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The Wolf And The Lamb

XANDER

T he four Signet ships surged from the docking cradles of the Sombra like avenging wraiths, sleek and armed to the teeth.

Xander helmed the última X himself, every nerve in his body tuned to a single, scorching frequency: Savvine.

Beside him sat Miral, silent but suited and strapped in.

Her fingers danced over her interface, taking precise readings of the vacuum and energy signatures around them.

Boaz, Kaal, and Santi flew flank in their Corvettes alongside the última X , maintaining a tight formation as they veered into the shadows of asteroid drifts and starlight.

They ghosted toward the coordinates Eugene had provided in a recent holo-transmission, tagged with a countdown Xander thought unnecessary.

‘Contact. Dead ahead,’ Miral muttered, her voice crackling through the comms.

Xander glanced up, jaw tightening.

Eugene’s so-called pleasure yacht hung in space, a grotesque fusion of nouveau-empire aesthetic and over-the-top decadence.

It was coated in burnished gold-plated alloys with fluted ridges and carved detailing like an interstellar brothel.

Lights flickered in shifting neon patterns along its hull.

Xander’s knuckles went white on the controls.

All four Signet Corvettes slowed to a halt.

There was a flurry of activity onboard the vessels, as all the star wolves adopted pre-agreed actions.

Miral’s voice came over comms, level and unreadable. ‘I’m going in, like a lamb to the slaughter. Commander, you and Kaal keep to the plan.’

She was far from an innocent ingénue as she exited the Signet craft, shimmer-phasing into mid-space like a phantasm born of heat lightning.

Silver-blue light rippled across her armored skin as she glided forward, a celestial predator launching into the void.

Eugene shimmered out to meet her, rising from the Veleno di Sogni in a mockery of grace.

Xander and the rest of the crew observed the unfolding drama via their neural node or HUD feed.

The crat bot wore the same ridiculous getup: a red velvet smoking jacket emblazoned with glittering casino sigils, neon-splashed pajama shorts, and plush slippers embroidered with cartoon duck faces.

His chest was bare, exposed, pale, and too smooth, like wax melted wrong.

Santi murmured over the neural node. Saints, help me. Does he always dress like a fever dream in a midlife crisis?

Miral sent a ping. ‘I’m about to fokk up this kinai . Thoughts and prayers for him, please.’

Eugene floated close to her, the void wrapping them both like a tensioned wire. ‘Ah, darling. Such a spectacle. All this trouble for little ol’ me.’

He gave her a deep, sardonic bow. ‘Let’s talk about the woman and her exchange for you.’

Miral didn’t flinch. ‘I’m not here to barter with anyone.’

Eugene’s face twitched. ‘That’s not how this works. Try anything, and I’ll wipe the entire generational ship she came from. Just for laughs.’

Miral’s mouth curved, dangerous, and cold. ‘There will be no trade or swap.’

His smile faltered.

‘What?’

‘Because,’ she murmured, her utterance cutting and disdainful, ‘we already have her.’

Eugene laughed. Loud and insane. ‘What the f okk are you talking about? I’m reading all crew present and accounted for. I’ve been monitoring your fleet since you came within range. Every ship, signature, and crewman.’

‘She’s safe and sound,’ he added, with mocking glee. ‘Strapped in like the ransom she is. Can’t have my almost-wife wandering too far now, can we?’

He leaned closer to her. ‘You’ve got just moments to decide before I lose my shit. Maybe I’ll send you pieces of her to keep you entertained.’

‘ Nada , you won’t,’ Miral cut in, lifting one slender, armored hand. ‘You’re watching the wrong things, playboy.’

Eugene stilled.

‘Your attempts to sabotage Signet and, in effect, the Sable Riders are cute,’ she added, ‘but you’re not the only ones who know how to manipulate systems. Turns out your yacht’s back-end is crawling with back doors, and I’m a dab hand at neural patching, biometric displacement, and spectral ghosting.

I slid into your mainframe long before you started your song and dance. ’

Eugene’s face paled. Realization crawled over him like frostbite.

Miral gave a feline smile, all threat. ‘Game’s up. I also have my CO’s permission to burn you from the core out. On his words, he can’t wait to see me rid this expanse of your malformed sentience and waste of chrome.’

Eugene reeled back, shaken. His systems flickered.

The yacht behind him glitched, its strobing lights flickering.

Then, he screamed, a guttural, tortured snarl.

Light him up, Miral, Xander ordered in her neural node. This ends tonight.

With pleasure.

XANDER

The moment Eugene floated toward Miral, all swagger and bravado, Xander and Kaal were already ghosts slipping from the underbelly of the última X.

Their holo-facsimiles remained on the bridge, meticulously mimicking their vitals, breath patterns, and occasional motion.

The ruse held.

The crat AI missed the signs when the pair launched in stealth pods, and flew in silence to his bloated monstrosity of a party boat.

They breached the underside of the ship like silent phantoms.

Kaal took point, turning off internal drones and rerouting surveillance with a few brutal key taps on his neural wrist pad.

Xander followed, pulse gun in one hand, rage in the other.

They moved fast.

The corridors were colder than a cryo-cell, sick with flickering gold filigree and absurd velvet carpeting.

Opulence overlaid madness.

Each step was another beat of Xander’s heartbeat roaring louder.

Then he caught sight of her.

She was strapped into a chromed thronal chair in a central chamber, body slack but eyes alert.

Her bottom lip appeared bloodied. Her hair, mussed and tangled, obscured her face, her skin pale against the thin fabric of her suit.

She was still defiant, head held high.

When she sensed movement, she jolted in the seat. ‘Xander?’

He surged forward, uncaring if they tripped all alarms on this floating hellhole. ‘ Mi cielo ,’ he growled, arms coming around her.

Kaal joined him in hacking into and slipping off her restraints.

‘You’re here, honey,’ she breathed, disbelief cracking her voice.

‘Of course I am. You think I’d let some chrome-plated freak keep you?’

Her cuffs fell away, and her hands, trembling, reached for him.

The moment she touched him, everything disappeared. The worry. The rage. The freakin’ universe.

He knelt beside her, hands cupping her face, checking every inch of her.

His heart sank, for despite a few facial wounds, it appeared Eugene had beaten her around her chest and middle. He saw evidence of large, dark bruises and shivered, fearing broken ribs and internal injuries.

‘You’re shaking,’ he whispered.

‘I thought you’d hate me,’ she murmured back. ‘I breached the perimeter in a mad frenzy, wanting to see my family. I’m so sorry, baby.’

‘Savvine,’ he said, eyes dark with emotion. ‘There’s nada to forgive. Your need to see those you love is natural. You’re OK now, my love, and that’s all that matters.’

He bent over her and kissed her with a fierce relief and an intense need to never let her out of his sight again.

The vigor of it was so violent that his hands trembled on her jaw even as she clutched his suit like she’d never let go.

Kaal cleared his throat, voice amused. ‘We should probably move before the freak show catches up to us.’

SAVVINE

Xander stood, sliding a HUD helmet onto her head.

A gentle shimmer of aetheric shielding bloomed from his gauntlet, enveloping her in warmth, sealing her from the vacuum.

Without hesitation, he swept her into his embrace.

Savvine gasped in pain but wrapped her arms around his neck.

He prowled to the doors past a series of huge windows along the ship’s corridor.

Outside, the void stretched vast and endless, the stars glittering across the black like scattered diamonds.

She gazed up at him, silhouetted against eternity, adoring the set of his jaw and the fire in his eyes.

He cradled her like she was the only thing that mattered in the galaxy.

That moment, she was hit with a love so fierce she gasped.

Xander glanced down, his eyes locking with hers.

He caught whatever emotion bloomed in her gaze, and his expression softened with a tenderness and devotion that jolted her.

Her eyes stung.

He held her closer, as she buried her face in the crook of his neck.

Tracking fast, he carried her back to the shuttle and then to the última X , where safety waited.