Two Zypherian guards marched in, dragging a figure between them.

Shraddha.

I surged forward, -foolishly, desperately-but two guards were on me before I moved more than a step. Their claws clamped onto my arms like vice grips. I barely felt the pain-I couldn't stop looking at her.

Her face was unreadable.

She looked... calm.

Too calm.

"Let me go! You don't understand-please!" My words turned to sobs.

Pitchovas stepped forward, his tall form casting a long shadow between us. His expression was unreadable-but his eyes, that piercing amber, locked onto Shraddha with chilling focus.

"The deception has been corrected," he said coldly

A flick of his wrist. A signal.

A sentence passed.

His claim.

Her doom.

Shraddha stumbled as the guards pushed her forward again. But this time she straightened. Shoulders square. Jaw set.

"Wait-please! Don't do this!" I cried, pulling against the guards' grip.

I thought if I took her place in the pairing, I could keep her safe.

But all I did was make things worse.

I had broken a Zypherian law I didn't understand, in a world that didn't work like ours, with consequences I couldn't take back. And now we were both standing on the edge of something I couldn't control.

Shraddha's eyes found mine through the blur of bodies and shame.

And then she smiled.

That soft, broken smile you give someone you love, right before you're torn away.

"Ruby," she said, voice a whisper across crumbling ruins. "Don't cry. Please... it's okay."

I shook my head violently. "No-it's not okay! I was supposed to protect you!"

She took a breath, chest rising with silent resolve. "You tried," she said, eyes shimmering. "You did more than anyone ever did for me."

This wasn't bravery.

This was surrender.

No-not because she wanted to.

Because she had to.

And suddenly, the truth burned its way through the haze of panic.

"Enough."

A Zypherian council member stepped forward. Smaller in stature, with silver markings curling like vines across her scaled face.

"Female!!! You insult the rite with this display, this is not your playground. You're on a sovereign interstellar ship. Every action has consequences"," she said, voice calm but cold.

"Admiral, this pairing ceremony must remain sacred. If a human cannot follow protocol, perhaps they are not yet ready to be integrated."

Whispers erupted among the Zypherian councils.

Then, I did something stupid.

I broke from the guards.

Maybe they let me.

Maybe they wanted to see what I'd do next.

I turned, my pulse roaring in my ears, and lunged- I reached for him.

Only person that can stop this.

Him.

The Admiral.

He had ordered the pairing. He could un-order it. Couldn't he?

He was the highest-ranking Zypherian on this ship.His words mattered. Maybe this wasn't final. Maybe if I begged-he'd listen.

The hall froze.

Even the guards stopped breathing.

Gasps. Shouts in an alien tongue. One Zypherian councilor even stood, claws bristling.

You don't touch an Admiral, a voice in my head screamed.

But it was too late.

My eyes blazing as my hands grasping his, my fingers digging into his skin, the rough texture of his alien skin still the same as I had felt before. It was a desperate, futile gesture, a primal scream against the injustice unfolding before me.

"She's too young!" I choked. "Please-stop this."

A fragile, pitiful plea.

His hands, so large and powerful, were cold beneath my touch. He didn't pull away. He didn't flinch. He simply looked at me, his golden eyes burning into mine, his expression unreadable. He was a statue, a god carved from ice and fire, unmoved by my pleas, my desperation.

I could feel the guards moving towards me, their presence a looming threat.

But I couldn't let go. I clung to his hands, my fingers digging into his skin, as if they were the only anchor in a world that was crumbling around me. "Please," I whispered again, my voice breaking.

He regarded me with a detached curiosity"This is what was agreed upon," he said at last, his voice a low rumble, like a planet groaning under pressure.

"Agreed?" I spat, my grip tightening on his hands. "By whom? By you? By these... monsters?" I gestured wildly to the Zypherian council and the human leaders, my voice laced with scorn.

Councilor Elara, one of the human delegates-slim, sharp-featured, always silent in past meetings-finally stood. Her voice cut like glass.

"Ruby!-stand down. The human representative body voted unanimously in favor of the Zypherian pairing initiative."

"You call this pairing?" I snapped. "She's 19!"

Her voice snapped like a whip. "Enough, Ruby! You're out of line. You will be removed and formally reprimanded."

"20," Pitchovas corrected coldly, not even glancing at me. "Biologically matured. Cognitively compatible. The Zypherian Rite does not recognize Earth's sentimentality."

"This isn't sentiment," I cried. "It's humanity."

"Please," I begged, my voice breaking. "Please, don't do this. She's too young."

I fell to my knees before him. The floor was unforgiving beneath me, but I didn't feel it, my hands still clutching him, my last tether in a crumbling world.

"Take me instead."

Silence.

"Ruby," Shraddha warned, voice trembling now, "shut up-just shut up."

I looked up at him, my eyes pleading, begging. "Just... please. Let her go. I'll do anything. Anything at all."

"I'll... I'll pair with anyone. I don't care. Just... just let her go."

I was pleading now, my voice choked with tears. "I'll... I'll even... I'll pair with two warriors, if that's what it takes. Just... just spare her. Please." I was willing to sacrifice myself, to endure whatever they demanded, as long as she was safe.

His eyes flickered. Something shifted in their depths, a flicker of... surprise? Disgust? It was gone too quickly for me to be sure.

A low growl rumbled from his chest, a sound that sent shivers down my spine. It wasn't just a growl; it was something deeper, more primal. Possessive. Angry. It was a sound that spoke of ownership, of dominance, of a fury barely contained. It was a sound that made my blood run cold.

He looked at me, his eyes burning with an intensity that made me tremble.

"You would offer yourself to another male?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

I nodded, tears slipping down my cheeks. "Yes."

And for the first time, the Admiral moved.

In a single, terrifying motion, he grabbed me by the throat.

His grip was unyielding. Cold. A cruel contrast to the heat that radiated from his towering form.

I gasped, my fingers clawing at his wrist as he lifted me effortlessly off my knees, my body dangling in his grasp like I weighed nothing.

His claws pressed into my skin-not hard enough to puncture, but enough to make me feel it. To remind me how easily he could.

The room froze.

Gasps from the human side.

One even stood. "Admiral, that's a civilian-!"

"Please," he said, directing his words to the Zypherian council. "There has clearly been a miscommunication. She acted out of fear, out of love. Let's... take a moment. We can resolve this peacefully."

A Zypherian warrior snarled, "There is no pause in punishment. Only compliance or consequence."

But no one moved.