Page 37 of Zayrik (The Protectorate Warriors Alien Fated Mates #6)

Zayrik

I SAT IN THE CHAIR beside the bed, hands resting on my knees, eyes locked on her.

Watching every breath.

Feeling every flutter of life through our bond.

She was still.

Wrapped in medical dressings.

Breathing slow. Even.

Beautiful even now, even broken.

Alive.

The word echoed through our bond like a prayer.

But just barely.

The connection felt stretched thin, fragile, frayed.

Like she was lightyears away, even though I could reach her.

I exhaled through my nose.

Trying to push strength through our connection.

Trying to will her back to me.

I should’ve gotten to her faster. Should’ve stopped this before it ever happened. Should’ve protected what was mine.

But I hadn’t.

So now all I could do was sit here.

Watch.

Wait.

Let her feel through our bond that I was with her.

Because the second she woke up, she needed to know—

She would never be alone again.

Not while I drew breath.

The door slid open behind me.

I didn’t turn.

Didn’t need to.

Boots echoed against the sterile floor. Two sets.

One military precision, one lighter step.

Family, in every way that mattered.

Then a voice. Gruff. Familiar. The voice of someone who’d fought beside me.

Who understood exactly what this meant. Raxor had found his own fated mate. His Kalara.

“I understand your mate will live.”

I rose. Shoulders still locked tight despite every word of reassurance from the medics. Through our bond, I felt Nyla’s presence, distant but steady. Fighting her way back.

Commander Raxor stepped into view. His expression was serious, but not unkind. The face of a warrior who’d walked this path before. Who knew what it meant to find your other half.

“I’m sorry it came to this,” he said. “But I’m glad we got there in time.”

I nodded once. “Thank you.”

For coming. For understanding. For bringing an entire warship to save my mate.

He rested a hand on my shoulder. The gesture of a brother, not just a commander.

“I would’ve burned the galaxy if someone touched Gabby. I know what this is.” He smiled.

He looked to Nyla, then back at me. “I’m pleased you found your fated mate.”

A pause.

Then, lightening the moment. “Maybe now you’ll stop teasing me about mine.”

I huffed. “Doubtful.”

The familiar banter felt like coming home to family.

That’s when Gabby stepped in. Silent but smiling, her hand resting lightly on Raxor’s back as she leaned forward to get a better look at Nyla.

The mate who understood. Who’d survived her own trials. Who’d changed a warrior into something more.

“Did you miss me, Gabby?” I asked, mostly to get Raxor to scowl. Just to pretend everything was normal.

Like I wasn’t measuring time by the rise and fall of Nyla’s chest.

Gabby’s grin widened.

Raxor rolled his eyes, and his tail flicked behind him. “She’ll regret waking up to you.” The words carried affection beneath the snark. Relief that I could still joke.

Gabby ignored him, her gaze sharpening. “Does she know what you are? Protectorate. Warrior. Fated mate. All of it.”

The question hit deeper than she knew.

“She knows,” I said quietly. “She just doesn’t know what it means to me.”

Because Nyla didn’t need reminding of titles or truths already spoken.

She needed proof I wasn’t just another male with a claim.

That being hers wasn’t about duty.

It was about choice.

Mine. Hers. Ours.

Gabby held my gaze, something softer in her eyes now.

Like she understood exactly what I hadn’t said.

“She will,” Raxor muttered. “If you don’t screw it up.”

His way of saying don’t let fear stop you.

Don’t make his mistakes.

Gabby elbowed him.

But her eyes said she agreed.

I smiled, just a little.

I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed this.

The rhythm. The teasing. Them.

Family I’d chosen. Family who’d chosen me.

I hoped Nyla might want to stay.

Even for a while.

Might want to be part of this.

Part of us.

Gabby’s voice dropped soft. “I understand she’s healing. Seems strong. Like the kind who fights to stay.”

Because she recognized that strength. She knew what it meant to choose a warrior.

I nodded again. Didn’t trust myself to speak.

Couldn’t say how much I needed her to be right.

How much I needed Nyla to choose this.

Choose us.

Raxor studied me, arms folded.

“Never thought you’d settle down. Let alone find your fated mate,” he said simply.

Not judgmental. Just... certain.

“I didn’t either,” I whispered, my gaze lingering on Nyla before returning to my friends.

Gabby glanced between us, something warm in her eyes.

“So. What now?” asked Raxor.

I didn’t look at him. “What do you mean?”

But I knew.

Had known since I felt our bond form.

Since I tore apart a station to get her back.

Gabby said nothing. Just watched. Waiting.

Understanding in her eyes.

Because she’d been the reason Raxor had faced the same choice.

I looked at Nyla again. Felt the way our bond pulsed between us.

At everything she’d changed just by existing.

Before this, the choice would’ve been easy.

Duty. Honor. Service.

Simple. Clean.

Now?

Now I wasn’t sure I could walk away from her.

Wasn’t sure I wanted to be the person I was before her.

I reached into my jacket.

Drew out the small crystal that had nearly gotten her killed.

That had brought me to her.

That had changed everything.

Held it for one breath. Two.

I didn’t want to let it go.

But this wasn’t mine to keep. Only to protect.

Like her.

For her.

Then handed it to Raxor.

“Give this to Captain Zaul. It’s what I went searching for. Vask’s entire network is on there.”

What she’d fought for.

What she nearly died for.

Everything that led me to her.

Raxor took it without a word.

Understanding what it meant.

What I was choosing.

“Understood,” he said.

Simple words with years of friendship wrapped in them.

Of trust. Of change.

He clapped my shoulder once more. “I’m happy for you. Both of you.”

For finding what he’d found.

For becoming more than just a warrior.

Gabby lingered. Her smile was smaller now. Softer.

Like she saw everything.

The challenges. The rewards.

The way love could remake you, if you let it.

“She’ll need you when she wakes,” she said. “Don’t run from that.”

Don’t hide behind duty. Or pretend this isn’t changing everything.

Don’t waste what fate has given you.

Then they left. The door slid shut. Silence.

Just me.

And Nyla.

And everything unspoken between us.

I reached out. Brushed my knuckles lightly along her arm.

She didn’t stir.

But she was warm.

Through our bond, I felt her presence strengthen slightly.

Like she knew I was here.

Like some part of her was reaching back.

I settled deeper into the chair, prepared to wait as long as it took.

Because when she opened her eyes, I needed to be the first thing she saw.

My marks glowed softly beneath my sleeve, responding to her nearness.

To everything she meant to me. To what we could be.

If she chose to stay.

If she chose us .

If she chose me .

Through our bond, I felt her start to surface.

Like a star blinking back into the sky.

Like breath finding its way home.

Like hope. Real, this time.