Page 11 of Stron & Lyra
Because that’s what I am. I am hers.
All of me belongs solely to her.
I will always belong to her, from now until forever, or until the stars claim me.
LYRA
1.5 Years Later
We’re in the viewing room of the passenger transport ship. Below us, the planet I’d grown up on gets closer and closer.
I’m so excited I’m nearly vibrating with it. My belly is doing flip-flops, and I can barely stand still. Stron has made it happen. He’s bringing me to visit my parents. I can’t wait. I’ve missed them more than I thought possible.
Relief overwhelmed all of us when I finally made contact. It had taken longer than I wanted—not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t know who I could trust. Every move felt like a risk. In the end, I reached out to an old friend, clinging to the hope that she was still the person I remembered. I’ve never had a reason to doubt her, but in situations like these, even old loyalties felt fragile.
In a strange twist of fate, she happens to be mated to my second eldest brother. They’d connected when I’d gone missing and everyone had been out looking for me.
That first call had been an emotional one. My mother had been beside herself. She’d taken all the blame for sending me to town that day. Nothing I said made her stop feeling guilty.
No one saw it happen, and nobody knew who took me. One moment I was there… and the next, I was gone.
As much as it hurt me to admit it, and I’d never say anything to my parents, I had a feeling it had been my sister. That she’d do something like that was beyond me. I know we didn’t like each other, but if she’d been the one to organise having me kidnapped, then she was dead to me. I’d never forgive her for that. Two months after my kidnapping, she married our neighbour, which to Stron was suspicious. I had to agree with him.
One of the reasons we’re visiting now is that my mother had let it slip that Tri and her husband will be away traveling to a nearby planet and won’t be back for a month.
We’d asked my parents and brothers not to say anything about our arrival and they’d all agreed. Nobody wanted to put up with Tri if they didn’t have to.
The other reason we had to wait to travel is currently curled up in my mate’s arms, where she spends ninety percent of her time. He makes no secret of the fact that he loves us more than life itself. If there’s one thing I never have to question, it’s how much my mate cares for me and now our little girl Kyraia. We call her Kyra because Stron said he likes that her name matches mine.
She’s beautiful, my little girl, with her father’s soft dark hair and she has his blue-toned skin. She may have his colouring, but her features are all mine. We won’t know if she’s like me until she’s older. For now, she looks just like all the other babies that have been born to the Cosmic Crows MC in the last year.
Stron comes to stand next to me. Cradling our daughter with one arm, he wraps the other around me, tugging me close and pressing his lips to my hair. “Nearly there,milseán.”
“I can’t wait,” I tell him, and I can’t. I miss my parents. Kragor is a fantastic male, and he does a great job at being a pseudo-father, but out of all of us, I am the only one who has parents thatcare and love me. I miss being wrapped in my mother’s arms for a hug or having my dad pick me up and swing me around whenever he greeted me. Yes, I’m an adult, but I’m also his only daughter who doesn’t mind him doing that.
I hope that with my brothers now grown, my parents will come and stay some of the time with us. It’s only a two-day journey.
The closeness of our planets shocks me. The ship I’d been on after my kidnapping had apparently travelled from planet to planet without a set course, which is likely why they avoided capture.
“Here we go,” Stron says as the spaceport gets closer and closer. Around us, talking gets louder as everyone prepares to disembark. We’re in no hurry. I prefer waiting to being shunted in the crowd.
Once the ship docks, we go to our cabin, gather all our belongings, and walk off the ship.
Stron tilts his chin at the captain as we leave, getting a salute in return.
I hadn’t realised until Stron mentioned bringing me to visit my family that the CCMC owns their own transport ships. It isn’t something they advertise, as they don’t want the enforcers looking too closely at them. I’m not sure why, and I don’t want to know either. Sometimes it’s better that way.
Whatever it is they ferry from port to port, I know it isn’t something that will affect me and my sisters. Our mates will never put us in jeopardy that way.
“Look over there,astór,”Stron points towards where the exit doors are. That’s when I see them.
My parents.
My dad with his shock of white hair and dark green skin, towering over my mother. My mother has tears streaming in pink rivers down her cheeks.
I can’t wait. I take off at a dead sprint, knowing that Stron will follow me. As soon as I get close to my dad, I leap, and he catches me like he’s done a million times in my life, but this time he’s sobbing and laughing at the same time.
Then my mum is there, and as I collapse into her arms, she wraps them around me. I know that this is what I want for my young. The warmth and love that flows from my parents to me is not something that I could explain to anyone who has never had this.
