Page 24 of Within the Veil

Hudson, I have missed you so much. I felt you and came as soon as I was able. I have so much to share with you. So much I have learned.

"You sound so grown up. Have you been taking some sort of super kitty pills?" I tease. Knowing very well that the stronger I get, the stronger she gets and at this point, a super goddess lion is probably in my cards. She can probably do cat-culus now. Get it? I project that little tidbit to her and she gives me a huff.

You aren't any funnier than you were before. Lions do not do the math. We eat the teachers. Also, no pills. But I can ask the same thing. Can, but will not since I already know. I see it in your mind. You are incredibly strong now, I like it. We can kill more people.

"You can see it in my mind? You're just going to jump around in there like I have an antelope from The Lion King?" I ask. We have always been connected on a deeper level. It also reminds me about something Remi said once...

"Familiars were said to shift to human form in order to protect their person or take the shape of what was needed. Either way, it is a blessing not a lot of magic users have. There is a legend though that the stronger the magic the more likely you are to have a familiar, but the closer to magic, the stronger the familiar."

* * *

Xena'slarge eyes blink up at me, and I take a second to look into her luminous eyes and find myself utterly enthralled by the bright twin pools of the deepest amber. But as I look closer, her eyes flicker, and a halo of violet encircles the golden core.Holy shit.I could ignore it as a trick of the light but as the violet starts to glow, swirling just like the contents of the IV bag, there is no way.

She blinks and they are back to a pure sunset gold, with just the barest flicker of violet.I said I have much to share with you.

"Yeah no fucking shit, X," I nod slowly,resisting the urge to poke her eyes and examine them myself under a microscope. You know, minus the animal abuse. There is so much I need to know about familiars, considering I was never able to learn much. To be fair, it was my plan. Even had the stack of books ready to be cracked open... back in my own bedroom, in a life that seems so damn far away now.

Fuck, if I thought I was curious about familiars then that has nothing on the burning need now.

She swats at my hand, that I didn't realize is moving closer to her eyes, lightly with a huff of air,You will not experiment on my eyes, Hudson. And yes, to answer your question, I see it all. I see the little ones, I see Gaia. Even my favorite, Kalen. Don't worry I will not share with any of the mates until you are ready.

"Well fuck, it looks like we need a pussy night...no that sounds wrong. We need a familiar night, just us two where we can catch up."

Yes, we do. But the information I will have to share will have to be for everyone's ears. Just know, there will be times I will have to leave. I have much to do, so little time. But I will be connected to you, be able to go where go. No matter where. If you have need of me, simply call and I will be there. Right now, I am exhausted, let me snuggle with my little ones.

I chuckle as she settles her weight between the second lounger and my legs before placing her large head on my belly, purring softly. Her eyes close and I weave my hands within her fur,my shoulders loosening as all tension leaves my body. A small smile touches my face, my chest swirling with a cocktail of warm tingles and I take a deep breath, basking in the love Xena pours through me.

I close my eyes and find myself forgetting the food Remi is making for me, as I doze off, enjoying the moment.

ChapterSeven

Hudson

I woke up with a choked sob, Hunter's words on repeat in my dreams. The night is dark and balmy, the thick air hugging me like a blanket. At first, I think I'm alone, the weight of Xena's body now absent, but something is telling me that I am not. I turn my head and I pick up on the voices coming from inside the house but after a moment, the itching burn that accompanies the sensation of being watch overwhelmes me.

I expel a breathe and focus. The moment my spine tingles with a sense of danger and lust, I know its not just any set of eyes on me. No it's Hunters'. I would recognize the heavy, almost provocative, weight of his stare out of a sea of people.

Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes and tried to tamp down the fluttering feeling in my stomach.It's Hunter, he may be mad but he's your mate, the love of your life.I blew out a breath and moved to get up from the lounger.

"Stop," his voice skitters down my spine and I still.

He strides to me, wisps of his now-white hair coming loose from his long ponytail, his bodyalmosttoo large in its mass. I wasn't used to seeing my men with white hair other than Oberon. How I thought anything else suited them was beyond me. They wore their new, or old depending on how you looked at it, look well. Combined with their increased body mass and increased power that seemed to seep through their pores, their presence made my mouth water and my jaw go slack with desire and need.Gods, he was absolute perfection.

"I can hear you, you know," he says with a small smirk playing on his face.

I match it, adjust my body to lay back down, and shrug lightly, "I wasn't trying to hide my thoughts. I said what I said. Or in this case, thought what I thought."

His eyes darken as he reaches down to caress my face lightly and instinctively I lean into the heat of his fingers, his touch pure temptation.

"I missed that fire, almost as much as I missed this mouth," he pops his thumb into my mouth and I suck it in, swirling my tongue. He hisses out a breath, and moves so fast my eyes barely catch it, his body now positioned over mine.

My breath grows shallow as his gaze roams over my body and I feel it as heavy as I would his actual touch. He kneels between my legs, his hands on my hips and I have to resist the urge to thrust my hips shamelessly. I keep still and let him have this moment, this feverish need to take me in. To make sure that I was really here, alive, real,his.

"You are beyond every expectation I could have ever dreamed up in all my years on this earth, Hudson." His voice is soft, melodious, without its usual roughness. It dawned on me suddenly, despite our talk earlier that they were all old as fuck. Although we didn't talk years, they were definitely older than the 26 year olds I thought they were. They have spent all this time mateless, before me and I felt my heartbeat speed up.I was made for them. Mine.

He chuckles softly, "yes, yours and you are ours." He leans in closer, and brushes his lips against mine before he moves to straddle the end of the lounger.

I sit up, crossing my legs and reach to grab his hands, tugging him closer.

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