by Bonnie Vanak
Robert took the ceremonial silver blade Guy offered him. He drew a deep breath and slashed his wrist. Blood welled up. It hurt far worse than the last time. He knew it would, for his life force was tied to the dragon’s.
Guy did not know this. No one in his pack did. All they knew, and understood, was that Robert was the beast’s caretaker.
Robert let the blood drip to the ground. It sank into the earth and the ground shook.
Scales lifted his head and roared. Flames shot out of his mouth.
But a temporary measure at best. Robert bound his wrist with the clean white cloth his beta handed him.
The full moon was in two nights. He would take Aurora in the sacred grove, take her as a man took a woman, and hope the hell consummating their union would save his people.
Chapter 12
Aurora saw little of Robert the following day. She spent her time tending to the plants in the garden. She looked for her little caterpillar, but to her sorrow, she found it dead on the ground. She wept over it, for the tiny creature had given her hope and delight. New life, now dead.
What was going on around her? She didn’t understand. The plants and earth and animals had all seemed healthy when she’d arrived. Now they did not.
After eating a picnic lunch she’d packed for herself, Aurora wandered the gardens. At the cottage where Robert had shown her so much pleasure, she went to push onward, but was stopped. Try as she might, her feet would not move forward.
Aurora held out her hands and pushed, and felt an invisible barricade. She knew this. Ancient magick prohibiting the wrong people from straying into protected territory. Excitement filled her. The dragon surely lived back here, why else would they need to protect this area?
She returned to the lodge as dusk fell. In the kitchen, she nibbled on freshly baked cookies Susan drew out of the oven.
“Where’s your brother?”
Susan cast a worried eye at the ceiling. “Upstairs. Fiona went into labor early, and refused to go to the Skin hospital. He’s helping.”
Aurora nearly choked on a bite of cookie. “He’s delivering the babies?”
A smile touched Susan’s mouth. “He can do anything. He’s our alpha.”
Okay. Stuffing a cookie into her mouth, Aurora headed up the stairs. She hoped to hell Robert hadn’t gotten himself into something that called for more powerful magick.
Halfway down the hallway, Robert emerged from a bedroom, rubbing his hands on a towel. He saw her and nodded. “The twins are fine.”
Dual wails from the bedroom echoed his sentiment. She followed as he headed into the bathroom across the hallway and washed his hands. Aurora hovered in the doorway. “Good to know.”
He took care of everyone in the pack. He watered the plants, cared for the land and the people.
“Who takes care of you?”
Bracing his hands on the sink he blinked, as if the question startled him.
“You’re the alpha, and you care for everyone else. But who cares for you?”
When he didn’t answer, she sighed. “Let’s go to your house. You need time away from your pack.
Robert led her downstairs, outside to the pathway leading to his private house.
Once inside, she pushed him forward. “Shower first, then food. Hot food. Chicken and rice, more raw chicken than rice since you’re wolf? I can cook that. Or not cook it.”
He paused before heading up the stairs. “Why are you doing this?”
Aurora wanted to laugh. Such an innocent question, yet filled with innuendo. “Because I’m supposed to become your mate, silly. Someone has to take care of you, and that’s me.”
“I don’t need taking care of.”
Of course. The big, bad alpha had to assert his independence. Aurora noted the lines of strain around his green eyes, the whiteness bracketing his sensual mouth. “You do, and I’m doing it.”
She gave him a gentle push toward the stairs. “Take a shower, and when you’re finished, I’ll have dinner ready.”
An hour later, they sat at the kitchen table eating from big bowls of chicken stew. As Robert dug into the meal, she gave her future mate a furtive look. “How is everything in the nursery?”
Robert patted his mouth with a paper napkin. “Fine.”
“The twins…were they born prematurely?”
A guarded look came over him. “Not really. Fiona’s healthy, and the twins are in good shape. She just needed a little extra help with the home delivery, more help than what the midwife could give her.”
“And you’re the help she needed.”
A shrug from those broad shoulders. “I have experience delivering babies.” He spooned up more stew. “This is excellent. Thank you so much for making dinner. I’m more hungry than I cared to admit.”
There was more here than he wanted her to know. “If you’re so good at preserving life, why does it seem like everything is dying? My caterpillar did.”
Robert’s spoon paused halfway to his mouth. He set it down carefully. “What do you mean?”
“Yesterday he was healthy, eating up a storm, and today he dropped off the leaves of the milkweed. Even the plants are dying.” Troubled, she stared at him. “Why is that, Robert? Why do some creatures and plant life appear healthy one minute and then then the next they die?”
“Everything dies,” he said gently. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t be condescending. I’ve had enough of that in my life.” She pushed back her bowl of stew.
Robert gave her an angry look. Sucking a breath through his teeth, he set down his spoon and spoke slowly. “I am not meaning to be such, if that is your perception. I was only trying to offer reassurance. This pack is…different.”
“Different. Does that mean each time you wake up, someone else dies?” she whispered.
He reached across the table, squeezed her hand. “No more. I promise you this, it will get better. Everything will be fine. No more odd deaths or unexplained sickness.”
“When?” She wondered what kind of magick he possessed.
“Tomorrow night,” he said, his voice husky. “Tomorrow night, we come together as mates.”
Chapter 13
Their mating ceremony was at sunset.
Dressed in a flowing white gown, a circlet of red roses upon her head signifying she mated the alpha, Aurora stood with Robert on the ground in front of the wedding gazebo, for this formal ceremony with the pack’s alpha must take place on the earth itself.
Her heart thudding hard, she stared at Robert, so handsome in his black tuxedo with the pearl buttons on the starched white shirt.
The eighty-one members of Robert’s pack sat in folding chairs, watching as Warren, the eldest member of the Keynes pack, lanced their palms with a silver ceremonial knife. The cut stung, but she barely felt it. Blood welled up on her hand and she shivered, remembering the other ceremony that would soon take place in the sacred grotto when her virginal blood would be spilled.
The gown felt soft against her chilled skin, and the slave collar tighter than usual, reminding her of her enslavement. Susan, her matron of honor who stood by her side, had decorated it with tiny red rosebuds to mask its appearance.
She and Robert clasped hands, their mingled blood dripping to the earth and sinking into it. Warren tied their right wrists together with a leather cord. “May you always be tied together by the bonds of loyalty, courage, strength, and love.”
Aurora’s heart was pounding so hard she feared it drowned out Warren’s voice.
She forced her voice to remain steady as she spoke her vows to Robert, wishing with all her heart she could honor them to her last dying day. “I, Aurora Seville, take you Robert Keynes, of my own free will, as my mate. I promise to honor and respect you, to love and cherish you with my body and my spirit, to stand by your side as our alpha leader and support you above all others, and to be yours, forever.”
Robert stared into her eyes, his expression soft. Tenderness filled her as she noticed
his hand shook a little. Then he gathered her hands into his, his palms strong and warm, such lovely warmth.
“I, Robert Keynes, alpha leader of the Keynes pack, take you Aurora Seville, of my own free will, as my mate. I promise to honor and respect you, to love and cherish you with my body and my spirit, to stand by your side as my alpha female and support you above all others, and to be yours, forever. And I promise to always put your needs above all others.”
At that last line a few Lupines gasped, but Robert silenced them with an icy look. Then he smiled at Aurora. “I added that vow because it is a promise I intend to keep.”
Emotion clogged her throat. She could not speak, only close her eyes as he kissed her, his mouth firm, warm, and authoritative.
When he pulled away, he signaled to Warren. Suddenly several Lupines placed cages upon the lawn and opened them. Aurora cried out in delight as dozens of orange and black monarch butterflies took to the skies.
He watched her and smiled. “I know how you enjoy caring for the caterpillars.”
“Are any from the milkweed I helped to grow?”
His expression darkened for a moment. “No. They are a gift from another nursery. But you will grow more, and they will now flourish.”
Warren bowed to his alpha and to Aurora, and they headed for the white tent stretched over the lawn. Robert guided her to the head table, decorated with white and red roses. A cool wind blew through the trees, rustling the leaves, raising gooseflesh on her bare arms.
Robert noticed her shiver. He beckoned to Susan and Susan fetched a white lace shawl. Her new mate covered her shoulders.
Aurora smiled at him, but she was too nervous to talk.
Covered with red linen tablecloths, each table bore a squat glass vase of red roses, white hyacinth, and honeysuckle. Robert sat and then pulled Aurora onto his lap and fed her the ceremonial first bite of their wedding dinner—a slice of rare prime rib.
“So you may never go hungry. I will always keep you satisfied, in every way possible,” he murmured.
Their hands still tied together, Aurora lifted the silver cup filled with water to his mouth.
“So you may never thirst for another’s touch except mine. I will always quench your spirit,” she told him in the traditional vow Susan had taught her.
Would she? For how long? As he kissed her, his mouth settling on hers with possessive intent, dozens of doubts raced through her mind. She was falling for Robert Keynes, hard and fast. How could she protect her heart from being shattered when he discovered the truth of why she was really here?
How could she take the dragon’s living heart and kill such a beautiful, magnificent creature? Aurora shivered again, despite the warm shawl around her shoulders.
“Hey.” Robert lifted their joined hands and settled his palm on her face. “Don’t be frightened. I’m going to take very good care of you, sweetheart.”
Then they untied the leather cord and settled in for the wedding feast.
She barely tasted the dinner. She danced with Robert, but everything became a blur. Aurora was too focused on the rite beneath the full moon that would consummate their union. And then there’d be no turning around, no going back.
As she sat at the table, he took a glass of the absinthe. Robert dropped a sugar cube onto a silver slotted spoon, poured cold water over it and then handed her a glass of the green liquid. “Drink,” he said softly. “It is the custom.”
She drank, grimacing at the taste. Finally, the men came and fetched Robert. He threw her a look over one shoulder that seemed tender and encouraging, but she was too nervous to pay it much mind.
Susan and the other females surrounded her, then marched her into the lodge to a downstairs room. A bedroom, very plain, with a white spread on the king-sized bed. In the adjoining bathroom, steam misted the air. Robert’s sister handed her a thick black satin robe with a cowl, one Aurora recognized as traditional among Lupines.
“When you dry off from your bath, put this on. You must wear nothing underneath, not even shoes,” Susan instructed.
Then she hustled Aurora into the bathroom and closed the door. Grateful for the privacy and the pampering, Aurora sank back into the water with a sigh and soaked for a few minutes. Her skin felt stretched tight over her bones as she thought of the rite that was to take place.
Sex in front of those select couples. Aurora shivered, despite the warm water.
When she emerged from the bathroom dressed in the robe, they fussed over her, giving her sips of absinthe, feeding her little bites of petit fours. Susan brushed her hair but paused, the brush in mid stroke.
“Do you know everything that will happen in the formal joining ceremony? Do you have any questions?”
Aurora swallowed hard and met her sister-in-law’s gaze in the mirror. “I believe I’ve seen it all.”
The Lupine set down the brush and squeezed her shoulders. “My brother may be a stubborn male at times, but I can see how much he cares for you. He never would have added that promise to his vows if he did not mean it. We take our vows very, very seriously in this pack.”
Tears clogged Aurora’s throat. How she wished she could! “Thank you. I do have a question. Who are the couples and why are they chosen as witnesses?”
Susan hesitated and then took a deep breath. “They are the eldest survivors in our pack, the ones who were dedicated to serving my father, the original alpha. They carry the memories and the traditions of our people and have a place of honor.”
She liked the idea of tradition, though her insides clenched at the idea of having sex in front of these venerated Lupines.
The door opened and the women all left, Susan giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she walked out. Six women, all dressed in robes similar to Aurora’s, walked inside. The tallest was a redhead Aurora recognized from spying on Guy and Helen’s mating ceremony.
“I am Dahlia, the eldest female of the Keynes pack. I will escort you to the sacred grounds to complete the ritual.”
Dahlia introduced her to the five other females, and then handed Aurora a pretty dragon mask to cover her face. The mask smelled of roses as she donned it. The others did the same.
“Come,” Dahlia said solemnly. “It is time for you to consummate the mating.”
As Aurora walked outside, wind rippled the robe, teasing the hem as she walked, accompanied by the six women. Overhead, a few clouds scuttled across the sky. It was mostly a clear night, with stars winking overhead. The grass felt cool and damp beneath her feet, and she shivered, despite the robe’s warmth.
They waited outside the sacred grotto for Robert.
At last he approached, wearing the traditional black robe of the Lupines and wearing a dragon mask far more intricate than the others. In his hands he held a small clear jar.
The Lupines looked at him expectantly but Robert held up a hand. “Wait. We will not complete the rite until Aurora is freed from her slave collar. I will not consummate this mating unless she is willing.”
Moonlight spilled upon them in a wash of silver. Robert set down the jar. He looked up, and then reached for the clasp holding her slave collar fastened. The warmth of his fingers sent a tingle rushing down her spine. He unsnapped the collar and it dangled from his fingers. Then he handed it to one of the males.
“Throw this into the pond. I never want to see it again.”
She shivered with awareness, and rubbed her neck. It felt good and curiously freeing to be rid of the damn thing.
Through the eyeholes in his mask his gaze remained fierce. “If it were up to me, I’d destroy it so it would never hurt you again, Aurora. I promise I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”
She felt a rush of relief. Though still nervous at what was to transpire, she knew he cared for her, and that made this formal rite, with its lack of tenderness, more acceptable.
He looked at her, his hands warm upon her trembling shoulders. “Do you wish to consummate this mating with me of your own free will?”
Relieved sighs rippled through the six couples. Robert picked up the jar, went to the trellis and touched a vine and the vines parted.
They entered the grotto, her heart pounding like a war drum. Robert uncapped the jar and set it down upon the ground.
After the six couples purified the air with sage, Robert went to the first candle on the pedestal. Flames shooting from his index finger, Robert ignited the taper. “Power of the air, endow this mating and myself and my mate with your strength and let them never know want.”
He took the first taper, and used it to light the second one and murmured, “Power of the earth, endow this mating and myself and my mate with your fertility and let us conceive and bear strong young.”
At the third candle he recited, “Power of fire, endow this mating and myself and my mate with your passion.”
At the fourth candle, he said, “Power of water, let this mating and myself and my mate be healthy and awash in a flood of life.”
At the fifth candle, he added a spell to all the earth elements for honor and loyalty and strength of balance and love of pack. At the sixth red candle, he looked at her and nodded. Drawing in a deep breath, she removed her dragon mask, as did Robert and the others.
Robert spoke in a deep voice. “Power of the dragon, I bare myself before you. Protect my people and my mate with your life force and your strength. Make all of us fertile, and our land prosperous. Let our eyes be opened to the wisdom of the ages, and let us remain true to ourselves, and enable us to fight this evil that has cursed our people and our land.”
The flame burned a bright silver.
Robert blew out the taper, set it upon the last pedestal and turned to the circle. He donned his mask again, as did the others. Aurora put hers back on as well. Then he lifted his long arms and looked up at the nearly full moon, shining down upon them.
“By my right as alpha of this pack, I purify this space and this mating of myself, Robert Keynes, alpha of this pack, with Aurora Seville, Mage and daughter of the earth, and bless it with my blood.”
