before him. His mates side-by-side in a united front while Cali's mates stood slightly in front of her, their energy surging, and he realized it was because of him. Because they thought he might harm their mate, his only female offspring, and the being he loved as deeply as his mates. It brought into sharp focus everything his mates repeatedly said over the last hundred years.
He was Caradoc Wik'ax, the Paramount of the Zagreus, but that didn't mean he was infallible, and in this, it seemed he'd made a grave mistake.
Slowly he moved toward his daughter, only pausing when Jamis’s and Taarig's energy ratcheted up to a level that many pure Zagreus were unable to achieve at any age. It reinforced just how wrong he had been and how he should have listened to his mates.
"I mean your mate no harm," Caradoc told Jamis and Taarig quietly. "She is my daughter, and while I've given you no reason to trust me, I vow on my mates’ lives that I will never intentionally harm her."
Since melding with Cali, Taarig and Jamis had learned just how sacred that specific vow was and how powerful. It had them relaxing and stepping apart so Cali could step forward.
Cali said nothing as her father eliminated the distance between them, then gasped as he dropped to his knees before her. "Father…"
"I must beg your forgiveness, little star. I over-reacted when I believed your life span was in jeopardy, then again when I learned I knew nothing about the males with which you'd melded. While I don't know what I did to cause you to turn against me, to me, you have always been my little star, and my life span will end before I allow anyone to harm you."
"Oh, Papa," Cali's eyes had begun to fill with tears at the endearment she hadn't heard since she'd pushed her father out of her life and automatically used her childhood name for him. By the time he finished, tears flowed down her face, and she flung herself into the arms that always caught her, her face sinking into the crook of his neck.
"My little star," Caradoc whispered, tears running down his cheeks. "I am so sorry I attacked your mates."
"You only wanted to protect me," she murmured.
"I went about it the wrong way," he admitted.
"I love you, Papa," Cali pulled back so he could see the truth glowing in her eyes.
"And I love you, little star." Slowly they rose and drew apart, although Caradoc kept a hand on her lower back.
"Papa, I'd like to introduce you to my mates," Cali said, and there was no missing the happiness or pride. "Commander Jamis Dexxirs and Sub Commander Taarig Ynn."
"Former Commanders," Taarig reminded her, then he looked to Caradoc. "We resigned our commissions."
"I know," Caradoc told him. "While I may have stubbornly not contacted my little star, it doesn't mean I haven't kept track of what was going on in her life span. You both refused promotions that would have allowed you to become members of the Coalition Council. Why?"
"Because that would have put Cali under even harsher scrutiny than she was after the Marsala incident," Jamis told him. "Plus, she'd have to sell The Brink, which she wasn't ready to do."
"You put her needs first," Caradoc nodded his approval.
"Of course, she's our Lalla," Jamis told him.
"Then, as long as you do that, you'll never have a problem with me. Welcome to our family." After a long moment where the three males silently gazed at each other, Caradoc turned to Dakota. "Now, what is there to eat? I'm starving."
The meal was delicious and surprisingly entertaining as Caradoc and Paul told Jamis and Taarig about how the universe was before they were born. At the same time, Jamis and Taarig regaled them with stories of the battles they'd been in and what they'd discovered while exploring the universe with Cali.
"Really?" Caradoc asked, leaning forward on an elbow, resting his chin on his knuckles. "You actually saw a Floppy-eared Wupu?"
"On Cetune-12, yes," Taarig told him. "Why?"
"Because I believed them extinct after the planet’s last cataclysm; nearly three-quarters of the planet was decimated."
"How long ago was that?" Jamis questioned.
"Let's see, not that long ago," Caradoc thought back on it. "Two, three thousand years?"
Taarig choked slightly on his wine and wondered if he'd think two thousand years wasn't that long ago someday. "Well, it's a beautiful green and blue planet now, full of life."
"I'll have to pay a visit to Cetune-12 then. It used