With tears in her eyes, Galene took Fain's hand and gave him a tenuous, proud and loving smile. He pulled her against him and held her close as they watched their son accept his new wife.
War and Vega threw glitter over them and shouted in happiness.
Marna sniffed back her own tears as she and Saren congratulated them. Lorens chimed in, too. Felicia thanked them and blew them a kiss before she turned their monitors off while Morra, Chayden, and Qory all congratulated Talyn.
Jayne sniffed as she approached Galene and Fain. "Isn't she beautiful in my grandmother's dress? I can't believe it fits so perfectly! Right down to being Batur blue for them."
Galene frowned. "How did you get it here?"
Grinning, Jayne winked at them. "Trisani husband. He told me to pack it before I left home. Said I might need it." She glanced back at Felicia, who was laughing and hugging Gavarian. "I learned a long time ago not to argue or question Hadrian's weird dictates." She reached up and playfully tugged at Fain's braids. "Nice eyes, Hauk."
"Yes, they are," Dancer agreed as he came up behind her. "I hope this means I have to buy two unification presents?"
Fain glanced over to Galene. "We haven't discussed it. There's still a lot to consider. Let's face it. We all know what an asshole I am."
Dancer snorted as Sumi came over to hug Galene. "Congrats on the grandbaby." She cut a meaningful look to Fain. "And on other things."
Galene felt her cheeks heat up as they became the focus of everyone's attention. "This is Talyn's and Felicia's moment. Let's not take anything away from them." And with that, she moved to hug Felicia and kiss her cheek. "I've loved you since the moment I first saw you in the hospital and you told me you were Talyn's female. I can't tell you how much this means to me to officially have you as my daughter."
Felicia blushed. "Thank you, Commander."
"Matarra," she reminded her.
Smiling, Felicia bit her lip. "Yaya, you mean."
Galene hugged her again. "I love you so much, mia."
"I love you, too."
She turned to her son. "And you..." She squeezed his finally clean-shaven chin. "You're much more handsome like this."
He screwed his face up. "I still hate it. But Felicia made it worth my while."
"Talyn!" Felicia gasped.
"What?" He blinked innocently as he looked over to her. "What'd I say?"
Felicia groaned out loud as Jayne placed her arm around her shoulders and grinned. "Don't be so horrified, Lish. Face it. If it has an engine or testicles, it's bound to give you trouble."
Fain let out a nervous breath as he approached his son. "I'm thinking we should make a quick exit. They're starting to turn on us. This can't be good."
Talyn nodded. "For once, we're on the same side." Then, he indicated Fain's eyes with a jerk of his chin. "Sorry I interrupted the two of you. Now I know why you weren't answering your link when I called."
Fain cringed at Talyn's words. "It's not what you think."
"Yeah, it is. But it's all right. At least I finally know."
Fain scowled. "Know what?"
Talyn turned so that his back was to the rest of the room before he dropped his voice to a faint whisper only Fain could hear. "Why you left her. You didn't do it because you were the dick I thought you were. You did it to protect her."
"How do you know?"
He pointed to his own eyes. "Curse of being stralen. It makes us do incredibly stupidly wrong shit for all the right reasons to protect what we love."
Fain snorted a short laugh at that. "Ain't it the truth?"
Nodding, Talyn held his hand out to him. "Clean slate, Hauk?"
"Clean slate." He took Talyn's hand and pulled him in for a warm hug that he savored.
Galene paused as she caught sight of Fain and Talyn embracing. But what brought tears to her eyes was the expression on Fain's face. The love and pride he had for Talyn. She'd waited a lifetime for this moment and it was far sweeter than she'd ever imagined.
Warmth rushed through her body that the two of them were finally making an effort to put the past behind them and start fresh. A warmth that strangely thickened as Darice and Dancer joined them, and she saw two generations of War Hauks standing together for the first time in decades. Then, she looked over to Felicia, who was holding Kalea and tickling her belly while she laughed with Vega, Morra, and Gavarian. Qory, Brach, and Chayden were joking silently in Qillaq sign language.
It was an odd family, to be sure. But it was all hers and she loved every one of them.
"You okay?"
She glanced over her shoulder at Jayne. "Fine. Just thinking."
Jayne wrapped her arms around her neck and held her like she used to do when Talyn was little and Galene had felt so alone and lost. "I've never seen Fain look so relaxed and happy ... or you, for that matter."
Closing her eyes, Galene allowed her cousin to rock her. "And that's what scares me, Jaynie. I've never had so much to lose before. Nor so many trying to take it from me."
*
Hours later, Galene came awake to the sweet, precious warmth of Fain's naked body pressed against hers. His thigh was wedged between hers with his tattooed arm draped over her hip while he had his face buried deep in her braids. He held on to her as if he were afraid of letting go, even to rest. How he could manage to sleep, never mind actually breathe like that, she couldn't imagine. But it didn't appear to bother him at all.
After the small reception in Talyn's apartment, they'd taken Vega and War home, then returned to her condo where they'd spent the rest of the night making up for all the years they'd been apart. She'd made love to him thoroughly and had tasted every vast inch of his lush, muscled body until he'd begged her for mercy.
And a nap.
She never wanted to leave this bed or his arms again. A smile curved her lips as a wave of complete serenity engulfed her.
Until she heard a noise in Fain's room. It was a light scraping, but enough that her heightened Andarion hearing picked it up clearly. It was moving through the living room, coming closer to her bedroom.
"Fain?" she whispered, shaking him slightly.
He woke much slower.
She rolled to her blaster on the nightstand an instant before her bedroom door blew apart.
Cursing, she opened fire on her attackers.
Fain slid from the bed to search for his reserve blaster in the tangled mess of his clothing. She heard him cursing himself for his carelessness.
Meanwhile, their silent attackers spoke to each other in a language she didn't know.
All of a sudden, her blaster jammed. Her heart stopped as she realized they had her dead to rights. She grabbed the lamp to bash them, but before she could blink, Fain launched himself with a growl at the one aiming for her. He slammed the assassin against the wall and literally ripped his throat out before snatching the blaster from the assassin's hand and shooting the closest one. He kicked the falling assassin into a third, then launched himself over their bodies to catch the fourth one and break his neck before he spun around and shot the third one.
Turning, he went to make sure there was no one else in the living room.
A second later, he was back in front of her as an alarm blared from the hallway. "Are you all right?"
Stunned and a little afraid of him, she nodded. Honestly, she'd forgotten just how brutal War Hauks were in battle--how ruthless--and never more so than when protecting family. Since she'd never seen Talyn in a Ring match, it was a side of her son she didn't know. Mostly because she'd never wanted to know what all her son was capable of doing to another sentient being.
It was why everyone on Andaria lived in fear of the War Hauk bloodline. Why their names and family were so celebrated.
Fain placed his cheek to hers. "Call Talyn and warn him in case there are more," he whispered. He stepped away to pull on his pants, then took off to check on their son--still barefoot and without a shirt.
Galene didn't hesitate to obey. Like Fain, she wante
d to make sure her son was secured.
Talyn answered a moment later in a groggy tone.
"I've been attacked, baby. Fain said to warn you. They might be headed for you and Felicia."
That cleared his fogginess instantly. "I'm on it. You okay?"
"Yeah." She heard the sound of blaster fire outside Talyn's room.
An instant later, Dancer's voice was in the background, checking on Felicia and Talyn.
"I'm on my way to you." She hung up and pulled her clothes on before she swapped her charge cartridge for a fresh one, and tucked in a few extra. Just in case.
In the hallway, she saw the bloody trail Fain had left. Her throat constricted at the sight of the carnage. Please don't let that blood be his.
It was awful and it left her sick to her stomach.
But in all honesty, she was impressed. There were bodies everywhere. Fain had torn them apart as he headed to secure Talyn and Felicia. She only prayed that he'd made it.
By the time she reached Talyn and Felicia's room, her fears had almost paralyzed her. Yet the moment she saw Felicia with Morra, Jayne, Qorach, Sumi, Kalea, and Darice, she calmed. They had Felicia surrounded like a treasured crown jewel.
"Where's Talyn and Fain?" Galene asked.
Jayne hugged her. "They went out with Dancer, Vari, and Brach to chase after the bad guys. You okay?"
"Rattled. They hit Talyn's old room first." Tears made her vision swim as she glanced to Felicia. "Had his father not changed rooms with him, they would have probably killed him in his sleep."
Felicia rose to her feet with a growl. She grabbed the blaster from Morra's hip and headed for the door in a feral, determined stride.
Qorach caught her and shook his head.
"Q, out of my way! No one goes after Talyn's back. No one! By every god of Andaria, I'm going to find them and skin them alive while they scream!"
The only thing that kept Felicia from attacking the mountainous Qill in an effort to get past him was that her link went off with Talyn's ring. She pulled it from her robe pocket.
"Baby?" she breathed.
"Hey, Lish. We're good. They were League assassins. We cornered them and they killed themselves before we could capture them. You all right?"
"Fine. Where are you?"
The door to her room opened to show Talyn and Fain, with Dancer, Vari, and Brach pulling up the rear. Talyn slid the link into his pocket before he disarmed Felicia and gathered her into his arms.
Fain hesitated in front of Galene.
Relieved that he was still breathing, she quickly examined the blood on his body to make sure it wasn't his. "Were you hurt?"
"No, thanks only to your quick reflexes. I didn't even know they were there. They'd have had my ass, had you not shot them while I fumbled for my blaster." Fain kissed her before he turned his attention to Talyn. "They went for you first. Thank the gods you weren't in your room." He scowled as he glanced about. "Did they go after anyone else?"
"No." Morra jerked her chin toward Galene. "They only went after Galene and Talyn."
Raw, unmitigated fury tore through him over that. He'd just started for the door when it opened to admit Venik, who wore a similarly enraged expression.
The Tavali leader's gaze swept the room as he took inventory of the occupants and their varying stages of dishabille. His gaze narrowed on Fain as he raked him from head to bare feet. "You all right, Hauk?"
Fain wiped at the blood on his face. "More pissed than I've ever been in my entire life. I want the throat of the Porturnum bastard who sold us out to The League."
A strange darkness descended over Venik's features. "No one attacks my base." His scowl deepened as he noted Fain's eyes. "Stralen? Really?"
Fain gave him a snide smile. "Told you it was complicated."
"Everything with you always is. I should have finished killing you when I dragged you off that ship. Teach me to show mercy." He sighed heavily. "We're searching for more League assassins. Everyone's being scanned for IDs, prints, and DNA. All of you have to submit, too. I want anyone who has any ties, past or present, with those bastards. I intend to feast on their entrails."
"I'll come back positive for League ties." Sumi stepped forward. "But I can assure you, I have no love for them, and I didn't do this. I went rogue from my post, and have a staggering price on my head as a result. You can check the reports. Last time I was with Kyr, I almost succeeded in ending this war. If I'm ever near him again, I plan to finish him."
"So you're the woman who almost gutted him. Good job. Shame the slimy bastard escaped."
"Yes, it is."
Fain got his brother's attention. "Did you get anywhere with that recording I sent over?"
"No. The bitch got erased."
He glared at his brother. "Erased?"
Dancer nodded glumly. "I was going to tell you later." He passed a meaningful stare toward Galene. "Didn't want to ruin your night."
Fain ground his teeth. "Well, whoever that little bitch is, he's about to learn what three stralen War Hauks are capable of. I will find him ... or her, if I have to tear this entire station down, rivet by rivet."
Venik opened his mouth to speak, but the lethal expression on Fain's face backed him down instantly.
Fain moved away from Galene to check the charge levels of his weapons. "We need to split our families up to keep them from becoming a bigger target."
Dancer nodded in agreement. "Nyk has reinforcements headed in."
Galene's and Talyn's links started buzzing with an alert tone.
Fain scowled as they checked the message. "What is it?"
Gasping, Galene went pale. "The League and her allies just bombed the Andarion palace. The heaviest strike was made against the royal family wing."
"Where's Nyk's family?"
Dancer appeared to be one step away from hurling. "They came in for our wedding and have been staying at the palace with Cairistiona ever since ... even Nyk's father."
With tears in her eyes, Galene handed Fain the link.
Fain cursed before he passed the link to Dancer so that he could see the photo that had been sent to Galene. "They didn't just strike the palace, drey. They leveled it. No survivors."
CHAPTER 12
While Galene had held Fain's utmost respect before, he truly saw the depth of her mettle as she kept herself together in the wake of this news. Her spine went straight and her chin lifted defiantly. She met Talyn's gaze. "Tough times never last."
"But tough Andarions do," Talyn finished for her as if it was something she'd said so many times that he knew it by heart.
She inclined her head to him. "We secure our family here. And we move forward with a retaliatory strike. Kyr has to have something he cares about. I want that weakness found and destroyed." She met Dancer's gaze. "Has the tahrs been informed of this?"
"No. They're flying dark so that they can reach us without The League picking them up."
"Then let me know when he lands so that I can inform him."
Dancer indicated him and Jayne. "That's our job. We're his family and he'll need us. I owe it to him to tell him personally."
Galene choked on a sob. "And Cairie and Tylie were my family."
Talyn started for her, then paused as Fain gathered her in his arms.
Galene patted him on the back before she stepped away and took his hand and Talyn's. "I'm fine. Until bodies are found, we will hold hope sacred in our hearts and pray that they made it to shelter. It's possible they had warning and evacuated."
A slim possibility. But it was one that allowed her to move forward and function.
She narrowed her gaze at Fain. "How many Tavali can you muster?"
"How many you need?"
"A hundred thousand."
His eyes widened at the number. "I can do it. But it'll take some time. Maybe as much as a week to get them mobilized to one place."
"Rendezvous them at Qaris and let me know as soon as they're all there. A group that large will draw notice, so they n
eed to arrive within an hour of each other. Once amassed, I want a strike force with them from the north and us from the south. Every Leaguer in this galaxy is about to get a taste of Alliance vengeance."
Venik let out an evil laugh. "I like your female, Hauk." He saluted Galene. "I'd like to put dibs on the salvage of whatever remains from this."
"If there's anything left of their ships, it's yours to raid." She stepped back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have research I need to do, and a battle to plan."
Fain started after her only to find Talyn in his way. The expression on his face said that he was one breath away from ruining the rest of Fain's life.
Or ending it.
"Is there a problem?"
"Don't leave her alone, Hauk. She's not as strong as she pretends to be. She had a very close and strong kinship with the tadara. When no one else was kind to her, Cairie was. They've been best friends for thirty years. Please help, Mum. She has to be dying inside over this."
Cupping Talyn's head, Fain pulled his cheek to his son's. "I love you both," he whispered in Talyn's ear. "And I won't leave her alone."
"Thank you. And for the record, I'm glad you weren't in my bed tonight when they attacked. It's my honor to fight by your side."
Fain tightened his hand in Talyn's braids as those words brought tears to his eyes. Unable to speak past the fierce wave of love that surged inside him, he released his son and went after Galene.
He found her in her office outside the command center. True to Talyn's words, her hands were shaking as she made notes and researched data.
"Stormy?"
Tears glistened in her eyes as she looked up at him. "I was only three the first time I met her. Did you know that?"
He closed the door and crossed the room to stand beside her. "No."
She sniffed back her tears. "It's the first real clear memory of my life. I was in the palace with my paka, who'd gone to give her a physical to make sure she was still fit for military duty while pregnant. I was sitting on the floor, playing outside her suite, when I heard the clicking of sharp boot heels against the marble floor. I looked up and saw the most beautiful female I'd ever seen in my life. Tall. Strong. Proud. Her head high, she wore her red battlesuit like the mythic goddess Kadora. She stopped by my side and smiled down at me."