After their night of passionate love making, Lily drifted to sleep quickly in Luka's arms. For the first time since her parents' death and Jonathan's betrayal she was able to dream without a nightmare in sight. Her face had a small mile that curled to the side. The coldness that once wore on her like her own clothing dissipated. Lily was once again filled with a warmth she could barely remember of since before her parents' passing.
Lily dreamt of her sweet mother and father and one of her favorite memories before the passing. Although it felt more realistic than just a dream of a flashback. Her mother and father were holding her hand walking side by side with her smiling. They were walking around the amusement park they went to often. It was like a dream come true being able to see them again when they suddenly hugged her smiling as tears fell from their cheeks. Her father fell to the ground kneeling in front of Lily, her mother following just a bit after. All three were just crying happy tears with little to no words being said. Their eyes and tears did all the talking they needed. Her parents' held her like she was but a child again. Lily felt whole once again she felt like she was finally not alone anymore.
" He's a good man, better than that punk who followed you to and from school. " Lily's father Adam said.
" I'm glad you turned out to be such a beautiful and kind woman my dear child." her mother Yvette told Lily as she continued to hold Lily.
Lily was surprised it was just so surreal and she didn't want to give this feeling up. She pulled her parents' by the hand and gestured them to rides and fun games. She made her dad and mom participate on a huge tall rollercoaster ride. The three of them spent the entirety smiling and laughing with each other. Lily continued with the sweetest smile on her face as she continued to slumber into Luka's bare chest.
Luka was amazed at how in the matter of a couple of months so much had changed. He finally was a mated wolf beast-man. It was more than he ever wanted, he thought heavily of his mother and father their closeness and formidable love for each other. He was reminded of a memory of him as a boy. He remembered when he was younger and his mother had taken three mates herself. His father was her first he was the one who's mark was closes to her heart as well. The second was a Komodo dragon beast-man he was from another country that came to theirs during a delegation. Her final mate was a male of extraordinaire talents a Phorusrhacos beast-man, there wasn't many still left and they were some of the finest hunters their speed was almost unmatched. Luka couldn't help but think of his younger siblings who were living in their own territories. It dawned on him that he hadn't seen them since they were but younglings. It was beast-man law that once younglings could shit into their humanoid forms they were old enough to be trained by their father's. Father's would take them and train them in hunting, cooking, foraging, and any other specific skill their species would need to acquire before finding a mate. A father's duty was to ensure they could keep them alive since many species would head out on their own at young ages. So it was only natural Luka and his brother's were raised separately.
Though it was his mother's dying wish for them all to reunite once he became an adult beast-man. One can only become a true adult once he has mated been accepted by his mate with the marking as proof. For royalty and commoners holding these ceremonies were similar to what Lily would consider a wedding. It was to be a ceremony to celebrate the man being accepted and the beauty he was able to mark, almost a celebration to say my lineage shall continue. People from all over would come and celebrate with a huge feast and decorations would spread among the lands. Ending with a dance that would last throughout the night thanking the Dragon God and hoping for his blessings.
It was only when a female would remove the mark that would lead to a beast-man's unfortunate demise, he would be casted out if another would not take him. After mating beast-men would experience ruts during certain seasons to help females with their heats. If a beast-man cannot find another beast-woman to mate with before the next rut he then turns into a feral. They become unable to control their animal instincts. Most feral beast-men travel to the center of the continent where it was considered to be the slums.
Feral's would try to find refuge there in the center of continent but even if they lost control they didn't have to fear as much. The slums were a land of little to no laws, with almost no one to enforce any laws anyways. Most ferals could barely find appropriate mates anyways. Although if a youngling was to be conceived during such a horrid event most females would dispose of their younglings. Luka knew he would have to teach his new mate all about the ways of the beast-men and how this world worked. Especially since she could end up conceiving after their night of mating. He was very concerned if she did conceive would she be able to handle childbirth. She was not of the beast-men species and pregnancies were already difficult on beast-women. Sometimes they would be unable to prevent losing a child or two, this thought made Luka shutter. He couldn't bare the idea of losing the one thing he treasured. The thought of losing Lily alone made him want to rip everything to shreds. He shook his head to get the image out trying to calm down he laid his head softly next to Lily's. He watched her sleep until he also drifted off still holding lily in his arms.