My Alien Beast (Draci Alien 3)

Then she sits back down heavily on the bed and stares at the wall. I stand awkwardly, watching her. She says nothing, just sits there staring.

“What is wrong with you?” I ask, waving a hand in front of her face. “Are you broken?”

But then she looks up at me, a slow smile blooming on her face. And she says, “I’m going to be a mother.”

“Yes,” I say uncertainly. Surely that was obvious from the moment the wings began sprouting from her back yesterday. Has the transformation done something to her mental capacities?

But she just laughs. “No, I mean, it’s just really hitting me. I’m going to be a mom. To a little baby. Our baby.” She reaches out and grasps my hand. “We’re going to be a family.”

“Yes. Family.” I try to say it matter-of-factly. With the stoicism and dignity my mother always worked so hard to instill in me.

And yet, in the face of Giselle’s slow, joyous smile as she accepts her reality, I cannot stand unmoved. Because I see it in her eyes. She is not just accepting the kit I have implanted in her as her family, but me also. She sees the three of us as a unit. She is choosing me as her family now, even though I stole her away from her own. She would give me that gift, just as she first gave me the gift of her body.

The joy I feel in response is unfamiliar. New. Terrifying too, for what if she betrays me? Haven’t I learned by now to trust no one, to allow no one entrance to those secret passageways inside my soul where they might devastate me, as my mother did to me time and time again?

But I prove myself ever fortune’s fool because I grasp my beloved’s hands in mine.

“Yes, we are family, my mate. To prove my devotion, I will give you my trust. Now that you have wings, you may fly to my shuttle, I will tell you how to get there. Once there, you can find the device that can heal my wings. Then we can speak of where we will go from here. Perhaps there is a way forward that forges a path of peace, as you have spoken of.”

Her blue eyes light with even more joy and she stands up again, throwing her arms around me. “Oh, First.” Her face nuzzles in between my shoulder and my neck and I close my eyes as I sneak my tongue out to scent her as I hold her close. Honeysuckle and wildflowers.

She pulls away and frames my face with her hands. Her blue eyes shine even as her brow furrows slightly. “I don’t know how I could feel so much for someone in such a short amount of time. This is all crazy…” She shakes her head. “But it also feels so right at the same time.”

I cannot help from pulling my mate into a kiss at her words. I need to taste her with my tongue, to know she is real by experiencing her with all of my senses.

We make love as the sun bursts over the horizon, bathing us in morning light.

Eighteen

GISELLE

After our lazy morning in bed… or should I say our vigorous morning of love-making followed by another couple of lazy hours drowsing, I spent the afternoon learning how to fly.

From what Juliet told me, she was a natural at it. Ana picked it up pretty easily, too. So I feel embarrassingly clumsy as it takes the better part of four hours to get the hang of catching and moving with the air currents instead of fighting against them. That is, after I learn how to not immediately plummet back to the ground after taking off—yeah, that made for a fun few first attempts.

It took me far longer than the other kids to learn how to ride a bike, and this feels like that. I’m almost ready to throw in the towel when finally, the sun long ago passing mid-day, I’m able to control my flight and make it from one end of the property to the other without any mishaps.

I land—mostly gracefully—back on earth, jogging without stumbling as I light back to earth.

“I think I ate a bug.” I choke a little and spit several times.

But First is all smiles. “I think you’ve got it. Are you ready to try for the shuttle? We can keep practicing if you want, but you’ve been doing well enough for the last hour. It’s a fairly straight shot there. I think you can do it.”

I feel my eyes widen. “Really? Already?”

“Do not be afraid. You are stronger than you know. But if you do not feel comfortable yet, we can continue to practice and you can go tomorrow.”

I bite my lip. I haven’t forgotten about how First said his co-conspirators might move without him. And now First is willing to talk peace. Maybe this all worked out just as it was always meant to. First and I will be a family just like Shak and Juliet and Ana and Ezo are families. Now I can act as the bridge between everyone and we can have a real peace.