Epilogue
Ranek
A few years later…
Ranek watched as Butterball and Commander Chaos both jumped onto the much bigger Nibbles as they wrestled and play-fought. It made him grin because it had been a while since he’d seen Commander Chaos act like a young pup. But visiting his sister and Nibbles usually brought out the youngster in him.
Ranek remembered the less-than-ideal meeting between Chaos and Nibbles on the New Horizon.
The only experience he’d had at that point with tunnel verlaks had been negative, and he hadn’t trusted the little fluff ball at all.
But Nibbles, his belly full of tepin, and without his own brothers and sisters to grow up with, was eager to make friends and didn’t see him or Butterball as food.
Butterball just saw a very strange-looking and smelling dragus.
And after realizing that Nibbles was more interested in playing than eating him, Commander Chaos had relented.
That was several years ago. Now, each dragus was fully grown, standing hip height on Ranek.
And Commander Chaos was lean and muscular, a prime example of his species.
Butterball was, well, she was Butterball.
The crew of the New Horizon knew she needed a diet, but it was difficult with so many loving people to beg food from.
Nibbles was nothing like the fluffy creature with teeth that he’d once been.
He was fully grown as well and terrifying.
And since he thought of Butterball as his one and only permanent four-legged companion, he often humped her, which had been worrisome until they realized that Butterball didn’t mind at all as long as she got attention.
Nibbles had tried to do the same with Commander Chaos for a while whenever they visited the ship, but that was shut down really quick. Commander Chaos was nobody’s bitch.
Now they did regular play dates here in the wild little corner of Vosthea the crew of the New Horizon had claimed as their own.
“What’s the plan now?” Ckzarr asked, handing over his flask.
Ranek accepted his friend’s offer and took a swig, enjoying the sting of the amber liquid as it slid down his throat. “After dropping Chaos off at Reka 5, we’re heading to New Rhea. It’s going to be slow at Dragus R Us for a while, and I have meetings set up with a few collectors.”
Ranek had slowly been making a name for himself in the outer planets, dealing in antique and vintage technology.
It was shocking how a little tinkering and polishing on his part turned something most considered garbage into a rare collectible.
He still ferried dragus pups around for Dragus R Us, not because he had to for credits, but because he didn’t trust anyone else doing it, especially with his mate onboard.
“What about the New Horizon?” Ranek asked, handing back the flask.
“Mostly just doing easy missions for now. Sometimes we join the main fleet protecting Vosthea. It’s good to slow down a bit now and again.” Ckzarr’s eyes drifted over to his mate, Roxy, who stood chatting with Maya at the gate.
Ranek understood. Some things were just more important than riches and infamy.
They stood in silence, enjoying the moment until Maya and Roxy came over. Maya held her comm unit up, showing him the time. Was it time to leave already?
“It’s time to go, Chaos,” Maya said. “Your girlfriend’s waiting.”
Ranek grinned. This would be Commander Chaos’s second litter.
They’d found Coco injured near the colony’s refuse pile and had taken her in for rehabilitation.
Her presence had gotten Commander Chaos all hot and bothered, and he’d started humping everything in sight.
Their first litter only had two pups, and was Dragus R Us’s first unplanned clutch.
Maya had called it a “happy little accident” because it brought in some new DNA, and the pups, while wilder, were still relatively easy to train.
Dragus R Us had since built a monitoring station near one of the colony’s refuse piles, which included artificial dens to entice the dragus to move in and consider the area home.
Not only did this reduce the pest population in the quickly growing colony, but many of these dragus showed remarkably low aggression toward humans and Talleans.
Pups hatched on site made perfect additions to the breeding program.
Coco never left the area, and every time Maya and Chaos visited the monitoring center, Chaos would bound over to greet her. It was nearing breeding season again, and the plan was to see if Chaos could lure her in for another litter.
It took a little coaxing to get Chaos back into their ship.
“When are we meeting next?” Maya asked as she hugged Roxy goodbye.
After her months on the New Horizon training Nibbles, she’d become fast friends with everyone on board. She was particularly close to Roxy, the two of them having a similar affinity for cute, fluffy things that turned vicious when grown.
“Next month, after our next mission. I’ll give you a call.”
After more goodbyes with Ulrek and Delaney, who’d been inside enjoying some much-needed quiet time, they were off. Commander Chaos, exhausted from his hours of frolicking, flopped down on his bed in the main shuttle area and promptly fell asleep, snoring rather loudly.
“I’m glad we upgraded,” Ranek said as he finished setting a course back to Reka 5.
Ranek had donated their old shuttle to Dragus R Us, and now it was used only to shuttle dragus around.
Their new ship was more spacious and brand spanking new.
It also carried enough fuel to get them around the outer planets without the constant worry that they’d have to call the space travel version of roadside assistance.
“Me too.” Maya shrugged off her jacket, tossing it into the storage.
“And do you know which part is my favorite?” he asked, his tone low.
“Which part?” She took a step back.
He grinned. “The part where the ship flies itself and I get to ravish my beautiful mate.” He stood, taking a step toward the buxom beauty the Stars had gifted him.
“Yeah? Well, Captain,” she said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. “You’ve got to catch me first.” Then she was running.
But there really wasn’t anywhere to run, even with the extra space, and Ranek soon had his sexy mate tossed over his shoulder, his hand palming her ass. He carried her to their sleeping quarters, where Commander Chaos couldn’t interrupt them, and tossed her onto the bed.
A giggle slipped out of her lips as she landed. For a heartbeat, Ranek stood there, taking in the sight of her and marveling at how his life had changed. He was a fucking lucky bastard.
“You’re mine, my love. All mine,” he growled, ripping off her top and tossing it aside.
His pants joined it immediately, and soon her laughter turned to breathy screams as he claimed what was his, for now and forever.
THE END