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and he couldn’t imagine a more perfect mate.

“You are here without authorization!” Elder Meadowlark shouted.

“I was attacked!” Ivy yelled right back. “I didn’t decide to come to

your planet for a vacation. My entire crew almost died.” Fisting her

hands as her sides, she curled her upper lip and glared. “Idiot,” she

muttered under her breath.

Kai pretended to sneeze to hide his snort of amusement. If possible,

her fiery temper made him want her even more.

“Please,” Ivy implored, her entire demeanor changing from one

heartbeat to the next. “I just want to go home. I’m sure you want that as

well.”

“Yes,” the elder answered, clearly confused by her abrupt shift in

disposition, “of course we want that.”

Kai didn’t know what his mate had planned, but he knew her well

enough to see through the timid façade. Ivy Dalton bowed to no one.

“Thank you.” She dipped her head, likely to hide the smile that

curved her lips. “I’ll prepare a message for my superior right away. She

travels, so hopefully she will be within range.”

“The name of your superior?” Elor prodded, and some unspoken

understanding passed between him and Ivy.

“Alexis Volis Tesera.”

Elder Meadowlark’s face contorted into a mask of rage, and he hissed

in a breath through clenched teeth. “Of the House of Tesera?”

“Well, two of her mates are.”

The Xenon had a long history with the dragons, none of it particularly

good. Considering their superior magic and advance technology, the

elders would never risk the wrath of the Dragon Warriors. Of course,

he’d shared this information with Ivy during one of their many

conversations, and he inwardly applauded her quick thinking and

resourcefulness.

After a brief discussion among the Court, Elder Meadowlark shook

back the sleeves of his robes and clasped his hands together at his

midsection. “Very well. The Court has deemed your request reasonable.

The return correspondence will, of course, be reviewed by the elders

upon its receipt.”

“Of course,” Ivy agreed easily. “Thank you for your generosity.”

Her tone dripped with sarcasm, a concept Kai was only beginning to

understand. The elder, however, heard only her words and smiled in

return.

“We do have one more condition, Lady Dalton.” Lowering himself

back into his seat, Elder Meadowlark folded his hands on the table and

leaned forward. “Whilst you are here, we request that you do not wander

unaccompanied. For your safety, of course.”

“She will be choosing her guard today,” Kai answered, earning him

a sharp glare from his mate. “Will that be all?”

“Actually, we have already assigned your chosen a guard. He’ll be

arriving at the citadel tomorrow morning, and I think you’ll find him

more than satisfactory.”

Turning just his head, he looked to Ivy for her reaction, but she only

shrugged. “We’ll meet with him soon,” Kai said to the elder as he took

his mate’s hand and pulled her away from the dais. “If there is nothing

further, there are important matters which need my attention. Until our

next meeting.”

Elder Meadowlark nodded once, his expression calculating. “Until

our next meeting, Vasili.”

“My lady, your presence is requested in the kitchens.”

Situated in her favorite chair by the north window of the library, Ivy

looked up from the huge, leather-bound book she’d been skimming

through. The words were written in Xenthian, but she enjoyed the hand-

drawn depictions that detailed the various islands.

“Hello, Lorcan.” She smiled brightly at the attendant as he crossed

the room to stand beside her chair. “Why am I going to the kitchens?”

“Your approval of the final menu is needed for the celebration.”

“Oh, right, I think Kai mentioned that.”

After her meeting with the Court, she’d recorded a carefully worded

message addressed to Commander Sullivan Archer, much to the relief of

the elders. Still, her message had been reviewed and examined half a

dozen times before finally being transmitted.

Funnily enough, Ivy had never actually met Alexis or any of her

mates, but she’d heard the stories. Stars, everyone had heard the stories.

Just like they’d all heard when the commanders of Alpha Station: X2 had

claimed a Krytos female and been converted. High Commander Jax

Spartan was going to lose his shit when he found out about her and Kai,

which honestly, had been her soul reasoning for addressing the recorded

message to his second-in-command, Sully. At least he wouldn’t scream

at her until the vein in his forehead throbbed.

Probably.

Closing her book, she set it aside and stood, stretching her arms over

her head and twisting to relieve some of the tension in her back. “Sion,

wake up. We’re needed in the kitchens.”

“No,” he grumbled. Flipping over on the oversized sofa tucked

between two of the bookshelves, he cracked one eye open to look up at

her. “Is there food involved?”

“We’re going to the kitchens, pussycat. What do you think?”

Growling insults under his breath, he sat up and rubbed both hands

over his face. “You know, I still haven’t forgiven you for volunteering

me for this guard gig.”

“How is this any different than what you were doing on the

Dreamweaver
?”

Dropping his hands, he cocked his head to the side and arched one

auburn eyebrow. “Here, I’m not getting paid to put up with you.”

Snorting, she left the shifter to pull himself together and turned back

to Lorcan. “Is Kai going to meet us?”

“I’m sorry, my lady, but the Vasili is still in a meeting with Elder

Blackthorn.”

“Oh, right.” Ivy hitched her smile a little brighter to hide her

disappointment. “Well, in that case, we shouldn’t keep the kitchen staff

waiting.”

Lorcan led them from the library and through the corridors to a

tubular elevator with a curving glass door. It surprised Ivy to realize that

in all the time she’d been at the citadel, she’d never actually seen the

kitchens.

Ivy expected to find a cool, damp basement made of the same stone

used in other parts of the citadel. Instead, the glass door slid open on the

lower level, and she stepped off the elevator in a warm, brightly lit

kitchen with gleaming black floors, marbled countertops, and chrome

fixtures.

Sunlight streamed into the room from the narrow windows set high

on the far wall, and the most delicious smells wafted from the three

enormous ovens. Kitchen attendants dressed in white tunics worked at

different stations, chopping, peeling, stirring, carving, and kneading.

The entire room operated with fluid efficiency, and Ivy appreciated the

beauty in its well-crafted order.

A large, wooden crate in the back corner drew her attention, not

because of its size, but because of the squeaks and snorts coming from

inside of it. While Lorcan spoke with one of the chefs, and Sion conned

the attendants into feeding him, Ivy wandered over to the crate to

investigate.

Gripping the edge of the box, she leaned over to peer inside, and

immediately started giggling. Blue straw had been scattered across the

wooden planks, and at least twenty of the tiniest, most adorable piglets

she’d ever seen lifted their heads to peer up at her.

No, not piglets, but they did closely resemble them. Instead of pink

skin with bristly hair, they each sported a thin layer of shiny black fur

with big white splotches. Their floppy ears perked up when she cooed to

them, and they wagged their double tails like energetic puppies. Their

snouts twitched as they sniffed at her, and when she lowered her hand

into the crate, they all gathered around to rub their furry heads against

her fingers.

“Lorcan, what are these?”

The attendant glanced over his shoulder, his eyebrows drawn

together. “
Bekshin
, my lady.”

“They’re so sweet.” She chuckled when the tiniest of the
bekshin
rolled

over on his back, revealing a white patch of fur in the shape of a star, and

wiggled closer for her to rub his belly. “Why are they in the kitchen?”

“Uh, Ivy, you may not want to get too attached.” Sion jerked his

thumb toward the carving station. “I think they’re on the menu.”

The horror of it sunk in slowly, and Ivy’s stomach rolled

uncomfortably. “They’re just babies!”

“They’re only small animals,” Lorcan assured her, as if that made it

all better. “They are fully grown.”

“No.” Lifting her hand out of the box, Ivy folded her arms across her

breasts and set her jaw. “We’re not eating them.”

“It would be a splendid dish to serve your guests for the celebration,”

one of the kitchen attendants answered, her eyes wide and eager. “The

bekshin
is considered a delicacy, my lady. We thought you would be

pleased.”

“Pleased? Pleased?” Ivy sounded almost as squeaky as the piglets,

but she didn’t care. “We. Are not. Eating. Them.”

Lorcan started across the room, Sion following behind him, and two

of the attendants shuffled around their workstations in her direction. She

yelled at them to stay back, and when they didn’t listen, she completely

lost her mind. As quickly as she could move, she reached into the crate,

pulling the
bekshin
out in pairs.

From there, complete chaos ensued.

The fuzzy piglets squeaked and chuffed as they darted around the

kitchen, their tiny hooves clacking over the floor. The smallest one

somehow managed to climb into a sack of flour, and he rolled around in

it happily, kicking white powder all over the pristine tiles. Two others

found their way onto the countertop beside the sink, and they took turns

diving into the soapy water.

Attendants rushed around the kitchen, stooped over with their hands

reaching toward the floor as they tried to corral the
bekshin
. Sion leaned

against one of the counters, laughing his fool head off, and Lorcan’s

mouth hung open as he watched the scene unfold.

“Leave him alone!” Ivy yelled when one of the attendants snatched

the runt with the star-shaped patch of fur out of the flour bag. “Don’t

touch him.” Flying across the kitchen, she plucked the piglet away from

the attendant and cuddled him to her chest. “How could you eat them?”

When she’d released the
bekshin
into the kitchen, she’d been under

emotional distress, and honestly, there hadn’t been much of a plan

involved. She’d just wanted to save the sweet little piglets from their

terrible fate, but now, she realized they had no way to escape. The staff

would eventually catch them, put them back into their crate until it was

time to cook them.

She wouldn’t let that happen.

“Everyone out!” she ordered, jabbing her finger toward the elevator.

“Everyone get the fuck out right now!”

* * * *

the office connected to the meeting hall, his head down and his brow

creased. “They attacked without provocation?”

Kai stood near one of the windows, watching a bright-red willowhip

hop along the stone fence of the courtyard. “That’s the report Ivy gave of

the events, and I believe her.” From the hip pocket of his tunic, he

produced a small piece of parchment and unrolled it before passing it to

his father. “She drew this.” He’d examined the drawing—just a cluster

of three dots in the center of basic circle—many times during the past

few days. “Are you familiar with it?”

The elder held the parchment loosely, tracing the drawing with the

tips of his fingers. “I am not.”

“We have no record of a vessel other than Ivy’s entering our airspace

at the time.” The appearance of the unknown craft concerned Kai more

than he’d let anyone know, including his mate.

“Cloaking?” Elor rolled the parchment and passed it back. “With the

advanced firepower Commander Dalton described, as well as the ability

to go undetected by both her systems and ours, I don’t believe this is a

new race.”

Kai agreed. Unknown, but certainly not a species in its infancy.

Among one of the oldest races in the universe, the Xenons had seen and

recorded much, dating back millions of years. Which only made it more

worrisome that they had no information about these hostile newcomers.

Before he could respond, a vidscreen flickered to life over the

desktop, showing a very harried-looking Lorcan.

“My apologies for the interruption, sirs, but we appear to have a

situation in the kitchens.”

Kai’s heart seized in his chest, and he stepped toward the display

with an angry snarl. “Has something happened to Ivy?”

“No, no, Vasili. I assure you she’s quite well. It’s just that—” The