Last chapter. Please review! - Marianne.

Moonshade.

*Tell me… tell me that you're not his.* What? Who's? What did he mean? I frown.

*Say that you're mine… And even if you're with him… lie to me.* Didn't he understand? I've always been his. I wasn't with Cutter, if that's what he thought. How could I lie to him, when it's not like that at all? I love Wyl.

*I need you.* It didn't surprise, because I need him too, but did he want me? I shouldn't question him, because I can feel it just by looking into his eyes, our souls touching. Feel him. He wants me. He needs me. All his loneliness… I can feel that it's too much to bear for him. So much pain in just one person… containing it must be devastating. I step closer to him and touch his cheek, trying to comfort him, telling him that I'm here. That if I can, I will take the pain away. He nestles into my hand, closing his eyes, brows furrowed. His inner pain showing in his every feature. A tear slips down his cheek, mingling with the rain drops. I don't know what to say to him, my head is totally blank. I don't think he would mind just a little kiss, or would it kill the moment? It doesn't matter.

I bend over and kiss him, lightly, carefully.

He opens his eyes wide, afraid, not understanding what, or why, I had just acted like I have. I look at him, feeling the need for him once again.

*Eyrn…* he sends to me.

*Wyl…* I send back.

The way he had send to me, so tender, so warm. He looks at my arm, caressing it, then sneaks his arm around my waist, holding me close to him, while I slid my fingers up his arm muscles. He lets his left fingers trail the edge of the bruise he had given me this very evening. Then, for the first time ever, I hear him speak.

"I… I'm sorry", his voice is rusty after almost never using it. Apparently not just for the bruise. He leans in and hugs me, and I hug him back. The rain's drenching me, but I don't care.

I startle as Strongbow begins to kiss me neck. I give him easier access, by rolling my neck a little away. His arms swirl strongly around me and lifts me up. I wrap my legs around his waist. I kiss him, finally really feeling his lips' warmth against mine. My hands tighten in his hair. He carries me into the cave where his been living. He pushes me down into his furs, kissing me. His lips wander over my skin. His hands traces up my legs, thighs, behind, sides, breasts, neck. When he reaches my neck, I crank it backwards in blissful ecstasy. He stops and touches my bruise again. I look away. Something wet falls down on my face. Grey lines of tears are trailing all the way down to my hand. He lay his head down on my chest, crying. I stroke his hair, hushing him. He kisses me and then rises. He removes his clothes, throwing it all down in a heap. I look at him, all of him. Mostly looking at his sex.

"Are you sure?" I ask him. He nods. I start to remove my clothes, his eager hands helping between kisses. I shudder as he looks at me, his eyes taking me in. I've never felt more naked then now. He lays himself down beside me. He touches my breast, as I huff against his neck. His hand wander down the skin of my stomach, down to my sex. He nudges my legs apart. He rubs at the little nub, making me shudder involuntarily and spasm. He digs a finger into my warm sex, thrusting. Then another finger. My breath gets ragged as I clutch my hands in the fur. Suddenly a warm wave, almost an explosion, fills me. I cry out in ecstasy. He takes my hand, and moves down to his erection. I stroke it, and he almost whimpers. He rolls over me. I spread my legs, biting a finger in nervous anticipation. He inserts it, an push himself into me. I gasp and feel like screaming. He's over me immediately, checking if I'm okay.

"It's okay." I say, even though my sex feels swollen and sore. He draws out of me, and whimper. He thrust into me. In and out. In and out. He intertwine his fingers with me. When he's about to come, he wraps his arms around me.

*Eyrn!*

I feel something warm and wet ejaculate inside me. He huffs, rolls of me. I lay on his arm. He turns to me.

*Moonshade, are you alright?*

*Huh? Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.* Silence.

*I should leave*, I send. I sit up, looking for my clothes.

*Why?* His face is hurt. Why?

*Because…*, tears threatening to fall. *Because you don't need me anymore.* He pulls me down. He removes a curly hair strand from my face.

*I need you now more than ever. I need you to stay with me. Else I'll feel alone. I want to be life mate with you. And not just because we recognized.* He wraps his arms around me, letting me sob.

*But only if you want to, of course.*

*Yes*, I send to him.

Strongbow.

We returned to the holt three days later after that night. We had made love all the time, exploring each other. Before I didn't even want her near me, but now I needed her all the time. We walked to the Father Tree, hand in hand. Cutter smiled to me. I didn't know how to react. It's still a bit weird between us I think.

Seasons went by. Moonshade had moved in with me in our own chamber. She became bigger and bigger and illuminated my life with her glow. On a crescent night, I had to send for the healer, Rain. Moonshade was screaming, huffing and afraid. The healer send me out. I didn't know what to of myself. I waited. And waited. The rest of the holt did the same in joyful anticipation. Talking about if it would be a girl or a boy. Who the toddler would look like. Suddenly there was a cry different from Moonshade's.

Eyrn… she's going to die. Rain came out, cleaning his hands from blood. I stare horrifically at the blood.

He smiles and tells me to go in there. I prepared myself for the look of my dead life mate and the dead baby, who would scarcely see this world before closing its eyes. I didn't even dare to send for her.

But there she was, nestling the little in her embrace.

She laughs when she looks at my startled face. "Come closer, Strongbow, and take a look on your new daughter."

I wrapped my arm around her, smelling her hair, thanking the High Ones that she's still alive.

*What shall we name her? She have already told me her soul name, Jalan.*

*Well, she was born under a crescent moon… so how about Crescent?* The baby whimpers. Moonshade smiles.

*Yes.*

THE END