Page 39 of Fated to the Dragon Alien

Good. With any luck, someone on the mining team would have some spaceship knowledge, so he didn’t have to manage the entire bridge once they were off this moon. He reached into the lower console and turned off the terminal behind him. No trace.

Cerani was healing. In one cycle, once the bots did their work, she’d be strong enough to walk. When she was, he’d be waiting—with more than just a plan. He’d have a ship, a path through the stars, and the kind of fury only love could forge. He’d have mapped every checkpoint, rerouted every sensor, and built a way out of this blood-soaked cage.

Because this wasn’t just about rebellion anymore.

It was about her.

Cerani was the pulse behind everything waking up inside him. The fire that had burned through the walls he’d spent a lifetime maintaining. He didn’t care what it cost. The Axis had already taken his past, his history, and—until now—his free will—he wouldn’t let them take her.

He stepped into the corridor with his heart still echoing from her kiss. The memory of her blood-streaked hands, helping others even with her own bones broken. She was terrifying in her devotion, luminous with defiance, and toofekkinggood to stay in a system that wanted her forgotten.

There was no more waiting.

No more obeying.

He would burn every checkpoint, every coded communication chain, every lie the Axis had used to keep her caged.

And if they came for her now?

He’d burn the wholefekkingempire down before they laid a single hand on her.

ELEVEN

Cerani

Cerani woke with her mouth dry and her skin cool. Blinking against the overhead light, she waited for the fog in her head to lift. The air smelled clean—too clean. No dust. No metal. No rust.

She was in the med room. Alone.

Memories came fast. Stavian had been in this room with her. He’d carried her out of the mine and stayed while her leg was being repaired. He’d said things… Stars, he’d said things she hadn’t expected. Things that upended everything she thought she understood.

I’m falling in love with you.

She hadn’t known what to say. Even now, the words sat heavy in her chest. Not because she didn’t feel something, but because she did. Too much, too fast, in a place where survival came first and nothing was guaranteed.

Cerani closed her eyes and let the memory sink in—his voice, his steadiness, the way he looked at her like she mattered. It hadn’t felt like a fantasy. It had felt real. And terrifying.

The monitor system behind her gave a soft click, like it had just figured out she was awake. She didn’t look at it. Dread clawed up her throat as she peeled back the blanket and stared down.

Her leg looked…normal.

Not swollen. Not crooked. No bruising. The skin from knee to ankle was smooth, maybe paler than before. But it was whole.

Cerani let out a breath, only half believing what she was seeing. She wiggled her toes, then flexed them. All five responded. She lifted her foot off the bed a few inches and rolled her ankle.

No pop. No stab of pain. Just a faint soreness. Like she’d taken a hard fall while sprinting and walked it off too fast.

“You’re kidding,” she whispered.

Still, she didn’t trust it. She scooted forward on the bed. The light beside her blinked blue once. Then white. The monitor registered that she wasn’t fully on the bed, but she didn’t care. She let her heel hover above the floor, and tapped her toes onto the hard surface. A light shock ran up her spine, but that was just nerves. Her other foot followed. Slowly, carefully, she stood.

Weight settled through her legs. Nothing buckled. She stood there for a second, then bent her knee. Lowered herself half an inch. Straightened again.

She pressed her palm to the side wall, then took a step. The tile was smooth under her feet, sterile and a little too shiny. Her left leg was stiff, but it didn’t give out.

She could walk.

Cerani looked around the small room, half expecting someone to step in with a warning. A mech guard. A medic. Stavian. But no one came. Her old under-suit and EP gear were nowhere in sight. Not on the chair. Not folded near the wall tray. Not binned for incineration, either. Just gone.

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