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Although she had said it in a teasing fashion, her words hit a nerve. Whatever my expression displayed, she noticed something was amiss, and her smile faded.
“What’s wrong?” she asked with concern.
“Do you find me too scrawny, now?” I asked, feeling stupid for being so self-conscious about my current appearance, me who had always chastised other Braxians—especially our females—for questioning their physical appeal and attractiveness based on fabricated aesthetic norms.
“You’re not too scrawny,” she replied with a frown, looking at me as if I’d lost my senses. “You have shed some muscle mass due to the healing, but you’re still stunning. Do you know how many men would kill to have a body half as godly as yours, even now?” She ran her hand over my chest in a gentle yet possessive caress that lit a flame in the pit of my stomach. “You’re always perfect to me.”
My heart swelled to bursting as I gazed upon her beautiful face. “I love you, Dawn,” I said, laying all my feelings bare.
A powerful emotion crossed her features, and she gave me a shaky smile. “I love you, too, Keran.”
My eyes flicked between hers, searching. I didn’t doubt she meant those words. However, the insecure part of me needed additional reassurance.
“What of Jaek?” I asked in a soft voice.
She sighed and gently caressed my cheek before resting her palm on my chest. “I will always love him, too,” Dawn said, her eyes locked with mine. “When Deimos said Jaek and I were Attuned, I don’t think he lied. However, I do not believe Jaek and I are soulmates. I love him, always have, and always will. But I’ve never beenin lovewith him, and I’ve never felt with him what I feel with you. Even through the compulsion, your face always flashed before me, telling me to remain true toyou. A part of me always knew Jaek wasn’t the one. I think that’s why I never entered into a relationship with him. He is a wonderful man, and I hope he will find his soulmate. He deserves to be happy.”
I nodded slowly, trying to rein in the joy overflowing in my heart. “He is indeed a good man. The Veredian mind reader said he passed the test with flying colors. He has always been on our side, even while he was working with Deimos.”
She smiled with a mix of relief and wistfulness. “Yes, I got that confirmation as well. In my heart, I knew he couldn’t be a traitor. Mercy is quite pleased by the news. She’s been eagerly waiting to hire him in her lab. Jaek is over the moon.”
“I’m glad. He will have access to the best tools and will work alongside some of the most brilliant minds in the galaxy,” I said.
“He actually already knows what he wants to work on first,” Dawn said with a serious expression.
“Oh?”
She nodded. “He believes the Sarenian traitors still have copies of Zeory’s work on that serum. Jaek wants to devise an antidote or vaccine—I don’t know anything about science—that will prevent us from ever falling prey to compulsion again.”
“That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed. “I never want to feel this helpless again.”
“That makes two of us,” Dawn said with a disgusted expression. “It will take the Veredians a few more days to finish deprogramming every hybrid, but they are progressing well.”
“Do you know what they will do then?” I asked.
She took on a troubled expression. “Some of them intend to accept one of Jardan’s contracts. It’s mostly those who were abused by their own clans and do not particularly wish to rekindle that relationship. The others said they would stay if either you or Gavin ascend the throne. If it’s anyone else, they will leave.”
That struck me hard. It was no mystery to anyone that my chances of ascending were dwindling with each passing day. With Gavin having returned to his father’s space station—Venus Hive—I didn’t have a chance to discuss the matter with him. Unfortunately, he would only return with the rest of his family just in time for Marghor. But I didn’t doubt the prospect of having to step in was weighing on him.
“And what about you, Dawn? What do you intend to do?” I asked, hating that I should even feel nervous about what her answer might be.
She looked at me as if I had asked a dumb question. “I’m not going anywhere until you kick me out.”
“You know that’s never going to happen,” I replied.
“Then you have your answer.”
“Magnar or not, I want you as my wife, if you will have me, broken as I am,” I said, feeling overwhelmed by emotion.
“You are not broken, silly man. You’ve been patched up, and now you’re mending. Magnar or not, there can never be another man for me but you. I choose you, whatever the future holds for us,” she said, caressing my hair.
“Iambroken. I haven’t touched you in nearly six weeks, and—”
“Oh Goddess, seriously?!” Dawn exclaimed in disbelief, interrupting me. “In case you forgot, you spent two of those weeks getting eaten from the inside, another week fighting for your life, and the next three recovering while also trying to save an alliance and prepare for your crowning. It’s not like you’ve been complaining about having headaches every night or some other lame excuse. Give yourself some slack.”
“Fair, but still… What kind of Braxian am I to hunger for my mate but be too weak to satisfy her?” I said with self-derision.
Dawn shifted from her position, sitting sideways in my lap, to straddle me instead. “The kind of Braxian who should probably let his mate handle it.”
