Page 28 of Possessed by the Dragon Alien (Zarux Dragon Brides #6)

Stavian stepped closer to Madrian. “The question now isn’t whether you can be trusted,” he said. “It’s whether you’re ready to face what you’ve been part of. Whether you can handle the weight of changing sides. And destroy the thing you helped build.”

Madrian’s voice, when he finally spoke, was steady.

It held a resonance that was unique to him.

“I won’t pretend to be anything I’m not.

I was one of the Twelve. I am a trained killer and sometimes…

sometimes I worry the Axis ruined me. The suffering I’ve caused will haunt me for the rest of my days.

” He closed his eyes briefly. “But Nena believes in me, and she is the light in my heart. I love her. I love her with a depth I can’t comprehend.

Whatever I need to do here, I will do it.

” He shot Razion a sharp glance. “And I’d appreciate the chance to prove that I can. ”

Thankfully, the tension that had filled the space earlier had eased. Lilas raised an eyebrow at Razion with a pointed look and mouthed, See?

Razion shook his head, but the hostility had faded from his gold-scaled features. “Fine. Okay. We’re brothers, after all.”

“Well,” Cyprian said. “I think that settles that.”

Stavian moved closer to Madrian, appearing to offer something that might have been understanding. “The hardest part isn’t leaving the Axis behind,” he said quietly. “It’s learning to live with what you were part of and forgiving yourself enough to move forward.”

Madrian’s response was barely audible. “How did you do it?”

“It’s a process,” Stavian replied. “But it helps to be around people who see what you can become instead of only what you were.”

Nena felt a warm hand slip into hers. Turi’s fingers squeezed gently, offering silent support. Around them, her other friends had arranged themselves in their familiar protective circle, but now it included Madrian within its boundaries.

“So,” Sevas said with characteristic directness, “what’s the plan? Are we staying here? Moving somewhere else? I assume the Axis is going to want their high chancellor back.”

Takkian rubbed his face. “If we were hot targets before, we’re burning up, now.”

Razion’s gold scales caught the light as he shifted his stance. “It won’t be easy. The Axis won’t simply let us disappear. They’ll come looking, especially for him.” He nodded toward Madrian.

“No,” Madrian said, and there was something fierce and protective in his voice as his gaze found Nena’s. “I’ve spent enough years serving their agenda. It’s time to go to them. It’s time to end this, finally, and retake our planet.”

Ellion frowned. “What?”

“Zarux,” he said. “It’s our birthright. Our home.”

“Fek,” Cyprian murmured, straightening up. “You know where it is?”

Madrian nodded. “The location was at the end of a report Rien gave me.”

“Where is it, then?” Razion asked. “What are the coordinates?”

Madrian’s expression turned pained as he gritted his teeth. He looked down and flared his wings. “I’ve lived on it my entire life. It’s Axis Central.”

Nena’s breath caught in a gasp. No, she hadn’t gotten through the entire report. She hadn’t heard about that part. The Axis hadn’t just taken Zarux. They’d made it theirs.

“That means Teria is right there, too,” Nena said. “So close.”

He nodded as the room erupted in more questions, discussions, and shock. Many decisions would need to be made. So many hard choices. None of them were clear or easy or came with a guarantee that everything would work out fine.

In the midst of it all, Nena edged through the throng toward Madrian. Moving to him felt as natural as breathing. Nena reached up to cup his face in her hands, feeling the smooth warmth of his scales beneath her palms.

“Thank you,” she said softly, meant for him alone.

“For what?”

“For choosing us. For choosing to be who you were meant to be.”

His hands came up to cover hers, his touch gentle. “You make it sound easy.”

“Oh, it doesn’t look easy,” she said. “But it’s right .”

She stood on her toes then and kissed him. Soft and tender and full of promise. It was a public declaration. A claiming. A statement of faith in who he’d become.

When she pulled back, she could see the wonder in his eyes had deepened into something fiercer. Something that spoke of devotion and protection and a love that would burn down worlds to keep her safe.

“Go,” she said with a gentle smile. “Let your brothers get to know you. Show them who you really are.”

“And you?”

Nena glanced toward her friends. “I have some catching up to do,” she said. “But I’ll see you later.”

She squeezed his hands, then stepped back. As she moved toward her friends, she heard Cyprian’s voice behind her.

“Well,” the red-scaled Zaruxian said with obvious amusement. “I think we deserve a meal and some of Cozax’s spirits after that. Don’t you, brother?”

Nena smiled as Turi’s arm slipped around her shoulders.

For the first time since leaving Settlement 112-1, she felt complete.

Her friends were safe. Madrian would find his place among his brothers.

She had to believe that they had a chance to win, despite the impossible odds.

That there would come a time when they could carve out a future that belonged to them.

It was enough. More than enough.

It had to be.