Mated to the Warrior Beast
Chapter 252 252: EPILOGUE Part 2 (Elreth & Aaryn + Jayah & Skhal)

~ ELRETH (months later) ~

Elreth walked slowly through the WildWood, smiling when the trees opened and she caught sight of the Weeping Tree.

It had been weeks since they'd visited it.

She stroked her stomach, smiling down at it, groaning though when the baby shoved a fist against her side so hard she felt her spine stretch.

"Settle down, kiddo," she growled, pressing back on the little fist that wanted to punch through her.

When she pushed between the curtain of spring flowers now trailing beautifully down the weeping tree, she smiled to find Aaryn already there, seated in the hollow between two of the largest roots that rippled away from the trunk.

They'd been coming here since they were children and this place had been their fort, their imaginary kingdom… little had she known then how prophetic her childhood games would become.

He lifted his head and smiled, slipping a piece of paper into his back pocket as she walked to meet him.

He must have been reading the letter from his father again. Her heart gave a pang.

Becoming parents was exciting and wonderful and… sad. For both of them. But it was Aaryn who expressed a lot of fear. He'd grown up without a father from a very young age. Now facing his own impending fatherhood, he was beginning to doubt himself.

Elreth wished he wouldn't. He was such a wonderful man. She knew he was going to be an amazing father.

"Definitely a boy," she pretended to grumble as she joined him, sinking down to the ground with a happy groan and sitting between his knees.

He kissed her hair, then urged her to lean forward a little so he could knead the muscles in her lower back as he spoke. "What makes you say that?"

"He just about broke a rib," she said, then hissed when his talented knuckles found the exact spot near her spine that hurt the worst. She groaned, but didn't move away, letting him press into the spot.

"Would you prefer a boy?" he asked quietly.

"No," she said through a grimace. "It depends on the day, but most of the time I really don't care, as long as they're healthy. And safe," she added as an afterthought.

Aaryn grunted. "That's all I want too."

Both of them were quiet for a minute. The peace that now reigned in Anima felt like the peace after the War—hard won, and uncertain. As if they should be enjoying it more than they were. But there was no doubt, things were going well. The Chimera and Anima grew closer every day. There were already dozens of mated pairs—and more being discovered every week.

Aaryn massaged her back for a little longer, but his hands froze when Elreth sighed and ran both hands up the insides of his thighs.

He didn't do or say anything, so Elreth turned around to look at him… and submitted.

Aaryn raised an eyebrow, smiling, stroking her hair back from her face. "Really? This morning wasn't enough for you?"

"It's never enough," she said with a wicked grin. Aaryn's eyes flashed and a low growl rumbled in his throat. He cupped her face and leaned forward to take her mouth in a deep, heated kiss.

Her skin prickled and desire rushed through her, throbbing between her thighs where she'd already taken him once this morning, but she couldn't help it. Sore back or not, she couldn't get enough of him.

When he dropped his kiss to brush back her hair and start down her neck, she didn't turn to face him, but quickly unbuttoned her leathers and shoved them down, then got onto all fours.

Aaryn growled and raked his hands up her sides, leaning over her. But then his lips reached that sensitive spot just under her ear. She shivered when he nipped it.

"But what if someone hears us?" he whispered, teasing her for her more human, like her mother, prudish-by-Anima-standards views on sex and privacy.

But she smiled and turned her head to find him right there, covering her, his silver eyes flashing.

"Let them hear their Queen roar," she growled

When he groaned and filled his hands with her, she laughed.

But she wasn't laughing for long.

*****

~ JAYAH ~

Skhal didn't make it back to the cave until well after dark that spring night. Jayah had been fighting a niggling anxiety for over an hour. She felt silly, but it was a great relief when he finally made it, shaking water from his hair from a short shower as he'd been running home.

The moment he stepped in the door, bringing with him her favorite scent—the pine and musk and male that she could never quite identify, but was simply him—she turned from her herbs and hurried to meet him, helping him take off his wet shirt, their eyes catching over the top of it as his chest was revealed and Jayah's belly tingled.

He leaned down and kissed her slowly, but didn't move to touch her.

"It's good to see you," he growled, smiling, as he pulled away, taking his knives from his belt, and emptying his pouch to check that the water hadn't reached inside it to his tools.

"How is Zev?" she asked carefully.

Skhal grunted. "Impatient. Nervous. But happy," he said. When Jayah didn't immediately leap to encourage him, he paused. "Is something wrong?"

"No! No, of course not."

"You were with Sasha and Zan today, yes?"

"Yes, but—"

"What did you find?"

She snorted to cover her sudden unease. "Skhal, the boy can't even speak yet. And he doesn't shift, so—"

"Jayah, you stink of I'm Not Telling."

She huffed, annoyed. Skhal was a quiet male. A hunter. An observer. Even though it had only been months, he'd somehow found his way through the tunnels of her defenses entirely. The calm and serenity she was known for—the reason everyone trusted her—he'd somehow managed to see for the act that it was.

It wasn't that she lied. Only that she… choose when to express her stronger emotions. She did not pent them up. But before she'd always had plenty of time and space alone to vent or process anything that hurt or scared her. Now… now Skhal was there for almost every moment that she would normally do that.

He wasn't scared of her emotions. But he'd become very familiar with it, very quickly.

Knowing that he knew her feelings even when others thought her very calm was disconcerting.

"Zan is fine," she said sullenly.

Skhal raised an eyebrow? "But?"

"But he is… extremely advanced for his age in some ways, and seemingly delayed in others. It is… not something I have seen before. So… I don't really know what to tell Sasha and Zev."

Skhal looked at her for a moment, his face expressionless. "Did you… just admit you don't know what to tell someone."

Jayah scowled as her mate strode forward, chuckling. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

"You're a good female," Skhal muttered in her ear.

For a long moment they just stood together, holding each other. But eventually, they sighed and parted.

"Should we be worried about Zan?" Skhal asked.

"No. And I do mean it. He's going to be fine. I only offered to talk with Zev because I'm fairly certain the boy won't shift. And I could reassure him that that doesn't mean he won't be strong."

"I think for now Zev is more concerned about Sasha. She knows how it feels to be human among shifters. She's worried a little boy will suffer."

"He's going to be fine," Jayah said. "Does Zev want me to explain—"

"No," Skhal said flatly, already anticipating her question.

Jayah sighed. "Males," she said. "Forever wanting to pretend you aren't scared by staying ignorant of things that only frighten you because you don't understand them."

"Give him some time," Skhal growled. "The poor male is young and he's had a helluva year."

Jayah would have muttered that perhaps if he'd been more open to taking insight from others the year might not have been quite so difficult. But she bit the words back. Because she had a soft heart for the young male who had probably walked the most difficult journey between the Anima and Chimera.

Instead, she watched her own mate undress to hang his leathers next to the shirt by the fire.

She smiled.

When Skhal turned and caught her expression, he hesitated, but his eyes flashed and his scent richened immediately. The musk of him a heady intoxicant to Jayah.

As she walked towards him, her eyes alight, he grinned.

"Surely we're far too old for this?" he muttered, teasing her because she'd already kept him in the furs almost an hour later than he'd planned that morning.

She let her eyes play down his body—which was rising to meet her gaze—then back up to his eyes with a smile. "Apparently not."

And then she reached him and fell straight into his arms, where she stayed for the rest of the evening.

*****

If you'd like to read the emotional letter Aaryn received from his late father, jump over to Taming the Queen of Beasts, chapter 161 and 162 "Missing the Love." That whole section is one of my favorite pieces of the book!