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Her breath catches—just for a fraction of a second.

Another crack.

She shakes her head, her expression twisting into something fierce and desperate. “That’s not my problem.”

A growl rumbles deep in my chest, my wings flaring slightly before I force them back. “No, it’s ours. You think you can just walk away from this? From me?” I lean in, watching the way her throat works around a swallow, the way her hands clench like she’s fighting the urge to reach for something she doesn’t want to name. “I promise you, you’ll feel it too. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But it will come for you, Neon. And when it does, you’ll understand why I can’t let you go.”

Her pupils dilate. A rush of adrenaline spikes her scent, setting my blood on fire. But she doesn’t move away. Not yet.

My words settle over her like an unpatched vulnerability in her system—too big to ignore, too dangerous to acknowledge. It should be infuriating. Instead, it only confirms what I already know. She feels it. She just won’t let herself admit it. But she’s too late. I already caught the half-second lag in her pulse, the way her breath hitched before she forced it back under control.

A lesser male might have missed it.

I don’t.

Her eyes narrow. “This isn’t over, Captain.”

Her words are a blade, meant to cut the moment clean—”This isn’t over, Captain”—but her voice betrays her. A fraction too tight. A single note off-balance. She turns before I can reply, before she can let me see the truth in her eyes.

She turns on her heel and walks away. Each step she takes feels like a blade carving through my ribs. My talons scrape against the console as I clench my fists, forcing myself not to go after her. Not to drag her back and make her listen.

I watch her go, my wings flexing instinctively, aching to close the distance. But I don’t follow. Not yet. My mate is a runner, a creature of firewalls and locked doors, of carefully coded barriers designed to keep everyone out. If I push too hard now, she’ll bolt before she even understands why she wants to stay.

I exhale slowly, the mate-bond tightening inside me like a vice. The sickness is coming. I can already feel it in the hollowness that forms the moment she steps away. Every instinct in me snarls to go after her, to claim her, to anchor her before she slips through my fingers entirely.

But Neon isn’t prey.

She’s the hunt.

And I intend to win.

Chapter 5

Neon Valkyrie

Thedoorhissesshutbehind me, sealing out the chaos of the bridge, but not the storm still raging in my head.

Mate-bond.

I scoff under my breath as I pace the cabin, arms crossed tight over my chest. I don’t believe in destiny. Not in soulmates, not in fate, and definitely not in some cosmic biological imperative that decides who I belong to. I’ve spent my whole life running from things that want to own me—corporations, syndicates, security forces—why should this be any different?

Except it is.

Because my body isn’t listening to reason.

It’s glitching, reacting to him in ways I can’t override—like a virus slipping past my firewalls, embedding itself into my system. My neural implants have never malfunctioned like this before. No external interference, no logic to explain away the way my pulse syncs to his, the way my breath hitches every time he gets close.

I slam my hand against the metal table, frustration curling hot in my chest.

I don’t have time for this. I don’t have time for him.

Because there arebigger problems—like the encrypted data still burning in my neural cache and the hacker who’s been tracking me across the systemlike a predator waiting for me to slip.

I move to the small console, flicking through schematics of the Void Reaver’s network architecture.Distraction. That’s what I need.I’ll crack into the ship’s encrypted systems, find a way out, and—

A soft chime cuts through my focus. My muscles tense, hand hovering over the stunner in my boot as the door hisses open.

Zara steps inside, her russet fur sleek, her tail twitching in irritation. She holds a tray laden with steaming food and a carafe of something that smells faintly of spiced berries.