Page 35 of Star Crossed Delta

SABA

‘ M ak?’

He was bent over his mahogany desk, immersed in a stack of documents.

The holo screen before him flickered with business bulletins, charts, and numbers, and his brow furrowed in concentration.

His office, with its sparse furnishings and utilitarian design, starkly contrasted with the lodge’s opulence, as if it were a simple afterthought in the grand scheme of the estate.

Yet there were touches of elegance, from the modernist paintings on the wall to the intricate carvings and skimmer models on the wooden bookshelves.

All of which spoke of a refined discernment and an appreciation for craftsmanship.

He glanced up, surprise flashing across his chiseled features, giving way to guarded curiosity.

‘I was wondering,’ Saba began, despite the tumult of emotions within her. ‘Do you have a moment?’

His brow cocked at her words before settling into a mask of controlled neutrality.

‘Talk to me,’ he murmured, leaning a hip against his desk.

She took a deep breath as she ventured into his sanctum and sat on the edge of the lounge chair in front of him.

‘I need to be honest with you.’

He gave her a long look. ‘Is this where I say, about fokkin ’ time?’ he grated.

She ignored the sarcasm. ‘It’s about who Shiloh left you for.’

She took another jagged inhale.

Mak’s eyes narrowed on her, and he crossed his hands over his chest, leaning forward.

‘Who?’

His timbred inflection was edged with steel.

She blurted the confession, rushing over the words. ‘The man who warned came to warn us about Codex and Nightshade.’

Mak’s rasped drawl went even icier. ‘Who. Is. He?’

‘The man she ran away with is Zolan Asivan.’

‘The fokk ?’ Mak growled, half rising to his feet.

His face convulsed as fury hit him like a tidal wave.

His eyes flamed, and she thought she saw the air rent with an amethyst flash of energy as rage burned in his veins.

He flexed his arms, clenched his fists tight, and canted his head, glowing capillaries appearing under his skin as if he was about to flame out.

His breath was torn from his lungs in a hoarse, coarse rasp. ‘She left me for him, the one man I loathe more than any other?’

His utterance was laced with pure, unadulterated wrath, shocking her into a jolt.

‘She chose him?’

His growl was disbelieving, as if saying it aloud would make it less real.

A knife of agony twisted in her gut as searing hatred coursed through him and blazed in his eyes.

‘I’ll make them both regret it,’ he snarled, teeth grinding so tight his jaw stood out in relief. ‘I’ll fokkin ’ destroy them because this wasn’t just a betrayal. Tis a declaration of war.’

She reached out to touch him, keeping her voice gentle yet commanding. ‘You’ll do no such thing, ?ar .’

He glared at her for a long moment, chest heaving. ‘Why?’

‘Because you’re a better man than that. Also, she’s not a traitor to the Sauvage family. She’s just a woman in love with a man who happens to be your cousin.’

‘ Fokk him!’ Mak growled, wrenching away from her and stalking off to pace his office.

She kept her eyes on him, following his enraged strides.

‘Take the enmity away, and she’s my sister, and he’s your kinsman.

No matter how you feel about Zolan and the Asivans, he and she are our blood.

Our Akkadian principles hold us to a higher standard, as does our allegiance to family.

You are the ?ar who needs to embody our code with honor above all of us.

Walk the path of light, Mak, and forgive them. ’

He growled, his lips twisted, his eyes bitter, doing that thing he did, flicking his tongue over his glittering fangs. Prowling back to his chair, he sat with a heavy sigh.

Casting his face from her, he threw his feet on his desk and arms tight over his torso, lost in thought.

‘You were aware of this all along?’

The question was whispered, which sent chills down her spine.

‘Not until the night before the wedding. Shiloh begged me not to say a word, but I can’t stay silent anymore.’

His muscled chest heaved with a shaky inhale. It took a few minutes, but his mood shifted as a new emotion replaced his cooling rage.

After some extended moments, he gave a husky, throaty chuckle, which turned into a belly roar.

He laughed long and loud, head tipped back, revealing his sinewed nape.

He let out more chuckles and guffaws then slowly calmed down, wiping his eyes, his torso still heaving.

She found herself staring at him with some incredulity. ‘Please share.’

His lips twisted. ‘For years, my runaway brides, fokk , two of them, consumed my every thought. I imagined I’d be angrier than this, yet now, Suri and Shiloh seem like distant shadows.’

He arched a brow. ‘Could it be that having a living, breathing wife has somehow taken away the fantasy? Because deep down inside, I find that I fokkin ’ don’t care anymore about either of them.’

Saba’s soul lurched.

He hesitated, tilting his head. ‘I also realize something else. If she hadn’t run to Zolan, I’d never have had whateverthefokk this with you. While I’m still navigating how I relate to you, woman, you are intriguing enough to want to keep around.’

Saba blinked as he spoke, her heart beating so fast that the thunder of blood drowned her hearing.

Then came a quiet, unexpected joy.

It wasn’t that she needed the comparison to her sisters, who had left him.

Nada , she had long made her peace with that.

However, to listen to him finally speak those words, to see the realization dawn in his eyes that their marriage was not just an empty, barren union, was a miracle she hadn’t thought would ever come.

Their eyes locked, and he smiled, a softening visible in his eyes.

It was as if the onus of agony had lifted, almost as if the room exhaled, and Saba let the moment settle, savoring it before speaking.

‘That gives me so much peace to hear Mak. I’ve seen you carry this burden with such anguish,’ she said, her eyes searching his, ‘that part of me wondered if you’d ever recover from it.’

‘What helps is that you’re more virtuous than your sisters. You stood in their stead and honored their promises,’ Mak rasped.

She tilted her head, studying him. ‘They made their choices at your expense. They both fokked up, and trust me, I don’t absolve either of them. But you don’t owe me a comparison. I never needed to be better than them. I just wanted to be enough for you. Perhaps one day I will be.’

‘Maybe you already are.’

Mak’s rasp seemed filled with wonder.

Her soul lurched, and hope rose as she sensed the remnants of his old hurt fade, replaced by a more substantial and profound connection.

Finally, Mak spoke again.

‘ Sante for telling me the truth. It can’t have been easy, for you’ve had to betray your sister’s confidence.’

He rose and rounded his desk, striding to its front, leaning a hip on the edge, gazing down at her.

‘I couldn’t keep it from you anymore, my ?ar ,’ Saba said. ‘Not if I were to hold on to the covenant of our marriage.’

Their eyes met in a silent exchange of tacit desires and truths, sensing this pivotal moment would change everything for them.

Mak’s gaze held as he reached a hand for hers.

She took it as she stood and moved closer to him. He lifted it, kissing the tips of each finger.

With uncharacteristic tenderness, he cradled her hand against his chest, his touch sending a jolt of awareness coursing through her.

Their eyes locked in a bond that transcended mere words as her heart and stomach fluttered with wild emotion.

She ached with the intensity of her feelings for him, emotions she’d long tried to bury these last few weeks now surging to the surface with undeniable force.

‘Give me time,’ Mak said with quiet conviction, squeezing her hand before releasing it. ‘To process everything.’

She nodded, unwilling to push him beyond his limits, which would only drive him further away.

‘Also, please understand,’ he implored, his voice rough with sentiment. ‘What you’ve shared about Shiloh is a lot to take in. It has little reflection on you. I need space to work things out in my head.’

His eyes searched hers for her reaction.

Despite the burn in her heart, his newfound revelation had the potential to upend their world in ways they were yet to discover.

Racing headlong into uncharted territory would only lead to extra chaos and confusion.

‘I get it,’ she whispered, defying the churn in her chest. ‘This isn’t something we can rush.’

Mak’s shoulders relaxed, and they exchanged long gazes, finding some measure of peace with each other in this fragile moment of uncertainty.

His arms fell away, and she stepped back, respecting the emotional gap he needed to bridge on his terms.

‘Take all the time you need,’ she added and turned to leave.

At the door, she cast one last glance back at Mak, his silhouette framed by the dim light filtering through the expansive windows of his office.

Their eyes met, a blazing storm passing between them that transcended language.

He raised his chin, and with a churning heart, she ventured out into the cool corridor.

MAK

The Signet pack was the protector of the flotilla.

To stay conditioned, Mak sparred with his hermanos on the beachhead of Sombra’s lake one early morning, fueled by a bitter kahawa and a series of warm-ups.

They started with high-intensity paired sparring sessions and workouts.

Mak stood across his brother Kaal, who loomed tall and imposing, muscles rippling.

Around them came grunts, slaps, and curses from Xander, Santi, Rigo, and Zev.

Boaz was caught up in some engineering drama and MIA for the day.

Even clad only in shorts, the pack was formidable; every one of them a combat master, with skills honed through years of drilling and battle experience.

Their loyalty to each other was unwavering, their allegiance unquestionable.

Yet behind their facade of strength lay a foundation of unyielding honor that even the most astute attacker would fail to unravel or penetrate.

Sparring with Kaal, Mak matched his younger brother in impenetrable potency and power.