Page 27

"Five days' supplies," he states. "After the next rain, the red stones mark a safe path to the valley. Follow them. Stay completely off the eastern ridges."

I stare at him, unable to reconcile this with everything I've been taught about Prime enforcement. He's not just letting a resistance fighter live—he's actively providing aid and safe passage.

"Why?" Eli asks the question burning in my mind.

"My territory stays neutral as long as your people keep distance," Vex answers. "Mountains run differently than Council wants."

Eli studies him before nodding once. "Understood. We'll make sure info about what's happening in the east keeps... finding its way to you."

This revelation—that Vex has established intelligence-sharing with resistance cells—destroys every assumption I've made about his relationship with Conquest authority.

"You need twelve hours before attempting movement," I interject, medical concern reasserting itself. "The sutures need time to set."

"Six hours," Vex counters. "Move after dark. Feline patrols stick to daylight."

The practical cooperation between them feels surreal, like I've stepped into alternate reality where Primes and resistance fighters casually exchange tactical information.

Eli agrees to rest until nightfall. Vex helps me relocate him to a side chamber with sleeping furs and water. Once he's settled, Vex guides me back toward the main den, his tail lightly touching my lower back in a gesture that feels protective.

When we're out of earshot, I turn to confront him.

"What was that? You're supposed to execute resistance members on sight. Basic Conquest Law."

His yellow eyes study me with unreadable expression. "The mountains have their own laws. Some of us do things differently than what the Council wants."

"Differently. You mean treason against the Council."

"I mean survival." His wings shift behind him. "Their scouts report the Council movements. The Council thinks we've eliminated the mountain resistance. Both sides get what they need."

The implications stagger me. Vex isn't just an independent alpha protecting territory—he's actively working against Council control, maintaining networks that directly contradict everything I've been taught.

"Why tell me this?" I ask, suddenly aware how dangerous this knowledge is. "I could report you if I escaped."

A sound rumbles from his chest that might be amusement. "Who'd believe a claimed omega carrying a Chimeric baby? Besides," his expression turns serious, "your survival depends on knowing how things really work. Following Council rules gets you dead or locked in breeding facilities."

He's right. The world isn't divided into neat categories of resistance versus Prime enforcement. There are layers of alliance, compromise, and strategic cooperation creating survival spaces within Conquest brutality.

"So you help them, they help you," I say slowly. "Information exchange. Safe passage. Mutual defense against Council overreach."

Vex nods. "The Peaks stay contested because we work together to keep the Council from total control."

My entire understanding of mountain power dynamics shifts. The resistance isn't just doomed human rebellion—it's integral to a complex ecosystem that includes certain Primes themselves.

"Where does that leave me?" I ask quietly.

His massive hand cups my face, thumb tracing the claiming marks on my throat. "With me. Protected. Carrying the future of what we're building here."

"What are we building?"

"Something better than what came before. Something better than what the Council wants." His voice drops to that intimate register that makes my core clench with need. "Something worth fighting for."

When he kisses me, it tastes like promises I'm not sure either of us can keep. But as his tongue claims my mouth with gentle dominance, as my body responds with eager submission despite everything I've learned, I realize I want to try.

The child growing inside me represents more than just territorial marking or breeding success. It's a bridge between worlds—human and Prime, resistance and authority, captivity and partnership.

Whether that bridge leads to something better or simply new forms of destruction remains to be seen. But for the first time since my capture, I feel like I might have actual choice in the outcome.

As we return to the main den, Vex's wing brushes my shoulder in casual protection, and I find myself leaning into the contact instead of pulling away.

The resistance fighter sleeping in our den represents everything I used to be—human, free, fighting against Prime control. But the alpha beside me, the child in my womb, the complex web of alliances I'm only beginning to understand—they represent something I might become.

The question now is whether I'm brave enough to choose transformation over resistance, partnership over ideology, complicated survival over righteous defeat.

Looking at Vex's profile as he checks the den's defenses, feeling his child flutter in my belly, I think I might be.