Emalynn POV

A familiar scent of wet, crunchy fall leaves invades my nose as my body slowly returns to life from a deep sleep. My memories are foggy at best, but when I open my eyes, all I see are stars. The sound of splashing water and footsteps echo in my ears. My head pounds from the pain of trying to focus on anything. Each breath of air feels heavy in my chest like there’s a rope around my chest. Where am I? I try to get up and roll across a bed into a wall. There’s a slight rocking and movement beneath me that clues me in. I am on a boat.

“Do we know when she will wake up again?” A deep, raspy voice asks.

“Brax you know as well as I that her injuries were severe. You did a good job healing Emera. Her body is just trying to adjust to the trauma it endured from the battle royale.” Another smooth voice responds.

“I keep calling to her, Si,” the raspy voice sounds sad. The silence in my mind and absence of the bond are pressing on my sanity.”

Braxton, my small inner voice calls to him. Brute.

“Holy-”

“What?” The smoother voice asks.

“I heard her just now. She must hear us talking!” The raspy voice sounded excited.

Em, he calls in my mind. Can you hear me?

My eyes blink open to find his big, stubley face looking down at me. “Yes,” I mutter to him. He slowly envelopes me into a tight hug.

For the next few hours, Braxton refuses to leave my side in our cozy little bunkroom. He catches me on all of the drama I missed during my little coma over the last five days. We are on the Red Wolf vessel that Braxton and I had prepared before the battle happened. When Braxton got me from the arena, I was unconscious and naked. My injuries were extensive, but Braxton was able to save my life for the second time since I met him. The ambassador’s husband ended up losing to Rory in the end. My girl was free now. She’s no longer being hunted. Silas brought her directly to the ship after the battle ended. We have almost made it back to Kanna from Desfyra. I get a full lecture from my mate on my reckless actions during the battle.

“Fine, I won’t be as reckless when trying to help my best friends escape eternal servitude,” I relent.

“That’s a bit much,” Ro said sarcastically. She’s leaning against the wall, waiting for Braxton to answer.

“She almost died.” He says in his defense. His arms are crossed like his legs from sitting on the floor.

“We almost die all the time, Brax. An adventurer’s life is a journey of danger while completing simple or impossible tasks. Death is always waiting in the wings for those who put their life at risk. Although, Ema is much fluffier than other adventurers, so maybe it will be different for her.” Her expression is twisted between smiling and being stern like a parent explaining things to a child.

“Yes. She is fluffier than everyone else in the world!” His voice became animated. “It’s different now. I am her mate. We are a family.” He sighs looking at Rory’s pouting face. “You are included in this family as well as Silas, and anyone else who wants it.” His fingers run through his hair. “Almost dying all the time isn’t a way of life. I won’t let us live like that.” Braxton argues. His voice is hard and demanding of our attention. Damn, this guy would be a good dad.

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“Okay, big guy. Let’s focus on getting stronger, so no one comes close to dying again.” I offer a happy solution to ease Braxton’s concerns. My ears drop at the thought of them overworking themselves in training. Is this my life? Playing the part of substitute mother, mate, and best friend all at once. I feel this will cut down on my tree-swinging time.

“Ema, don’t worry about your tree time,” they say in unison.

“How did you know?”

“Between the ears and the tail drooping, it was hard to miss.” Braxton smiles and kisses my head. “I’ll go make sure we are still on course although it’ll still be a few weeks until we get there.” My big brute tussles my furr before heading out the door, leaving us alone.

For the first time, I studied Rory closely. She’s back to her normal appearance, but her black furry ears and fluffy tail are on display. Her left ear has a hole in the side that I don’t recognize at first. Then, I remember my rogue arrow blowing through her ear in the arena and my face feels flush. “Shit. I gotcha good, Ro.”

She pretends to be smooth as she unfolds her hands to let her finger graze the hole. “Yeah. Lookin’ pretty badass with it, right?” I shook my head with a smile. “It is my trophy for winning the battle royale.”

“All you need is a piercing, and someone might confuse you for a pirate.” I giggle.

Ro settles on the bed next to me. “I missed you, Em. You seriously scared us.”

“I had to jump in and save your ass from that creep. Stop needing me to save you, and I will stop almost dying. I hope.” My voice breaks as I talk. “You get into so much trouble and make rash decisions too easily.”

“I assume this is about my short engagement to Silas, huh?” I nod. Her face darkens a bit. “I never thought I could get swept up in the moment like I did with him.” Rory lies back on the bed and sighs. “We are partners. Committed to facing the world together without worrying about romance. I realized that I was not ready for romance because there was too much I wanted to do and see. Not because of my status as a hybrid. Love may be in my future eventually, just…not today.”

Ro has changed. She isn’t scared to feel life happening anymore. This small difference will guide us toward a happier future. She tells me about how the first thing we were doing with her freedom was going home. Myrra, Elias, and even Leah if she can get away will be there, and I feel my heart swell. Our journey has paid off, and I hope this peace lasts. We sit and talk for what feels like hours.

Rory POV

Ema giggles across from me, and I couldn’t be more thankful. She’s awake, but she still feels weak and dizzy. I pray that I am making the right call to visit home again. Silas walks with me up to the deck as we look out over Lyona River, which will carry us through Mauve’s Forest. Silas assures me it will be the fastest and safest route. I just want to see everyone I care about alive and happy.

“Ready to talk this time?” Ema questions me. She might still be upset over me not talking to her about being engaged to Silas.

“I guess.” My heart quickens over what details to share with her. “Silas kissed me back in Tana Town. He slowly confessed his feelings for me. The research trip was blissful because we were living in our own peaceful bubble, and it was hard not to fall into the romance of it. Reality hit me a little too hard when I returned to the castle. Love didn’t feel impossible anymore, but all of it was forced by his sister. Marriage isn’t on my radar right now, and Silas understood my choices.”

Ema took a minute to process my words. “Totally not where I thought this conversation was going,” she gave me a half smile. I wanted to know how this freer version of you was going.”

“Quit overthinking,” I gave her a frown.

“Okay, well, what’s next? What do we do after we visit home?” Ema crossed her arms.

“I don’t know, but we are going to figure it out together. Maybe, we can find a place to take in and train future adventurers like we talked about." I smiled.

Ema's tail twitched with excitement. "Well, we have Lyle and Estra to start with. They should be on this boat somewhere."

I am glad my best friend is happy. She's been my rock this year. I hope I can help her bring her dream to life. "They are." I reply. "They've been causing trouble like a certain monkey I know."

She giggles as I tickle her stomach until she pushes me away. "If this is what comes after then I don't mind going on long adventures together."

"Me either."