Rogue flinched when he lashed out, not from fear but for the pain she felt for him. She'd never thought of this happening either. If the potential queen had simply disliked him or favored someone else, that was easy enough to deal with. But this? The impact wasn't only for Todd, but for their entire species. She knew how rare females were right now, how important a future queen had been to all of the ships without them. And now she was gone, and they would have to wait so much longer for another.

Tears filled her eyes as she watched him, spilling over as the insults continued. Her heart broke for him, because she knew under all that anger was still an intense pain that she could do nothing to erase.

She couldn't stop herself from going to him, though, reaching out and touching his shoulder. "Todd, stop," she pleaded with him, her voice tight and broken with emotion. "Please."