Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 67092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67092 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“Nobody’s gonna die,” Raak growled. “But thank you for your help, Doc Silki,” he added, nodding graciously at her.
“Just Silki is fine, yes it is, yes it is,” she said, nodding her furry head. “I’ll leave the two of you alone. No—don’t bother. I’ll see myself out—yes I will, yes I will.”
“Now then, baby girl,” Raak said, turning to Kara as soon as they heard the cabin door thunk shut. “Where were we? Come here—I want you.”
“All right.” Kara stepped into his arms. “But slower this time—we need to be careful.”
“Baby, we can be as slow and careful as you want. We’ll take all night.” Raak grinned wolfishly. “Gonna bond you to me all over again.”
And he did. Because, thanks be to the Goddess, Kara thought as she kissed her new mate, he was no longer Unbondable.
Epilogue
“You ready for this?” Raak shot her a sidelong glance filled with concern. “Sure you don’t want us to come with you?”
“Not at first.” Kara took a deep breath. “Let me explain to my parents and my twin brother first—I’ll give you a call when I’m ready for you to come out—both of you.” She shot a quick glance at Silki, who had begged to come back with them and take a tour of the Mother Ship. Since the little Tolleg doctor had been so helpful, Kara hadn’t had the heart to refuse.
“We will wait here. Yes we will, yes we will,” Silki promised, nodding her head and swiveling her furry ears.
“Yup—right here.” Raak settled back into the pilot’s seat and nodded. “We’ll be waiting for your call, baby girl.”
“You’ll hear it in a minute,” Kara promised and then let herself out on the passenger side and went to meet her waiting family.
They were all there—her mom and dad and Kaleb—as well as Yipper, whom they seemed to have brought along with them to check her out.
“Kara! Oh, thank the Goddess you’re safe!”
Her mother, Sophia, was the first to reach her. Running forward, her sandals clattering on the floor of the Docking Bay, she grabbed Kara and pulled her into a tight embrace.
“Oh, my little girl!” She was nearly crying. “We thought you were lost for good!”
“Mom, I’m not that little anymore, you know,” Kara pointed out, looking down at her much shorter mother. But she couldn’t resist the hug—it felt too good to see her mom again.
“Kare-kare!” Kaleb was next, pulling her into a rough embrace. “Gods, where did you go?” He gave her a reproachful look. “You said you were moving out—not leaving the Mother Ship entirely!”
“You’ve given us all a terrible fright.” Sylvan frowned, his face filled with loving concern.
“Your family was most worried—yes they were, yes they were,” Yipper told her, shaking his head so that his floppy ears flew.
“When Baird told us that one of the extra ships was missing and we heard about a disturbance on Tranq Prime, we figured out where you’d gone,” Sophia said.
“But then your trail went cold and we had no idea where to look!” Kaleb exclaimed. “All we knew was that Great Uncle Grennly and Great Aunt Zeelah said you’d run off with that Unbondable bastard!”
Kara took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves.
“First of all,” she said, “Uncle Grennly and Aunt Zeelah tried to have my fangs pulled. Secondly,” she went on, speaking over their shocked exclamations of dismay. “That ‘Unbondable bastard’ saved my life. Not only that, but he’s now my mate.”
“What? Oh, Kara, no!” her mother cried. She took a closer look at Kara. “Oh, your eyes! Please tell me you didn’t Join yourself to a male you can never bond with!”
“Well, that’s kind of the third thing.” Kara smiled at her. “It turns out Raak isn’t unbondable after all.”
“He’s not?” Sylvan asked blankly. “And how would you know that?”
Kara shrugged, grinning at all of them.
“I know because we’re bonded.”
This caused so many questions, all shouted at once in the echoing confines of the Docking Bay, that she had to hold up her hands for silence and practically yell to be heard.
“Take it easy, you guys! I promise I’ll explain everything.”
“For now, all you need to know is that it involves the Goddess,” a deep voice said behind her.
Turning, Kara saw her new mate coming up behind her with Silki scampering at his side. When Raak reached her, he put an arm around her shoulders and drew her close.
“Hey, I thought you were going to wait for my call,” she sent through their link.
“Got tired of waiting. And it seemed like you could use some backup.”
He smiled at her family and then spoke to her father.
“Forgive me for not asking you formally before taking your daughter as my mate,” he told Sylvan. “But please let me assure you that I love her with all my heart and we were bonded in the sight of the Goddess.”