Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 46803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46803 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
After Rex and his men left Arkan and me for dead on our ship, we had some recuperating to do. At first it seemed we very well might die, and then we did not die, which was very fortunate. Arkan’s pet was instrumental in nursing us back to health.
Naturally, we immediately set a course for Earth.
I had no intention of losing Stella. My plan was to reclaim her at all costs. Killing Rex was also on my agenda, but as a lesser item. He is within arm’s reach right now, but crushing his throat might put a certain pall over the ceremony.
I do not need revenge. All I ever wanted to do was get Stella back. That was all that mattered to me, and it continues to be all that matters to me.
Arkan and Jennifer remain aboard the ship, safely in orbit. I took one of our remaining shuttles down and landed it in a fairly broken and abused part of the city. There, I frightened the hell out of a great many foraging humans, who fled screaming. It seemed as though I was looking for a proverbial needle in a haystack in attempting to find Stella, but of course I had the collar. As it turned out, I did not need that. Directly opposite my landing site, I saw a sign.
There was quite literally a very large billboard illuminated garishly bright — and on that billboard was Stella’s face. Her wedding was to be the wedding of the century, the billboard declared, and all city dwellers were invited to help celebrate.
The crowds outside this cathedral are massive, but I had no trouble making my way through them. There was some screaming and running, and a good amount of getting the hell out of my way. I did not pay much in the way of attention to their reactions, being far more interested in what lay beyond the doors than the throngs of irrelevance outside it.
The doors to the cathedral were locked, naturally. But the doors were also made of wood, and I was made of alien, and so one thing led to another and now I am here, with my mate standing before me, looking up at me with tears in her eyes.
I know she has no idea how this all happened, and now is not the time for a full debrief. Now is a time for feelings, and the expressing of such. I have barely verbally confirmed my affection for my pet. That must change.
“I lay not knowing if I would live or die for days,” I say. “And the only regret I had in all that time… Well. I had two regrets, I suppose. One was not killing Rex the moment I saw him.”
There is a chuckle from her father, a man who not only clearly appreciates strength, but has a good sense of humor in general.
“The other regret, and the deeper one, was not taking you immediately for my own the very moment I first laid eyes on you. I let myself believe more deeply in all the limitations of my heart rather than giving into the…” I’m saying too much. Analyzing too much. This is so much more simple than I am making it.
So I make it simple.
“I love you, Stella. I love you more than any creature anywhere in the universe. I would gladly die for you, but I would rather live for you. Do you agree to be mine?”
“I do!” She sobs, abandoning all pretense of propriety and throwing herself into my arms.
A huge cheer goes up from all in attendance, as our emotional reunion strikes a resonant chord. There is a man in a gown mumbling something next to us. I pay no attention to his words as I sweep Stella Voros up into my arms and carry her out of the cathedral. My love. My property. My pet. My wife.
EPILOGUE
“My father is insisting on access to your technology,” Stella sighs, pushing back from the message displayed on one of the screens on the bridge.
One Earth week has passed since our marriage, and we are once again safely among the stars. I do not intend to take her to Euphoria. I do not intend to stay anywhere near Earth, but I have agreed to return Arkan to our home planet so he can pursue whatever madness he chooses.
My eldest brother has finally seen the error and arrogance of his ways. It was his decision that led to our near mutual death. I told him time and time again that the human soldiers were a clear and present danger, but of course he never listened. Not until it was far too late.
I will be the next captain of this vessel, and I have determined that my human wife and I will spend the next few years traveling the universe together. Stella has always been a wild little runaway, and I think it is time I also learned to abdicate some of my self-assumed responsibilities, and instead live my life.