It only took a blink for the leaders to realize the situation right before Kairos roared in joyous bloodlust, and the nine Vampire leaders raced toward the freed individuals with their swirling black smoke.
Aodh watched as Liekki stepped out in the fray of savagery, not to join in but with a single goal in mind, Avalore, the new Drahkelle running across the old communication center to his waiting arms.
His mission here complete, there was only one place Aodh wanted to be.“Edjer, take command and lead the flight home after you assist Iskah and Dov in getting the people screened and settled.”
“At your command, Mckenna.”
Shifting, Aodh’s dragon shattered the remainder of the glass ceiling and then shoved up into the air to head home.
Epilogue
––––––––
Kai woke.She blinkedback the sleep and wondered what had awakened her so close to midnight.
She snuggled deeper into the nest, feeling fully at peace with Aodh’s big, strong arms surrounding her and cupping their child nestled against her belly, her mate’s roasted, sweet-cinnamon scent cloaking them.She stared into the flickering flames of the fire and sighed in contented bliss as the heat of the blaze bathed them all.Her fingers traced the looped pattern of the hard amber shell, similar in design to the one replicated on her mate’s body, and faintly still adorning her stomach.They had all suspected that the markings and her strength provided would leave her completely with the birth of their child.However, she hadn’t lost anything.
More importantly, she maintained her connection to the dragons as if her link to them was seared into a part of her core.
She doubted she’d ever become a dragon-shifter, but she was more than at peace with it as long as she and Aodh were on one accord.
Over the last few weeks, her world had become small, consisting of the suite where she lay waiting for their child to arrive a second time.
Aodh spent most of his days in his office, busy with preparations for the migration.Since she was bound to the nest, Aodh usually kept their link pathway open so that she could listen and know what was going on.
Besides Tana and Brenna, Avalore stopped in and visited with her when she wasn’t in a security meeting.Her friend’s pregnancy had progressed, not as fast as Kai’s, but she was showing and proud.
Kai’s friend’s visits allowed her to ask questions and offer her opinion on the best ways to help the people who would remain in the human territory.Growers, builders, and livestock workers from every territory were on rotating shifts to help teach humans how to make their lives sustainable in the new world.
At night, when Aodh returned, they spent hours devising plans for the humans who had exhibited clear Drahk genetics during the two-week screening process.
In a few months, once the humans were on a more productive and stable footing, migration would begin across the territories.
Aodh explained to her that the Ursine and Fae screened humans by placing a small, serum-laced tattoo on the thenar space between the index and thumb finger to determine if they were a genetic match for any shifter and assigned them to relocate to the designated territory eventually.
Kai was excited about it, not only for her role in helping them acclimate, but also because she was hoping for more Drahk-human matches.However, it didn’t matter as long as there were more offspring within the Thunder.Tana and she discussed what it would be like to open up the learning buildings again.
