I returned home to find Shale on his knees, his head low, and prostrated in the foyer of our new split-level dwelling.

"I did not fail," Shale hung his head in shame. "But my actions were unworthy of victory."

Shale had taken time off to recover from his injections provided by Dr. Kazz'mon. However, where I was vomiting and in a state of delirium over multiple days, my Aixx only experienced mild nausea and a migraine for a day and a half.

"I thought it was a game," Shale leaned forward with his hands splayed on the cold stone floor. "I did what she asked... but..."

The entire house reeked of sex.

"Where is she?!" I clenched my fists.

"Asleep," Shale curled his head down and let his limp red-tipped quills slip forward.

"Explain to me what happened," I relaxed my hands but clenched my jaw in agitation. "Spare no detail."

It'd been several weeks since our return to Sahei and I was off tending to my duties as Adjutant, in preparation for the delegation of razkurs arriving from Menthla next month.

Actually, there were two delegations arriving. The first and smaller group was to assist with the preliminary arrangements for Menthla's formal introduction to the Council of Ancients and the Supreme Nexus Matriarchs that was scheduled three months from now.

We outperformed Oru's expectations and, according to our Elder's Sahei-wide declaration, our Envoy brought great honor to Jahaa and the Nexus. Enough for Shale to claim a new larger dwelling carved into the side of a mountain down south where Sahei was coolest. Mourning Crow earned an interceptor raider ship, similar in size to my ship, Venom Heart, and Shale's Ice Fang. She named hers Hammerhead because that's what she said it looked like.

It didn't, but our mate insisted.

I, however, chose to forfeit my request and instead demanded to be re-reviewed for permission to engage in a solo U'la'ke Liege challenge to officially gain Forged status. Shale was convinced my performance stats far exceeded average and my petition would be accepted.

We will see...

I sat Shale down at our central eating table and listened to him walk me through the events that took place shortly after I left this morning.

With the success of Shale injections, I suggested to Mourning Crow he might enjoy being tested as I was, but she had reservations. I assumed her concerns revolved around him being larger than me, as her exact words were ′I don't think it's a good fit'.

I would never ask her to do anything she didn't feel comfortable with and I expressed that I brought it up solely because I didn't want him to feel excluded. She agreed to think it over and I opted to drop the topic, as thoughtful consideration was the most I could ask for.

I should have listened to her.

Shale recounted Mourning Crow setting the rules of the challenge and the harrowing experience of her washing him with her breasts. But his account deviated from my own. He spoke of her skin, her hands, her lips - upper and lower. His level of detail nearly had my own nethers swelling. Strangely, he never mentioned her eyes.

When I asked him, he said that midway in she made him look up so he couldn't see her.

"It was brutal!" Shale snarled. "Has she performed this cruelty on you?!"

"Yes," I tapped my quills in confusion. "But I never took my eyes off hers."

Shale withdrew and reluctantly slid his hands off the table.

Oh, that's what she meant...

When the three of us were together... and I noticed it as well in my recording of their pairing in the Joust. Shale's attention gravitated to other body parts.

"How did you fail?" I growled, as I was mostly angry at myself for not taking the time to listen to Mourning Crow properly.

Shale opened his mouth, then shut it. Contrary to his original claim, there was only one alternative to victory, and he knew it.

"She got to the end," Shale admitted. "With her tongue. On my Blood! What the hell was that?! I..."

Shale grit his fangs together, unable to conceal his personal disgrace.

I tapped my claws across the table in trepidation.

Fuck... This isn't what I intended.

I had this rose-filtered memory of that morning in the hotel when her hands were on him, demonstrating how to use the washroom on Menthla.

"I couldn't take it," Shale blurted.

My eyes shot up at him in terror.

"I could feel her licking me, but she wouldn't let me see it!" Shale thrummed in frustration.

"What did you do?" I was on edge over what his next words might be and was torn between walking away and slashing my claws across his face.

"I gave in," Shale slouched his head.

I sat poised to leap across the table and beat his face bloody.

Shale forced himself to raise his eyes to mine. "I pulled her off me, picked her up, and fucked her."

Huh..?

"What about her mouth?" I sat there, baffled.

"I kissed it," Shale rolled his eyes up, trying to picture the series of events clearly. "Maybe not right then. I was pretty riled up and the last several hours have been a blur. Undoubtedly, you can smell it. We've consecrated the entire dwelling. I tried to make her submit, but we both know that shit only makes her stronger."

"And her..." I wasn't pleased that he'd disobeyed her, but was I missing something?

"Her... what?" Shale quirked his brow and crooked his neck.

"So you failed before ever arriving at the real test..." I sat back and let my eyes wander across the floor.

"There was more?!" Shale rolled his head back and raked his claws through his long quills. Then he stood up and poured himself a cup of water.

"Each of us failed our mate today," I came clean.

"But I was the one who-"

"She was against this from the start," I pointed sternly for him to sit back down and tried my best to explain. "Fortunately, she was unharmed."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Shale glared at me, offended at the very notion that he would ever cross that line. "I never... I didn't hurt her! If anything, she dislocated my shoulder at one point."

"But you could have because she knew you wouldn't obey the rules," I sighed. "That's why she made you look away, to make it more difficult."

Shale sat down in silence and sealed his lips shut.

"Maybe it's best I don't know what I missed out on," Shale's gaze lingered on the metal cup. "And in the future, I'll make an effort to be more obedient with our mate."

"That's a shame," I abhorred the mental image of our Shale being tame. "One of the things I find most appealing about you is how you wield Mourning Crow's body without restraint."

Shale bent his head quizzically. "You hold back?"

"Not physically."

Shale leaned back, perplexed, scanning me up and down.

"You and I are very different," the red Forged lamented to himself.

"I don't think Mourning Crow would have us any other way," I smiled softly.

"No," Shale chuckled with a sway of his long quills. "She would not."

Shale spun his cup then finished his drink.

"Are you considering competing in the next Nexus Melee?" I broke the awkward silence.

"I hadn't until now," Shale chortled with a sly hook of brow. "Looking forward to a real showdown?"

"I wonder about after."

"After?" Clearly, Shale hadn't even considered it at all.

"If you won?" I proposed the scenario.

"If I won, I supposed it'd be no different than now," Shale spoke candidly. "If I lost..? I suppose I'd be mad, but I'd be proud of you. Then I'd do what I always do after a loss. I'd train harder for the next round."

Shale ticked his fingers on the side of the empty metal cup.

"But maybe that's not so good," Shale's brain started to pick up speed. "I'd want you to make me stronger, but not as a rival..."

Then he mulled over the dilemma that had been plaguing me since the day our triad first became official. "I see now why this could go bad for us in the long run. What about you?"

"If I won, I'd be happy, but your loss would haunt me. I'd feel it," I thumped my chest. "I'd hate that I was the source, and I'd be conflicted over competing against you again."

Shale rumbled in our shared discontent.

"If I lost," I continued. "I'd hate it, sure. But in many ways, it's a comfort knowing that you're stronger."

"What do you mean?" Shale crooked his head with unease.

"Before Menthla, when I chose you," I confided a secret to him I hadn't yet told Mourning Crow. "I made arrangements with Kazz'mon to cryo-store samples of my genetic material."

Shale's eyes went wide. "Does our mate kno-"

I shook my head. "I have every confidence in my ability and I don't intend on going anywhere against my will in the near future."

Shale hissed uncomfortably.

"We both know the greatest battles are the ones we don't see coming and this bond is greater than my pride," I folded my arms over the table with my fingers locked together. "I had to be practical. I am me and you are you. Mourning Crow and our offspring can depend on you."

Shale squeezed his hand around the metal cup and his eyes cut into me like a primed laser cutter.

"From now on," the Forged reared his chin up. "You and I will share victories."

"That's not poss-"

"We alternate," Shale cut me off. "Flip for who goes first."

The red Forged plucked a small flat viper skull from his belt slung over the chair and perched it on top of his thumb claw.

"Eyes," I called the top side.

The tiny bone clacked on the table and rolled bottom-side up.

"It's decided," Shale nodded triumphantly. "We take turns prioritizing the other's training. One mentor," Shale pointed at me. "One victim," he turned his claw on himself. "We'll win every cycle!"

I handed the viper trophy back to him.

"And tomorrow," Shale asserted. "I'll be making a deposit with Kazz'mon."

"Are you not feeling well?" Mourning Crow yawned from the top of the stairs with her eyes half open and rubbing the sleep from her ears. "I'll be nicer next time, I swear."

"Don't make promises you know you'll break," Shale turned to her with a hearty belly laugh. "Come, join us."

Mourning Crow gathered nine long bones from the dry storage compartment in the kitchen and sat down in the empty chair between us.

"Wan' n-any-ting?" Mourning Crow began chomping down on the first bone from the enormous pile.

Shale wasn't kidding when he said they'd been busy!

I rose and went to the refrigerator for two de-boned slabs of leftovers. Shale joined me and prepared more cups of water.

"You would tell us, mate?" I paused a moment after returning to my seat and taking a bite to eat. "If this arrangement ever became too much."

"Too much?" Mourning Crow split her ears asymmetrically and started counting out her remaining bones. "No, I missed lunch. And it's already after dinner time. Thank you for the water."

"He means with us," Shale reclaimed the chair at her right.

"Huh?" Mourning Crow still wasn't entirely awake. "Oh, you mean like spending all day with Shale and then you or both of you later?"

"Before you," Shale bent his head at her. "He and I were quite accustomed to going a full cycle without any carnal contact. You are free to decline us at any time."

"You serious?" Mourning Crow perked her ears up and then broke out a snicker. "I may be outnumbered and precariously out of my weight class, but if this were a competition, which it's not!"

The razkur pointed sharply at the pair of us sporting a wily grin. "Can't be helped if I'm built for this and I'm winning two to one. But you two keep me posted if you need a nap."

"Be careful of what you boast about, my mate," I chittered. "When you make a claim, we will believe you without hesitation."

"Good," Mourning Crow took another few bites of her third femur and a long gulp of water. "I was looking forward to celebrating Shale's upgraded DNA."

"Is this your way of telling us to finish our meal faster?" Shale thrummed at her.

"No," Mourning Crow shook her head and wagged her ears. "But you two should eat more."

...

Mourning Crow hooked a single finger around my own and led me up the stairs, with Shale following behind. The upper level of our dimly lit stone domicile was a long, wide cavern extending down to a distant light on the opposite side of the mountain. Like many Zhaguai homes, the architecture was minimalist and angular.

Mourning Crow leaped into my arms when we crossed the threshold into the bedroom and nuzzled her face into mine. I held her up by the ass with her legs clamped around my waist and pressed her body tight against my naked chest. Shale's petrichor musk clung to her skin and the heady cocktail made me unsheathe the moment I kissed her.

Shale hung back and took a position in the corner. From his resonating hiss and growing bulge beneath his loincloth, I knew he ached to touch her.

Reluctant didn't suit him.

I spun Mourning Crow around and released her on all fours atop the wide fur-lined bed, resolute to show the Forged warrior everything that he was missing.

Then I stood behind Mourning Crow at the edge of the bed, caressing her spread legs and dragging my thumb claw along her exposed wet slit. Her ears pointed toward the ceiling, perky and ready. I lapped her nectar off my claws and thrummed my chest while teasing the head of my cock against her opening.

The soft smack of Shale's hand gliding up and down his own arousal echoed throughout the barren room. I bent my shaft down and stroked the crest of my hood along her clit, fully aware that the Forged was fixated on the space where my groin touched Mourning Crow.

Our mate purred and arched her back up, tempting me to enter while Shale thrummed nearby, eagerly awaiting me to penetrate her.

Instead, I tucked my thumb between her little plump lips and explored the warm ridges within her channel.

Shale growled and my upper lip curled into a wicked smile.

Then, wasting no more time, I removed my thumb and shoved myself in. Mourning Crow dipped her head and moaned. Did my mate have any comprehension of the effect her voice had on my short quills?

I took my time. Savoring the sight of my pale grey girth sliding in and out while massaging my claws into my mate's smooth buttocks. My hands migrated up her spine and over her taut muscular shoulder blades as my hips picked up pace and power.

The stone walls and the pelts on the bed radiated with Shale's unbridled potency. The mental image of his seed pooled inside her, waiting to be melded with my own, made me rigid to the point of torment.

I increased my speed and let her pussy pull me in deeper. Old instincts compelled me to shove her down and assert dominance, but a feral spark at the base of my spine screamed to exert her further.

I hooked my arm around her neck and pulled her up snugly against me, immersing every pulsing inch of me within her while pinching one of her ears with my fangs. "I want you to ride me until one of us breaks!"

Mourning Crow's ears fluttered, and I released her, letting her spin free and tackle me flat against the layer of furs scattered across the bed. Then she mounted me and swirled her hips, welcoming me into a world of overflowing bliss.

She was light on me, but the vigor of her thrust made my brain feel like I'd been dunked under water. I squeezed her thighs as she knelt over me and locked our eyes on one another.

"I want to feel you," Mourning Crow commanded in Ahnzi and pressed my hand flat over her abdominals.

I reared my hips and jostled her to gasp. Her eyes winced shut, and I slammed into her again.

"Deeper," she commanded in her native tongue and ran her slender claws along my neck.

I reached out and set her nipples free, then obeyed and gave her all of me.

"Faster!" Her neck craned back and dragged her fingers down my chest.

I groaned and accelerated as though my life depended on it. The strain of keeping up with her mandated rhythm had my quills sprawled out on end and my sac ached from the repeated drumming.

Mourning Crow leaned up and rode me with her hands kneading into my lower short quills. The pressure and rapid cascade of her crevasse made me dizzy. She kept her eyes on me and each withdrawal made me clamber to delve in higher.

"Right there!" My mate slacked her neck to the side and scrunched her legs tighter.

I flexed my rear up and tugged her to grind on me harder.

The tendons in my legs quivered, triggering a soft ambling surge worming up and through my belly, all light and electric.

It was like being swallowed whole by one of those ambiguous songs she hums to herself when she thought no one was paying attention.

Without warning, Mourning Crow cried out and slashed her little claws across the ridge of my hips and toward my groin. I hissed and dug my claws into her.

Fuck! The heat from those shallow fissures made my insides feel bright.

Shale's weight shifted the bed as he crawled in behind Mourning Crow. He slid his hand under her chin as she arched back and kissed him upside-down.

Meanwhile, I played with our mate's clit and smeared the excess nectar strewn all over my pelvis and along her stretched pussy lips. Her breath staggered as I slipped one finger in and curled it forward.

Shale's red eyes glared at me over our mate's shoulder, then his right hand slid forward and joined me in toying with her. He bent her further back and from the proximity of his heat and scent intensity; I suspected the head of his red cock was pressed up against her spine and leaking profusely.

Our mate had no words, only clenched teeth and a last-ditch ineffective wriggle to break free. The internal tremors of her wetness gave the illusion that she was trying to eat me.

"Can you feel him now?" Shale joined our rhythm and pushed her down on me.

Mourning Crow yelped and clung to his giant red-scaled arm wrapped firm across her chest.

"How about now?" Shale reached forward and grazed his claw along one of the fresh slits in my side.

I roared and bowed my torso back, then bit my tongue in an effort not to cum.

"Don't hold back, Eh'kt," Shale licked her neck and shoved his weight onto Mourning Crown to help her straddle me harder. "Make our offspring worthy!"

My eyes shot wide. Then I snapped my fangs shut, and I lurched up to my knees to pin Mourning Crow between us.

"Ni eh'kt!" Mourning Crow kissed me with a squeak when her back struck Shale.

I hoisted her legs up and railed into her without mercy.

"Claim your place," Shale grabbed my horns, holding the pair of us in his arms with his massive body braced as a counterbalance.

"I... I can't-" was all I could muster between ragged pants. I wanted my Aixx to join me, but my lucidity was slipping rapidly.

"You can," Shale hugged us tighter. "You will have victory."

I knew I could. Letting go would have been easy, but everything felt lopsided. Shale may have had all day to claim his fill, but seeding Mourning Crow while he capitulated in shame would be a hollow victory.

I caught my breath and tethered my momentum.

"Do not stop," Shale blinked at me.

What's wrong?" Mourning Crow opened her eyes and flicked her ears in disquiet.

"I need you with me," I stopped and glared at Shale.

"I..." the Forged clenched his jaw and twisted his quills hesitantly.

"Shale?" Mourning Crow pulled herself free and turned to our suddenly reticent mate.

"I failed you, my mate," Shale pulled away and lowered his head.

"What? How?" Mourning Crow placed her hands on his checks. "Today? That doesn't matter. I only wanted you to feel good. Not this."

"I did not uphold your trust," Shale lowered his eyes and tried to back away further.

"Yes, you did!" Mourning Crow's sharped her ears. "Shale, look at me."

The Forged did as she commanded.

"What did I say to you at the very start?" The razkur leveled her eyes with his.

"Do only what you ask of me, no more, no less," Shale answered.

"And what did I ask of you?" The sides of Mourning Crow's mouth curled up.

Shale went to speak then paused in shock. "Nothing! You never spoke."

My brain slammed to a complete halt before scrambling back to that day in the washroom.

She gave silent directions, but not a single word!

"I thought..." I plopped my rear on the bed, floundering over how the hell I missed it.

"It's impossible to fail," Mourning Crow snickered. "It's a ritual for newlyweds. You're not supposed to show restraint."

"But afterward," I stammered with my hands out. "You said...about pressure and pace...."

"All true. But I only escalated with you because you never flinched," Mourning Crow turned to me with her ears curved coyly. "I panicked. I had to think up something so you wouldn't be disappointed."

I sat there, fangs agape. "I could have done as I pleased at any time?"

Mourning Crow nodded with a mischievous giggle. "You enjoyed it soo much I couldn't bring myself to tell you."

I wasn't angry, but all my thoughts devolved into incoherent curses.

"Why was I not a good fit?" Shale interjected.

Mourning Crow bit her lips and turned to me. Not in upset that I had repeated her words to him, but in conflict over how to best communicate the proportion problem.

"There's a level of discipline," I did my best to clarify. "To maintain safety."

Shale sat up like a teenage pup supplicating to his mentor. "Could you show me?" His crimson eyes went big and glossy. "I won't interfere."

Mourning Crow nodded at me, flicking her ears and pointing to the side of the bed. "It's easier if you're standing."

I hopped up and steadied myself in a comfortable stance. "Keep in mind, we've practiced at this," I spoke to Shale. "I don't make a move without her command."

Shale nodded, gave us space, and claimed an unobstructed vantage point off to our side.

"Scoot up," Mourning Crow nestled on her knees before me, probing my slit with her tongue to coax my organ to attention once again. Then she veered to the side to lap up a bit of my stray blood. "Almost healed."

I unsheathed and thrummed. The minor wound was nearly sealed but the lingering warmth hovered just below the scales.

Suddenly, Mourning Crow flipped and laid back with her mouth facing up to lavish the underside of my shaft with silky wet strokes. Then she pressed my tip to her chin and speckled me in kisses all the way up to my sac, allowing Shale a glimpse of her eyes and a hint of the insanity she intended.

Shale was entranced and quirked his head sideways, then jolted back abruptly. His eyes darted back and forth, then up at me and back at her, with his chest heaving in uncertainty.

Mourning Crow smiled and slithered back down and slid the head of my crown into her mouth.

The tender suction sent diaphanous ripples up my vertebrae.

I rocked my hips to the tune of Shale's amorous thrums, all the while letting our mate dictate my speed and degree of incursion.

Mourning Crow moaned and made the smallest touches on my leg as I knocked on the internal barrier, waiting for permission to enter. She kept my stride slow and supplemented with her hand to thoroughly lubricate all my piercings and nodules.

Then she arched back and motioned with both hands for me to ease forward.

My whole body shuddered, and an involuntary curse crossed my lips.

I was only halfway in but the intensity felt like sustaining the current between two exposed live wires.

Shale's breath hitched but he didn't dare jostle the bedding.

Mourning Crow continued luring me in further and let one hand drift down toward her own seeping nethers.

Shale growled with his eyes broad and exhaled a long, heavy thrum. His claws were hooked securely to the mattress.

I paused and withdrew occasionally to let our mate breathe and delved deeper with each reinsertion.

My skin prickled when our mate's lip reached my base and I bent slightly to caress her temple.

Mourning Crow reached out for Shale's hard-on and made him groan. Then she briefly pulled loose from me. "I want both of you inside me."

Shale hunched forward, crawling gently on his knuckles and the balls of his toes to station himself crouching, knees high and arms straight, between our mate's thighs.

"In time with Eh'kt," Mourning Crow instructed him.

Shale clicked and dipped his head to her navel and licked his way lower with Mourning Crow's fingers intertwined in his long quills.

I resumed rocking at our mate's beck and sway and let her supple channel compress me into a state of euphoria. The strain of holding my discipline and not trusting wildly down that slippery narrow passage made my skin feel like it was steadily being flayed one pliable short quill at a time.

Each subtle graze of her claws urging me on had my blood churning and my vision blurred like I was weighted to the bottom of a whirlpool.

Shale pushed up one of Mourning Crow's knees and cupped her rear to sink in deeper. The sound of his ravenous jaws devouring our mate made me lightheaded.

My sac cramped for release but I refused to give in, no matter how severely my extremities were trembling.

Shale glanced at me and lumbered up, dragging his black forked-tongue up Mourning Crow's perspiring torso. Then he watched and waited patiently to synchronize his entry with my next pump forward.

Mourning Crow squeaked from the abrupt doubled pressure and poked her claws into both of us. I clicked in satisfaction at the sight of her quivering and acclimating to our heft in stereo.

Shale growled as he reached out and traced one of his claws on her neck. Not to apply pressure, but to feel me plunge inside her.

I winced out a moan that almost came out in a whimper. The touch was trivial, but my entire nervous system was already wrenched to its limit.

Mourning Crow squirmed when Shale curled his back and loomed over her, teasing her breasts with his mouth as I lost myself further within her.

Then Shale brought his gaze to mine and from the twinge in Mourning Crow's legs, I knew those thick short quills of his were rubbing her clitoris.

Mourning Crow hastened her suction and held fast to Shale's shoulder for leverage.

Fuck, the pleasure was blinding.

Shale threw more weight behind his slams and rolled his hips just the way we knew our mate liked it. There was a flurry of warmth around me, but I could have sworn the world was slowing down.

Mourning Crow purred with her nose flush to my sac and one of her hands clamped so tight, the back of my thigh bled. In her next gasp for air, her breathing shifted, and I knew she was close.

Shale maintained his savage tempo while the ever-increasing vortex around my hard-on sapped my lungs of vitality.

My snarls were unremitted and ragged.

"Cum with me," Shale grunted, keeping one eye open on me.

Suddenly, Mourning Crow's throat and abdominals jerked to attention. She shuddered and Shale let out a heavy groan and lurched his shoulders.

My skin felt tight, like the room's air pressure was violently condensing and a sharp overflow of cold surged up my bloodstream. I roared a borderline shriek, then the room went fuzzy and dark, and the last thing I saw were my mates calling my name and reaching out for me.

...

"How's his head?" Mourning Crow retrieved our bedside medkit.

"No blood," Shale had me in his arms and was in the process of laying me in the center of the bed.

"What?" I mumbled." Why are you-"

"Silence," Shale snapped.

"You passed out," Mourning Crow rotated her ears at me, inspecting me for any internal trauma. "Landed with a pretty nasty thud."

Once confident in my position, Shale bounded out the door and into the hallway. Then I heard his feet hit the floor when he jumped to bypass the stairs. Seconds later, he reemerged with a full cup of cold water.

"I thought you looked paler than usual," Shale sat next to me and handed me the cup.

"You really scared us," Mourning Crow knelt at my right, tidying up my quills.

"I am sorry," I lowered my head, looking solemnly into my cup of water. "I will be better prepared next time."

"No, you won't," Shale thumped his fist on my chest, spilling a little bit of my drink on my scales.

Then he climbed further into bed and sat next to me with his back against the wall.

"This isn't a fucking test! What you'll do," Shale grabbed his gauntlet off the nightstand and flicked open a copy of my personal schedule. "Is reduce your workout time and make your training more efficient."

"How did you?" I scowled. "What are you talking abou-"

"I'm Oru's Adjutant," Shale growled at me. "As such, I'm privy to everyone's schedules. I also set up an alert for when you enter a gym or a sparring ring and your training exceeds four hours."

The Forged warrior pulled up his own calendar schedule next to mine. Then he deleted my entire solo routine and merged me into his weekly Elder and Forged sparring sessions.

"They won't accept me-" I protested.

"They will," Shale grunted. "You'll improve faster competing with more seasoned opponents. Cut your solo-gym time in half and work it in around these blocks."

I clenched my jaw shut and nodded reluctantly.

"If you don't see any improvement in a few months, you can switch back to your usual lonesome. And we," Shale gestured his index finger to all three of us. "Tone things down drastically on days you ping up my wristcomm."

I didn't know what to say.

I sat there with my legs sprawled out while Shale and Mourning Crow snuggled up on either side of me.

"Drink," Shale pushed up the bottom of my cup and forced me to finish the remainder. Then he patted my leg and settled his head down flat on the mattress.

Mourning Crow tucked in close, resting her head on my waist, and hugged me. "You chose wisely."

.

.

.

TRANSLATIONS:

Ni Eh'kt = My Heartbeat/Bonded

Thank you for reading.

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NEXT CHAPTER:  Asunder (Mourning Crow)

To be Continued...