Page 5 of Shannon in Sombra

Death can be an escape.

I understand why a demon would give up. But when I hold my Shannon close, I also understand how far an honorable male would go to ensure that he held on tight to his forever…

I have more than just my mate now. And while Kennedy enjoys watching over Alana because she considers it ‘practice’ for when she has her child, to linger longer into the night when we should be home with our daughter… I held Shannon close, lifting her out of the pool before carrying her back to the village inside of my shadows.

After I laid her out on our bedding to sleep, I retrieved Alana from Loki and Kennedy’s home. As always, my delightful daughter’s gold-colored eyes lit up when she saw me. A demon child comes out larger than a human infant. Alana is four cycles old, four moons, but Shannon laughs and says that she looks closer to a toddler in her size and with her head of soft, pale curls twisting around her small horns.

She is still her mother’s baby, though. She drinks from Shannon’s breast, and won’t speak for closer to a full Sombran year has passed. She sits up with a little help, and when she can climb, I know my mate and I will be in trouble.

For now, she cooed in delight as Kennedy handed her over to me. One hand landed on the side of my neck. The other grabbed for my nearest horn. I angled my head so she could clutch at the curve, not the point, while promising Loki and Kennedy that, when the time came and they needed their own privacy, Shannon and I will tend to their spawn.

Now both of my females are sleeping. Alana has her own room—the nursery, as Shannon calls it—right next to the quarters where her mother and I lie together. Just like the spare room we crafted over Turn the Page, I painted the walls in here to illustrate the gold moon shining over Sombra on one side, plus a scene from Main Street in Jericho on the other.

One of the burnt wood-workers in Nuit built a cradle to Shannon’s exact specifications. I painted that as well, and Lilith’s gift to Alana was a pillow-soft nest the clanmother sewed for our spawn. Once returned to our home, I placed Alana down inside the cradle, murmuring softly to her, patting her curls, waiting for her to fall asleep for the eve.

When she did, I returned to my mating quarters.

Shannon has barely moved from the curled-up position she was in when I slipped out to retrieve Alana. Despite constantly reminding me how hot Sombra is, she insists on sleeping with a sheet over her. One leg has slipped out from under it. Taking the hem in my claw, I drag it gently until she’s fully covered.

I want nothing more than to join her. To lie on my side, acting like a utensil as I… not fork her… ah,spoonher. Holding her close, marveling at how fortunate I am to call this wee human female mine… but I can’t.

The most I can allow myself is to crouch low, sliding my shadow claws through her hair. I shudder at the slight connection. Even asleep, our finalized bond thrums between us as my body instinctively recognizes the nearness of my mate.

My fingers stroke her ridge-free, colorless skin. The first time I touched my mate, I was shocked by the difference in our body temperatures. She’d seemed so eroticallycold. The chill on my skin nearly had me spilling my seed then and there, even though my own skin was so hot, it seemed to burn her.

After the essence exchange, our bodies changed just enough that we’re closer in temperature. I’m still warmer, she’s still cool to the touch, and my tired body begins to stir from my fingertips brushing against her smooth skin.

Murmuring in her sleep, she turns into me as if giving me permission to continue stroking her gently.

My heart swells; so does the rest of me.

Tired as I am, I will never tire of her. The gods gave me this amazing female, and since we’ve been bonded, she’s given me our spawn. I don’t know what I have done in this existence to deserve such a gift, but I will fight for our family’s future together.

I will fight Fate if I must.

I am not a hunter. I try, and with Nox teaching me, and Holden and Xoran letting me tag along when they seek out prey beasts to nab for the village, I’ve learned some defense skills. I will learn more, all to protect my spawn and my mate.

And if I must protect Shannon from herself, I shall.

That’s why, when I sense someone approaching the back of our home, I reluctantly pull away from Shannon. My fingers already miss the feel of her soft skin. My cock urges me to ignore the summons. My brain knows that I cannot.

“I’ll be right back, my flower,” I murmur softly, then duck out of our quarters.

Alana was sleeping when I left her space. As I move easily into the room again, I see she’s pulled herself up, using the side of the cradle to sit and wait for me to retrieve her.

My clever daughter senses them, too.

Swooping her up, I’m not surprised that she quiets her coos as I hurry her down the stairs to the first floor of our home. As though she also knows that her mother needs her rest—and not to be worried by our monthly visitors—Alana is wide-eyed yet silent.

As I go, I check to see that the shadows I’ve woven to cover my body have held. In Sombra, when a demon doesn’t plan on switching to their shadow form, he wears coverings created by the tanners and the seamstresses. Those without or who have need of fading to their shadow form… they create coverings from their shadows themselves.

I did that earlier when I went to retrieve Alana. There was no reason to change into linens or leathers when I wore shadows to the lava pool with my mischievous mate, and I didn’t want to keep Loki and Kennedy waiting. Now? I check to make sure that my lower half is covered in shadows.

My top half? As always, I am please to show off the silver ink standing out against my deep-red skin.SHANNON… I want all of Sombra to know that I’m proud to be claimed by my mate. Plus, if our visitors ever doubt who owns my heart… my loyalty? They only have to read the human letters on my chest to understand.

Once I’m sure that I’m decent enough to greet them, I open the back door and slip out into the night.

As busy as Nuit often is, we never meet near the village square. Someone would see us, and though I belong to this clan and can visit any part of it I wish, the two males who have come to see Alana belong to Sombra.

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