Page 117 of Strays
I’ve never felt so much pleasure. My mind stays floating, drowning in waves with every release. Every orgasm feels like a tsunami, rolling through me, dragging every nerve with it.
But I’ve never felt so out of control either. So desperate. So empty when I’mnot inside her. It didn’t matter how tired we were, how hungry, how thirsty; every time her scent spiked, everything else but the need faded away.
In the intervals, we tried to take care of her. We cleaned her, massaged her muscles, made her drink Pedialyte Sport, and eat protein bars. Chocolate. Water. We made sure to eat and drink too. And we all slept in brief stretches.
At some point during one of the moments Jo was sleeping, we noticed the forgotten box of condoms. Shane tore it open and left it on the nightstand by the bed. But as soon as her scent spiced, the condoms were wiped from our minds again.
When her scent finally returns to normal, I don’t know if I’m devastated because it’s over and I’ll have to wait three months to experience it again, or relieved for the same reason.
Maybe both.
We’re all wrecked.
I sleep fourteen hours straight, and when I wake, Jo and my brothers are still out cold. I think about moving, but I don’t. I sink back into the softness and let myself sleep again.
PART FOUR
FIGHTING
MEMORANDUM
TO: Secretary of Defense
FROM: Under Secretary for Policy
CC: Office of General Counsel
SUBJECT: The Larsen Pack Incident and the Necessity of Command Reintegration
DATE: July 23, 2025
It must be recognized at every level that this case is the foreseeable consequence of a system that grants aegis units the full operational latitude of federal agents while lacking the standard oversight mechanisms in place for any comparable human unit.
This Office has prepared and submitted formal recommendations to the Secretary and the National Security Council outlining an actionable framework to reintegrate all Special Operations units under a direct human chain of command. In the event of a criminal conviction of the Larsen Pack, the Department is prepared to use this outcome as a public and legislative inflection point to press for an immediate rollback of the MAB’s independent authority.
Coordination with the Attorney General’s Office and the relevant Congressional committees has already begun to ensure that the necessary statutory amendments are ready in tandem with the final verdict.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Eme Araña
In the first hours after we wake, none of us can stop smiling.
Her heat changed everything. I can feel our bond in a way I never could before: not the cold emptiness from when she was gone, but something warm, like a thread of the pleasure we shared through her heat is still running through my veins, soft and grounding.
When she came back after a month away, I told her that if she ever needed time again, I’d handle it, as long as she didn’t shut us out. Now I know I can’t keep that promise. If she ever tries to leave again, I’m fucked, because I’ll chase her. No hesitation. I won’t be able to let her go, promises be damned.
But I don’t think she’ll ever want to leave us again; she seems just as affected as we are. She’s always been affectionate, but now, she can’t stop touching us, always reaching out, brushing past us, resting her hand somewhere on one of us like she needs physical confirmation we’re close.
She used to go to the little office we set up for her in the second bedroom when she wanted to read, but now she brought her book to the nest and curled between me and Shane, like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
I’m happier than ever. Even more than right after we bonded, that first week in her little apartment. I didn’t think it was possible to feel more than that, but I do. And the calm is surreal. Like I’ve spent my whole life with a storm inside me, and suddenly, it’s just… quiet.
Reality comes back slowly.
The first thing that hits me is the box of condoms on the nightstand. Guilt swells in my chest, but when I tell Jo about it, she just sighs. “It’s not your fault,” she says. “It was obvious none of this human birth control would work well for us. I didn’t remember to take the pill for the last two days either.”
Now there’s nothing we can do except trust that all those months she was taking the pill will be enough to protect her.
