We lost people. That doesn’t disappear overnight.
I roll my shoulders out of habit, testing for pain that doesn’t come, still not used to healing so quickly.
A few of the rebels glance my way as I pass, but it’s different now. There’s no suspicion or quiet assessment. There’s recognition instead, and acceptance. Maybe even respect, which still feels a bit surreal if I think about it too long.
We fought together. Inevitably, that changes things.
But I don’t slow, as I’ve got something I need to deal with. Two things, actually. One of them being the fact that Caly just walked out of here without telling anyone.
The other?—
I feel him before I see him.
Varek.
The bond pulls in a steady and constant rhythm, like a line drawn between us that I don’t even think about following anymore.
I head straight for him, because yeah, I should probably start with telling him someone just left.
Before everything else inevitably goes to shit.
He stands with Kael and Shanae, posture locked into something that doesn’t belong to the male I had in my arms this morning. This is Varek the commander. The one who holds a rebellion together with sheer force of will and expects others to follow.
It’s not a mask. It’s just… another part of him.
And now…
Now I see all of it.
The shift in him is subtle but absolute. Shoulders squared. Voice low and controlled. Every movement deliberate. There’s no softness here. No hesitation. No trace of the mate who held me like I mattered more than anything else in the world just a few hours ago.
Except, his attention flickers. Just once. To me.
The bond hums in recognition and relief. Warmth sits low and steady in my chest.
“Pax.”
My name cuts through whatever he was saying. I close the distance between us, slower than instinct demands, because I’ve learned that with Varek, these moments matter. The ones in between everything else, when it’s just us, even when we’re surrounded by everyone.
“You look like you’re about to start another war,” I say, keeping it light because if I don’t, I’ll feel everything all at once, and I’m not sure I’ve got time for that right now.
“I am attempting to prevent one,” he replies.
“Yeah,” I mutter. “Good luck with that.”
That earns me the faintest shift at the corner of his mouth. Not quite a smile. But close enough that I feel it.
Kael glances between us, something knowing shimmering in his expression before he looks away, deliberately giving us space without making it obvious. Shanae does the same, already turning back to whatever task she was focused on.
Silence stretches between us, not uncomfortable, just… full. There’s too much sitting under the surface for it to be anything else.
“I need to tell you something,” he says.
That gets my full attention, since I’m pretty sure that’s meant to be my line. “Okay.”
“If you had gone through that rift…” He hesitates. The words hang there for half a second, and I feel the rest of them before he says it. The bond tightens, not painfully, but with something heavy enough to make my chest constrict.
“…I would not have survived it.”
