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He is silent for a long moment. I feel the steady beat of his heart against my back.

“I have faced warriors who could shatter stone with their fists,” he says finally, his voice a low rumble. “I have hunted beasts that can tear a man in two. I have never known fear.” He pauses, his arms tightening around me. “Until I thought I might lose you. That is a terror I hope to never feel again.”

His raw honesty makes my own heart ache with love for him. I turn in his arms, cupping his strong jaw, feeling the slight rasp of his stubble.

“You won't,” I promise. “You're stuck with me, Star-Beast.”

A genuine, breathtaking smile transforms his face. He leans down and captures my lips in a kiss that is full of promise and a deep, settled peace. There is no desperation in it, no fear. Only the profound certainty of two souls who have found their other half.

We reach the summit of Kul-Vasha as the twin suns dip below the horizon, painting the sky in fiery strokes of crimson and violet. The air is thin and cold, but I feel invigorated, alive. We stand on the precipice of the world, looking out over the vast Xylosian landscape.

In one direction, the lights of Vara-Ka are a warm, familiar cluster, a beacon of evolving tradition. In the other, the smaller, sharper lights of the research outpost flicker, a symbol of new connections, of my two homes united. It's a perfect visual representation of my new life.

Did you ever imagine this?I wonder, my mind drifting back to the sterile corridors of the ESDOdyssey, to a life defined by datapoints and grant proposals.A life where love was a statistical anomaly I had no time for.

As if hearing my thoughts, Jaro's hand finds mine. The bond between us is a silent, constant hum, a language deeper than words. I feel his contentment, his deep, unwavering love for me, and I send my own flooding back to him.

The sky deepens to indigo, and one by one, the three moons of Xylos rise, their silvery light bathing the mountain peak in an ethereal glow. One is a perfect, luminous pearl. Another is a sharp, bright crescent. The third, larger and more distant, casts a soft, rose-tinted light.

“They are aligned,” Jaro murmurs, his voice filled with reverence. “An omen of harmony. Of completion.”

As he speaks, the heart-bond marks on our chests begin to glow. It starts as a faint warmth, then builds to a soft, steady golden light that illuminates the space between us, a beacon in the twilight. We are a part of this world's magic now.

I look at him, my magnificent warrior-prince, and my heart swells with a love so fierce it feels like it might crack my ribs. He meets my gaze, and I see my own adoration reflected in the golden depths of his eyes.

He smiles, a slow, predatory curve of his lips that is all beast, all male. And then, with a serene confidence that takes my breath away, he begins to shift.

There is no pain in the transformation, no violent struggle for control. It is a fluid, graceful unfolding of his true nature. His body expands, muscles bunching and reshaping. Iridescent scales shimmer into existence along his powerful back, catching the light of the three moons. His horns, sharp and majestic, spiral from his brow. His form elongates, dropping to all fours, a perfect fusion of panther and wolf, of savage power and breathtaking grace.

He is the Star-Beast, in all his glory. No longer a creature of rage, but a being of perfect, integrated power.

He turns his massive head, his amber eyes glowing with a soft, intelligent light, and looks at me. There is no question in his gaze, only an invitation.

A laugh bubbles up from my chest, pure and joyous. I am no longer the frightened scientist, the desperate survivor. I am Kendra Miles, co-leader of the Xylosians, mate to the Star-Beast, a woman who has found her place in the universe not by calculating the odds, but by taking a leap of faith.

I begin to run.

He falls into step beside me, his powerful strides easily matching my human pace. We move as one, our synchronized movements a dance of two beings from different worlds, now inextricably linked. The radiant light from our glowing hearts illuminates our path, a single, shared beacon cutting through the alien night.

We run along the summit of the Sacred Mountain, under the light of three moons, a warrior-beast and a human scientist. Not captor and captive. Not master and possession.

Partners.

And as we run, a single, shared thought echoes through the bond between us, a perfect and final summation of our impossible journey.

Choice. This is what it feels like to choose.