Page 34 of Third

His voice was raw, jagged with the surge of protectiveness and something deeper he could not name. He caught her shoulders in his hands, steadying her, feeling the way her entire body shuddered against him. The ship lurched again, throwing sparks from the nearby console, but for a moment, his entire focus narrowed to the woman in his grasp. She was more than his bondmate. More than duty. She was life—and he would not let anything tear her fromhim.

She gasped, her hands clutching at the wall as if it could steady her, her body swaying dangerously with the ship’s lurch. Panic flickered across her features, but beneath it Tor’Vek caught a flicker of something else—determination. She would not crumble, even when the universe itself seemed to buckled under her feet. Her courage, even in the face of terror, only tightened the band around his chest, fueling the savage need to protect what was his at anycost.

“I—Idon’t know what happened—” Her voice broke, thick with rising panic.

Tor’Vek extended one hand toward her—then stopped himself.

The craving in her eyes hit him like a physical blow, knocking the breath from his lungs with its burning intensity. It was not a polite hunger, not a whispered plea—it was a feral, desperate need that burned through the bond with stunning force. His body reacted instinctively, every muscle rigid, every nerve ending alight. The ship could have torn itself apart around them and he would have still felt her need, as tangible as a hand fisting in his chest, demanding not just his touch—but him. All ofhim.

And an answering rage twisted inside him, sharp and vicious, demanding an outlet. It was a wildfire racing under his skin, fueled by the bond’s chaotic surge and the primal instinct to claim, to fight, to dominate whatever force threatened what was his. The taste of it filled his mouth like blood and iron, and he gritted his teeth against the urge to tear apart anything—anyone—that dared to come between him andAnya.

He pulled his hand back into a fist against his thigh, the tendons straining under the force of his restraint. Every instinct screamed at him to seize her, to bury himself in her warmth and steady himself against the chaos tearing through him. His muscles locked rigidly as he forced the primal urge down, planting himself in discipline and willpower, even as the bond between them throbbed with unbearable demand.

“The bracelets have—shifted,” he said roughly. “Emotion modulation compromised.”

Her wide blue eyes locked onto his, pleading and terrified, shimmering with unshed tears she refused to release. In their depths, he saw the raw, unguarded trust she placed in him—trust he did not deserve yet could not bring himself to reject. The bond flared painfully between them, binding them closer with every heartbeat, making a mockery of the barriers he had once thought unbreakable.

The ship jolted again, harder this time. Alarms blared to life across the consoles.

Navigation override engaged.

Autopilot locked.

Coordinates rerouted.

They were no longer on course for Earth.

Tor’Vek’s hands flew over the controls, fingers moving with mechanical precision, rerouting power, attempting manual overrides, but the bond flared erratically between them, clouding his focus.

Anya stumbled forward, grabbing his upper arm, her face pale, her breathing shallow—and through the bond, he felt the surge of her craving crash into him, unfiltered and urgent. The fierce need radiating from her was impossible to ignore, apotent force that tangled with his own rage, dampening it slightly, stabilizing him even as the ship pitched wildly. Her nearness was both a balm and a threat, and every instinct he had warred between protecting her and claiming her all over again.

“Can you stop it?” she gasped.

Tor’Vek gritted his teeth, fighting his ungovernable fury. “Attempting.”

The ship shuddered violently again, pitching sideways. Tor’Vek grabbed Anya, pulling her against him as systems flashed red across every screen. The bond pulsed wildly, the craving from Anya and the rage from Tor’Vek colliding between them like a living storm.

He released her reluctantly, forcing her into the copilot seat and fastening the crash restraints as he locked into his own. The distance between their separate chairs was a jarring, unwelcome reality. Every inch between them frayed the fragile stability he had clawed back, the bond pulsing frantically as if trying to span the physical gap. His hands tightened instinctively around the restraints, muscles trembling from the effort to stay connected when every instinct urged him to tear free and pull her back into hisarms.

The main screen shifted, displaying the incoming planet—harsh, mountainous, and unfamiliar, its surface broken by jagged cliffs and swirling clouds the color of bruises. Violent weather systems clashed across the landscape, and vast stretches of wilderness promised little safety and even less mercy. Awild world, teeming with danger, every inch of it an open threat to their survival.

“The atmospheric turbulence is extreme,” Tor’Vek said tightly. “If we breach at this speed...”

He didn’t finish. He didn’t haveto.

Anya’s fingers found his wrist, clutching desperately. Her touch steadied the bond for one precious heartbeat.

He managed a few quick reroutes, slowing their descent marginally—but not enough to shift the inevitable. Every calculation, every frantic adjustment only bought them seconds, not salvation. The ship’s systems fought him at every turn, sluggish and unresponsive under the foreign override. Athin sheen of sweat broke across his brow as he forced the engines into a reduced burn, trying to blunt the worst of the coming impact. It was not enough. It would never be enough.

Tor’Vek glanced at her, memorizing the fierce determination in her wide blue eyes—aresilience that burned as brightly as any warrior’s before a final stand. It cut through the haze of rage and desperation crowding his senses, erasing everything but the singular purpose that remained: protect her. Protect what washis.

“Hold on,” he growled.

They broke through the atmosphere in a scream of fire and metal.

Chapter9

THE SHIPveered hard to port, alarms screaming through the cockpit. Anya slammed back into her seat, the restraints biting into her shoulders as the floor tilted beneathher.

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