The Shadow He Kept in the Guest Room

Ilsa Rehn was bonded to Kesh Arrhu under a treaty that expired years ago. She lives in the guest ring, absent from every public role, while his first bondmate holds the family suite and the contracts. When a treaty review threatens her residency, Ilsa takes a dock job under her own licence — and finds the safety surveys underwriting her husband's defence contracts have been falsified. Over her own welds. She files with the station authority. The hearing will cost the house of Arrhu its seat, and Kesh his name. He can defend the legacy or the wife nobody seated. A sci-fi alien marriage-in-crisis romance about contracts, welds, and a bond rewritten in one person's name.