Epilogue #2
“But even if they'd given me my clearance back, my job, my apartment… It wouldn't have been the same.”
She paused for so long I thought she was done.
“Why?”
Her eyes lifted to mine and she smiled up at me.
“Because I'd have known this existed.”
She looked around our cluttered home.
“All the hidden beauty of Korvashan. The treasures in the Archives. Khavren.”
Her gaze returned to mine.
“You.”
Warmth spread through the bond as my tail tightened around her.
“I would always have wondered what I gave up because I was too afraid to let my life change.”
I slid my hands into her hair.
“But now?”
Her lips stretched.
“Now I know.”
Something tightened my throat, and I didn't like it. Emotions were easier when it was rage. Rage had purpose.
This made me feel exposed.
Elaina sensed that too because her expression grew mischievous.
“Besides, someone has to stop you from filling the house with weapons.”
I arched a brow.
“You filled it with books.”
She nodded.
“Books are useful.”
I gestured to the rack she’d made me move to the far corner.
“So are weapons.”
Huffing, she leaned back, but my tail pulled her close again.
“For killing people.”
“Exactly.”
She laughed when I nodded, pushing against me, but I knew she didn’t really want to escape.
“That's not the argument you think it is.”
Chuckling, I was surprised when Elaina used a move I’d taught her to make me stumble back. She rose and slipped her arms around my waist the moment there was space, and she rested her head against my chest.
I curled around her automatically. Arms, tail, every piece of me sought contact with her.
For years I had been satisfied with solitude. Or had convinced myself I was. There had been no family waiting for me. Few friends. No one who noticed when I returned from a mission unless they needed the report.
I had believed that made me stronger. I’d had nothing to lose. Nothing to distract me.
Then a Human female wearing violet had walked through a ballroom trying desperately not to be noticed. I had chosen her because I’d believed she'd be useful.
Easy to control.
Quiet.
Submissive.
I almost laughed again because I had been wrong about nearly everything.
Elaina shifted against me.
“What's funny?”
I smirked down at her.
“You.”
She glared and it only made me smile wider.
“What did I do?”
Leaning down, I stopped with my lips a breath from hers.
“You exist.”
Her huff came out breathy.
“That's rude.”
I hummed, barely brushing my lips over hers.
“It’s accurate.”
She let out a growl, and I just squeezed her tighter. She was mine now, and I wouldn’t let that change.
“My rethari.”
She was the one to close the gap between us, demanding I kiss her.
Outside, the galaxy remained complicated. The rebels weren't gone, someone had fed them information, and Rowena would arrive soon with whatever trouble had driven her back to Morrakan.
And farther away, the Skarashk had reached Halcyon using a method none of us understood.
There would be more missions. More danger and blood. That was the nature of the life I had chosen long before Elaina entered it, but for the first time, those things weren't all I had.
I had a mate who argued with me.
A home I could barely recognize beneath her belongings.
A bond humming between us.
And something worth returning to.
Elaina pulled away and picked up the damaged scroll I’d brought home for her.
“Come on.”
I arched a brow.
“Where?”
She tipped her head toward our room.
“Nessha.”
My tail reached for the edge of the robe she’d wrapped around herself, trying to slip beneath. She rolled her eyes and swatted it away.
“To read, and then sleep.”
My disappointment must have traveled through the bond because she chuckled and shook her head.
“You are insatiable.”
I closed the space between us and pulled her against me.
“And you are slow.”
Scoffing, she tried to pull away, but I didn’t let her.
“At what?”
Laughing, I slipped my hand beneath the silk and took hold of her breast, pinching the nipple between two fingers.
“Everything.”
She growled but I swept her off her feet and carried her into our room, ignoring the insults she muttered in both Common and Morraki. When I placed her on the mattress she immediately began arranging the pillows and tugging the blankets into place.
Nesting.
I watched with satisfaction before joining her. My mate settled against my chest with the rescued scroll open across her lap and my tail curled around her waist. Her finger moved beneath the first line.
“Rhae...”
“All.”
She growled again.
“I knew that.”
I huffed, undoing the band that held her braid together.
“Then why did you pause?”
“Because I'm translating it myself.”
I ran my fingers through her hair until the curls were scattered across my chest.
“Slowly,” I muttered, loud enough for her to hear.
She jabbed an elbow into my ribs and I laughed, moving my tail lower while she was distracted.
She continued reading, and as her voice filled the room with halting Morraki, I rested my chin atop her head and closed my eyes. For most of my life, I'd believed peace meant the absence of danger, but I understood better now.
Danger would always exist.
Peace was having somewhere to return when it was over.
Someone waiting there.
My arms tightened around Elaina, but she didn't protest. She snuggled closer.
My peace.
My home.
And I’d do whatever it took to protect that.