She stops dead in her tracks, mouth dropping open. "Wait, what?"
Wen gives her a small smile and says, "We age slowly, and now so will you."
"How?" Lyra shakes her head like the very idea is ludicrous. I suppose it is, when you're not accustomed to it. It certainly was a shock when we first discovered this little tidbit.
"When the Allagi virus mutated us, this was one of the changes we faced."
Based on her expression, my answer didn't really clear anything up for her. "This is all so…"
"Crazy?" I finish for her when she trails off.
"Insane," she agrees with a frown.
"You'll get used to it." I smile softly. There's a lot she needs to learn, that's true, but in time, life will settle down. She’ll acclimate, just like all of us have over the years.
We start walking again, and I breathe in deeply, loving the fresh air that is so plentiful on Strafor. It truly is a beautiful planet, with all its purples and pinks, where Earth had greens and browns. It’s such an odd sight, but a welcome one for its uniqueness.
A little sniffle draws my attention, and when I look over and see Lyra crying, I push past Wen and pull her into my arms. She squeezes me tightly, and there's a sort of desperation in the motion that makes me want to cry too.
"I must have done a lot of terrible things in my past life," she says between sobs.
Wen comes up to our side and pulls us both into the warmth of his chest, a steady purr already rippling from his throat. Some of the tension in Lyra’s frame wilts, but not enough. Not nearly enough.
"Why do you say that?" I whisper, stroking my hand down her hair in a soft, repetitive motion. My own purr rumbles in my chest in a desperate bid to soothe this distraught female.
"All these horrible things have happened to me!" she cries.
I shush her gently, not knowing what else to do but let her cry it all out. I can't even begin to imagine her pain, and we still don't know what led her to crashing on Strafor to begin with, or what horrors she saw before meeting us.
My heart clenches, and I glance up at my mate, indicating with my eyes for him to do something.
"We need to talk about the crash," he says.
I nearly groan. That wasnotwhat I meant.
"Oh," is all Lyra says.
"Are you hurting anywhere?" I cut in gently as I let her go. "Any aches or pains? Wen can carry you home."
"No, I'm—”
Wen sweeps her into his arms, and she gasps. Her face is tearstained, her eyes red and puffy, and she looks so despondent. I can't stand it. The closer she is to our alpha’s purr, the calmer she will be. I'm not saying she'll be numb to her pain, but it won't be so overwhelming. Wen's purr always makes me feel less alone in the world, and I hope it does the same for Lyra.
I get the feeling she's been alone for a long time and can use some companionship. And that's something I plan to offer, something I plan to give freely and without stipulation, and I know my mate will too. He's a kind man and an affectionate alpha, the perfect combination.
It isn't long before Lyra falls asleep cradled in Wen's arms. He and I don't speak; there's no need to. We don't want to risk waking her up, especially when she's had a difficult couple cycles. Instead my mate and I enjoy the long walk home, with him ensuring our pace is calm and sedate so I don't overwork myself. While I'm not worried about my weak health, I know Wen is. He'll always look out for me, and it's my job to look out for him too.
I smile. We make a good pair, and hopefully an even better trio with Lyra in the picture.
I'm glad he claimed her, glad they were compatible, glad to be able to keep her and protect her, though we've not done a good job of it so far. Perhaps now we'll have a calm couple years before anything else traumatizing happens. She's so unaccustomed to our world, and her introduction to her new life has been brutal and cruel.
Hopefully we can help her through this and show her the wonderful things this planet has to offer.
Hopefully we can fix this horrible mess.
Anoisebreaksthroughmy dreams and I slowly come to. I'd fallen straight to sleep alongside Lyra the moment we returned home and Wen carefully settled her into our nest. The moment I pulled the blanket over us and watched our mate head back outside to deal with the mess from the fight, I was out.
As I start to fall back asleep, a soft moan reminds of why I woke up in the first place. The scent of slick is strong, stronger than it was before our rest, and it has me sitting up.