Here Kitty, Kitty - 77. Epilogue part three - Carl and Tristan

Tristan flopped down onto the bed.

“I am so glad that is all finally over. I hadn’t realised how stressed I was until it was finally all over.”

Carl sat by his mate’s side and patted a hand on his thigh. “What about everything we’ve found out. Do you want to get tested and see who your father really is?”

Tristan sighed. He’d known he couldn’t avoid the conversation, but he’d hoped to put it off at least for a while. He caught hold of Carl’s shirt and pulled him down so they sprawled together. Batting his eyelashes in what he hoped was a seductive manner he grinned at his mate. “Hey there handsome. I’m sure we can think of something else to do other than talk.”

Carl just frowned down at him and he sighed again. Leaning up he pressed a brief kiss to Carl’s lips and flopped back down. “Fine, let's talk. So my father may not be my father, and if he isn’t then my real father is in the dungeons of the high council. I don’t see what there is to talk about until I’ve spoken to my mother. You saw her when they found her in that hole Cheryl was keeping her in. she needs food, drink, and rest before we go quizzing her on who she’s been sleeping with.”.

Carl nodded. “But, I was also thinking you may want to talk about the fact you had to kill the man you’ve always thought of as your father. He may have been a bastard, but he still raised you.”

Tristan thought long and hard before he spoke again. “I don’t think taking any life is easy. Even in battle, I have always tried to disable rather than kill. But, sometimes it is unavoidable. Every time I've had to do it it has been as a last resort.

“However, my supposed father was powerful enough that anything other than a killing spell could have been deflected. He’d already gone for one of our team. What if he’d killed one of our side and I could have stopped it?

“I am sorry he had to die, but only because if he’d lived he would have been made to suffer more. He would have had to face the council and then he would’ve been the one dropped in a hole somewhere to be forgotten about.”

Carl seemed shocked and Tristan worried Carl thought him heartless.

Carl’s next words surprised him. “You’ve been in battle before? You’ve been forced to kill before?”

Tristan hid a chuckle at the protective tone to Carl’s growl. “Yes, I have been in battle before. My f—Kersin—was very good at upsetting the neighbours. We were attacked quite often and then had to deal with the council investigators. Then I left home as soon as I was old enough to travel. I hired myself out as protection in return for food, shelter, and training. I’m not going to even try to name every battle or skirmish I’ve been in but there have been a few.” He rolled onto his stomach and pulled his shirt up. “See that scar just above my arse?” He felt Carl’s fingers tracing the scar he knew was there. “I got that when I was protecting a cat shifter Elder from up north. He was making a visit to a neighbouring vampire clan to see if it was possible to negotiate a treaty of non-aggression. A vampire in the clan took offence at the way the elder supposedly spoke to his sister. He came at me and another attacked me from behind. That was when I learned to react faster and to always shield my back first. I could tell you a few more tales if you want. Especially if it means I get your hands on more of me at the same time.”

Carl’s rueful chuckle lightened the mood considerably. “I do not like thinking of you being hurt or having to defend yourself. My instinct is that I should have been there to defend you and make sure you didn’t have to fight. I want to make sure you never have to fight again, but I know in my head that is unlikely to be the case and that in our very long lives there will be more skirmishes.”

Tristan chuckled with him and then they finally found something better to do than talking.