away, every step feeling like a retreat from the only thing that had felt right in a decade. The path back to the command center blurred. His mind was already in his home, imagining her there, surrounded by his things, her scent mixing with his in the quiet space. Dinner. Conversation. Alone.
How in the hell am I going to manage myself tonight?
The reality, cold and exhilarating, settled in his gut. He probably wouldn't.
The game of distance was over.
SEVEN
JADE
The humid air clung to Jade's skin as she finished the last combat sequence, her muscles singing with the satisfying ache of a thorough workout. Sweat beaded along her hairline, and her heart still hammered from the intensity of the session—not just from the physical exertion, but from the lingering memory of Raikar's solid chest pressed against her back, his voice a rough command in her ear.
"I'll walk you back," Brenn offered, wiping her hands on a towel. Her warm green eyes held genuine concern. "The path can be tricky in the fading light."
"We still have duties here," Talia cut in, her tone sharp with authority. "Equipment needs to be secured, and I want to review today's progress reports."
Jade shifted her weight, suddenly aware of how her damp training clothes clung to her body. "I can wait until you're finished. I don't mind?—"
"No." Brenn shook her head, already fishing a key from her belt pouch. The metal was warm from her body heat when she pressed it into Jade's palm. "You need to go home, shower, and prepare for your dinner with General Raikar. He doesn't appreciate tardiness."
The key felt heavier than it should have in Jade's hand. "Are you sure?"
"Trust me," Brenn's voice carried a weight of experience. "When General Raikar sets a time, he means it. 1900 hours sharp."
Jade closed her fingers around the key, the metal warming further against her skin. "Right. I can't be late to a dinner meeting on my first day here."
Jade turned and left the training grounds, heading for the stone pathway that wound toward the clusters of residential buildings off in the distance. Each step took her further from the command center, from the lingering scent of combat and determination that clung to the earth. The twin suns hung lower now, casting long shadows that danced across the stones in front of her.
As she walked, the alien landscape unfolded around her in impossible beauty. Crystalline formations jutted from the earth like frozen lightning, their surfaces catching and fracturing the light into prismatic rainbows. The purple jungle loomed closer with each stride, its canopy alive with movement and sound—chittering calls from unseen creatures, the rustle of massive leaves, and the distant splash of water over stone.
Something about that jungle called to her. Not with words or sound, but with a pull that originated deep in her chest, a recognition that made no logical sense. She'd never seen this place before today, had never even known worlds like Nova Aurora existed. Yet walking this path felt like coming home after a long absence, like her feet remembered every stone even though her mind insisted this was all foreign territory.
The training session replayed in her mind as she navigated a gentle curve in the path. Talia had been relentless, pushing Jade through sequence after sequence with the clear intention of finding weaknesses. The panther shifter had expected thehuman from Earth to falter, to show gaps in her training that would justify the skepticism Jade had read in those bright green eyes.
