This was new. 

He had heard about it when he was younger but it was never something he had actually considered would happen to him. It didn’t interest him then. That hadn’t changed as the years progressed. 

When Bodric ascended the throne, it was even less of a priority, falling further out of the realm of possibility. He was comfortable where he was at. No, not comfortable…familiar. Now…his stable foundation had once again crumbled. 

A mate. A bond mate. A forever mate, linked to his Stem or what redrya would refer to as a soul. Their minds would forever link. Their bodies, their beings were now one in the same. Most Naerians could disassociate since their bonds with the foreign species were not strong. Kincaid was foolish enough to believe the same. 

But that fire in the redrya’s eyes…could not be doused. Something that fierce would never be weak despite being so in body. The will, the fight, the rage, it was a beast of its own, untamed and relentless. And now Kincaid carried it too.

Kincaid wasn’t sure what that meant for his future, but the strength of the emotions and sense of self that bled through the bond from his pair was more than a minor inconvenience. It influenced his own singular individuality. A color that tinted his vision whether he wanted it to or not. The intensity alone had driven the Naerian to question himself and the decisions he had made, which were dangerous for male in his position with his level of power. 

He could never hesitate. He could never allow himself to be distracted. If he were in battle, it would be the end of him. But this restless energy that constantly flooded him, left him unable to deal with the endless list of responsibilities that demanded his immediate attention. 

It could no longer be ignored. His hand had been forced and there was only one person he could go to that he trusted to provide adequate advice.

Kincaid had not visited Pelryn’s rooms since their immigration to this new planet. He had always been too busy managing the Rebellion and failing to gain insight on Tarlikk. 

Their rooms were not much different, Pelryn’s a little smaller and less grand, and yet, there was a warmth in the space that Kincaid’s lacked. It appeared…lived in. Kincaid rarely spent time in his rooms which were only used for sleeping and grooming, most of the time choosing to forgo sleep altogether. There was always so much that needed his attention and he didn’t trust those below him to execute them in his stead. 

Mistakes were only more nooses around his neck, he couldn’t give his brother any more rope.

Still, the difference was surprisingly comforting. It piqued Kincaid’s curiosity, if only a little. 

“I did as you suggested,” Kincaid began as the two males took a seat in the sitting room. Pelryn’s pair sat quietly in the corner with his head bowed, eating a small meal. It did not escape the General’s notice how the Councilman kept glancing in their direction. Kincaid didn’t know if was concern or what, but the split attention he had formerly found annoying was starting to make sense. 

It had nothing to do with Pelryn being overly familiar and attentive. It was the simple fact that it was distracting. The sensations his pair felt would bleed to him and eventually curiosity won out. 

Now that he was undergoing the same, Kincaid took those moments to study them, filing the behaviors away for further contemplation so he could remedy a way to put an end to it. He had no intentions of succumbing to it as Pelryn clearly had.

“And how has his aura improved?” Pelryn asked, leaning forward in his chair with interest. 

“I do not know. I have not seen him yet.”

Pelryn frowned. “You didn’t offer it to him yourself?”

“Would that have made a difference?”

“Perhaps it would have likened him to you.”

Kincaid snorted. “I have no interest in endearing myself to him. My goal lies in containing the restlessness that bleeds through the bond as it impedes on my daily obligations.”

Pelryn watched him for a few moments, considering. The idea of changing Kincaid’s disposition on redrya was not a task Pelryn had intended upon, knowing it would ultimately be a losing battle. But making Kincaid understand his pair enough not to create an even deeper rift was becoming a silent project. And it was no secret to Kincaid himself, being fully aware of the Councilman's intentions. His lack of knowledge was the only thing keeping him there and listening to what he normally would have dismissed.

“Your indifference may work in your favor, but I do believe it is important for you not to induce any further harm. They are fragile creatures and require finesse when handling.” Pelryn paused, glancing at his pair again before his eyes widened as if an idea had transpired. “Perhaps it would be beneficial to introduce my pair to yours. They will find comfort in each other as most redrya typically do. It may ease the restlessness if he had something to distract him. While you occupy your time with your duties, unless needed, my pair could accompany yours in your rooms.”

Kincaid rubbed his chin, letting his own gaze drift to the redrya in the corner whose body had slightly stiffened, signifying he was fully aware of the attention but purposefully chose to feign ignorance. 

It wasn’t a terrible idea, even if the thought of letting someone in his space stirred the beast within himself. He’d make the sacrifice if it meant a semblance of peace. 

“I will allow it, but they are not to leave. My redrya has a fire in him that may prove tiresome if he had the capacity to roam free. There is fight in him still, which might lead to attempts at escaping. While the possibility of him being successful is nonexistent, it would prove to be troublesome to those around him which would lead to yet another distraction for me.”

Pelryn nodded in agreement. “They will be confined to your rooms. My pair rarely leaves our rooms anyway, it should not have any negative impact on our bond. Though I do wonder…how long do you plan to keep your pair confined? I have heard no news of a presentation. It is unlikely that the King will wait much longer.”

Kincaid’s jaw tightened. The question was valid and something he had thought about quite a few times. Yet he had no intentions of doing so. He planned on postponing it as long as he possibly could. If the two were in the same space as the King and the rest of the Council, it would become abundantly clear that the two had not officially mated. 

That was a conversation he planned on avoiding, so he chose to shrug instead of providing a verbal response. Pelryn did not push on the matter further.

With a tentative plan in place, the two males tabled the subject, deciding to discuss things more pertinent to their respective jobs and the pressing matter of the Tarlikk. Some of the ships that had been lost to the plague were still functioning which allowed them a small idea of what the orbital environment was like. Nothing more than a few compounds had been synthesized, but it was more than they had been able to recover in years. It wasn’t enough to create a cure for the ailment, but it was the first step in understanding the sickness.

If they could preserve as much of their kind as they could while focusing their strengths on the science behind the plague, it may be more lucrative in the end. Of course, most of the Council was against that idea, but it wasn’t as if they had any actual weight in the decision. No, that was King Bodric alone.

Convincing him wouldn’t be easy. Still, the idea of losing any more squads curdled in Kincaid’s stomach. For that reason, he’d make Bodric agree. Death proved an effective incentive and fueled his determination. There would be no more blood on his hands, not if he could help it.

“And how are the Naeyans?” Kincaid asked. Most were still too young to partake in society, living in luxurious ignorance until the time came where they would rely too heavily on them. The rest of the Council was already trying to push the eldest of nineteen Earth cycles onto the battlefield. They were old enough, sure, but there was still so little known about their new physiology that it hardly seemed wise to risk their only chance at survival by throwing them into danger.

For once, Kincaid didn’t fault them for it. They were steadily running out of time and with the Naeyans hatching so infrequently, they couldn’t wait for the second generation. 

“They adapt well into Naerian culture, but we have yet to see their shifting capabilities. Some wonder if they have the ability at all,” Pelryn sighed.

Kincaid held in his disappointment at even more bad news. If they couldn’t shift, they’d be a liability and hardly worth this continued effort. 

“What of the disturbances I asked you to look into?” Kincaid asked, pointedly keeping his question vague as he glanced over at the male’s pair. Most spoke freely in front of them, seeing them as less than capable of retaliating even with any information, but Kincaid remembered the look in his own pair’s eyes and the fire behind them. That alone made him wary. He could not risk any information like that getting to his pair. Kincaid would not underestimate his pair’s determination and methods of extracting the information from a redrya unsuspecting.

This was classified. Even his own underlings were unaware, but he could not trust them as long as Bodric held their leash. Loyalty went to the King not the General. Bodric made sure of that. The only one he could trust to be on his side was Pelryn.

“There have been no more tips and no trace of who had been leaving them. Some of my team are still looking into it,” Pelryn informed. 

Yet another issue to be monitored. Being pulled in every direction, Kincaid’s body ached with exhaustion. Stress adding more and more kinks in his neck and back. He needed to fly. He needed to release.

But he simply did not have the time. 

He was so tired.

And yet there was never a time to rest.