I should be your Beta, not your Mate

Side-Story: 18

Side-Story: 18 - The End

Kyran

Aging wasn't such a terrible thing if it was with someone at your side.

A smile spread my lips apart as I watched my mate picking up some flowers from our yard. Cassian had grown to like gardening after retirement. For all those years our garden had been a boring green field of grass. Now it was filled with flowers and a little pond with some gold fishes.

I scratched our cat behind the ear and she purred in delight. After Coffee we hadn't gotten any pets. Not even a dog, though our children had begged us for years. Now all our children had moved out and we had considered getting a dog. It was too quiet in the house with just us two. But we hadn't gotten one.

A dog was much more work. Taking it out for walks, playing with it. Everything would take too much energy and we had no such energy anymore.

I was glad when I wasn't sick or my bones ache like there was no tomorrow.

I have grown weaker over the years but I not like, sickly weak. Just weak. Weak with age.

Cassian had taken longer but he wasn't as strong as he had been back then.

»How do they smell?« Cas arrived at our porch and held the flowers under my nose. I smelled them and smiled. »Quiet nicely. Where will you put them?« He touched our gray colored cat - we had named her Teaspoon - and sat down on our swinging bench - right next to me.

»Next to our bed would be nice, or not?«

I put my blanket on his lap too and leaned against him. »Sure, but you still smell the best.« He smirked and kissed my cheek. »And you look much nicer than the flowers,« he murmured.

»You old charmer,« I chuckled.

Like that we sat there. Watched the garden and the forest behind it. Leaning against each other. Feeling the warmth of the other. And slowly falling asleep to a never ending sleep. To whatever end, together. Not leaving the other behind. No, we left together. 

Cassian and I left with no pain. Our bond wrabbed around us and took us both at the same time. It was the death I always wanted. At the side of my mate, feeling his warmth and being happy with him.

If I had to choose a way to die, it would be like this. 

After hours our three oldest came over for dinner like they had promised. But they found no dinner prepared. They found their soul connected parents, sleeping with a smile on their lips, leaning against the other and leaving without leaving the other behind. 

Our five children burned our bodies and mingled our ashes together to set them free together. And our ashes traveled across the world. Together and never leaving the other behind.