---
The glow was still pulsing gently beneath Naaro's skin when Kai leaned back on the bed, his limbs were heavy, chest rising and falling in a rhythm he could no longer control. Warm skin pressed against his side. The scent of sweat, crushed leaves, and something far deeper—trust, devotion, maybe even love lingered like perfume in the air.
His breath was slow but uneven. Not from exertion alone. From realization. From responsibility.
He stared up at the rocky ceiling of the carpenter ant tunnel, light moss swaying faintly like stars trying to wink at him.
"What just happened?"
Kai didn't feel like a predator.
He felt like a storm had passed through his body, one he had not entirely summoned, but one he hadn't resisted either. His muscles twitched with the weight of what he had done. But not a single part of him could deny the truth.
He had claimed them. Not as possessions. But as companions. In the most ancient, primal, undeniably binding way.
Vel. Azhara. Sha. Naaro.
