Chapter 78: Nothing Up Her Sleeve (Literally)

"I wasn’t supposed to get a mate."

Derek’s statement landed somewhere between a confession and an apology.

Nova gave him a warm smile. "That makes two of us."

He shook his head and scooped her up. She squealed in surprise, then went limp, because she had lost this exact fight seventeen times and the eighteenth was already in progress.

"I ordered one made for you, so this is a one-time—"

Nova cut him off with a kiss that caught him mid-sentence. His mouth curved against hers before the kiss finished and when she pulled back, the grin was fully operational.

"Derek, this is perfect. Thank you so much for finding me this."

She meant it with her whole chest.

This was an extra Thunderfang cloak of a high-ranking officer, who was not assigned a mate at the Moonfire but had been expecting one. Apparently Derek and she were supposed to match in public and he was taking it to heart that they weren’t.

He draped it over her shoulders with a gentleness that contradicted everything else about him. The fabric settled against her like a second skin, warm and weighted and lined with thermal regulation that her slave-issued gear had never heard of.

"This is so warm that I might keep it," Nova added with a grin.

It was midnight blue with a Thunderfang emblem on the left shoulder.

Derek’s expression went through something that she caught the tail end of before he buried it under a smirk.

The yacht shuddered once as the docking clamps engaged. There was some sort of formal procession they had to do and uniform mattered.

Her stomach tightened at the thought of the fact that she was about to see Celeste. She hadn’t seen her since the night of the Moonfire. She hadn’t been cleared to work, to be fair. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she needed to tell Derek this, like if she didn’t it would cost them.

"Derek, can you promise me something?"

✦✦✦

ATRIUM DOCK - THUNDERFANG YACHT

A man tipped his chin up at Derek then his eyes landed on Nova. Nova recognized him as the Gamma of Thunderfang. She had seen him at the Moonfire ceremony and knew his name.

"Finally, we meet, Nova. The woman who made every elder in Helix consider early retirement."

Nova was holding Derek’s hand and dipped, instinct taking over. "Thank you, Gamma Stormholt."

Gamma Stormholt looked at her. Looked at Derek. Looked back at her. Then his face cracked into a grin that made Nova grin too.

"Gamma Stormholt." He clutched his chest. "Gods. Please. Sebastian. I’m begging you. Gamma Stormholt is what the elders call me when I’m in trouble and I’ve been in enough trouble this week."

The grin widened as he looked down at her, genuine and unguarded, looking at her like she was a person who had been introduced to him by a friend and the friend had spoken highly.

Before she could respond, another voice joined in. "Sebastian?"

A woman rounded the corner and froze, her eyes landing on Nova. Then she clapped twice and ran over, pulling Nova into a hug so aggressive, Maria Emberclaw would have approved.

Nova’s free hand left Derek’s as both arms were conscripted into the embrace. She recognized this woman as one of the draftees who went after her at the sacred fire and remembered watching her getting paired with the Gamma.

"Forgive my mate. She has been wanting to meet you," Sebastian commented.

"My name is Sierra," she said as she pulled back. "Yes, he’s right. I am so excited to finally meet you, Nova. Thank you for matching me with Sebastian."

"Great to meet you too. I didn’t match anyone though," Nova said, knowing full well that would not be accepted.

Sierra winked. "Right. You didn’t."

Sierra and Sebastian were wearing matching cloaks and matching suits underneath. They looked perfect together. The Goddess knew what She was doing.

Derek’s arm went around her waist, not liking the separation.

"I’m Derek, by the way, if you were wondering," he stated.

Sierra laughed, the kind that comes out before you can catch it, bright and surprised and exactly the reaction Derek had been fishing for. Sebastian’s grin matched it.

"She’s heard all about you, Derek," Sebastian said with a devilish smirk.

"FINALLY."

Maria’s voice hit the platform like a flare gun as she rounded the corner at a speed that suggested she had been waiting and had run out of patience.

"My favorite people are all in one spot. Nobody move. I need a second to appreciate this."

She did not, in fact, take a second. She took zero seconds. She closed the distance, yanked Nova out of Derek’s grip with the proprietary confidence of a woman who had claimed this friendship first and considered all subsequent relationships secondary.

The second she let go, Beta Voltcrest rounded the corner a moment later, winded. His eyes landed on Nova. This man had watched Derek remove her cuffs. But Nova hadn’t seen him since then. She dipped respectfully again.

Maria caught her halfway into a dip and hauled her upright with zero ceremony. "Nova. We talked about this in the forest. Twice."

"You are looking more alive, Nova," Beta Voltcrest commented.

"Thank you, Beta Voltcre—"

Maria’s hand clapped over Nova’s mouth before the surname could finish leaving it.

"Tavian. Or Tav. You can use titles for the Alpha."

The Gamma, Sebastian, let out a laugh from behind them and tapped the side of his head. "Great minds."

Nova exhaled against Maria’s palm, her face warming.

She noticed Maria and Tavian were also in matching cloaks with suits underneath, different from the Gamma’s. Theirs was slightly more extravagant. Nova finally understood why Derek had been upset about the matching part. They were the only two who wouldn’t be.

They walked to the end of the platform into a narrower corridor. The docking station door hadn’t opened yet, which meant they had a minute or so before it began.

Alpha Thunderfang and Celeste stood at the threshold, side by side about five feet apart.

Matching cloaks. Matching suits. Thunderfang had a crown on. Celeste had hers on. They looked every bit the part that an Alpha and Luna should look.

Alpha Thunderfang’s suit glowed gold the second he saw Derek. He didn’t give Nova a glance. Her face went red anyway because the man had seen her naked mid-orgasm and you don’t come back from that without embarrassment.

Then she noticed Celeste’s suit lit up in tandem with his, gold lines tracing the same pattern along her edges. Nova clapped in her soul because synchronized lightning suits were entirely too cool and she was going to appreciate the engineering even if the people wearing them wanted her dead.

She could only assume that Alpha Thunderfang had been expecting a mate at the Moonfire and had brought this with him, which made sense as the Alpha.

Celeste’s eyes locked onto Nova and the distance between them began to collapse. Every conversation died at the same time. The way Celeste stormed over told Nova everything she needed to know about how this was going to go.

Nova gave Derek’s hand a squeeze and didn’t hesitate, dipping before Celeste had stopped in front of her. Derek wasn’t going to react to this. He had given her his word. Nova knew Celeste was going to do something to provoke her and had warned him.

"Princess Starborne," Nova said softly.

Celeste didn’t even try to fake civility. She grabbed Nova’s arm and yanked her forward out of Derek’s grip.

Nova stumbled, because she genuinely was weaker, still recovering. Celeste either did not care or did not receive the memo. She yanked the cloak back to expose Nova’s sleeve. Then yanked that back too.

Just skin.

No cuff.