Valen and his brothers all covered their ears. There may have been some whimpering from them as well.
“Sorry. I didn’t think.” Aaron wiped his hands on his pants. “I won’t do it again without warning.”
“Appreciate it,” Valen said. “You have a good weapon right there. It’d stun a shifter if they weren’t expecting it. You’d have a chance to escape while they were covering their ears and trying to keep their brains from running out.”
Tentin trotted up, a wild look in her eyes.
“She’s still scared,” Aaron noted. “Maybe I should tie her here if I can find a suitable place.”
Valen wanted Aaron to spare his knee as much as possible. “See if she’s willing to be soothed.”
“Can we touch her?” Marco asked, leading Ezra closer to Aaron. “We don’t think Aaron’s a bad man, right, Ezra?”
“No,” Ezra answered with less surety than Marco.
“I’m not, I swear it.” Aaron moved until his left shoulder was under Tentin’s neck. “Let me just get a grip on her bridle. You’re going to be sweet, aren’t you, Tentin? You’ll be a good girl for these young men’s first experience with a horse?” He glanced at them. “This is the first time you’ve seen one, right?”
“Yes,” Marco and Ezra answered together.
Valen kept an eye on his younger brothers while thinking of his father and wondering who else had died. He didn’t bother to stop the tears that spilled from his eyes. There was no shame in crying for those he’d loved and lost. They’d be back in some form, the circle of life and death connected and never ending. Valen hoped they’d come back as shifters again, and that someday their paths would cross.
Rivvie stood beside him, mourning in silence.
“We’ll take care of the family we have left,” Valen said minutes later, when Aaron was explaining to the boys how the reins and bridle worked. The distraction was good for them after what they’d been through, so Valen restrained his own need to get to the dwellings area.
Rivvie wiped his cheeks. “Does this mean you’re going to take over as alpha here?”
Valen nodded. “Yes, it does. There are the betas who might want to challenge me. I’ll expect you to make sure all laws are followed in that case.”
“Of course.” Rivvie cleared his throat then spat. “I just wish things had been different with Father. I wish I hadn’t made him angry. That doesn’t mean I regret being in your pack. I don’t.”
“It’s okay, Riv.” Valen couldn’t fix Rivvie’s regrets, all he could do was be there for his brother. “Let’s see if we can get everyone back to the dwellings.”
Chapter Eleven
It was hard not to cower under all the angry glares. Aaron had never considered himself brave and he didn’t know if he could deal with all the hatred being directed at him. He was exhausted, and his knee throbbed. Any one of the shifters could turn and tear him into shreds.
Not that Valen would let them. Valen kept a snarl on his lips and an arm around Aaron’s waist. Along with Valen, Rivvie, Marco and Ezra formed a loose circle around him.
Aaron couldn’t blame the survivors for the fury. Remnants of homes stood in jagged hunks of ruin, and the ground was scorched in many places, great splotches of black where grass, plants and trees should have been.
On a rise framed in moonlight, shapes could be seen kneeling or sitting, people and wolves, as mournful sounds were carried in the air. The stench of burnt everything was sickening.
“That’s the graveyard,” Marco said, pointing. “It’s full now. We’ll have to make it bigger.” He began to cry, and Ezra followed suit.
“Come here.” Valen brought them to him. He held his brothers against him and Aaron.
Aaron dared to put his arms around them. He couldn’t bear the pain they were going through. “I’m so sorry. So sorry,” he repeated until his mouth was dry and his throat ached. At some point, he must have cried with them. His cheeks were wet and chilled from the breeze.
“You have brought a Human to this sacred place.”
Valen rumbled, and he let go of everyone to step in front of them.
Aaron saw a tall, very old-looking woman with long white hair that hung to the ground in a braid. She had sagging skin everywhere, but her eyes were sharp with an intelligence that was spooky.
“He’s to be my mate, Lanaka.” Valen bowed to her briefly. “He is not one to bring harm to us. Aaron Olsen had no part in what happened here.”
Lanaka hummed, then gestured Valen aside. “Let me see him. Rivvie, Marco, Ezra, stop hiding him. Let the man show me himself.”
Aaron thought he might pass out. Lanaka scared him in a way the other shifters didn’t. He remembered the way Valen had bowed to her and did the same.
“Smart,” Lanaka murmured. “Look me in the eyes, Aaron Olsen.”
It was one of the hardest things he’d ever had to do. Aaron couldn’t stop himself from shivering as he looked into Lanaka’s black eyes. It clicked then, that she was the shaman, the powerful woman Valen had mentioned before. No one messes with a shaman. But someone had, and Aaron thought they were in for more suffering than he could imagine.
He felt like he was twirling and being pulled into her dark gaze. Aaron wasn’t aware of breathing, or of voices, of people around him. He could only stand there, held in some sort of thrall.
A buzzing sounded in his head, and a sensation close to pain shot along the top of his skull then down to the base of his spine.
As quickly as the pain had run through him, it disappeared.
Lanaka chanted and pressed her thumb to the spot between Aaron’s eyes.
Tingling heat radiated out from there, not painful this time. It wasn’t comfortable, either, yet Aaron didn’t make a sound of protest.
Then Lanaka lowered her hand and pressed it to his heart. There the same sensation occurred. “He has a good heart, a good soul. Aaron Olsen is not to be harmed.”
“You didn’t protect us from this!” someone shouted. “Lanaka, the great shaman! Why should we trust you now?”
Lanaka turned to whoever had yelled. “It isn’t me you must trust, but the gods, the spirits that guide us in this world. Your heart hurts, as does mine. You want answers. We may never have them. It is up—”
“Fuck the gods and spirits, and fuck you too, you old bitch!”
Aaron gasped at the foul language and hatred rolling off the man’s tongue.
Lanaka didn’t seem bothered.
Valen, however, turned on the man. “You want someone to fight with you, Delion? Then you’ve got it, right here. Shut your filthy mouth up or face me.”
“I’m not scared of you,” the man who must be Delion said, approaching Valen. Delion was bigger than Valen in height and build. He had thick, dark hair and an angry expression. “I may not be an alpha but I can kick your ass. I’ll do it then throw that bitch out of here for letting this happen.”
“If you can get past me, you can try.” Valen cracked his knuckles. “We can revert to this, to a people who fight each other rather than help each other. We can let anger fuel our moves instead of common sense. We—”
Delion dropped to his hands and knees, shifting as he went.
“Fuck talking, then.” Valen shifted.
Aaron wanted to protest the impending fight, but Rivvie grabbed him and pulled him back. “Let them. Delion is bigger, yeah. He’s also an idiot. This won’t be the first time Valen’s kicked his ass. Might be the last.”
“I don’t want him to have to fight because of me. I’ll go home,” Aaron said. “I’ll leave right now if I can find my way back to Tentin.”
“You will stay here.” The order came from Lanaka. “To leave now would undermine Valen’s authority within the pack.”
And that would mean Lanaka would be at risk should Delion be allowed to get away with calling her names and being so disrespectful.
“One cannot say why things happen as they do,” Lanaka said as Valen and Delion circled each othe
r. “We are not the blessed pack. We are merely another pack living on this planet. The gods play no favorites, and we have lived many, many years with no harm or hardship.”
“So it was just our turn?” Beal asked hatefully. “How benevolent of the gods.”
“I would caution you to be careful of angering them if I thought it would do any good,” Lanaka told her.
“Nothing has done any good.” Beal ground her teeth loud enough that even Aaron could hear her.
Delion lunged then and Aaron tensed until Valen easily dodged the attack. Valen leaped back and spun to the right, moving so quickly he was hardly more than a blur. He had Delion by the tail in an instant.
Delion yelped and Valen jerked his head, pulling Delion’s tail fiercely. He released it when Delion turned on him.
Valen went in low and fast, driving Delion back with a series of biting thrusts.
Aaron smelled piss and the tangy scent of blood as Delion whined. Valen held him pinned to the ground, his great muzzle clamped around Delion’s neck.
For a second Aaron thought that Delion was dead, then Valen let him go and Delion rolled to his side before slinking off on his belly.
Valen tossed his head back and howled, the sound a clear challenge to all around him.
Beal collapsed in a heap and began to cry, those great, heart-wrenching sobs she’d been racked by before. Aaron ached to comfort her but knew she wouldn’t welcome his touch or words.
No other shifter came forth to challenge Valen, either.
Aaron turned to Rivvie. “Your mother needs you.”
Rivvie grimaced. “She needs Father, but he’s gone.” He left Aaron to kneel beside Beal.
Aaron turned away to give them some sort of privacy. He startled to find Lanaka standing in front of him. “Oh! You surprised me.” She was taller than him so Aaron had to tip his head up quite a bit to look her in the face when she was so close. “Um, did I do something wrong?”
“Were you worried about me, Aaron Olsen?” Lanaka asked.
How to answer? Aaron wasn’t certain. He’d been raised to be respectful of the elderly, and adult or not, had he spoken like Delion had to Lanaka, Walter would have slapped Aaron’s smart mouth right off his face, and deservedly so.
Lanaka didn’t quite smile, but it looked like she wanted to, the corners of her mouth twitching. “People want someone to blame. I want someone to blame. There is no one other than the ones who attacked us. The gods weren’t involved in this. Strange, though, that we’ve had no interaction with humans before, and now we’ve had a very, very bad one, and a good one.”
“I’m the good one?” Aaron asked, wanting to clarify it in case he was wrong.
Lanaka did smile then. “Of course you are, Aaron Olsen.”
Valen appeared beside her, having shifted again at some point. “Is everything okay?”
Lanaka nodded. “I like your young man, Valen. I think he is a lesson for us.”
Valen’s brow creased as he reached for Aaron’s hand. “What does that even mean?”
Lanaka didn’t answer. “I need to tend to Delion.”
Aaron waited until she had left, then asked Valen, “Will he let her?”
“It’s that or die,” Valen said. “One of the wounds is deep, and he’ll need her to heal him. If his pride won’t let him accept her help…” He shrugged. “I don’t want this pack to be torn apart by fighting. That can’t happen. You understand that I’ll have to go after the ones that did this, and kill them?”
Aaron didn’t like it, but he understood. “I can help you.”
“We’ll see. There’s a lot for us to talk about, things to explain,” Valen began.
“Maybe not as much as you think,” Aaron told him. “You’re the alpha here. You’re in charge, and it’s different from my father being the leader of our village, yet it isn’t. This isn’t a democracy here—what you say goes. There’s an order in the pack—alpha, betas, omegas. Am I right?”
Valen gawped at him.
“I read about wolves in a book we have at the village,” Aaron said with only a little smugness. “I’m guessing it’s not as animalistic for shifters, with them fighting for placement in the pack.”
“We don’t encourage in-fighting, no. Most of us are born what we are, like me.” Valen touched a small crescent-shaped mark on his chest. “This designates me as an alpha. The betas are chosen by the alpha if they fit the characteristics the alpha has for them. Same for the omegas. We are, believe it or not, a peaceful people.”
“I believe it, but even so, bad things happen.” Aaron bit his bottom lip so hard he tasted blood. “Do you think these were the same humans you discovered had been watching our village?”
Valen looked away. “My gut says yes, but until I hunt for scents, I won’t know for a certainty.”
“I’m coming with you.” Aaron wasn’t arguing about it. “Tentin and I will ride behind the pack or something. I’m coming.”
“All right.” Valen nodded once. “Then we’ll have our mating ceremony when we’ve finished what these monsters started. And you’ll be mine.”
Aaron didn’t say what he knew—he already was Valen’s.
* * * *
Sleeping on the ground hadn’t bothered Aaron before. It did this time, and he tossed and turned until the sun began to rise and Valen woke up.
“You look tired,” Valen noted, tracing what might have been a circle under Aaron’s eye.
“I couldn’t sleep. Last night was…difficult,” he admitted.
“It was.” Valen yawned, his jaw popping. “We can’t dwell on the losses. There are the living to take care of, and justice to mete out.”
Valen, Rivvie and several others had spent hours last night mourning those who had been killed. Aaron had stayed at Valen’s side, and while he hadn’t known the people being mourned, he’d still hurt for them and the survivors. He’d tried to keep his own tears hidden out of respect for shifter kind, considering that it’d been humans who’d caused such devastation.
Valen hadn’t let him hide. He’d licked the tears off Aaron’s face.
Aaron hadn’t noticed if he was still the recipient of angry glares or not. He’d focused on being there for his lover and friends. His soon to be mate. Aaron was excited about that, and flattered that Valen wanted him forever. There was a tenderness in Aaron’s heart for Valen, one very close to love. He had no doubts about committing himself to Valen for the rest of his life. He only hoped the pack would come to accept him.
“So far away from me, yet so close.” Valen rolled on top of Aaron.
Aaron looked around furtively. There were several other shifters in either wolf or human form sleeping nearby since all of the homes had been destroyed.
Valen grinned and licked Aaron’s face, from his chin to his temple.
Aaron sputtered and Valen got up, bringing Aaron to his feet as well.
“How’s your knee?”
Aaron put some weight on it and winced. “Still sore.”
Valen knelt. “Let me look at it.”
“But—” Aaron stopped protesting as Valen worked the fastening of his pants. Being prudish about nudity was kind of silly considering that very few people were clothed.
The morning did carry a chill with it. Aaron wasn’t the least bit cold while Valen was touching him, sliding his pants down and caressing his thighs as he did so.
Aaron’s cock began to fill. He tugged the hem of his shirt down, trying to cover it.
Valen leaned in and licked Aaron from the base of his shaft to the spongy tip.
Aaron hissed, clenching his fists and digging his nails into his palm to help hold back what would otherwise be an embarrassingly quick release. Unfortunately for him, the tiny bites of pain in his hands only aroused him more.
Valen trailed kisses down Aaron’s thigh while holding onto his hips.
Aaron didn’t see anyone else stirring yet. They would be if Valen made him come, because Aaron knew he would make a lot of noise.
There was no chance of him being silent in the throes of pleasure.
Fortunately, Valen left off trying to drive Aaron insane with sensual touches, and instead tutted over Aaron’s knee. “That’s a nasty little cut. It wouldn’t hurt to have Lanaka look at it.”
But he wasn’t a shifter. “Um, would she be able to help me?” He felt foolish for asking. “No, never mind. It’s just a small cut. There’ve been much worse injuries for her to help with since…the attack.” He wasn’t sure what to call it, how to phrase it without insulting Valen.
Valen brushed a soft kiss over the wound. “Any injury to you is a priority to me.” He stood and pulled Aaron’s pants up. “We’ll go to her now. Lanaka’s home is intact. She lives in the shaman cave.”
“Hard to burn a cave down,” Aaron said. “I take it all of the former shamans lived there?”
Valen laughed quietly. “No, that’s the thing. Lanaka moved into it when my grandfather was alpha. He died fighting a bear, but that is another story. Anyway, Lanaka was the shaman he brought to the pack, and she refused to live in the big house the shaman before her had resided in. Said she was part of the earth, not part of another idiot’s vanity.”
“Was the one before her a good shaman?”
Valen shrugged as he handed Aaron his cane. “From what I know. He just liked as much luxury as he could have.”
Aaron didn’t ask any more questions while they walked to Lanaka’s cave, or the shaman’s cave, whichever he should call it. Lanaka was standing outside, nude as the day she was born, her arms raised up and her face tipped toward the sun. At first glance, it looked like she was raising the sun over her head.
All of the shifters were so comfortable with nudity, but Aaron wasn’t sure where he should look. Well, he knew where not to look, and he didn’t want to see anyone’s private parts except for Valen’s, and yet ironically, his very avoidance of said parts tended to end up with his gaze sinking right down to them.
It was mortifying.
Lanaka chanted words that were unfamiliar to Aaron. They brought goosebumps up on his skin. She finished what he thought was some sort of morning prayer.
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