Episode Forty-One Four

H azlan

I've been running at top speed most of the day. That I was near death from malnutrition and that final assault by shockstick only a few days ago and have this much strength is a testament to the Energy Transfer I received from Zoron. That male saved my life.

He and his mate have every right to resent Lylah and me, but after their initial anger, they've been gracious. Well, maybe not gracious, but certainly nicer than I would have been if our places were reversed.

If it had been my matebond with Lylah that was hijacked, I would have resented them until my dying breath.

I feel her bond through all this distance. It tugs me forward, beckoning me. They must have stopped for the day, because the connection feels stronger with every step I take.

When I smell smoke, I assume my mates have found another abandoned cabin. It's not just Lylah's tug I feel, it's Zoron's. Sometimes I forget I have two mates. I barely resent it when the thought flies through my head that soon I'll have three of them. I'm not sure that's such a bad thing.

When I quietly approach the cabin. Zoron's hoofprints crisscross each other at the threshold. He must have made several entries and exits. I'm still wary. What if the cabin belonged to someone and there was a fight?

It's only when I hear the high tinkle of Lylah's laugh that my shoulders relax and I approach with a "Ho, the house!"

Lylah's out the door before I cross the wide front porch.

"Haz! Are you all right?"

She runs into my arms despite my being drenched with sweat. She snuggles against my chest as she tugs me closer, then pulls away enough to say, "I was so worried about you. This matebond thing is so new. There were times I couldn't feel you, but Zoron could. He reassured me a dozen times you were safe and getting closer."

Affection bursts in my chest as I look at her, hold her. Before I get my fill of her, she pulls me inside the warm cabin.

Zoron is on the floor, his front and back legs bent at the knee, his arms around Eldar who is leaning against his chest. For the first time since we met, there's an easy camaraderie among the four of us. No hard feelings. No suspiciousness. Just comfort.

"We waited dinner on you," Eldar says. "Zoron said you were getting closer by the minute."

It strikes me with such force I stumble back a step.

Family.

I was plucked from my pride when I was so young I barely remember the feeling of being in the bosom of my family, but this, this reminds me of those days.

As I recall, we had a house similar to this. It was nothing big or fancy, but it was cozy and warm and the smell of dinner cooking in the fireplace said everything was good with life. Until it wasn't. Until I was stolen.

I didn't realize how much I wanted this, but here it is. A family of our own. A centaur, an elf, a proudborn who's not so proud because his wings have been cut, and the most beautiful human female either Down Below or Up Above.

"Us." I say, because the word sums everything up for me.

When three pairs of eyes give me a questioning look, I explain.

"Look at us. This is going to work, yes? You, Zoron, how do you feel about the number four?"

He smiles, tipping his head back in mirth. "Four. Hmm. I was neither here nor there about four until today as a matter of fact. Now I think four is the best number on Earth."

I step closer and tousle his black head of hair, unable to confine this conversation to words alone.

"And you, Eldar?" I would be more trepidatious if the elf wasn't lazily lolling against his mate, his tight, angry body carriage hopefully a thing of the past. "What are your feelings about the number four?"

"Well, it symbolizes the four seasons, the four directions, the four elements, and there are four letters in my favorite word—fuck."

He gives me a lazy smile as if he's done, then he holds up a single finger and says, "Oh, and there are four of us. Four people in our little family."

My face heats and I wonder for a moment if my long run is only now catching up with me. It's only when I feel warm liquid behind my eyes that I remember what this is. I'm about to cry.

For the first time in my life, though, I'm not crying from a beating. I'm about to cry because my chest is clenching in happiness. This is going to work. I wanted two to be the best number, but perhaps the universe found a way to double my happiness.

"And you, Lylah? Your thoughts on the number four?"

"Four is the number of minutes I'll let us take to eat. After that, I'm going to tear my clothes off and drag you into the pile of furs some previous travelers left here for us."

She's beaming as she spears each of us with her heated gaze.

"The four of us are going to get naked, and then the four of us are going to explore each other, and by morning, the four of us are each going to have three matemarks."