“I will,” I answered.
“Will you bring pups to our den, and they will be ours to raise and value?”
“I will.”
“Will you temper my cruelty with wisdom, and goad my fury when required?”
“I will.” I did that already... I liked to think.
Next, I removed my hands from his placed my left hand at his throat, and squeezed. He lifted his jaw and eyed me from his height. According to some old texts, I was supposed to grab his most tender bits too, and threaten to twist them off, which I was tempted to do.
“Do it.” Gabel’s whisper was hoarse around the pressure on his throat.
“You’ll get too excited,” I told him. It wouldn’t have the same effect if everyone just saw he was enjoying the danger more than he should.
Gabel tried not to grin.
“Will you protect our den, our pack, our pups with every drop of blood and fiber within you?” I asked him.
“I will.”
“Will you accept the pups I bring to you, that you will raise them and love them as the Moon expects an Alpha and father to?” There were records of old where Lunas had pups from previous mates, and the vow expected the Alpha to accept all of a Luna, pups included.
“I will.”
“Will you cherish me and love me so that I know no other male will ever be worthy of my glance?”
“I will.”
I released his neck. He recaptured my hand, grabbed my cheek in his other, and pulled me against him, roughly, for an equally rough and hot kiss.
The Bond swarmed over my awareness like crashing waves, and the Moon saw, even through the clouds and first flakes of snow falling around us. The IronMoon howled around us, songs of victory and greeting, and the song to welcome a Luna.
Gabel released me, and we turned to face the crowd. Ana flung rice at us and laughed like a maniac.
Gabel did not release my hand. He glanced at me, a smirk on his lips and mischief curling in the Bond between us.
A hot desire burned within me. I gasped, and the Bond curled around my brain, whispering to me all the things that needed to happen very, very soon. I shifted on my feet, my body so tender and poised for him that I was going to do something rather embarrassing if I didn’t keep a hold on my mind, keep it above the hot surface of the Bond’s churning waves.
Gabel’s smirk intensified. Then he gestured to the crowds. “Thank you, IronMoon, for welcoming your new Luna. The party we leave to you, but in keeping with tradition, Luna Gianna and I have something else to attend to.”
“Gabel!” I gasped in shock.
“Shall we do it here?”
I was so taken aback (because if I had answered yes he would have ripped off both his kilt and my dress, and taken me right there on the ground) I couldn’t answer for a second. He just grinned, grabbed my bicep, and hauled me after him.
“You did tell me to play rough,” he reminded me in a hot whisper as he herded me toward the house.
“I was done with that party anyway,” I whispered back, every stride sending jolts through my lower body.
“You were done with it before it even began, my Luna. Now we shall celebrate in private. That will suit both of us better.” His voice was low against my ears, tripping up and down my veins and nerves. “Buttercup, the scent of your desire is more than I can stand.”
His fingertips pulled over the silk at my spine as I walked, making me stumble as the heat between my thighs spiked higher.
“Up the steps, buttercup.” His fingers slid lower, cupping the curve of my rump as if to help me up the stairs, but he was not helping at all, drinking in my almost incoherent hunger, his enjoyment of that giving him as much control as it robbed from me. “That’s it. Don’t trip, my darling.”
“I... hate... you.” I wanted Gabel’s fingers to slide under the silk, between my thighs and—
“I know,” he all but purred.
“My wrath... will be... terrible.” I managed to crawl to the top of the stairs, my skin burning from the desire. I needed my dress off right then. I didn’t care, it had to come off.
Gabel pulled the zipper down over my breasts, my hips. He ran his hands over me. “Do your worst, buttercup.” His fingers slid back down my spine, over my rump, caressed my thighs, slid upward. “And then do it again.”
The Day After
The backyard was a disaster scene. A wild after-party had happened after Gabel and I had cleared out. There was blood on the snow, but no obvious bodies, and nobody had come rushing to our rooms to inform us that somebody important had been injured or killed.
The pigs and cows had been stripped, even bones were missing (no surprise, probably being gnawed on somewhere), and not a single scrap of food was left. I’d have to organize getting everything cleaned up, but that could wait. There was no reason to rush out the morning after.
“So tell me about this present,” Gabel said, amusement on his voice. “If it isn’t pups in your belly, I’m not sure I care.”
“Shadowless is in SableFur’s pocket.” I poured myself a fresh cup of coffee. No formal breakfast that morning. Most of IronMoon was still asleep, save for a few members who were on duty. Gabel and I were alone in the kitchen for the moment.
“How do you know this?” Gabel asked.
“Amber told me.”
“Amber. Amber. The she-wolf they had with them. That Amber.”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know who she is.”
Gabel thought for moment, then said, “I remember her face, but not so much her scent. All I can remember from that day is your scent.”
“I was freshly bathed.”
“It makes no difference to a male. So tell me how you acquired this gift.”
“Anita told Shadowless she saw you taking Amber as a mate, and to let it happen without protest. They promised to help get her back, but she was to try to murder you,” I said.
“That was why Shadowless went so quietly.” Gabel’s eyes narrowed to sated slits, his voice a warm growl.
“Amber had no idea I’d been to SableFur. Anita lied to Shadowless. Now, the question is, does Magnes know you are his son? Because Anita knows you are. It doesn’t mean Magnes knows.”
“Interesting.” Gabel mulled it over, then dropped the train of thought. “So. We know Shadowless negotiated in bad faith. That is why you wanted me to handle you a little roughly. You don’t normally enjoy a harsh touch.”
“Aren’t you tired and chafed yet, Gabel?” I asked him.
He smirked. “I fear no pain nor exhaustion, buttercup, save yours.”
I was indeed quite delightfully chafed. Gabel’s ocean-eyes smoldered, the Bond shifting and rocking like the Tides themselves, seductive and inviting. He had been very determined the previous night to create those pups he wanted so keenly. I kept my attention on the matter at hand: his gift.
“I let Amber think I was trapped here.” I had no regrets about the fib. Shadowless had sold me. They had made a vow of loyalty to IronMoon in bad faith. “And not that I stayed of my own accord.”
“You would have made a false promise before the Moon.”
“It seems you and I are the only ones who are disgusted by false promises.”
“I wonder if Anita lied or not,” Gabel said. “I had met a dozen, two dozen females who I caught the scent of before I met you. I felt as though the Moon were dangling females in front of me giving me false choices.”
I said dryly, “And I was so different?”
“Fishing for compliments?”
“Perhaps I am.”
“You were the night-blooming flower,” he said, then changed the topic. “I wonder if Aaron is also a SableFur pawn.”
“If he is, it’s only because he lets SableFur think that.”
“Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know how I know, I just do. He’s brilliant. The SableFur could crush IronMoon if they wanted to. If I were Aaron, I’d be asking why the SableFur asked me for a favor.”
“SableFur and IceMaw will come for IronMoon one day. I think it is time to insert some spies into both. Buttercup, when did you become so cunning?”
“Oracles can’t be stupid.” And as long as I was an Oracle, the door to IronMoon remained open.
Gabel would never ask me to give it up. I knew in that moment he would never demand it, because he expected me to know if I needed to walk away.
A cunning Alpha like Aaron would continue to use it to his advantage. As an Oracle, I still had to humor Anita, but would Magnes risk invoking the ire of the IronMoon Luna? There were no Lunas that were also Oracles that I knew of.
And no Queens.
Gabel set his coffee cup down. “For Aaron, it is also personal. He wants you. He wants you as surely as any lone male trailing a pack wants to challenge the Alpha for his female. He will come for you, and he will be willing to kill me to win you. It is only a matter of when this happens.”
Gabel smoldered, then said in a low tone, “And if he succeeds in dispatching me with IronMoon intact, you would give him a very fine empire. One to even challenge SableFur. Those two things are more than enough reason to drive him.”
“You cannot think that I would betray you.”
“Of course not. But he could smell your lure-scent. I told no one you smell of the cereus. If he kills me, but Marks you soon after, your chance of survival would be much greater.”
“Perhaps I should just see if I could manage both of you. I do have two shoulders,” I retorted, angry at the thought of another male daring to handle me as Gabel had that first day, furious Gabel would even contemplate letting me fall into Aaron’s grip.
He glared at me, sharp and prickly with hot anger. “No.”
I snorted. “Do you even still want this empire?”
“I have to do what I have to do.
He had been born under an angry Moon. She had shaped him to carry a dark, burning banner under Her eye. He was the Comet. He had no choice. It was how he had been made.
“Shall we turn our attention to heirs?” he inquired instead. “Not that we have not been giving it some attention, but some... focus.”
I eyed him. “You spent all night working to that end.”
“And what is one night if you weren’t ripe? I do believe you made certain promises to me to provide me with pups.”
I had, but I also hadn’t promised him a schedule.
“Buttercup, if it’s infants you worry over, I am proof lupines can be civilized. Winter is here. We could have a spring litter. Think about how easy it would be. I will eagerly sire pups on you in any form.”
It was impossible to tell if he was joking or serious. “Hmph, Easy for you, perhaps.” I decided to treat him like he was joking, because I was not going to entertain the idea of having lupines. “I think you should keep your mind focused on making sure we don’t invite traitors to the Naming. Bloodshed at a Naming is very bad luck.”
Gabel’s smirk deepened. “Speaking of traitors, I have dealt with Marcus. What are you going to do about Gardenia?”
The discipline and management of the she-wolves now fell squarely on my shoulders.
I knew what I was going to have to do about Gardenia. She had been given every chance at redemption.
The scales of Balance tilted toward darkness.
I only regretted that I felt no regret.
“What happens to traitors in IronMoon?” I asked him.
Gabel smiled.
About the Author
Merry is an independent author living in the Bay Area of San Francisco, with her husband and two cats.
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She enjoys coffee, combat sports, casual games, low budget disaster flicks, and the very occasional 10K. In addition to writing novels, she also posts free serial fiction on Wattpad.
www.merryravenell.com
Also by Merry Ravenell
Iron Oracle - coming 2019
The SnowFang Bride
The Nocturne Bride
The Alpha's Oracle Page 41
