Berne shook his head, she was taking to everything like a bear cub to snow. She was excitable, overwhelming, and talked faster than he could think half the time. He couldn’t have designed himself a better mate.
“Yes, lass, let’s go see about your glass. We can always get measurements and groceries after,” he said. Sirin squealed and ran off toward the center of town, her body undulating in a way that forced him to practice his lunology again. He ran after her chuckling. Considering she didn’t know where to find the glassmith, he wasn’t sure where she thought she was going. What he was sure of, though, was he’d be happy to follow regardless.
1.After spending years living in a society that expected me to erase any vestiges of my own culture, being with Berne was a revelation. He valued the parts of me that I’d hidden for years and went out of his way to embrace them in our life.
2.I’ll be a bit of a braggart and say that I completed said curriculum within six weeks, it helped that I really only needed to learn those things specific to Sanctuary but it went faster than otherwise since those things were exceedingly fascinating to me. By eight weeks, Sigfinn and I were immersed in our research.
3.Because the people of Sanctuary are such astoundingly powerful lunologists, they often don’t actively think about how they are using it. Most of their effects happen entirely subconsciously and I have found, as a result, that shifting this mindset to more active control is difficult at first. Berne’s body wasn’t actually interested in not being hard, since he was receiving tactile feedback. Going against his body’s natural instincts was difficult, whereas working with their bodies, they tend to be extremely successful. Most often, the human shifters of Sanctuary don’t even realize they are catching a cold, since their body heals it before they even notice.
Chapter thirteen
EPILOGUE
IN WHICH ALL PREVIOUSLY AFOREMENTIONED, BUT AS OF YET UNSATISFIED PROMISES ARE FULFILLED
TwoMonthsLater
“She looks so young,” Sirin whispered, afraid to wake the sleeping Goddess floating in the deep pool under the mountain.
“She does. Thought she’d be a grown lady,” Berne replied. They looked over a ledge, gripping the handrail a hundred feet above. Their whispers echoed through the large cavern, punctuated by drips of condensation off the stalactites. “At least she’s big. I think I would be more disappointed if our Lady was normal-sized.”
Sirin chuckled. “I imagine she can be any size she likes, love.”
She stared in wonder as the currents brought lunula close to the Goddess, and lit up as it became infused with her magic. She’d always imagined there would be some ecological explanation for their magic. It was somewhat embarrassing she’d dismissed the divine origin theories almost immediately. Regardless of her embarrassment, she felt nothing short of utter awe to be both in the presence of her Goddess and to have found the answers, and even more titillating questions, concerning her life’s quest.1
Sirin was thrilled that knowing the source of magic had only opened more avenues for research. She practically vibrated at the thought of commencing studies on how the people of Sanctuary gained shifting abilities, as well as the ever-changing hybrid animals. Her initial theory was the constant influx of lunula tended to speed up evolution in some ways and made it take a complete left turn in others. Sudden spontaneous mutations seemed common, and hybrids between animals happened often enough that several established species were native to the area. Her new neighbors had shared that hybrids didn’t even arise from breeding, per se, but instead from predator-prey relationships. They had several species of winged animals she was fairly certain came from animals consuming birds, cats and foxes chief among them.
Berne shifted to stand behind her, wrapping his thick arms around her waist and plopping his head on her shoulder. It seemed resting his head on her was a favorite position of his, regardless of whether he was shifted into his bear form or not. They stood silently together, enjoying each other’s company and the tranquility of the Lady’s pool.
“I am not certain we can truly call her a lady,” Sirin thought, “she looks to be 16.”
After several quiet minutes, Sirin became aware of Berne’s hardness pressing into her backside. She giggled quietly and whispered, “I don’t know if that is an appropriate form of worship, sir.”
“If she didn’t want me to worship yeh, she shouldn’t have made yeh so tempting. Don’t get me wrong, she is majestic and everything, but how long are we gonna stand here and look at her? I have an important appointment with my mate, yeh see.”
“Mmmm, I see.” Sirin nodded. “That sounds very official. I would hate for you to be late.”
“Oh aye, my mate can be quite cross if she is not regularly attended to. I have to keep a schedule to keep up with her demands! I don’t always tell her we have an appointment though; makes it seem spontaneous-like.”
Sirin ground herself back against him and said, “Well, I would hate to keep her waiting then.” She shunted some lunula forward quickly and bolted from the room, hoping he would give chase.
She sprinted back up the tunnel leading down to their Lady’s Repose, the echoes of the long hall making it seem as if Berne was right behind her. When she reached the top, she burst through the door, startling the guards, who rolled their eyes at her. Nearly everyone in town was used to their silliness, and the guards seemed no exception. She ran toward a stand of trees as if that would slow him, but truly she wanted the trees to act as a blind for some privacy. Her heart hammered in her chest as she listened for him. She couldn’t hear any footfalls, neither two nor four-legged, anywhere around her. The forest seemed silent.
As she stood there, whipping her head around to find him, she suddenly felt the press of his thick cock against her ass again. She turned her head, but couldn’t see him there. In fact, she couldn’t see anything at all.
“Berne!” she scolded, “What are you playing at?”
Her vision entirely occluded, Sirin was left with nothing but the feel, the scent, and the sounds of him around her. His quick breaths in her ear puffed strands of hair in front of her face and tickled her neck. One hand snaked toward her breasts while the other delved for her rapidly moistening cunt. She squirmed against him, breath catching as he dipped his fingers into her slick folds and plucked at her nipple. He growled in approval and gently nipped at her neck. Sirin squirmed against him and reached back to pull his shirt over his head—that he wasn’t wearing?
The soft crackle of fire caused her to open her eyes. The dim lighting revealed the familiar outlines of their home. Behind her, Berne thrust against her and swirled his finger around her clit. The Berne in her bed had merged with the Berne of her dream. Sirin groaned and ground back against the hard bar of his cock, enjoying waking up in her favorite way. She often had no idea who began their midnight sessions, but they were always a welcome surprise. This was especially true since Berne had been away on a long patrol, and she hadn’t expected him home until tomorrow.
Sirin’s head lolled back onto Berne’s shoulder, and she reached back to pull at the hair at the nape of his neck. “Hello, when ah—“ He sucked on her mating bite, causing jolts of pleasure to thrum through her body.
“The second I walked in the door, I could smell your arousal, love,” he purred against her ear. “I climbed into bed to find yeh wet and wanting; I can’t have that now can I?”
Sirin shook her head frantically. Goddess, he knew just how to talk to make her dripping.
Berne’s fingers toyed with her, strumming and stoking her desire. Sirin knew his priority was to get her to come, but her cunt felt empty and she wanted him inside hernow.She could come when he was inside her, simple as that. Sirin bucked against him, grinding against his hardness, feeling him leak a trail of precum between her ass cheeks and up her lower back. Perhaps if she ground enough, turned him on enough, he would relent and fill her up.
