Linton
Being here, in my lair with Kaitlyn, is more than I could have possibly imagined. She fills the place with sounds and laughter.
Once the local witches and warlocks found out I had returned and Tam Lin had been banished, they appeared, first on their own, and then in small groups, making offerings and asking for advice.
And scales, of course.
Now I have claimed my sweet mate and my mating cycle completes I have control over my shed. Kaitlyn hasn’t left my side during my audiences with the magical folk of the Yeavering, and I am glad. For when we are alone, I am able to mate with her.
I think we’ve mated everywhere in the lair, although I am still looking for new places, and when I find them, whatever else she is doing, I pick her up and take her there. It seems she likes it as much as I do.
Kaitlyn has revived the old kitchens, bringing light and life into them. I get to watch, of course. I don’t have to help with the rounds when she makes them, but I do. Then we offer them to the locals, and it makes Kaitlyn happy.
We get a visit from the witch called Gloriana. She has me purchase things for the kitchens I don’t understand but it makes Kaitlyn happy.
I want her to be happy, so very much. More than I want to breed with her. Well, almost.
I’m lost in these thoughts when Warden barges through into my great hall and presents his huge Brag arse to my fire.
“Just because you got rid of Tam Lin doesn’t mean the fight has ended.” Warden shuffles his hooves and then, finally, he changes into his humanoid form, throwing himself into the chair next to me and propping his boots on the table. “I’ve got bad news.”
“You can keep it. I have my mate and my lair. I’m not leaving again,” I respond, picking up a piece of fruit which is called an apple and which my Kaitlyn likes to arrange in a bowl on the table.
I put it back. We’ve had discussions about my feeding habits and decided it would be a good thing if I consumed a little less blood and more of other things. Like the rounds. And the greens.
I am not ready for an apple yet.
“You’re not done fighting.” Warden says. “The Selkies escaped the Night Lands.”
“You had one job…” I grumble.
“One which would have helped if you’d stuck around rather than diving into the damned underrealm,” Warden retorts.
Kaitlyn chooses this moment to enter the hall. She’s wearing my colours as always, and it makes my heart swell with pride but also pump with blood because Warden is here.
“Hi, Warden,” she says brightly.
“My mate is looking for her sister.” I glare at him. “Perhaps if you could assist us with the search, I can assist you.”
“Assist Warden with what?” Kaitlyn asks, kissing me on the cheek and making heat bloom within me.
“He let the Selkies escape the Night Lands and now he wants assistance in sending them back to the underrealm.” I sigh.
“That doesn’t mean you have to go back there, does it?” Kaitlyn says.
I pull her onto my lap, mostly so Warden can’t get any closer to her.
“No, they’re around the borders,” Warden says. “At the moment anyway. They need dealing with, or they’ll only attract more.”
I growl under my breath. Selkies taste like a mouth full of dust.
“But the portal to the underrealm is sealed, isn’t it?” Kaitlyn asks.
“Selkies can get through other portals if they have comrades on the other side,” Warden says. “We’ll end up with an infestation if we don’t deal with them.”
“Fine. I’ll help, if it means you’ll find Kaitlyn’s sister.”
Warden takes an unhealthy interest in Kaitlyn until my growls echo around the great hall.
“Another human female. She shouldn’t be too hard to find,” he says. “Reavely already released a number of them, had them sent back beyond the veil.”
“What about the…resistance?” Kaitlyn asks. “The one which wasn’t much help at all.”
“They are convinced the human lottery is at an end. Magic has been put in place, so humans recall the Yeavering exists, but not the lottery itself.”
“Seems far too easy,” Kaitlyn says.
“It would have been easier had the Faerie not meddled in the first place,” Warden responds. “What they did to the humans cannot be undone, but perhaps if they don’t recall some of the horrors, then they will be able to have some peace.”
“If Hazel has gone back beyond the veil…” Kaitlyn looks into my eyes.
“Then we will go beyond the veil.” I brush my thumb over her cheek.
“The Faerie had many secrets,” Warden interrupts. “Let’s make sure she isn’t in the Yeavering first, after we’ve dealt with the Selkies.”
I shrug. “A Bluecap’s work is never done.”
Kaitlyn makes a funny choking noise and buries her head into my shoulder. I like it very much, and it makes my spicket stand to attention. I glare at Warden.
“My mate and I need to breed.”
Kaitlyn lifts her head instantly. “Linton!”
“I am not lying, my mate,” I respond. “That is what I wish to do right now.”
She pats me on my chest in rapid succession. “Warden doesn’t need to know.”
“Warden is leaving,” Warden says, getting to his feet with a chuckle. “Who’d have ever thought you’d get mated?” he adds. “But I wish you all the best.”
He changes into his Brag form and trots out of the hall. I find Kaitlyn staring at me intently.
“I thought he would never leave,” I say.
She continues to stare for a moment or two and then laughs. “You’re incorrigible.”
“I need to mate, my sweet Kaitlyn. What’s wrong with that?” I respond as I slowly nibble up her neck. “And perhaps she might let me feed.”
“Totally incorrigible.”
I lift her into my arms as I get to my feet. As much as mating is fun in different places, there’s one I will always enjoy most.
Our bed, in our sleeping room, with the moon high above us and its power coursing through me.
I thought I was lost forever. Instead I found my Kaitlyn. And my soul is complete.