Page 18 of Nyanine's Divide

“I can see why. She’s pretty great.”

There’s a long pause as we all look around, watching everyone.

“How are you doing, really, since coming back, Rygen? I know this couldn’t have been easy for you, the realizations you had to make, the emotions.” Kari’s words trail off, but she stares at himwith sympathy and compassion, genuinely curious as to what he’s feeling, and it makes my heart happy to see her care so deeply for my cousin, even after just meeting.

He takes a deep breath and meets her eyes. “It’s been a lot to process, and most of it happened rapidly while listening to Criido speak, but I also took time to explain it all to my mates. They knew most of my history, knew the gist, but I gave them the details about my father, how bad it really was when his sister died. It destroyed him in ways I’m not entirely sure I’ll ever understand. But talking to them, taking more time to truly process it, has allowed me to let go of the anger I’ve had at all of my family. I didn’t want to be like them, so I was hard, protective, overbearing, and refused to be too soft, to love fully. I think things will be very different now. I have a sort of closure I didn’t know I needed, but it’s nice.”

Kari smiles and nods, simply listening. He smiles back before all our gazes lift to the village around us. There’s a silence as we all think, and I’m happy to hear that Rygen is changing for the better, relaxing and truly loving, not just fighting through every day. He deserves to be happy, as do we all.

His voice is surprisingly the first to break our little silence as we all think. “Kari, I wanted to ask you if you would mind me picking your lieutenant’s brain about the security setup here. He seems to have a good system, and I was interested in meeting the others, learning more, maybe sharing some tips and training? I have a lot of military knowledge at my fingertips now, it could be of use.”

Her eyebrows lift, and my mouth pinches in surprise. “I’m sure he would love that. Jeff is a smart man, and he’s got the hunters all working double duty as security, but they have a great system. I don’t have much to do with it, so he’s definitely the person to talk to. Him and Terax handle it all together.”

“Terax, that name sounds familiar. Hm. I’ll meet with him, thank you. I’ll get to making my rounds before Melodia screams at me, see you around.” He smiles, nodding as he heads off, and it fills my chest with warm emotions.

My family seems to be growing, not only encompassing new people but bringing back the old as well. My blood and chosen family are coming together, growing, surrounding me, and I’ve never felt more at home than I do now. My gaze drops to Kari as she stands beside me, her shoulder leaning against my arm, and I feel deep affection for her. It was all her, she was the catalyst for this immense change, and I’ll be forever grateful for her bringing all these people into my life.

Scooping her up, I turn and march toward our cabin as she laughs and wraps her arms around me. “Come on, we’re going to change and get ready for the celebration, but first, I need to shower you with love.”

“This better not be a golden shower, we’ve talked about this. I’m not into that.” Her voice is sassy, cocky, the twinkle in her eye as she rolls them telling me she’s not even close to serious.

“Stop trying to ruin the moment with humor, you’re terrible at it.”

She laughs, curling into my chest, and I chuckle, squeezing her tighter. It isn’t long before I hear steps on the path behind us, and I know Kosiiba is following to make sure we’re safe. I know he’ll keep a safe and discreet distance, but I still feel a little bad that he’ll no doubt hear my mate’s passionate screams. She’s not ashamed to share her pleasure with the world, and I wouldn’t have her any other way.

Before reaching the house, I veer off into the woods and head for the river. After seeing her complain of being warm, I know a cool dip in the stream will be just what she needs to relax and go enjoy herself later. Stopping beside the river, I lower her to her feet and quickly pull off my shirt, tossing it to the ground.She grins, giggling as she follows my lead and begins tossing her clothing aside. I jump into the river, splashing her from the edge as she screams before jumping in after me.

I find my footing on a solid rock where I can stand in chest deep water, my hair floating behind me and sticking to my shoulders. She swims over and wraps her arms around my neck, her lips slipping against mine as she draws close. My arms wrap around her waist, squeezing her to me as I devour her. She pulls away, leaning back to let her head hang in the water.

“Oh, this feels so good after the heat of the day. This was a great idea.” She moans and relaxes, trusting me to hold her up in the water, and I do. My hands settle along her sides, holding her upper body as she floats, her legs around my waist. The moon peeks through the trees overhead, lighting up her body in a white glow, her breasts shining with the water, and my cock hardens between us.

As she sighs once more, I shift my right hand behind her ribs and grab myself with the left, lining up and pressing into her without warning. I’m slow, gentle, and she simply moans, her back arching slightly at the intrusion. The water makes our joining easy, fluid, and I hold her ribs gently as I make slow love to her, watching her blissful expression as she lies in the water, completely at my mercy.

She’s a glowing goddess under the moonlight, my personal slice of heaven, and I don’t know what I’d do without her in my life. She’s brought so much light, joy, adventure, and love to me, my village, my father, and I can’t imagine my life without her now. The thought of her never arriving on that ship, never barging in here demanding safe haven for others, just tears me up inside.

Her green eyes open, the moon shining off them as they seem to glisten and glow, and she reaches for me, rising up into my arms. She rocks her hips, taking over for me, as she caresses myhair, my horns, her lips pressing to mine as she kisses me with reverence. Our bond hums between us, her chest warm against mine, as our love passes back and forth between us, my gratitude for her intrusion into my world shining alongside it.

“I love you, Vahru, more than I can ever say,” she whispers against my lips, and all I can do is exhale, holding her a little tighter as she presses down on me.

“I’m never letting you go.” The words pour from me, a near growl, before I slam my lips to hers and grab her hips, thrusting up into her harder, needing to bury myself inside her. She clings to me, her moans and squeals catching in her throat as she pants into my mouth.

Turning, I step toward the shore and press her into the soft grass, my tail swishing along the surface of the water as I continue to love her with a steady rhythm that has us both building and yearning for the finale. I press my teeth to her shoulder, directly over the spot I marked her all those weeks ago, as I groan my release, letting it pour into her so she can carry me with her.

Her nails dig into my back as she arches, her body squeezing mine in release, one hand sliding up my neck to hold me to her as she pants a chorus of yeses until we both relax. “I’m not letting you go, either.” She stares into my eyes for a moment before lifting to kiss me, her hands cupping my face.

We stay there, in the river, connected and comfortable, for a long time before finally deciding to join in the festivities. As reluctant as I am to leave our bubble of love and safety, I’m eager to reconnect with my cousin and relish in the new relationships that are building in my life. Tomorrow, my sister comes to visit and try to connect with us, and although I want to continue hating her for what she did, Kari’s words continue to circle my brain. Perhaps it’s time I let the past go and look forward towhat the future has in store. Maybe having a sister, having more family, wouldn’t be so bad.

Chapter 13

Terax

I wait in the shadows outside the festivities, watching with a keen eye, as hunters begin to come my way, one by one. My little group meets me and waits for our lieutenant to give the new orders. I notice one of the Nobodies wandering around, mingling. He looks like us, speaks like us, he smiles and laughs with others, but when he arrived, he was dark, angry, mysterious. Who flips emotions like that? What is the game here?

I turn and greet my comrades with nods before we wait in silence. However, it’s quickly broken by Kosiiba, who always seems to have something to say. He can never just stay quiet and let things be. He’s young, maybe he’ll outgrow it someday.

“So, what do you guys think of these new Nobodies? Anyone heard any news?”

“You’re the one following the captain and Vahru around. Shouldn’t you have the latest gossip, boy?” Cruzig raises a brow at him as he sharpens one of his knives, a smirk on his lips. His short hair is spiked in awkward ways as if he’s been pulling at it or running his hands through it. I wonder what has him stressed.

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