Jason lay beneath Ylva, still joined with her, his chest rising and falling in slow, steady breaths. The fire had died down to glowing coals, casting a soft orange light across the clearing. Mae was still asleep nearby, her breathing deep and peaceful. The ant king stood at the edge of the trees, motionless, his black and gold eyes fixed on Jason with unnerving intensity.

But Jason wasn’t looking at the ant king.

He was looking at Ylva.

Her face was pressed against his chest, her ear over his heart. Her fur was soft against his skin, her body warm and heavy. She was about to fall asleep—he could feel her breathing slowing, her muscles relaxing.

He had nutted inside her. Deep, the best unprotected sex he could have.

And in the quiet aftermath, his mind began to churn.

"I like her." Jason thought to himself.

No. That wasn’t strong enough.

"I love her." Jason came to the realization.

The thought hit him like a physical blow. He had been with Mira. He had been with Tauriel. He had even been with Mae but none of those encounters had felt like this. None of them had left him feeling... whole.

Ylva had put herself above and beyond for him. She had done things no one would do for him. She had carried Thalion on her back through a city of enemies. She had tracked him through the night when he wandered off.

She had faced a cave collapse without flinching. She had accepted Mae’s condition. She had accepted his confession about Mira with understanding instead of rage.

She had put herself in danger. Repeatedly. For him.

Jason’s throat tightened.

"Ylva," he said softly.

She murmured something against his chest, half-asleep.

"Ylva." He said it again, firmer.

She lifted her head. Her green eyes were heavy-lidded, drowsy. "Mm?"

Jason looked into her eyes. The words felt enormous in his mouth, heavy as stones.

"Ylva, I think I love you."

Silence.

Ylva blinked. Her drowsiness vanished. Her eyes widened. Her tail, which had been limp and relaxed, shot straight up.

"W-Wait what!?" She sat up abruptly, straddling him, her hands pressing against his chest. Her claws were retracted, but her fingers dug into his skin. "What did you just say?"

Jason didn’t look away. "I’m in love with you, Ylva."

Her mouth opened. Closed and then opened again. No sound came out.

He had never seen her like this. She was speechless. Her ears were twitching, her tail thrashing, her whole body vibrating with something that wasn’t anger.

Then her face broke into the cutest smile he had seen in his entire life.

It was soft. Shy and almost vulnerable. Her eyes crinkled at the corners with her cheeks flushed—actually flushed, pink rising beneath her fur. He had no idea she could make this face.

"A-Are you sure?" she whispered.

Jason nodded. "I’ve never been more sure of anything."

Ylva’s lower lip trembled. Her eyes glistened.

"I-I love you too," she blurted out, the words tumbling over each other. "I didn’t want to say it first because I thought—I didn’t know if you—but I—"

Jason pulled her down and kissed her.

It wasn’t a passionate kiss. It wasn’t hungry or desperate. It was soft, gentle, a seal on the words they had just spoken. She melted against him, her body going limp, her arms wrapping around his neck.

When they parted, Jason smiled.

"A family wouldn’t be so bad," he said.

Ylva sniffled. "Family?"

"You, me. Maybe a kid or two." He shrugged. "If you want." Jason knew he wanted a peaceful life, a family and nearly dying showed him that the perfect time didn’t exist.

She stared at him. Then she laughed—a real laugh, bright and unguarded. In the past, she would have hit him, would have growled and called him an idiot and punched his arm.

But tonight, something was different. Something was soft about her.

She buried her face in his neck, her breath warm against his skin. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

And then he felt it, A pair of eyes staring right into him.

Jason turned his head to meet it.

The ant king was standing at the edge of the clearing, exactly where he had been before. Motionless and silent. His black and gold eyes were fixed on Jason with an intensity that was almost palpable.

He hadn’t moved, blinked. He had just been... watching.

"FUCKING HELL! THAT LITTLE SHIT IS CREEPY!" Jason thought to himself.

Jason’s internal scream was loud enough to wake the dead. Why the fuck didn’t it sleep? Did it ever sleep? Was it just going to stand there forever, staring at him like some kind of insectoid gargoyle?

He felt a chill crawl down his spine.

"What’s wrong?" Ylva murmured against his neck.

"Nothing," Jason lied. "Just... the ant king. Watching."

Ylva lifted her head and glanced toward the creature. She stared at it for a moment. The ant king stared back.

"He’s protecting you," she said.

"He’s stalking me! Creepy ass little shit,"

"Same thing!" Ylva fired back.

Ironically, the ant king could be considered his first child.

Jason sighed. He decided to ignore the creature. If it wanted to watch, let it watch. He had more important things to focus on.

Like the fact that he had just told Ylva he loved her.

Jason shifted, trying to get comfortable. His movement knocked something beside him—a small leather pouch. He looked down.

Meat. Cooked, sliced, wrapped in cloth. Ylva must have placed it there while he was asleep.

She had taken her time to preserve his portion.

Not just to provide for him—to take care of him. To make sure he had something to eat when he woke up. Even after everything that had happened, even after he had confessed about Mira, even after the chaos of the crawl, she had thought about his stomach.

Ylva picked up a piece of meat and held it up to Jason.

"Eat," she said.

Jason hesitated for a second because Ylva wasn’t a great cook but then he took the meat from her fingers and ate it. His teeth grazed her skin gently.

She fed him another piece, then another.

When the pouch was empty, she licked his fingers clean, her tongue rough against his skin.

"There," she said. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic."

She settled back against his chest, her ear over his heart again. Her breathing slowed. Her body relaxed.

"Jason," she whispered. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Yeah?" Jason answered her.

"Don’t leave me," Ylva said.

"I won’t." Jason reassured her.

She closed her eyes and finally fell asleep.

Across the clearing, the ant king stood motionless, watching.