THE VROL TRILOGY (49 page)

"Yeah, best night ever," he quietly said.
"How about you? Slept well?"

She moved closer to him and set her head upon
his chest while tenderly tracing lines with her fingernails over
his taught, well-formed stomach, softly moving her cheek across his
skin, trying to bring him back down to earth.

"Yeah, same here. Best night ever, baby."

"Jennie, um, last night. It was my first
time. I hope you weren't… disappointed or anything."

She lifted her head, gave Max a surprised
look and nearly started laughing out loud.

"Are you kidding? That was the most amazing
night of my life! I'll be surprised if I can run on the training
field tomorrow."

"Huh? You mean I didn't suffer from
comparison?"

She shot him a sharp, penetrating glare that
instantly caused him to regret his words, but her face softened
into a smile and she leaned forward, giving him a light kiss.

"No comparison, hun. I was a virgin too."

"When?"

"Last night, silly!"

"But… I…"

"No worries, baby. Most guys assumed I
wasn't. Not many girls like me save themselves for the perfect man.
Besides, you only lose your cherry once."

"The perfect… cherry… huh?"

"PhD, but not too bright, eh?"

She smiled and snuggled up to him again.
Then, lifting her head slightly, she looked into his eyes and said,
"I had a little discussion with Draagh and Krynos last night, after
you tip-toed off to bed. I asked them some questions about…. how
people do things around here, you know, with couples and
stuff."

"Oh… you did? I'm kinda confused. Last night
you said you came here because you didn't like me," said Max, who
was quietly freaking out and barely managing to slow his noticeable
trembling. Doubts again stormed into his mind, overtaking any
semblance of logic. Confusion couldn't begin to define what he was
feeling at that moment. His methodical, scientific mind was instead
in emotional mode. It hadn't permitted him to slow down and put the
pieces of what Jennie said together. He was overwhelmed with pain,
anguish, love, hope, lust and a host of other conflicting emotions.
And to make it worse, her taste lingered on his tongue - it was
delicious. It was like manna from Heaven and he wanted more.

Jennie took his hands into hers and attempted
to calm him, thinking it was absolutely adorable that he was so
agitated. She pried open his clenched fists and placed his palms
onto her soft, ample chest so he could feel her heartbeat which
was, surprisingly, also quite rapid.

"Yup, I did say that. I
guess I was a bit vague. Sorry, sweetie," she responded. "I don't
just
like
you,
Max. I adore you. Feel my heartbeat. I never, ever thought I would
be this nervous with a man. Especially
the
man of my
life
."

Max's eyes grew large with understanding.

Then, with a gentle smile
and a look of total devotion she said, "Commander Maximilianus
Xavier Gunnarsson, of the Azul Military Scientific Research
Division
and
of
the Rhönen Dominion, victor of the Battle of the Blood… my Max, the
man who risked his life to save me from those nasty vampires; the
man who changed my life and showed me that there is so much more
out there - I choose you as my mate, to be with for the rest of our
ridiculously-long lives. That is, if you'll have me, you know, you
being an all-important werewolf commander and mage and all that
stuff. Oh, and Liliana comes along too. She's part of the
package."

Aw, I worried for nothing. Holy shit… she
just proposed to me!

Congratulations, my boy!

Draagh! What the Hell? Get out of my
head!

Oh, sorry…

Instantly relieved and feeling overjoyed
(while pushing his grandfather's uninvited commentary out of his
mind), he put a finger to his lips and jokingly acted as if he had
to think it over, causing Jennie to yelp, "Brat!" She rolled over
on top of him and started to playfully slap him on the chest. He
remembered the last time she did that - after he had killed Ladros.
And then they almost kissed. Almost. But this time he could do so
much more. She was his, and he was hers - forever.

He laughed and took her into his arms,
pulling her perfect body in up against his. Then, after gently
running his lips across her full, dark eyebrows and softly nuzzling
her face with his nose, he stared deep into those baby browns that
had him mesmerized since day one.

"Jennie, I've been yours since you stopped
threatening to kill me. Oh, and can I say it - you know, finally,
that I love you? I… erm… I have for a long time."

"Gawd, Max. I already knew that - but yeah,
you can say it… I want you to tell me every day."

"Te amo, Jennie Gunnarsson. Te amo."

"I love you too, baby, but we'll have to
discuss that surname thing," she said with a wry grin while
gingerly scratching his ear, almost causing him to start comically
kicking his leg. Max pulled his head back and tried to look
serious.

"Well, the law here specifically states
that a child must have the surname of her fa--"

"Ok," she interrupted laughingly, "Gunnarsson
sounds kinda kick-ass anyway."

"Oh it is! Do you know the origin of
the name Gunnarsson? It actually comes from--"

"Max - shut up and kiss me… dork."

No one in the castle saw either of them until
well beyond the lunch hour.

Epilogue

Both Max and Jennie
believed they were to soon leave the Dominion after having defeated
Vladros, but Draagh informed them that since they had a number of
years in which to prepare for the Vrol, they would stay for a while
and continue training. This came to their mutual delight, and
especially to that of Liliana, who was quite enjoying the fact she
had a new family she loved very much. She was also very proud of
her new name - Liliana Gunnarsson, of which she made everyone aware
- specifically the meaning of her new surname;
son of warrior
.

While the little girl dutifully
attended her classes, and was receiving some extra lessons in
science from her brilliant, adoptive father, Jennie had implemented
a training program, teaching the lycans to use the power gauntlet
along with limited cantuses that would enhance the glove's already
formidable destructive capacity. Dominion weapons makers were busy
replicating gauntlets, which Draagh would then imbue with the
ability to harness magic particles, or nanobots as Max and Jennie
called them.

Max delved into the art of war, and
learned all he could about recon, battle strategies, guerilla
warfare and other complexities that one in a leadership position
would need to know. He trained his Special Forces group to work
with him - in and around his magical abilities - to harness them to
their benefit, but not to rely on him, as he did have certain
limitations, and wouldn't always be around.

Days turned to weeks, and weeks into
months. During that whole time there was one thing Max wanted to do
- he wanted to give Jennie a classic wedding. So, after they had
been in the Dominion for five lunar cycles after the Battle of the
Blood, he conferred with Krynos and made arrangements to have a
ceremony in the gardens outside of the throne area of the castle.
It was to be attended by the entire Dominion, and Max even insisted
that some normals be invited - specifically those that had assisted
in the Battle of the Blood, as well as the families of those who
met their untimely end at the hands of Vladros' forces.

Jennie was delighted with this gesture,
and set about working with the castle seamstresses to hand-make a
beautiful, white wedding gown. Of course, Liliana was also elated,
especially after learning she was to be the flower girl and would
also wear a pretty dress. Max resigned himself to conjuring a
smart, black tuxedo with a pink cumber bun and matching bowtie, in
honor of Jennie's favorite color. Upon seeing the groom's outfit,
Krynos almost bit his lip off, trying to not tell Max he thought it
looked ridiculous - but then again, Krynos had significantly
different tastes in clothing and apparel.

On the day before the wedding, Max
rushed around, helping in the preparations, but he had something on
his mind. He had looked for Draagh, and called out to him mentally
on various occasions, but the old mage had a tendency to sometimes
pop out of the realm to care for duties in other
locations.

The one material item of value that Max
possessed was in a drawer in the galley of the Machu Picchu, and he
knew he had to get it before the ceremony. Even though they were
mated for life, he wanted her to have a perfect wedding, and in a
wedding the two to be married always shared something of great
importance that would signify their eternal bond. Unwilling to
wait, and as Draagh was nowhere to be found (Draagh usually being
either in the pocket-dimension office with Krynos, or off-world),
he felt he knew enough about 4D time slips to safely get to the
Machu Picchu and back, so he went to his new, expanded quarters
that he was sharing with his lovely mate. He pulled his gear bag
out from underneath their massive, wood-framed bed and retrieved
his Stinger and comm, as well as his personal console. He put them
in a leather backpack, which was made for him according to his
specific instructions given to Dominion tailors. The, grabbing his
katana, he then looked out his door, and making sure no one saw
him, bolted down the hallway and entered Draagh's room where, to
his good fortune, the mage's staff leaned up against the wall in
the corner.

Bringing up an infoscreen, he tied into
the staff and looked up its most recent coordinates, which were all
readily available. Then, surveying the powerful device momentarily,
he went to take it into his hand. Before he could do anything
further, Socrates coalesced in the air right in front of his face,
floating as if it had just come out of an ethereal mist.

"Query: Master Max, what is it you are
attempting to do?"

"Socrates, don't say a thing. I need to
get something from my ship for Jennie, and Draagh isn't anywhere
around. He's been ignoring me. The ceremony is tomorrow, and I
promised my mother if I ever got married I would give it to my
wife."

"Master Max, I would not recommend that
you attempt to do this, as-"

Max interrupted the electronic
intelligence interface, saying, "No worries - I'll be right back!"
and slammed the staff to the ground, creating a most inconvenient
energy sphere that caused Socrates to instantly dissipate. It was
only moments later that Max disappeared out of site.

"Oh my. This is not good," the usually
monotone Socrates stated with some stress to his voice, once his
face had reconstituted itself.

At that same moment, elsewhere in the
castle, Jennie quickly approached Krynos and Draagh in the throne
room, obviously concerned about something. Making a quick curtsey,
she asked, almost breathlessly, "Draagh, Lord Krynos, have either
of you seen Max? I can't seem to find him anywhere, and he's got me
worried. I mean - I just completely lost his scent."

Before either Draagh or Krynos could
even respond, Socrates appeared in front of the old
mage.

"Lord Draagh, we have a
problem."

The three stood in Draagh's partially
destroyed quarters (as the 4D slip energy had basically laid waste
to the room's furniture), along with Socrates floating in the air
off to their side, looking at the mage's staff, which lay on the
ground near the window.

Socrates then stated, in his typical
monotone fashion, "He said that he needed to go to his ship and
retrieve something for today's ceremony - something that was
important to his mother. I tried to warn him, but he was gone
before I could finish."

Draagh looked at his staff, and then
bending down, picked it up and examined it for clues.

"Well, the staff is fine, as should be
expected. However, I believe I may have been a bit remiss in my
tutoring of Max on the complexities of 4D slipping. The ghanlo
rejected him, as it will never leave my location in space/time.
That being said, we will need to go find him before he manages to
get himself into any further trouble."

Jennie had a panicky and extremely
preoccupied look on her face, and desperately asked, "Can you find
him? I'm going too!"

"Very well then, my dear," Draagh
replied to Jennie, "Please change into something more appropriate
to an expedition and grab your technical equipment, as you may have
need for it. Remember, on Earth you have neither skills as a lycan
nor as a pseudo-mage."

Krynos looked at Draagh and said, "I
will inform all that the wedding will suffer a slight delay. We
shall care for young Liliana Gunnarsson during your
absence."

Jennie rushed off and quickly changed
into battle leathers, returning in minutes with her gear bag in
hand and katana slung over her back. The three departed the castle
and went out to the north entrance, stopping at the open
plains.

Draagh rested his hand upon his old
friend's shoulder and said, "We shall be back soon."

Krynos then looked consolingly at
Jennie and gave the girl a gentle hug, his massive frame
overshadowing hers, and then backed up.

"Safe travels, my friends," he said as
he raised his great hand to them.