Page 19 of Cheating Fate

“Is that so?” he asked, narrowing his dark purple eyes.

“Of course. But I get it. I’m also extremely protective of my only sister. And at the risk of sounding arrogant again, note that despite my frustration, I can handle that offense.”

This time the same shock appeared on both males’ faces.

“You can? As opposed to who else? And what offence are we talking about?” Khel asked.

“Your daughter and I are old enough and mature enough to train with the elite peacekeeping force under your command. But somehow, we aren’t mature enough to assess for ourselves if we can and should date each other?” I challenged.

Khel’s face closed off, and he narrowed his eyes at me, while Lhor took on that unreadable expression again. To my surprise, he was the one who addressed me instead of the General.

“What makes you think that you are good enough for our daughter?” Lhor asked, his voice laced with genuine curiosity devoid of any disdain.

“Fate,” I replied with conviction. “We found each other halfway across the galaxy when we were still young children. In the sixteen years that followed, our commitment to each other never waned or faltered. Do not take my word for it. Ask your firstborn son. He looked at my soul and saw with his own eyes the irrefutable truth that your daughter and I are perfectly Attuned.”

Lhor’s face softened, while Khel pursed his lips, his expression a mix of resignation and displeasure.

“I have remained steadfast and faithful to Zhara since the first day our souls touched,” I continued with determination. “No hurdle thrown in our way will ever sway my resolve. However, I would strongly suggest you avoid alienating her over the inevitable with stunts like this.”

Khel immediately stiffened, repressed anger fleeting over his features. “Do you think you can tell me how to raise my own daughter?” he asked in a dangerously low voice.

“Obviously not,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “But Zharina feared something like this would happen, and that she might grow to resent you for it.”

The glimmer of pain that flashed through his purple eyes, quickly hidden, instantly had my chest constricting. The sympathetic glance Lhor cast towards his Geminate seemed to confirm my worry that the General and my mate had an ugly clash over this impromptu mission.

“Zhara loves both of you,” I said in a soothing voice. “She literally worships the ground you walk on. Over the years, she’s spoken so often of her Dad and Papa that it almost feels like I know you. I would have been disappointed had you not been fiercely protective of her. I also do not expect you to simply trust me to do right by her. Watch and be ready to intervene should it ever be required—not that it will—but please, do not try to control her. It is a game that no one will win.”

Khel opened his mouth to respond, but movement at the other end of the room caught my attention. Curious as to what I was looking at, he glanced over his shoulder, only to audibly groan. I barely repressed a snort at the expression that settled on both males’ faces. The fearsome, apex alpha that was General Praghan suddenly looked like a teenager whose parent had just caught him red-handed disobeying after having been thoroughly warned of the dire consequences should they misbehave. Lhor didn’t seem to know whether he also wanted to groan, be amused, or run for the hills.

With a graceful but determined gait, their mate Amalia was quickly closing the distance between us. By the look on her face, she was ready to give her husbands a stern talking to. A malicious part of me eagerly anticipated bearing witness to them getting berated. But another was too busy marveling at my future mother-in-law.

A powerful emotion surged through me as she drew closer. Her resemblance to my Zhara was uncanny. At age forty-one, Amalia Praghan barely looked a day older than twenty-five. Had she been standing next to my woman, people could easily have mistaken them for sisters. Her features were almost identical aside from Amalia having a slightly pointier chin, golden brown skin, and no crihnin on her forehead. She also seemed to share her daughter’s height of 6’2.

To my surprise, although she also was of the Warrior breed, she kept her dark brown hair with a hint of red flowing loosely on her back instead of the usual single braid. While it would be deemed excessively long by galactic standards, her knee-length hair was much shorter than the ankle-length that the Warriors who regularly partook in combat kept theirs.

“Are you two bullying this young man?” Amalia asked in a disgruntled tone in lieu of greeting as soon as she reached us.

“Of course not,” Khel said, sounding defensive.

Lhor smiled with a mischievous expression as he shook his head.

The General extended a hand towards his mate, but she slapped it away as she continued marching directly to me. Khel scrunched his face at his wife’s back, making me bite the inside of my cheeks not to smile.

“So you are my Zhara’s Gavin,” Amalia said in a gentle and warm voice while examining me from head to toe like one would an oddity they had longed to see forever.

“I am,” I replied in a friendly tone, instantly liking her.

She shook her head with an air of awe as her gaze roamed over my broad chest before she locked eyes with me. The sweet, almost maternal way she stared at me warmed me from the inside out.

“Figures you would be this massive,” she whispered wistfully as if to herself. “I always knew my little Princess would find her own Ghan.”

I chuckled and slowly nodded. “It’s not the first time I’ve been told something along those lines.”

“Aunt Mercy hasn’t stopped raving about you. So has Ghan for that matter, when he wasn’t being jealous about you taking his place at the top of Zhara’s favorite people’s list,” she added teasingly.

“I’m sure he’ll find a way to make me pay for it,” I replied with a grin.

She smiled back and appeared to be about to say something before changing her mind, her face sobering.