The Alien’s Seduction by Zoey Draven
Epilogue
Dear Lauren,
There is too much that I want to say and a lot of it, I don’t think I can even convey through this letter, no matter how long it might be. But I will certainly, certainly try.
By now, the woman who is delivering this letter to you, my friend Bianca, will have told you a seemingly crazy story. But it is a true story nonetheless and one that might require time to digest and come to terms with. Remember when you forced me to binge-watch the X-Files a couple summers ago? Well, all jokes aside, Mulder was right. We are not alone. We are farfrom alone, as crazy as that idea might seem.
Case in point, I am writing to you from a planet called Luxiria. By now, hopefully, Bianca will have told you all about it, about how we came to be here. By ‘we,’ I mean the women who I consider family. With the exception of Bianca, who has a family of her own on Earth, a family she was desperate to return to, we have all decided to stay here on Luxiria, though we were given the choice to return.
And I want to explain to you why I decided to stay. I know you might not understand or you might be worried.
But simply, the reason is this: I fell in love with a male named Cruxan. And Lauren? He is everything to me. He is honest and kind. He makes me feel safe and protected. He inspires me to create. He makes me laugh, he makes me want more from life, he makes me want to be better.
It was the most difficult decision of my life, choosing to stay on Luxiria with him, knowing that I would never see Earth again, knowing I would never see you again. I think about you everyday. I think about my future niece—all my future nieces and nephews actually because I know you and Jared want more than one—everyday.
But with Cruxan…it was fate. We were meant to find each other. That might not make sense to you now, but it is a powerful thing. You know I’ve never believed in soul mates, but I believe in them now. Because I’ve found mine.
Cruxan runs an outpost on Luxiria called Otala. It is where we will live, it is where we will raise our children when we eventually have them—and yes, we can have them together. It is a mountainous region with steep cliffs, but it is majestic and breathtaking nonetheless. On a clear day, I can see for miles and, as you can imagine, I have been drawing up a storm. I’ll include some drawings in the back of this letter.
Speaking of drawings, remember Krane and Jron? Well, I’m finally writing their first book. I started on the first draft last week, the story about Krane confessing his love to the goblin princess. Remember that? And you were right. It was terribly romantic. It wasn’t embarrassing at all. Kate, one of the women here, used to work at a publishing house, and we hope that with the book’s eventual publication, it can bring a little bit of Earth to our new home.
There is still so much that I want to tell you, Lauren. So much that I’ve thinking about, about the past, about Mom. At the time of writing this letter to you, Bianca isn’t set to leave Luxiria for another week or so. I will write to you everyday though, so that she has a bundle to take home with her, but in this first letter, I just wanted to assure you that I am safe and I am happy. That you don’t need to worry or fear the worst about my disappearance.
And I also wanted to thank you. Thank you for being there for me, not just when we were kids, but during those dark times for us all. You were my rock. You are the best sister anyone can ask for and I couldn’t have gotten through that time without you. I don’t know if I told you enough, but I wanted to tell you now.
I will write to you tomorrow, I promise. For now, Cruxan is almost home and he is taking me to something called a Lunar Celebration. There will be food and music and dancing…and I’ve been looking forward to it since he told me about it.
I love you, Lauren. I always have and I always will.
Thinking about you always,
Crystal
“Luxiva,”Cruxan rasped when he saw her.
He entered their bedroom just as she was folding the letter closed. Cruxan had found something that resembled paper for her to write on. In reality, it was a stiff, but thin cloth used by the vendors for certain styles of shirts, but it served its purpose well.
She stood, already in her silver dress. “You like it?” she asked, running her hands over the material.
“Tev,” he rumbled, closing the distance between them, bending down to give her a kiss.
She had been in Otala for a little over a week now. Cruxan had kissed her a million times and she knew she’d never grow tired of them.
She was a little breathless when he pulled back. “We can skip the Lunar Celebration, you know,” he rumbled. “I would like nothing more than to take you to the furs and—”
“No,” she said, laughing, knowing he was only half-teasing. “I want to go.”
His eyes flicked to the closed letter on her makeshift desk. Cruxan was in the process of building her a studio for the back room in the dwelling, the room that received the most morning light, just as she’d once told him she wanted. Something he’d remembered.
“Did you finish it?” he asked.
“The first one,” she said, biting her lip. “There’s so much I still have to say.”
He jerked his head in a nod. “Vaxa’an will invade the Mevirax’s camp in the coming spans. Bianca will be able to return to Earth. Your sister will know the truth soon.”
That was all she wanted. Well, that and one other thing…
“And Erin?” she asked, like she did everyday. “Any sighting of her?”
By his expression, she knew his answer before he said it.
“I am sorry, luxiva,” he murmured. “Still no sighting. But I sent out five more scouts this morning, to journey east and south.”
“Thank you,” she said, giving him a small smile. He knew she was disappointed by the news, but she had to have faith. Now that she had Cruxan, some of her fear for Erin had lessened. Because she couldn’t fathom that Jaxor’an would harm her in any way. Surely, it would kill him.
“Come,” he murmured, brushing his hand over her lips. “It is your first Lunar Celebration and we do not want to be late.”
She smiled and pressed a kiss to his palm. Though Erin still weighed heavy in her mind, she was determined to enjoy the night with her new mate.
And soon, once this whole mess with the Mevirax was sorted, they would perform their ravraxia. They would journey to the plains of the Ravrax’tor and they would bind their union before the Fates, forever.
There was much to be thankful for that night, so Crystal took Cruxan’s hand and they left their dwelling. He guided her to the hovercraft and soon, they were shooting off their terrace, towards the outpost’s center.
His arms were wrapped around her, shielding her from the chill of the Otala night, as he piloted the craft.
With the stars above them, with the distant sound of laughter and music in the air, Crystal smiled, threading her fingers through Cruxan’s.
A bright future lay ahead of them.
And it would be everything that she knew it could be.
THE END
