Page 93 of Aria's Desire

It took staring and searching her face and getting a confirmation nod from Spar before Aria believed it.

She’d checked in with the complex regularly while they were at Aehri, and nothing alarming had been mentioned, but still. She’d expected to be running around like a crazy person for the first few days after they arrived to put everything back to order.

That there wasn’t anything to fix or address or solve… stunned her. So much so, she couldn't find anything to say for a minute.

They managed to catch up for a little while longer before Snitch and Tesha—Vee’s very large, very deadly alien pets—stormed into the room and made a beeline for her. After a thorough sniffing, and some censorious chittering from Snitch that she’d escaped their guard, they both curled around her protectively and ushered her out of the room.

Victoria apologized, but Aria just waved her off, more than used to the animals’ obsessively protective behavior. Before the door hissed shut behind them, Aria spotted Snitch pulling pilfered snacks out of the pouch he grew on his stomach for exactly that purpose, trying to feed them to Vee.

Spar tsked, shaking her head. “Sometimes I think those two are worse than Vee’s men with how overprotective they are.” She huffed a laugh. “And then I see how her men hover and change my mind again. They'd one hundred percent stuff her ass in a bubble, if she’d let them.”

Aria made a vague noise in response, feeling suddenly… envious of her bubbly little Vice President. Not about her men’s overprotective behavior but about the reason behind it. She could still see her friend’s rounded belly in her mind’s eye. It made her own feel suddenly… empty.

Spar headed out shortly after, her comm beeping demandingly. “Ugh. Ridiculous man. Give up the cookie one damn time, and he goes all fucking caveman… ” Her words trailed off into an unintelligible grumble as she left the room.

Aria watched the door expectantly, still anticipating that someone was going to come bursting in needing one thing or another. But no one came. Slowly, her shoulders relaxed and a stunned, almost dazed, feeling settled over her.

Leaning back in the chair, she frowned.

She remembered, shortly before they left, wishing she could have her own happily ever after, wanting to have more time with her mates and longing to start her own family with them. She hadn't thought she could, thought the people here needed her too much.

Coming back, seeing that things had run smoothly without her, was… liberating.

For the first time, Aria realized they’d done a good job here. They’d set up an infrastructure. They had capable leaders in place to keep things running smoothly. They had teams out there helping people and putting a stop to the injustices.

With a moment of startling clarity, Aria realized this revolution they’d begun had gained its own momentum.

She knew she couldn’t step back entirely. She didn’t want to. But she finally understood she didn’t have to give everything to this war, didn’t have to keep pushing off her own needs, her own happiness and that of her mates.

On the heels of that realization came the sharp longing for a home with her men, a real home of their own outside the complex, not the dead Overlord’s old rooms. She wanted that daydream she hadn't thought she could have of a lazy morning with her mates, cooking breakfast together.

But that daydream had changed, evolved.

It wasn't just her, Tirox, and Kix anymore. It was all five of them now.

Pushing to her feet, she left the room.

She found Tirox first, looking slightly bewildered. Stopping at his side she asked, “No fires to put out for you either, huh?”

“No. I… find this both odd and… wonderful.”

She laughed.

“And you?” he asked, peering down at her with that same, bemused frown.

“Same.”

They grinned at the same time. Taking off, they hunted down Kix, then Rellik, and, finally, located Sin in the arena. They all had the same story.

They shared a look, glanced around to make sure no one was watching, then snuck off, laughing like children that were doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing.

* * *

A coupleof days after they arrived, Aria found Skaa, unwilling to wait any longer to have that talk.

Stopping at the base of the tree, she eyed the house they’d built in the branches perplexedly then knocked on the trunk.

Sauran peered out first, nodded, then ducked back in. Skaa, with no warning or buildup, launched herself out of the tree, dropped the fifteen feet to the ground, and landed gracefully next to Aria.

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