"It was Mourning Crow or nothing," Shale entered the hygiene chamber after relocating the boys to their beds.

Between the preparation, the fight, and the branding, our mate was exhausted, but she welcomed the boys into our bed and let them cuddle with her until they all dozed off for the evening.

"That's good," I nodded to my mate as he patted my shoulder, then went over to turn on the shower built into the far wall. "I was worried they'd be too keyed up after all the excitement."

"She's always been more skilled at settling them down," Shale reminded.

"That's because she's the only one of us who can sing to them," I chuckled and stretched out further in the tub.

Shale flipped the heat up on his shower, flooding the black chamber with thick steam.

"I'm surprised Crazy Wolf let you pry him from her arms," I chittered, leaning my head back and hooking my lower horns on the back of the tub.

"It wasn't easy," Shale glanced back at me with a grin. "He knotted his quills into her hair before nodding off."

"He has a knack for making every victory arduous."

"I'm certain he gets that from you," Shale whipped his head at me with a laugh.

That pup excelled at problem-solving but was ironclad in maintaining proximity to his mommy.

I have no idea why he clings to calling her that...

Raven Tide grew out of it, but Crazy Wolf was determined to keep his mother all to himself.

Hopefully, the distraction of Peleon joining us on our trip to Menthla would minimize his frustration about Mourning Crow's absence.

I doubt it...

Across the room, stress twisted within Shale's shoulders.

I was caught off guard when he announced Peleon would be attending the Elder rite, but I certainly didn't anticipate her visit to extend all the way to Menthla.

Was he ready for this?

Shale cut off the heat to his shower and threw his head under the ice-cold water.

At least his bearer chose to stay with a friend until our departure the day after Mourning Crow's. The Ancient hadn't been on Sahei in over a century and Shale made a point of never being in the same room with her since before he joined the military.

Shale sighed and thumped his big charcoal grey horns against the wall.

Now wasn't the time to bring up my secession as his Adjutant and his subsequent bizarre denial of my promotion.

Mourning Crow leaving to face the Graven was strenuous enough on all of us.

In an ideal world, he and I would join the fight alongside her, but that simply wasn't possible. She was depending on us to keep our offspring safe and as far away from the Graven as possible.

Shale lathered soap in his hands and then ran them through his long quills.

There were many objectives to accomplish during our upcoming trip to Menthla, but my most crucial mission would be to ease my mates' tension.

He was doing his best to mend the rift with his bearer and allow our pups to build a relationship and get to know her.

I will not fail him.

"I spoke to Dran the other day," Shale spoke out of nowhere. "He's a good fit for the razkurs."

I clenched my jaw.

It was my plan to make a formal announcement after our arrival on the planet that I intended Dran to take my place as Special Envoy to Mentha. Now that the razkurs had officially joined the Nexus, my role was less critical. Shale's position as Oru's voice would always be necessary, but the Envoy's primary function was about facilitating the merger. I had succeeded and Dran was a perfect replacement, especially with him courting Lost Coyote.

"Yes," was all I could respond. "His communication skills have exceeded my expectations."

Shale nodded and returned to washing in silence.

I flicked the swirling water in my tub.

One evening, less than a cycle ago, while we were bathing together, Mourning Crow asked why Shale and I had never mated in her presence. Then we embarrassed her because it never occurred to her that we didn't.

He and I simply had never thought about it.

She apologized for assuming and we assured her that there was nothing said in error. We even made the leap of saying that we would try, if that's what she wanted. But she insisted that she didn't wish to force us into any situation that made us uncomfortable.

Before meeting Mourning Crow, Shale possessed a plethora of daunting attributes that I found indelibly vexing. His good looks were one of many irritants. Hordes of off-world females would migrate to Sahei specifically for the opportunity to bear his offspring. But now, none of them would ever have him.

He was mine, and our offspring were the only ones going forward who would prosper from his genetic pedigree.

However, I still didn't have the urge to mount him as I did with Mourning Crow.

But we did pledge to our mate that while she was away completing her annual Dreads, Shale and I would make an effort to be intimate and not lounge around like platonic brothers.

Mostly, it was awkward.

We would flip a skull on whose turn it was to jerk the other off, then bathe separately or go to bed. At the very least, it was educational.

I got out of the tub, sidestepped the drying pad, and walked up behind Shale.

"Mate," I thumped my forehead against his shoulders.

Shale halted in his rinsing.

I reached my hand around and linked my fingers into his. "I am always here."

He didn't speak, but his spine unwound as he squeezed my hand.

It was okay that he wasn't yet ready to express the pressures that weighed on him.

"Come," I pulled him out of the cold water and looked him in the eyes. "Our mate needs us. There is no need for any of us to be alone in torment."

.

We eased into bed around our mate.

Mourning Crow was weary but awake. Her chest was lightly bandaged with minimal healing ointment. It was important to ensure the burn healed at just the right pace to leave a permanent scar.

"You should rest," I ran my hand through her long prismatic hair.

"But I want you both now," there was a soft tremble in her voice. She was leaving in the morning and none of us wished to waste our last night together.

"Very well," Shale stretched his legs out and propped his back up against the wall. "But lean on us. You shouldn't exert yourself."

Gently, we lifted her onto his lap and took turns kissing her.

"Be sure to remind Raven Tide to switch out the strings on his guitar," Mourning Crow spoke breathlessly between our mouths. "He forgets, and then they snap and cut his hands."

"I marked it on the schedule," I responded, being mindful of bandages on her chest as I caressed her and Shale.

"And Crazy Wolf will need you to sit with him at bedtime," Mourning Crow ran her hands through our quills but it was clear she was anxious about leaving. "I made lullaby recordings in case he gets restless."

"We will ensure he sleeps at the appropriate time," Shale nibbled along her neckline.

The chores were irrelevant; it was being separated from her sons for an unknown period that was putting her mind in overdrive.

I knelt between hers and Shale's legs and flicked my tongue to Mourning Crow's breasts to free her nipples one by one. It quieted her momentarily.

Bruises speckled her torso from the melee. Her performance was above par for her new rank, but a sliver of me still despised the notion of anyone doing her harm. I was proud of my mate's achievement and the responsibility Oru deemed her capable, but deep down, like my son, I wanted Mourning Crow to remain with us, safe at home.

Shale took over and cupped her breasts as I worked my way down and pushed her thighs apart.

The scent of sweat and ash from the arena lingered on her skin.

It made me hard and I growled to taste every bit of her.

"Eh'kt," Mourning Crow gasped and touched my head.

I looked up as she stared down at me.

Her pale eyes were warm but wet around the edges.

I had to blink to keep my own eyes from succumbing to our shared sorrow.

"New long-range comm beacons will be deployed throughout your journey," Shale reminded as he cuddled his big red-scaled arms around her. "You may initiate a link anytime you choose. We will always make time for you."

"It's never the same without your heartbeats nearby," Mourning Crow leaned into him.

"We've made recordings for you as well," Shale reached into a small wall compartment and retrieved a little box we prepared for her.

"Open it," I spoke up when he handed it to her.

She flipped open the top and pulled out a glossy black chain necklace. The pendant was a compact masterpiece of Zhaguai electronics, molded from Abura chitin in the form of an Abura fang.

"It's similar to a locket," I explained. "All our heartbeats; Shale, mine, and the boys are contained. It will play them synchronously or separately in any order. Whenever you desire."

She put it on immediately and cycled through the settings with tears welled up in her eyes.

"I'll wear it always!"

Shale smiled down at me. We knew the necklace would be welcomed, but I wasn't finished delivering my parting gifts.

While my mate was otherwise enchanted by the tiny trinket, I pushed her pelvis up and reached down to Shale's sheath. He was half poking out and his musk was intoxicating.

"More?" Mourning Crow giggled in my hands.

I smirked at her and then slid my tongue tips up and down Mourning Crow's opening and then took a firm grip around Shale's half-hardon.

My largest mate thrummed and quickly rose to full attention in my hand. Then I pushed him to the side to show off my newly gained skills to Mourning Crow.

"Oh.." Mourning Crow's eyes were wide and her ears went slack in captivation.

Her lower lips were wet against my mouth, but she purred three times louder while watching me stroke Shale into a snarling rumble.

Damn, she's overflowing!

For cycle upon cycle, I was alone, clawing my way up from nothing, regimenting every second to training, and never relinquishing a single moment for selfish pleasure. That cold, silent existence was nothing but a phantom now. Life with my mates was warm, noisy, chaotic, and Mourning Crow and Shale reveled in making me happy.

"Eh'kt," Shale grunted and wrapped his arms around Mourning Crow's waist.

My mates had a peculiar talent for concocting new and exhilarating methods catching me off guard and making me ravenous.

Tonight, I would show them what it meant to be cherished.

"If you keep doing that...!" Mourning Crow threw her head back and moaned.

My tongue couldn't keep up with her runoff and Shale was content to submit to my dexterity.

How many times had they paired off and pushed me to the brink of delirium? Or those occasions when one of them would work with me in unison to thrill the other?

I angled Mourning Crow forward and let her ride my tongue. She sprawled her torso out over Shale with her legs spread and her fingers twisting his quills.

The way she sang out sparked a tingle up my short quills.

I once asked Shale, whom he trusted more than me and Mourning Crow, but at that time and in every moment since, the same has been true of me and them.

Mourning Crow had seen me clearly long before I barely understood myself.

And Shale... he only judged me for my actions and my honor and never for the follies of my past that I had no control over. He kept his word of eliminating the stigma that stymied my progress and wisely enlisted the Elder Groon to prevent it from occurring again to any other member of Jahaa.

I paused my fist and pushed Shale up into her slit.

"Fuck mate," Shale groaned like thunder. "You're so tight!"

He clamped his claws to her hips and plowed into her slow and deeply.

It didn't take much pressure, just a few clicks and laps of my tongue here and there to drive Mourning Crow to squeak and sing out my name.

"Eh'kt! Yes!" Mourning Crow cried out in Ahnzi with her leg flexed over my shoulder. "Don't stop!"

I lavished her clit while Shale thickness thrust into her all the way to the brim.

She hitched one of her legs over my shoulder and tugged me closer, which gave my forked tongue ample opportunity to tease the pair of them to the edge.

"I... I'm...." Mourning Crow's little clawed toes curled and her delectable pussy went tense against my mouth.

A second later, Shale lost himself inside her.

Mourning Crow's abdomen constricted around Shale, like tectonic plates shifting under the ocean surface.

I licked her and caressed them both as they were encapsulated in their moment of rapture. Their sweat, their panted breaths, their sweet and savory mingled scents... it was perfection and beyond anything I could have imagined.

"Eh'kt," Mourning Crow eventually opened her eyes and tugged my long quills.

She yanked me up and assaulted my face with unbridled kisses, laying her hands all over my body as her legs beckoned me inside. She had the same flicker in her eyes as the night we conceived our sons.

Shale raised his knees and made room for me. He was spent and would need a moment to recover, but thanks to our solo sessions, I knew exactly how to hotwire his engine.

I licked Mourning Crow's neck and chest but was careful around her bandage.

The heat vibrating off of the pair of them was practically tactile.

If only Mourning Crow were not on birth control, we would give her a fierce offspring this evening... but our pups were far from their first Dread Trial. It was considered negligent to produce sucklings while older pups were still in training.

And then there was the trouble of our offspring not being able to fight U'la'ke...

A challenge to overcome at another time...

I tucked my knees beneath Shale's thighs and eased into Mourning Crow, only to have Shale grab my ass and slammed me in.

Mourning Crow purred all around me and hugged my shoulders.

"Is it for us or you?" she stared at me. "That you make yourself ache before joining?"

"You tell me!" I shoved my mouth to her and pushed in with all of my weight.

"Ahh!" Mourning Crow dug her claws into my shoulders and embraced me with her legs.

"Mate," I grinned at Shale. I wasn't done with him and reached down to coax him out again.

He was all for it and knew precisely when to join me.

Mourning Crow's ears flopped the second we were inside together.

Being a female razkur, she was built for this, but no amount of practice could make our union any less overwhelming.

Mourning Crow purred and mumbled our names while kissing back and forth between us.

Every angle of my plunges mattered.

Faster... listen to his breathing... lick her when she gives you an opening...

All these fragments culminated in my greatest challenge.

I had my arms straight and locked against the wall with my mouth agape and huffing. Mourning Crow's forehead was flush to mine, with Shale's face flanked right beside us.

We kept an alternating pace while I minded to apply pressure down and leftward.

Both sets of claws poked into me, drawing me to my limit; Shale's on my haunches and Mourning Crow's snug in my sides.

"Fuck, Mate!" Shale bellowed with his eyes wincing. "You are... specta.."

He snapped his fangs, then out of nowhere, Shale hooked his hand around my head and shoved his tongue in my mouth!

I couldn't fight the surprise in my eyes, but I let him kiss me and gave way to his long quills spiraling around mine.

A sudden burst of sharp, brilliant pleasure caught us both off guard. The sight of our embrace had induced Mourning Crow to climax.

Shale rolled his head back with his eyes clenched shut.

"Fuuuuuuck!!!" The force of Shale's roar rattled the trophies hanging on the walls.

I sped up and pumped with increased vigor.

The veins in Shale's neck and forehead were plump and pulsing.

"Cum with me," I nuzzled my head between them. My sac cramped at the base and Mourning Crow's lockdown constrictions triggered hot, wily pulses up my shaft and spine.

My thoughts swirled as the intricately woven tether that was my composure quickly unraveled.

It was safe to lose control.

In their arms, I was free to be messy, and clumsy, and completely unprepared. I could laugh without criticism and be laughed at for all the peculiar quirks I kept secret in order to feign the appearance of competence.

Mourning Crow shuddered in my arms while Shale howled and compressed the ligature of our three-sided carnal knot.

My place was here. Always.

No amount of distance or hordes of a Graven army could come between us or tear our family apart. In them, on them, with them; reality withered away until the beat of our hearts was all that remained. I held them tight and released all that I was, and everything in between us was warm and alive.

.

.

.

TRANSLATIONS:

Ahnzi = Mourning Crow's native language

U'la'ke/Abura = alien cat species that are mortal enemies of the Zhaguai. Have stinger tails with paralytic venom. Known as "The Felija" to humans. They live in large Prides. Lieges are the biggest, are both sexes, have large manes, and thirteen tails. AlSO: a sacred predatory species that shares a symbiotic relationship with the Razkurs.

Abura = a sacred alien cat species that is a specific strain of U'la'ke born on Menthla that shares a symbiotic relationship with the Razkurs.

...

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