by Tahlia Black
“She will miss you.”
“She will get over it. A good helping of your fat cock should see to that,” he smiles.
I push him away playfully before pulling him into an embrace. “Stay safe, brother.”
He holds me back with both hands on my shoulders. “And you.”
EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
EVE
Stratus reaches into the glowing bassinet that levitates from the nursery floor. “Where is my princess? Ah, there she is.” He cradles our baby girl, E’vu, in his arms, the smile on his face signaling everything I have come to love about this world, everything I will now fight fiercely to protect.
Tyrus joins him, the two of them reaching down to stroke E’vu’s delicate features. I wasn’t sure how a baby born of human and Dothkhan would arrive, but I needn’t have worried. She shares the best of both species, her hair the same russet color of my own, her eyes blue as a Karthian ocean. But her skin glows like a Dothkhan, a shifting mix of purple, pink, and every hue in-between. She is perfect, and she is ours.
Stratus hands her to Tyrus and walks over to me. He wears his full battle armor and looks every inch the Commander. I place my hand on his cheek, never tiring of the way he looks at me. “You are an excellent father, my love.”
He takes me around the waist, pulling me close. “And you are the most devoted mother I know. Your daughter will be proud of you, proud perhaps that she too, Vu’eta willing, can join our cause one day.”
I kiss him, his words sinking in, because I do want to bring my daughter up a fighter. She will know what love is, but she will also understand sacrifice, too. We must protect this world at all costs against the Alliance. The transmission weakened their forces, split them into factions, but the head of the snake remains. It’s time I did my part to end it.
Tyrus places our beautiful daughter down and takes the place of his brother, kissing me deeply. “Are you sure this is what you want, Eve? This is not your cause. You do not have to fight.”
“No,” I reply, “but Dothkhan is my home and I will fight to protect it for my daughter, as she shall in time.”
Tyrus looks down at his damaged leg. “Vu’eta willing.” He kisses me once more and I can’t help the tears that prick at my eyes. He wipes them away. “Go easy, my love. I will take good care of her,” looking to his brother, “until you both return.”
Tyrus taps the center of my chest-plate and steps back.
I stare at my two Dothkhan saviors, the only men I have truly loved before. I was once their captive, their slave, but I have become so much more. We are a family with a bond and connection so great it surpasses anything in the star-heavy sky above. I know they will protect E’vu and me with their lives, just as I will.
I take Stratus’s hand. “For Dothkhan,” I smile.
He smiles back. “Yes, Nu’va.”
“For Dothkhan.
“For freedom.”
A Note From The Author:
Thank you for reading Slave. If you enjoyed it, please leave a short review to help others. I read every single one.
Follow Fortus’s story as he heads off to find the mysterious Darkor warriors and a human mate all his own in ‘Captive,’ out soon. Be warned, it’s going to get even darker!
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