by Aline Ash
We take our time. No one rushes through it. And though I catch a glimpse of L’arten down a corridor, he simply nods to me in understanding that we all need this time together.
After a while, those of us with homes to go back to depart, knowing that we’ll at least get to say one final farewell when the shuttle is ready to take our friends to Fiari’s carrier in orbit. It will be a couple of days at least, so there’s still a little time, but it doesn’t make it any easier. If anything, it’s just dragging out the pain.
When I get back to the royal bedchamber – my bedchamber now – S’oraj can sense my sadness. “B’ecky, I feel I have to ask: are you certain that staying here is what you want? You can still change your mind, you know.”
I balk at the very thought of it and whip my head around to face him full on. “Of course, I want to stay! You... and this child of ours... You two are my family. I can’t leave you. How can you even ask that after the Witnessing Ceremony and everything?” I can feel my frustration rising and it’s only his reply that calms me back down.
“Because I swore,” he says simply. “I swore that, when the time came, when the war was over and the Raxians were no longer a threat, I swore that I would give you the chance to get home to your family. I would never go back on my word. So, the offer is there if you want it. As I swore it would be.”
I look at this man – this once strange, alien man – and my heart absolutely melts. He never ceases to surprise me.
“S’oraj, thank you. Thank you so much. But I’m staying. I love you. And there’s nowhere else in the universe I want to spend the rest of my life than by your side.”
...
The next few days pass way faster than I like, and the time comes for my friends to go. The shuttle’s thrusters steam and sputter as their belongings are loaded and we say our final tearful farewells. Lisa, Jenny, and I slowly make our way back from the shuttle as Mia, Clarisse, Jade, and Natalie wave from the bay door.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else you want me to get?” Tess asks for the hundredth time.
“No, Tess, I promise. That list is everything.” Of all the girls, I’m not all that surprised that Tess has decided to return to Orean after a quick trip back to Earth to pick up some belongings and visit with her family and let them know she’s not dead. She generously even offered to go to Lisa’s, Jenny’s, and my houses to visit with our families and get anything we might be missing. I asked her to pick up some of my books and my computer, plus some seeds for some fruits and vegetables that aren’t native to Orean but that I’ve sorely missed over the greater part of the last year.
“Actually, wait!” I spurt out suddenly as Tess turns to board the shuttle. “There are just two more things...”
I turn to S’oraj and hope he doesn’t fight me on this one, but I turn back to Tess and blurt it out before I can second guess myself. “Can you ask my mom and sister if they’d want to come back with you? Because I’m sure the Orean healers can do more for my mom’s MS than the doctors on Earth have, and I miss them. I don’t want to force them to leave their entire planet behind, but if they want to come, God, it’d be so great to have them here.”
I’m almost panting by the time the sentence is out, but I’m startled by the laugh that comes out of S’oraj at the exact same time. “What? What is it?” I demand. “What the hell is so funny?”
He laughs some more and finally spits it out. “You remember a while ago when I asked you if your family was the only thing that tied you to Pal?”
“Yeah, because you were still being all shitty and jealous.”
“No!” He chuckles again, almost playfully now. “That wasn’t it at all! I let you think it was so that the surprise would remain shrouded, but my intent was to ensure that it would only be two people I’d need to find a way to transport.”
I can hardly believe he’s saying what it sounds like he’s saying, but the very idea hits me like a ton of bricks. “Wait... You mean...?”
“Yes, my love. It’s been my intention all along to try to bring your family back here. To you. I’ve already asked Tess to do the honors, and one of my top healers is accompanying her on this journey. She’ll be able to look after the other Palians along the way, but her primary mission is to evaluate your mother and help her understand where you are, and what it could mean if she and your sister were to come back here to Orean with her. Tess has been in on it for taks!”
“It’s true!” Tess bursts out laughing. “Do you have any idea how hard it’s been not to spill the beans about this? I mean, like, almost literally impossible.” The two of them have a good laugh while I just sputter in shock for a while, but when my senses come back to me, I throw my arms around S’oraj and cover him in kisses, then squeeze Tess with all my might.
“I can’t believe this. I just can’t believe it!”
“Well, believe it, baby!” Tess laughs.
“Now, I think it’s only fair to say,” S’oraj says, taking on his serious voice, “it may be some time before they’re able to make it all the way back. It’s possible our young one will be born before they arrive. I’d hoped to move quickly enough, but I think you should be prepared for the eventuality that your mother won’t be here in time for the birth.”
“Oh my God, S’oraj, who cares! You’re bringing my family here! I don’t care if she gets here in a day or in a year, this is the best news I’ve ever heard!”
Epilogue
Becky
A year later, on Victory Day, the day commemorating Fiari’s decisive blow against his tyrannical uncle, we gather in the royal garden for the first annual celebration. L’vis is up and toddling about with Lisa chasing after him constantly while Jenny and I cradle our young ones, Jenny’s one child, and my twins.
“Have you told Natalie what you named them yet?” Tess asks wryly.
“Yes, I have,” I tease back. “But that’s no reason that little M’ax and baby E’mmy shouldn’t call their Auntie Nat to say hello tonight, is it?”
I pull a communicator out from my pocket and ring up the one that we’d left with the girls back on Earth. We’d managed to figure out the time calculations – well, I say “we,” Jenny figured it out – so they should all be together at Natalie’s place celebrating as well. When the video pops up, Natalie, Mia, and Clarisse shriek with joy.
“Oh my God, you guys, it’s so good to see you all!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up, we want to see the babies!” Natalie squeals. We all moon over each other and the kids for a while before Mia gets serious.
“But hey, Jade, how are you doing with everything? Are you thinking you’re still gonna stay on Orean for a while?” Jade had returned to Earth with the rest of them, but before Tess and my family had even been close to making their way back here, she’d decided to come along as well. Turns out her shithead fiancé had gone ahead and married the bitch he’d been cheating with all that time. With him out of the picture, Jade had basically just said “fuck it” and came back with Tess and my family. She’d been pretty bummed for a while, but now her spirits were starting to lift.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m going to stay for a while longer at least,” she says. “Babysitting these little ones is actually keeping me sane right now, so I think I’m gonna hang here.”
“Okay,” Natalie chimes in. “Well, we miss you all!”
We all chat for a while longer, teasing each other and filling one another in on what had happened in each of our lives over the last few months. Tess takes the brunt of the teasing over her ongoing fling with L’arten. Still no S’ulin Kara signs, but their bond had already been pretty tight before the war ended, so it wasn’t really a surprise to anyone that she’d come back.
I don’t mean to put Jade on the spot, but in trying to deflect some of the attention back off of Tess, who’s turned a shade of red that I don’t think has ever existed on this planet, I mention how Fiari and S’oraj have kept in constant communication, and apparently Fiari recently asked if there’s
any evidence of Raxians having any kind of a S’ulin Kara phenomenon. S’oraj was still searching, but that didn’t stop everyone from drawing some conclusions.
“Ooo, you hear that, Jade?” Tess teases next to her. “Fiari thinks he might have a soul mate, too! Wonder who he could be thinking about.”
Jade shoves her and turns a shade of red even darker than Tess had, and were it not for the squirming twins in my arms I’d be clasping my hand over my mouth with embarrassment. But oh well. Despite Jade’s mortification and despite everything we’ve been through, it’s all finally over.
I look out across the garden and spot S’oraj talking with my sister and my mom – who, under the care of T’maku and the other healers, has progressed at an incredible rate. My love and my family, all together as one.
I don’t know how, but I’ll be the last one to complain. Somehow, it’s all worked out in the end, and I’ll tell you one thing for sure, I couldn’t be happier.
-The End-
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About the Authors
Aline Ash
Aline is obsessed with space, adventures, and mighty alpha aliens that populate the constellation she came from (or so she likes to imagine). In her positive thinking master classes, she encourages people to become optimistic, creative, to focus on positive emotions, and to live a meaningful life. In her books, she aims to share this positive vibe too. Even when her heroes are stuck in the most awful situations, they kick and fight, fall in love against all the odds, and live happily ever after.
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Athena Aston
A huge fan of romance, crazy adventures, and humor, Athena Aston spins all three into captivating paranormal romance and reverse harem tales she enjoys sharing with her readers.
A former business major, Athena quit her job at a marketing firm to pursue her passion of writing and hasn't regretted it one bit.
She writes her books from the comfort of her home while balancing a happy marriage and raising three super-energetic boys. After two attempts of having a daughter proved unsuccessful, Athena and her loving family adopted a Jack Russell Terrier who's quickly become their new baby girl!
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Also by Aline Ash
”Warriors of Qynora” series:
Claimed by the Alien King. A Sci-Fi Alien Romance
”Dark Moon Prisoners” series:
Book 1: Caged with the Beast – Marissa and Kon
Book 2: Unleashing the Beast– Eva and Tulo
”Orean Warlords” series (by Aline Ash and Athena Aston):
Book 1: The Alien Commander’s captive - Lisa and V’orin
Book 2: The Alien Warlord’s Obsession - Jenny and X’oran
Book 3: The Alien King’s Mate - Becky and S’oraj
Also by Athena Aston
“FIVE CROWNS” Reverse Harem Fantasy Romance 4-books series
Captured by Dragons (Book 1)
Guarded by Dragons (Book 2)
Rescued by Dragons (Book 3)
Craved by Dragons (Book 4)
“Demon’s Lust” Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance Duet
The Promised One (Book 1)
The Chosen One (Book 2) (coming soon)
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Copyright © 2020 by Aline Ash & Athena Aston. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
