​Cilian’s hand didn’t just stay on Ren’s waist; it moved, his palm flattening against the center of Ren’s stomach, pressing just enough to feel the tension there.

​"Dizzy," Cilian repeated, the word sounding like a delicious secret. "Nauseous. Irritable. One might say you’re showing symptoms of a very successful ’union,’ darling. Or is it just that your body is already begging for me again? I can smell the change in you, Ren. It’s sweet. Cloying. Like the flowers are blooming early this year."

​Ren’s breath hitched. He knew exactly what Cilian was implying—the scent of an approaching heat. It was a biological flare, a signal to the Alpha that the nest was ready.

If this heat hits now, while we’re on this island, there would be no escape for me.

​"It’s just the heat from the weather," Ren lied, his voice sharp with desperation. "The sun is too hot. I haven’t eaten enough. It’s not... It’s not what you think."

​"We’ll see," Cilian chuckled, his fingers idly tracing the line of Ren’s hip. "But while you’re busy being ’dizzy,’ the village is already stirring. Look."

​Ren followed Cilian’s gaze toward the center of the village. A group of women and male Omegas were gathered around Kaelo’s family hut, their voices raised in excited, melodic chirps.

Kaelo was standing by the entrance, looking utterly wrecked—his hair was a bird’s nest of sand and leaves, his lips were swollen, and as Cilian had noted, he was walking with a very prominent, wide-legged limp.

​The stout woman from the day before stepped forward, her eyes widening as she caught Kaelo’s scent. She didn’t look angry; she looked ecstatic. She let out a high-pitched trill that brought the rest of the elders running.

​"The Sky-Man!" she shouted, pointing toward the shore. "The Sky-Man has claimed an Omega of the island! The stars have fallen twice!"

​Ren watched in horror as the village elders began to scramble. They weren’t going to punish Kaelo for being ’uncourt’. Instead, they were going to formalize the claim.

​"It seems Harris didn’t just knot him," Cilian whispered, his breath ghosting over Ren’s ear. "He marked him for the whole world to see. In this village, an Alpha who takes like that is a husband. They’re likely preparing another celebration now to tie the two together."

​"They can’t force him," Ren whispered, thinking of how the Pilot would react once they brought this up, when all he did was feed his urge. "The pilot... He’ll likely be terrified."

​"No one asked him to dine and think of dashing," Cilian said. "And as long as he’s on this island, he’s not dashing anywhere."

That was the horrifying part. Ren thought. But maybe he liked Kaelo... that’s why he did it with him.

Kaelo was looking a little too roughed up. So maybe he did like Kaelo that much.

I didn’t picture it when they were talking the other day. Ren thought.

"The villagers will probably see it as an Alpha who found a home for his seed, Ren," Cilian added, his grip on Ren’s shoulder tightening. "Terrified or not, he’ll stay. Just like you’ll stay."

​Ren looked at the black sand, his stomach turning over again. He saw the villagers starting to carry bundles of flowers and large clay pots of that dreaded nectar toward the center square.

"Ah, what a happy matrimony," Cilian purred, but there was no good intent behind it.

"I don’t think he’ll stay," Ren suddenly said. "If anything, he might take Kaelo with him when we leave this island."

He looked up at Cilian, who had a stiff smile curved on his lips. A suspicious smile as he pitched in, "When’ we leave this island."

He emphasized the ’When’ as if it were a thing of the distant future. It made a certain dread crawl up Ren’s spine. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

"I admire your optimism, Ren. Truly. It’s one of the few things about you I haven’t managed to break yet. But look at the horizon. Do you see a rescue fleet? Do you see anything but blue?"

​He turned Ren’s face toward the village square with a firm grip on his chin.

"Now look at the villagers. They aren’t preparing for a departure. They’re preparing for a Great Union. In their eyes, we aren’t visitors anymore—we’re foundations. And foundations don’t just ’leave’ when they’ve already started building a home."

"I don’t have a home here," Ren muttered as his gaze shifted to the center of the village.

The stout woman was already draping a thick, ceremonial grass mat over a raised bamboo platform. The clay pots of Nectar of the Sun were being lined up like soldiers.

​"I feel like I have to warn him," Ren insisted, his voice cracking.

"Hm?" Cilian looked at him.

"The pilot... he probably doesn’t know what he’s walked into."

​"He knows exactly what he walked into, Ren," Cilian countered, his thumb tracing the pulse in Ren’s neck. "He walked into a warm body and a willing mouth. The rest is just the bill coming due."

​Just then, the ’escort’ arrived. Captain Harris was being led into the square by four of the village’s strongest men. He looked like a man who had survived a hurricane only to be hit by a bus.

His flight suit was half-unzipped, his hair was matted with salt, and his face was a shade of scarlet that bordered on purple.

​When his eyes landed on Kaelo—who was currently being fussed over by a group of Omegas—Harris’s feet dragged in the sand.

​"Kaelo?" Harris called out, his voice hoarse.

​Kaelo looked up. The brazen, teasing youth from the night before was gone, replaced by a shy, limping boy wrapped in layers of white hibiscus. He looked at Harris with wide, watery eyes, a soft, possessive smile tugging at his swollen lips.

​"The Sky-Man is here!" the elder shouted, stepping between them. He grabbed Harris’s hand and Kaelo’s hand, pulling them together. "The spirits have spoken through the night! The womb is ready, and the seed has been sown!"

​Harris looked around, panic finally flaring in his eyes as he saw the ceremonial bindings being brought forward.

He had claimed he would be responsible, but this... this scale was a bit terrifying.

He looked at Cilian, his employer, his eyes pleading for an order—any order—to get him out of this. But it wasn’t like Cilian had given him an order to feed the Omega in the first place.

​Cilian merely raised his hand in a mocking salute. He was on his own.