Page 51 of The Alien Noble's Little Human

Kantha looks at her with as much disdain as she has for me.

“So I’m not welcome at the abode of my daughter and former mate, and yet this undignified human woman is? You won’t replace me so easily.”

Zaya stutters in shock. “No one is trying –”

I don’t want Zaya to have to feel she has to defend herself, not in front of someone as vile as Kantha, and I cut her off. “Zaya risked her life countless times over the last two weeks to save Hanai’s life. I don’t know if you’ve ever done anything for anyone that wasn’t for your own selfish ends.”

I look over to give Zaya a reassuring smile, and to reassure myself with the beauty of her face, but she’s suddenly gone. I see her running up the stairs to her room. I want to go comfort her and tell her everything’s fine, but I have to deal with the hurricane of my former mate blowing in with a fury stronger than anything the Ice-Charred Peaks threw at us.

“Well, she seems like tremendous help indeed,” she snickers. “Now tell me, Taurek, why was it I had to hear about our daughter’s illness secondhand? You should have communicated this to me directly.”

“Kantha, you’ve made it pretty damn clear to me that you couldn’t care less for Hanai.”

“Care less? For you, perhaps, but not for our daughter.”

I hate how she keeps using that word.Our.I shake my head, actively taking a deep breath to calm my nerves.

“Just answer me this then. Why have you returned when you made it clear that you wanted nothing to do with our child if it wasn’t on your terms? You never sent one word these last five years.”

Kantha bites her lips, her eyes burning with indignation. “I told you if she couldn’t be with me…”

“Do you know how tough it is for a child to hear nothing from their mother? To be told they won’t be with them on their birthday?”

“Oh, she’s a child,” says Kantha. “She’ll forget about it.”

“She won’t forget the pain. If she does forget the pain, or rather if the pain no longer hurts, it’s only because she forgot the source of it. I endured the pain of losing you, but a child… something like this will stay with her forever. You’ve never even apologized.”

“Even if that were true, she’ll come to understand why I left when I did. Fated mates are no small deal, Taurek.”

“Don’t need to tell me…” I growl. “Fated mates can change a lot of things, but they can’t change that you have a child. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to catch up with Zaya and help cure our… I mean, my daughter.”

“Zaya is to do nothing,” says Kantha in an authoritative tone.

“Who do you think you are to be making orders like that? Need I remind you that you resigned your position when you left?”

“It doesn't matter. Zephyron has already tended to Hanai.”

My jaw drops open as I glare at my former mate. I’m almost tempted to wrap my hands around her neck. It was one thing for her to join him in the Cloud Kingdom, but for him to set foot on my property and lay his hands on my daughter brings out a rage within me as I’ve never felt.

“He what?” I yell. “Tell me what the hell he did!”

“Relax! You should be happy that Hanai will be out of pain. Zephyron brought with him a medicinal serum from the Cloud Kingdom that cures just about any ailment. It’ll work better than any of that human’s poison.”

“No… Hanai…”

I spin around on my heels and break out into a run, sprinting at a speed that seems impossible as I make my way across the palace toward Hanai’s suite. I hear the shrill voice of Kantha call out behind me.

“Taurek! She’s fine! Don’t be so dramatic!”

But her words fall on deaf ears. I almost slip as I skid on the floor, turning for the stairs. As I ascend, I pray that wherever Zephyron is, we don’t bump into each other.

If I get my hands on him, beating him to a pulp would only take my attention away from the one individual on Kiphia who needs me more than ever, Hanai. It feels like a race against time as I speed towards her quarters.

Screw Zephyron, doesn’t he have enough? He has to play the hero, too? I have no doubt Kantha put him up to this somehow.

Whatever serum he has must be phony. No doctors I had before Zaya ever talked about such a miracle. In all my time of searching, I would have found this serum if it was reliable. I know that for a fact.

Finally, I make the final turn, running toward Hanai’s doors. I burst in, and I see Zephyron standing over my daughter. He looks up, the usual look of pride in his eyes replaced by one of slight concern, as well it should be.

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