Epilogue
EVELYN
It’s been four months since we escaped. Four months since the fire, the blood, the running. Four months since Varkul carried me into the jungle and never looked back.
The Orc-Human Fertility Clinic is gone. Reduced to rubble and smoke. The total destruction of the research compound was a devastating blow to the human occupation of these orc lands. It’s slowed the humans down, scattered their efforts.
For now.
They still control the skies. They will regroup and rebuild. Dr. Kelly is looking for us — for me — but he’ll never find me. Not here, hidden deep within the ancient heart of Xavros.
No one knows these jungles as well as the orcs do.
I’m safe. And, I’m not alone.
I place on my hand on my belly, on the slight curve beneath the woven fabric of my tunic. It’s still early days, but it’s real. Growing. Alive .
I’m carrying Varkul’s baby.
Varkul knew right away. Orc senses are keen like that. He stood tall before his people and declared I was carrying his child the moment we returned.
My mate’s footsteps are heavy as he approaches, each one sinking slightly into the mossy earth behind me. I don’t have to turn around to know it’s him. I can feel him in my bones.
Varkul wraps his arms around me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder, his warmth pressing into my back. His hands find my belly.
“You’re thinking again,” he says, his voice a low rumble.
“I’m always thinking.”
“Why? You have all you need right here.”
He kisses the side of my neck, his tusks brushing against my skin. I smile, leaning into him. Before us is a beautiful valley that we now call home. Orc tents are dotted around the land.
His words are almost true.
“I was thinking about Earth,” I say softly. “About my sister.”
Varkul has never met Madelyn, but he knows how much she means to me. He knows that missing her is the only thing that keeps me from being truly, completely happy.
“Do you think she’d like me?” He asks.
“Eventually,” I laugh. “She’s very protective of me.”
We’re quiet for a moment. The jungle rustles. Insects chirp. Distant drums echo from the village down below.
Some of Varkul’s clan have accepted me in their midsts with open arms. Some… didn’t. I can see it in the way they watch me. I’m an outsider. A threat.
I’m doing my best to learn the orc ways. I have an okay grasp of the orc language, but many of their customs and traditions I don’t yet understand. But, I’m learning.
“She’s strong, your sister?” Varkul asks.
“The strongest.”
My mate nods, resting his hand on mine. “Then she’ll survive. And when the time is right, we’ll find her.”
That seems impossible. She’s lightyears away, on a different planet. The orcs live off the land. They haven’t mastered flight, let alone interstellar travel.
And yet, in my bones, I feel it to be true. I’ll find Madelyn, one way or another. Even if have to hijack a spaceship and pilot it myself — I’ll find Madelyn.
I close my eyes.
“I just want her to know,” I say. I press his hand down tighter on my stomach, “About you. About us. About the family we’re building.”
It’s the only ache that won’t fade. Madelyn doesn’t even know that I’m still alive, and there’s no way for me to contact her.
Instead, I write letters to her I can’t send, burn them over a fire, and pray the universe does the rest.
“She will,” Varkul says softly. “One day. But for now, you are here, with me, and no one will take you from me ever again.”
I turn around and look up at my orc protector. His golden eyes are bright, fierce, and filled with something I never expected to find in my life — and definitely not on a jungle in an alien world.
They are filled with love.
True love.
“I’m yours,” I say.
He lowers his head and kisses me, slowly and deeply. “And I am yours,” he says.
VARKUL
She fits into my arms like she was born to be there.
Evelyn. My mate. My everything .
Her cheek presses against my chest, her eyes closed as the wind stirs her hair. She smells like earth and fire. And me . She smells like she’s mine .
Her belly is small, but it’s already the most sacred thing in my life. More than the axe on my back. Even more than the clan I swore to protect.
She is my everything.
I do not need to mark her with paint, or pierce her shoulders with my teeth to prove she belongs to me. I’ve already claimed her.
This tiny human has saved me, saved all of us. She’s saved my people from a future where we dwindled and vanished into dust.
I lift her into my arms and kiss her like I’ve been waiting all my life for this moment. Because I have.
Her legs wrap around my waist, her fingers tangle in my hair. I trail my mouth down her jaw, down her throat, to the collar of her tunic. It’s so soft, so easy to tear.
So I do.
The fabric falls away and her breasts spill into my hands, full and flushed, her nipples already hard. I growl low in my throat, running my tongue over one as she gasps and arches into me.
“Varkul,” she breathes.
I love the way she says my name.
“Yes, little mate?”
“I need?—”
“I know.”
I sink to my knees before her and kiss the swell of her belly. I want to taste her, to remind her she belongs to me, that no one else will ever know her this way.
I spread her thighs and bury my face in her wet heat, groaning as her taste flood my tongue. She moans, hips grinding against my mouth, her hands clutching at my shoulders as I devour her.
She comes quickly, trembling and breathless, and I rise to my feet, lifting her up easily.
I push her back against a tree, lift her hips, and slide into her in one powerful throat.
She cries out, and I silence her with a deep kiss.
We move together, hard and fast. She clings to me as if she’s drowning and I’m the only thing keeping her afloat.
Her eyes are locked onto mine, her hair tumbling over her shoulders.
“You were made for me,” I growl as I pound myself into her.
“And no one else,” she gasps. “Just you!”
We come together, her walls squeezing my shaft as I fill her deeply, claiming her pussy all over again. My roar echoes through the trees. Her scream answers it.
We stay like this, tangled, panting, pressed together beneath the leaves, her lips against my neck, my arms around her hips.
“I love you,” she whispers in my native orc tongue.
And I say the words in her human language. “I love you, Evelyn.”
And I always will.
Until the stars themselves die.
Just as I lean in to kiss her again, a shadow moves at the edge of my vision.
Garomshir .
He’s breathing hard.
“Warlord,” he says, voice low, eyes downcast. “Forgive my intrusion. You need to hear this.”
“Speak,” I growl.
“A message just arrived from the south. Clan Darkwood.”
My jaw tightens. “They dare speak to us?”
Garomshir nods, and he lowers his voice down to a whisper.
“They say… they have a human girl.”
Evelyn stiffens in my arms. My mind races.
“A human? Are you sure?”
“Yes. The description matches your mate, warlord. Young. Small. Blonde.”
My blood runs cold. Everlyn’s breath falters.
Garomshir’s dark eyes meet mine. “They say her name is Madelyn.”
THE END!
The Xavros Mates series will continue with MATED TO THE ORC!