Epilogue Gnnar
A few years later…
“It’s time for bed.” I took the device from my son’s hand.
“Aww. But I’m not tired yet.” His drawn-out yawn as he rubbed his horns told the truth.
“You don’t want to be tired and weak for tomorrow’s training trip, do you?” I asked.
Gnnak sighed dramatically. “Fine. But can you tell me a bedtime story? The one with Shadow Ragnnar.”
By now, Dana was in on the secret that the story technically had no ending. The warrior named Ragnnar traveled infinitely through the stars, having grand adventures on every planet he landed on. When I was young, the warrior never had a name; Ragnnar had always just called him the warrior.
It had been Dana who’d suggested naming the character after my brother. I liked the idea. I wanted to believe that he was out there exploring the stars. Somewhere along the way, Shadow Ragnnar had picked up a mate, and they were now exploring the universe together with their offspring Ragnnar Junior, often shortened to Junior.
“I’ll do it,” I said, picking Gnnak up and bringing him to his bed.
Dana pulled me down and gave me a peck on the cheek before stepping back out to the main area of our family suite here in the stronghold.
Things have changed a lot since those early days when a few of us mated warriors decided to reverse our fertility block and start our families. For one, we’d remodeled the tiny warrior quarters to accommodate growing families.
It had started with Tasha and Rrak and their twin boys, and Clara and Krxare had their little girl. They are expecting again, this time a boy. Dana and I had our hands full with Gnnak.
In Kadrixan culture, being a father was a full-time job. This was especially true with male offspring since they often became hard to manage once they learned to fly. This was why we had to earn the right to reproduce on Kadri, and why we had to hoard a nest of treasures before finding our mates. Family life often meant retiring from full-time work to care for our offspring.
Things were different here on Vokira, though. We couldn’t retire, not with peace being so fragile and no younger generation to pick up the mantle. But I didn’t mind. I’d never been happier in my life.
Gnnak was asleep before we got to the second planet. I carefully snuck out of his room and into the one I shared with Dana.
I found her already in bed, so I stripped off my pants and climbed in with her, pulling her rounded form close to my chest. She felt as perfect there now as she had that first time.
She turned to sniff my chest. “Mmm. Yummy. I can’t wait for tomorrow.”
Tomorrow was the start of the three-day training session all the children did once a month. It gave all the children, human and Kadrixan alike, a chance to learn all the skills required to survive on their own, both out in the wilds and in society. It was basically all the information we Kadrixans had determined was missing in a formal human-style education.
I was shocked to find that some of the humans had no idea what was edible growing all around them. Many could not prepare and cook food that had already been hunted for them, such was their reliance on prepackaged foods. Some females on Kadri did not cook, but that was because they chose not to, not because they’d never been taught. What good were equations if you starved to death surrounded by food?
Every month, when Gnnak went with the others on the extended training, we’d disappear up into our nest and spend it renewing our bond. Dana called it a “long weekend.”
“That doesn’t have to wait until tomorrow,” I purred into her ear. “We got sound-dampening material installed between the rooms, remember? I say we put those claims to the test.”
She arched her back, rubbing her ass against my crotch. “That kind of sounds like a challenge.”
“Oh yes, it’s definitely a challenge.” I held her to my chest by the throat and nipped the shell of her ear.
Her breathing hitched, just as I knew it would. My little mate was perfect, and as I reached around to fondle her full breast, she rewarded me with that breathy moan that never failed to turn my cock to steel. I slid my tail under the thin scrap of fabric that covered her sweet cunt, and teased at her entrance. She was already so wet for me.
With my tail pressed to her clit, I lined us up and pressed in, filling her with one smooth thrust.
“Fuck! I love you so much, Starlight.”
This female was my life, my soul, my light. It took getting exiled from Kadri and starting over on a strange planet to find her. And now that I had her in my arms, I was never letting go.
THE END