“What are you talking about?” Zyre approached me and began removing my armor. “Of course, I still want to be with you. If you ask, I’ll seal my fate with you right now.”
“Are you not ashamed of what I’ve done?”
“Listen to me when I say this: you did nothing wrong. My brother is overly cautious, and with his pride bruised by the consequences of his actions, he would rather push the entire world away than admit what he did wrong.”
Zyre gently removed the last piece of my armor and placed it on top of my chest, allowing me to do whatever I wanted later, and grabbed the robe he had handcrafted for me and assisted me in putting it on.
He took my hand and led me to our bed, lifting me up and placing me in the center of it before covering both of us with my white petal blanket.
He combed my hair back with his fingers as a feeder snaked between us, lying on the sheets as a silent offer for me to use if I needed.
In the long, calming silence between us, my breathing settled and my heartbeat slowed.
“Now, tell me,luwaeri,” Zyre said softly, as if concerned about my mental state. “Now that you have your answers, what do you want to do?”
“What should I do?” I retorted, wrapping my hand around his feeder and bringing it to my nose, inhaling its sweet, calming aroma. “I don’t have as many options as I used to.”
“However, if you wanted me to contact my representative, I will.” He palmed his hand from my hair to my cheek. “I don’t want to be the default option for you, no matter how much I want to be with you.”
“But you were never the default option,” I corrected, shaking my head. “I knew before I went to see your brother that I wanted to stay here with you, sealing our fate together.
“I just needed to realize it, and how you took care of me after I fought the pafeldae shook my senses and made my feelings more clear.”
“You want to seal our fate together?” He grinned wildly. “Are you sure?”
I wanted Zyre—and everything he stood for.
Whether it was fate or destiny, his Mother Tree or some smart AI glitching my cell phone, it didn’t change the fact that I wanted to spend the rest of my time with him by my side.
Everything that I’d learned about him, our hometree and the planet X’thyrl where we were currently residing, made me want to stake my claim here. I could take up Zyre’s offer of getting the IPA to help return me back to Earth, but who would know what it was like since I’d been gone? I had no way of knowing what year it was or what other crazy plans the smart AI had with everyone.
“Yes, I am. I don’t want anything else.” I threaded my fingers through his, grabbing his hand. “A partnership involves listening, learning, caring, taking, and giving. It is a bond formed between two beings that is filled with trust and mutual understanding. It begins as a seed, the first time two beings meet, and grows over time, with care and nurturing, into the love they feel for each other.
“You planted a seed of your love within me, spent time nurturing and caring for me, and I know that in time, our growing love will blossom into something beautiful as we continue to face our future as one.”
“You are everything that I’ve wanted and dreamed about,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Whenever you’re happy, I am too. Watching you fight that pafeldae was scary to witness, but knowing that you were easily able to take it down single-handedly only made my chest swell with pride. Surviving one in a hunting group was a feat, defeating two by yourself is something the Carth’aiq warriors should fear.
“Time is meaningless now that you’re here,” Zyre explained. “I no longer have to wait around unmated, wondering when someone would look my way.”
“I want to officially be your mate, yourluwaeri.” I leaned closer to him and bit my bottom lip to prevent myself from laughing at the happiness that extruded from his face from my announcement. “I’m ready to tie our lives together, forever.”
“This is the happiest day of my existence…”
Grabbing his face, I smashed his lips to mine, pouring all my love and appreciation into the kiss to my wonderful mate.
Zyre was the first being I met after fighting for my life against the pafeldae. His acts of kindness drew me to him, even when I needed more time to think about my future.
In the end, it didn’t matter because he ended up capturing my heart through our very first kiss, it just took me this long to allow the walls surrounding it to let him in. Many people I knew from my old life on Earth believed in love at first sight, or searching for your soul mate in AltU. Both types of people would agree that a couple’s first kiss determined the fate of the relationship. If it was filled with lust and fireworks, then they would have a successful future together—and that was exactly how Zyre’s and my first kiss was like.
Instead of fireworks, it was exploding asteroids and shooting stars that flashed before my closed eyes, giving me all the information I needed.
Zyre’s devotion and loyalty attracted me to him. Though I still got lost in the beauty of his body with how attractive he was. There was the unexplainable magnetic pull I felt to his character that made our relationship more than I’d felt before with any of my crushes or exes.
I loved the male for all that he was, and every day he tried to show me how much I meant to him. Each passing moment made me fall more in love with him.
Pulling away, I dropped my hands from his face to grab his hands, giving them a slight squeeze. His teal eyes fluttered open lazily, stunned by my sudden kiss.
His vines gripped my face as he pulled me against him and pressed his lips to mine.
