Page 236 of Filthy Royal

Her Alpha let out a shuddered breath.

“We’ll find her.” She ran her palms along his spine, soothing him as he so often did her. “In the meantime, take heart from the fact that she’s not suffering or scared.”

And yes, she knew Darvish had threatened to kill Zaya if Scarlett disobeyed. However, now that Scarlett was back with Damien, Zaya’s usefulness as leverage against the Skolovs lay in keeping her alive, and Darvish was too smart not to take advantage of that.

“My brothers will be glad to hear it.”

It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was something.

“It sounds like they’ve had luck as well.” The sounds of the battle had quieted, and she seized the opportunity to add that to the list of good things for them to keep in mind.

“Yes. With Andor dead and Darvish gone, the Consortium guards are leaderless. Few will continue to fight now.”

“And the Brotherhood?”

“By now, too, Nikolai and Maxheim will have gotten through to them and sent shockwaves through the organization by revealing Andor’s treachery. It will give them a new target for their ire and shift the focus away from you, Kadon, and Luc.”

That would definitely be nice.

“How do you feel?” Damien nuzzled her with his nose. “You used your gift a lot. And what you did… It didn’t take too much out of you?”

“I honestly feel better than I have in a long time.” She didn’t want to give him false hope, but she’d no longer leave things unsaid. “I think… No,” she amended, “IknowI’m strong enough to handle my gift and keep it from destroying what we have.” It felt strange to say it aloud but also wonderful.

Scarlett saw the doubt in his eyes.

“Take a look, love. No bruises. No pain. No exhaustion. Whatever was making my gift strike out at me is gone.”

Her throat closed tight as his eyes sank shut.

“Yeah?” He whispered the word.

“Yeah.” It felt great to be able to gift him with the same hope he’d given her. “I’m not going anywhere, Alpha. I’m here. In this galaxy. By your side until we’re old and gray. Our future is bright.” She held up his wrist and traced the thick fated-mates band with her thumb as the invisible tendrils stretched between them, stronger than they’d ever been. “And there’s a lot of it left for us. Together.”

His mouth claimed hers, his kiss fierce, hungry, and possessive. And filled with such hope that it set her colors and jagged black slashes swirling through the surrounding air.

When she finally broke away, she was breathing hard. “Always and forever.”

Damien grinned. “Always and forever. My inspiration. My mate. My heart. I’m going to show you the galaxy, wild thing. Just like I promised four planetary rotations ago.”

Then, without warning, he rolled and jackknifed up, taking her with him.

He pushed to his feet still holding her in his arms. “But first, we’ll make sure the others are okay. Then I’m taking my female back to bed, and we’re not leaving it until we reach Abzal.”

Scarlett wound her arms around his neck. “Deal.”

They no longer needed a thousand lifetimes.

With Damien by her side, this lifetime alone would be extraordinary.

44

DAMIEN

“You getting those panties filthy wet for me, wild thing?” Damien growled the words, just like his girl liked, while the low hum of the shuttle let him know they’d left Golden Dome airspace and were on their way back to Abzal.

Finally.

“I want that lucky little toy priming that pussy.”

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