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“Mom! Dad!” he calls, and the short woman bounces up and down on the spot in excitement.
“Cassie, come and give your mama a hug.” She holds her arms out wide and is practically lost in her son’s embrace. “Oh, I’ve missed you so much.” She sobs and squeezes him tight until he grunts.
“Mira, be gentle with our son. You don’t want to pop him.” The man rubs his mate’s back, cautioning her. She releases Cas, and his father just as quickly takes her place. They exchange manly hugs and back slaps.
Once they part, Cas turns and holds out his hand, gesturing me forward. “Mom, Dad, I want you to meet my mate, Lila. Lila, this is Mira and Murphy, my parents.” I don’t even get a chance to say hello before I’m also being enveloped in hugs. The two of them hug me together in a three-way hug that sends my senses into overdrive. They smell like Caspian, coconuts and ocean breezes, and their hugs are warm and inviting. I melt into the two of them, and a huge wave of relief causes me to sag. I didn’t know what to expect, since I haven’t had much luck with a lot of the people on the ship, but knowing that they are friendly and excited for Cas is a huge relief.
They both pull back, and Cas’s mom looks me up and down. “Goddess, you are beautiful. I can see why Cassie’s kraken mated you. Mine probably would have done the same thing.” She winks, and Murphy chuckles.
Caspian groans and pulls me away from his mother. “Mom, stop flirting with my mate. She has a kraken too, and she’s a horny, kinky beast, so she may just take you up on the offer.”
I can feel my kraken inside. She thinks Cas’s mom is pretty, but she isn’t inclined that way. She doesn’t have the time for someone if they don’t have a cock.
“Nope, my kraken and I are in agreement. We are sausage lovers and will not be swayed by a pretty taco, but I am flattered,” I interject, adding to the weirdest conversation I’ve had to date, and that’s saying something. I never thought I’d be turning down an offer from one of my mates’ parents.
Mira waves a hand. “Oh, no worries. Ignore me, it’s almost breeding season and my kraken is horny as fuck.”
“Breeding season?” I ask, looking between my mate and his parents. Caspian winces, and Murphy frowns.
“Have you not explained how being a shifter works?”
“Not really. A lot has happened since we’ve been mated, and I haven’t really gotten around to explaining everything.”
“Come on, let’s get to our vehicle and get comfortable, and then I’ll explain on the way home.” Mira grabs my hand as Murphy and Caspian pick up our luggage. They drag me through a now deserted shuttle port and outside to a vehicle that’s parked next to a curb. So far, Fluxx is very Earth-like, but the buildings look a little more futuristic, as does the vehicle. This one looks like a minivan crossed with a Lamborghini—big but with long, sleek lines. It doesn’t have tires, so I guess it must work on some kind of hover technology.
Cas and Murphy load our luggage into the trunk as Mira and I shuffle into the back. There are three rows of seating back here, but I guess when you have as many kids as they do, then you need the space. Cas and his dad get into the front, and then we are off.
“All shifters have breeding seasons. It’s when unmated males and females vie for mates and mated couples. They tend to seclude themselves away for a while if they plan on having kids. It usually lasts a couple of weeks, and it’s a frenzy of sex. For krakens, it’s about domination and strength. Murphy will have to convince my kraken he is worthy of her, and only then will she allow him to implant her with his eggs.”
“How often does this happen?” I stammer, wondering if I’m about to be permanently pregnant for the rest of my life. I don’t know how I feel about that.
“Oh, every six months.” Mira must see me pale, because she pats my hand.
“Oh no, dear, you don’t have to let them implant their eggs either. Look at us. Cassie’s clutch was the last time I let Murphy implant his eggs. Since then, he just expels them into the current. It’s not a big deal, and they understand that we can’t be constantly pregnant. It just makes them try harder next time.” She winks, and Cas groans.
“Mom,” he whines like a teenager. “I do not need a visual of your sex life.”
“Pfft, everyone does it, son. There’s nothing to be ashamed of, and your mother is rather good at it, if I must say so myself.”
Mira preens, and Murphy winks at her in the mirror as the smell of ocean breeze and coconut floods the vehicle.
“Oh my god, is that what I do too?” I ask Cas in horror, and he turns to look at me.
“Yes, whenever you’re horny, and it’s often. You smell like rain after a long, hot dry spell and freshly baked bread.”
Huh! Now that is a weird combination.
I must have said it out loud, because Cas shakes his head. “Nope, it makes my mouth water, and it hasn’t escaped my notice that other shifters are affected by it too.”
My mind goes to Silac and the way his nostrils always flare around me. I thought it was a snake thing, but maybe it’s a Lila thing. “Do I smell like that to everyone?”
“No. Different races will scent you differently,” Mira explains, and I wonder what I smell like to my other mates. I must remember to ask.
“Is the mating dome ready?” Cas asks his father as I watch Fluxx pass through the window, but I soon lose interest in favor of the question.
“Mating dome?” I lean forward between the two chairs and raise an eyebrow at my mate.
“Damn it, Cassie. Why doesn’t she know any of this?” Mira scolds her son, and Cas shrugs sheepishly.
