Page 71 of Bound to the Marak

“No,” Karian said, drawing her gently into his arms. “You never will.”

Wrapped in his warmth, in the shimmering strangeness of him, she pressed her face against his chest. Alfie’s quiet paws padded nearby, circling, then curling beside her feet.

The stars waited.

But tonight, here, in this impossible space between worlds, she finally felt something close to peace.

Forty-Nine

Earth spun below him, small and strange and beautiful in its cluttered chaos. From the cloaked vessel floating silently in low orbit, Karian studied the surface through the wraparound viewing deck. So much life. So much unpredictability.

Leonie had spoken of it with affection and disdain in equal measure. Now, standing above it—its noise and fragility laid bare—he understood why.

It reminded him of her.

A chime echoed through the bridge—sharp, alert.

He turned, senses narrowing. The security weave shimmered with a sudden disturbance. The outer perimeter of his fleet—stationed in stealth formation around Earth—had triggered a proximity breach.

Karian moved fast, voice resonant as he commanded his ship. “Origin of the incursion.”

“Unregistered vessel,” the Yerak officer replied flatly. “Configuration matches known patterns from Cruxar’s fleet.”

Karian’s expression darkened.

Cruxar. The seventh Marak. Ruthless, decadent, twisted. A collector of lives and territories. One of the few Karian had never fully trusted to uphold the Majarin accord.

And now he’d come sniffing toward Earth.

Karian summoned the image to the holodisplay. The vessel floated nearby, arrogant and uncloaked, adorned with Cruxar’s gaudy signature: ridged plating, bright crimson flares, a visual taunt. A statement.I’m here, and I do not hide.

But Karian always planned ahead.

He touched the control panel and initiated full-scale uncloak protocol. One by one, his ships flickered into view across the Earth’s upper orbit. Dozens of them—interceptor-class vessels, heavy cruisers, orbital sentinels. Enough to darken the sky if one knew where to look.

Cruxar’s ship stuttered in response. The predator had just become the prey.

A holo-channel opened moments later. Cruxar’s face bloomed into view—sharply ridged, eyes gleaming with amused disdain.

“Karian,” he drawled. “So the rumors are true. You’ve taken a human to your bed.”

Karian did not flinch. “State your purpose.”

“Oh, don’t be dull. I came to see the creature myself. Thewomanwho’s tamed the iron Marak.” Cruxar sneered. “And perhaps collect a few more of her kind. This planet is teeming with them. Soft, delicate things. So eager to please when frightened.”

The silence that followed was taut, vibrating.

“You will not touch them,” Karian said quietly.

Cruxar laughed. “You can’t hoard them all, Karian. Surely you don’t expect to keep an entire planet of playthings to yourself?”

“I expect,” Karian said, “that if you try, you will not leave this orbit alive.”

A beat. Then Karian activated the override sequence. Dozens more of his ships came online, their power signatures crackling like storms in space. Cruxar’s smile faltered.

“You’ve gone mad,” he muttered.

“No. I havechosen.” Karian leaned forward, eyes glowing with deadly calm. “Earth is now under my protection. Any threat to its people is a threat to my dominion. And I do not tolerate threats.”

---