Page 61 of Xara and the Xenobeast

Together. The word echoed in his mind, warm and solid.

He opened his eyes to find her watching him, her gaze steady and certain. His mate. His partner in this fight.

“Will try,” he conceded. “No promises.”

Her smile was worth the risk. “That’s all I ask.”

He turned away, gathering weapons and supplies for the journey. The Tal’Shai village was half a day’s trek through difficult terrain—longer if they wanted to avoid detection.

“We leave at dusk,” he decided. “Safer in darkness.”

She nodded, already preparing a pack of her own. “I’ll get the pups ready.”

“No,” he said firmly. “Too dangerous for them.”

She paused, considering. “You’re right. But we can’t leave them alone either.”

He hadn’t thought of that. The pups were too young to defend themselves, too valuable to risk.

“Hidden chamber,” he said after a moment. “Behind waterfall. Safe place.”

Her relief was palpable. “Good. We’ll set them up there before we go.”

As she moved about the cave, gathering supplies and comforting the pups, he watched her with a mixture of pride and fear. She moved differently now—more confident, more aware of her surroundings. The soft academic he’d first encountered had been replaced by a survivor, a fighter.

His equal.

The thought should have troubled him. Instead, it filled him with that strange, persistent hope.

A future. A family. A life beyond mere survival.

If they lived through what was coming.

He checked his weapons one last time, then moved to help her prepare. The sun would set soon, and with darkness would come their chance to seek help.

He still didn’t believe the Tal’Shai would fight for them. But for her—for the chance of a future with her—he would ask.

It was a risk. Everything about loving her was a risk.

But as she turned to him, determination blazing in her eyes, he knew it was a risk worth taking.

Together, they might just survive.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Xara kept close to the Xenobeast as they moved through the jungle. Night had fallen hours ago, but rather than making the trek more dangerous, darkness seemed to reveal new dimensions of the landscape. Bioluminescent fungi carpeted the forest floor in patches of soft blue light. Hanging vines pulsed with amber warmth. Even the predators that stalked the shadows announced themselves with glowing eyes or luminous patterns along their flanks.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, stepping carefully over a fallen log crawling with tiny phosphorescent insects. “Like walking through a living constellation.”

The Xenobeast grunted, his attention fixed on the path ahead. His tendrils swayed with each step, occasionally brushing against her shoulder or neck—a touch that once would have terrified her but now felt like reassurance.

“How much farther?” she asked.

“Close.” His silver eyes flicked to her face. “Stay behind me. Don’t touch anything without asking.”

She nodded, suppressing a smile at his protectiveness. Even now, with danger closing in from all sides, he worried about her brushing against the wrong plant.

The jungle thinned as they approached a series of stone formations that jutted from the earth like ancient fingers reaching for the stars. Xara recognized them as the same structures she’d glimpsed when she first arrived—what she’d mistaken for trees supporting fruit vines.

---