Mated to the Warrior Beast
Chapter 256 256: But Look… There’s Something Else Here…

PATRON SHOUT OUT: Thank you Janell Gilders, Tessa Whalen, and DespinaNY for your name suggestions. I hope you like how I used them!

*****

~ GAR (Five years after the Chimera arrived) ~

They'd traveled for days, deep into the mountains in the southwest—traditionally bears territory, he'd never explored it before. But Behryn had told him of a beautiful valley between two of the peaks, and Pegg had flown it, offering directions.

Finally they were there.

Just as Pegg had said—there were massive, Great Trees here, tall and regal, standing guard over the lush-but-cold valley, their thick branches spanning out almost parallel to the ground. And because they'd never been pruned or directed by the master carpenters, they were wild, and their branches spread for twenty, or thirty, or sometimes even fifty feet beyond their central trunks.

"This is… stunning," Rika said, coming to stand at his side and look down over the valley. Her eyes were wide and her mouth slightly open.

They looked at each other. This was perfect.

"OH AWESOME!"

Gar flinched. "Wait—"

But Tiber sped past him at a blur, sprinting down the hill and towards the trees, still in human form, though the streaks of sparkling red and blue bleeding into his skin meant it wouldn't be long until—

"Holy shit!" Leeander breathed as he reached the peak of the hill where they stood, his eyes as round as saucers.

"Language," Rika muttered, rolling her eyes. But their son just grinned.

"Do we… can we shift here, Dad?" Raynor asked quietly from Gar's other side.

Gar turned to look at his son—only five years old and he was already as tall as Rika—not that that was hard. But he was intelligent, too. Much, much older than his Anima peers, though they'd lived the same years.

All the Trins had developed fast. Far faster than any of the human, Anima, or Chimeran offspring. With both their biological parents dead, it was puzzle they couldn't solve.

Gar cleared his throat to ease the ache that always appeared when he thought of his sons and battled the wish that they could know their mother and father—yet, knowing they wouldn't be his if they had.

"Can we, Dad?" Raynor was the most thoughtful of the Trins, the wisest, and even though he stepped more carefully, somehow the most courageous, too.

Gar smiled. "That's the plan."

Raynor's eyes widened to match Leeander's as he turned to scan the valley below them. "How long are we staying?"

Gar caught eyes with Rika. That was the question, wasn't it?

"I don't know," he said as Rika reached for his hand and twined their fingers. "As long as we need to… blow off some steam," he said dryly.

Raynor cut him a mischievous glance.

Leeander swore again and Rika nudged him. But she was smiling too.

"WATCH THIS!" Tiber yelled from below them. He'd already reached the first of the Great Trees and climbed its trunk, running up it like a… well, like a lizard, Gar supposed, shaking his head, knowing his son's fingernails had now become thick, blue claws.

The Trins were capable of partial-shift, allowing parts of their bodies to take the beast forms without shifting the rest. Something no one else could do.

It could be quite disconcerting.

And dangerous before the boys had learned to control their emotions.

Both he and Rika bore scars from toddler tantrums.

But it was worth it.

Gar's eyes pinched, and his throat got thick at the sight of their youngest—by hours, he was the last to hatch—running on all fours along one of the higher branches of a Great Tree, his face bright with excitement.

Rika's grip on his hand tightened when Tiber stood upright near the end of the branch—thin enough there that his weight made it sag a little.

His feet curled around the thick branch, claws digging in to give him purchase.

"Be careful!" Rika called, but Gar squeezed her hand.

"Let them go. They never get to just… let go. Let's give them this," he muttered.

Tiber hesitated there at the end of the branch. For a moment Gar thought he might change his mind. His heart leaped into his throat—Tiber was fearless.

Usually.

"It's okay, Tib. Just go for it," he called.

His son turned his head to look at him and their eyes met over the distance as Gar nodded, letting his lion eyes flash.

Tiber smiled then, shook his hands, then looked straight out, over the valley, dozens of feet below where he stood precariously on the end of the massive branch.

"Let's GOOOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed, and threw himself off it.

Rika gasped and Gar's stomach clenched, but their son threw himself into the shift, his body suddenly a tornado of whipping, blurring color.

A second later the great snap of massive wings catching air echoed over the Valley.

"Yes!" Raynor breathed.

"FUCK YES!" Leeander screamed, ignoring his mother's chiding as he raced down towards the tree himself, so eager to reach a place high enough to launch that he was partial-shifting before he'd even reached the trunk.

Raynor looked up at Gar one more time, his eyes alight with excitement and eagerness.

Gar nodded. "Have fun."

With a whoop, Raynor raced after his brother.

Tiber soared overhead, screaming and they both looked up.

Gar's heart thrilled every time one of the boys shifted. They were beautiful and powerful and… impossible.

In full beast, his son was near twenty-feet long, his face the long, fine muzzle of a lizard, or perhaps a bird, because his snout hooked down. His body was covered in sparkling scales that caught light and seemed to never hold one color longer than a blink. Shimmering just like the surface of those red-hot coals, as if the heat they'd needed in the egg was now emanating from within him.

Rika had both hands over her mouth, shaking her head.

The boys took up so much space, it was dangerous for them to shift fully in confined spaces, or even on the trails of the Tree City.

And so far, they'd flown so little that without a long drop below, they couldn't get into the air, even when there was space for their forty-foot wingspans.

They needed to get stronger. They needed to practice flying.

And the poor little fuckers needed to just cut loose.

As Leeander and then Raynor joined their brother in the sky, and three piercing calls echoed eerily across the valley, Rika leaned into his side and squeezed his waist.

"They're so beautiful," she said quietly.

Gar nodded. "And fucking dangerous," he muttered. The claws the boys could produce with a thought were razor sharp, and now long enough to open a human limb to the bone. Each long, feathered wing was tipped by one massive claw and four smaller ones—like fingers that could slit your throat.

Once when Tib was in a fury, he'd smashed through the wall of a storage building. And he hadn't even fully shifted to do it.

"They're kids," Rika said. "They don't mean to be."

"That's the problem though," Gar said, watching proudly as the three boys began a game of tag in the sky—diving and curling, wobbling at times when their massive wings caught the air wrong, or their muscles proved weaker than was strictly needed.

But they were so obviously ecstatic, he couldn't even find it in himself to worry about their future.

Not just then.

Just then he pulled his mate to his side and smiled. Because, no matter what the Creator's plan for the boys' future might be, Gar knew that it was his job to keep them safe to meet it.

His thoughts were interrupted by the realization that he could suddenly only see two of the boys.

Leeander and Raynor dipped and ran at each other, their long necks and tails rippling like snakes in water.

But where was—

An ear-piercing shriek threatened to deafen Gar, just as a shadow passed over him and the wind of the beat of massive wings fluttered his hair.

Gar jumped, then cursed.

Tiber screamed again and flew directly up, high into the cloudy sky.

He couldn't laugh in his dragon form, but Gar knew that's what he was doing.

"Disrespectful little fucker," Gar muttered.

Rika snorted. "Just like his dad," she giggled.

Gar growled and dove for her, pulling her up into his chest and burying his face at her throat, pretending to bite, but truly just tasting her skin.

"Gar! Stop!" she laughed, breathless and struggling—though she didn't really mean it.

When he finally gave in and set her back on her feet, they both picked up their bags and started the walk down into the valley to find a camping spot.

This was a family vacation, but the boys needed this.

And so did Gar.

His family, alone and happy. There was nothing better.

He just prayed that he would be wise enough to carry the boys through whatever was to come for them.

Meeting the unknown was always frightening. But he wanted them to be certain, no matter what, they always had his love and strength behind them.

Always.

Even to the death.

*****

IF YOU WERE A TOP-TIER PRIVILEGE READER AT THE END OF WARRIOR YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY THE NEXT 6 CHAPTERS.

The top tier privilege readers in March 2023, as well as those of you in my Facebook group (July 2023) have already read the next six chapters as an extra. So you can skip them!

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