by E. M. Moore
“My people have lived in Serpents Hollow since the beginning of our existence.” He pulled a tree branch out of the way, revealing a jagged rock protruding out into a valley. The rock was on a cliff face, but beyond that, the valley glowed with tiny, blinking lights.
My mouth dropped. “It’s beautiful.”
“Lightning bugs,” Mekhi said. “They’re drawn here.”
I turned toward him and witnessed the awe in his face as he looked out over his lands. I moved closer. There was so much about Mekhi that drew me in even though I’d just met him. He had an otherworldliness about him, a wisdom that made him seem much older than he looked.
His hand traced up my arm, making me shiver. Turning, his other hand moved up my opposite arm, his fingertips flirting with the infinity marks on my arm. I stepped closer, my stomach doing somersaults. He reached up, pulling my hair away from my face. “I see you,” he said.
My breath caught. He stared in my eyes, his look going deeper than just the body I’d decided to wear. It seeped through my veins and ran in my blood.
He did see me.
Closer and closer, the string pulled tighter. He turned his head and bridged the distance between us. His lips met mine in a soft whisper. With tiny kisses, we explored one another until our lips locked. His tongue brushed the seam of my lips and I opened to him. He stepped closer, his hands tangling in my hair until the string was finally tight enough that not even air existed between us.
It was just Mekhi and me, and the thousands of fireflies lighting up the air around us.
Chapter Twelve
We finally made our way back to Mekhi’s, or well, our house. Still felt weird to think of a home as mine. Hand in hand with him, I felt acceptance for the first time in my life and I decided then and there I would accept nothing less from my mates. Even Riah--the asshole.
“There is something that I do need to discuss with you,” Mekhi said breaking the silence and stopping in the middle of the path.
“What’s going on?” I asked because I had caught the hint of apprehension in his voice that made it seem like whatever it was that he was about to bring up I wasn’t going to like.
“There is an ancient mating ritual with the snakes and I don’t know how you are going to react when you hear about it,” he replied, dropping his head as if he was ashamed.
“Just tell me what it is. It can’t be as bad as you’re making it out to be, right?” I questioned, but even I could hear the hitch in my voice. I knew I wasn’t going to like what he was going to say.
“Snakes mate for life, but there’s a ceremony that all mates have to go through. You have to be bitten by me and survive my poison as does your dog. It bonds us all together, but also makes your blood poisonous to anyone other than your mates,” he told me, shifting back and forth on his feet and looking anywhere but at me.
What the fuck? Having poisonous blood would be a big advantage against the wolves, but still, I really didn’t think it was going to be a fun ceremony. Why were things so barbaric?
“So..Um, what happens if we don’t do the ceremony thing?” I asked hopeful that he would say something I could live with.
“If we don’t do this, I’ll be removed as leader, and we’ll never truly be fully bonded. Just as the wolf bit you to bond you together, I have to as well to bond us.” Well fuck. Looked like I wasn’t getting out of this one. Though, the thought of him biting me in this form was actually a turn on. It was just the whole surviving poison thing I had issue with.
“What’s the chances of me not surviving the poison?” I said, asking the one question I really didn’t want to have answered.
“You’ll survive it. It does not kill people. It just makes a few go crazy.” I was literally stunned into silence. Like what the hell should I say to that?
After a few minutes, I asked, “When?” Because to me, that was also a pretty important question. I really needed to find what was left of my people and keep away from the wolves. This could just be another thing added to the list of fucked up shit that had happened to me.
“Tomorrow.” He grabbed my hand to lace his fingers through mine, then pulled me to where I was face to face with him. “You won’t go crazy. I can feel your strength from here, but we can discuss the rest of this in the morning.”
I turned away. I liked his faith in me, but the fact that we even had to have this conversation gave me the creeps.
Walking hand in hand, we made it back to the house. Riah was nowhere to be seen, so I assumed he’d went to bed. There was a very slim likelihood I was going to get the same respite tonight. I had too much on my mind.
“Let’s get something to eat and then I’ll show you to you and your dog’s room,” Mekhi offered as he led me to the large kitchen. I stood in awe for a moment at just how big it was. I guessed it would have to be though if you were leader and had a whole clan of mouths to feed.
When the surprise of the room passed, his words finally sunk in. “Wait, did you say Riah and me are sharing a room?”
“Well yes, he is your mate. As we haven’t had our ceremony yet, it would be unwise for us to share a room.”
“Uh, can I not just have my own room? I mean we may be mates and all, but that doesn’t mean I’m just gonna jump into bed with either of you,” I gritted out. I was trying to be nice, because he had been nothing but sweet to me since we had gained our mate marks. However, I really didn’t like people assuming things about me.
Yeah, I’d gotten a little frisky with Riah, and I’d kissed Mekhi, but that didn’t make me a harlot, did it? I guessed I was going to have to go with the flow though and do what felt right. In this situation, I didn’t think there was really anything else I could do.
“No, it’s customary that mates stay with one another. I know I wouldn’t sleep if I knew you were in a room alone and unprotected. I can also promise you that your Riah would also be the same.”
Thinking back on it though, since we’d mated, Riah had slept in the same room as me. Now I knew why he’d come back to Millie’s office the night we first met.
I must have been lost in thought, because before I knew it, Mekhi had set a plate that held two grilled cheeses on it. It smelled so good that when I actually got a good whiff of it, my stomach started to growl.
“What would you like to drink?” he asked, looking so domestic standing in front of the stove flipping another grilled cheese in a skillet.
“Milk, please,” I responded as I dug into the first grilled cheese sandwich.
I nodded my head in thanks as a mug full of milk was placed in front of me. He put another sandwich onto a plate and made his way over to the seat in front of me. We ate in silence, but it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable. It was nice just to be able to enjoy a meal with someone.
Finishing up, I threw away the paper plate and sat my mug in the sink. Looking over at Mekhi, I asked, “Which room is mine and Riah’s? I’m exhausted and it sounds like I’m going to have a busy day tomorrow.”
“I’ll take you. Let me clean this up real quick.”
While he did, I wondered how a creature so violent and strong could be so sweet and caring. He was an enigma to me. I had no doubt he would protect what was his viciously. However, I also knew he would never hurt me.
Making his way back over, he slipped his hand in mine and led me up the stairs to the last door on the left.
“This is your room. There’s an adjoining bathroom as well. I’m so glad you came here.” Caressing my face with his hand, he leaned in and kissed me. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but one you gave someone you had loved for a long time. In his instance, maybe he had. He’d been waiting on a mate, knew he’d have one since he came into this world. For me, the idea of mates was still foreign.
“Goodnight, Mekhi.” I turned and made my way into the room. It was small, but had a big enough bed I thought maybe I could sleep in without touching Riah.
“Have fun, Anika?” he asked from the chair in the corner..
I jumped as surprise jolted through me. Jesus. He about gave me a heart attack. I glared through the dark to the corner of the room. “Yeah, I did. It was nice to be actually wanted and not just tolerated.” I was still pissed at him over biting me and using me the way he did.
I made my way into the bathroom and changed into the large shirt I always slept in. I knew it was a bad idea to sleep in a bed with him without pants on, but I couldn’t sleep in pants. I always felt like they were strangling my legs. Maybe I was weird, but I’d risk it. We seemed to be clearly hating one another at the moment, so the risk was minimal.
Stepping out of the bathroom, I noticed Riah had already laid down on the bed. Hopefully he was asleep, because I really didn’t have the energy to deal with him right now. Climbing into the bed, I faced the opposite direction of him, hoping I could pretend he wasn’t so close to me.
That was a big fail though, because I could feel the heat he radiated under the covers. I grumbled inside my head, reminding myself to quit worrying about him. Tomorrow, I was going to let a huge fucking snake bite me. The whole Riah thing kind of took the backburner now that was happening.
Riah shifted in the bed. He must have rolled over because now he was close enough I could feel his hot, minty breath on my neck. It shouldn’t have, but that small thing set me at ease and I finally felt myself dozing off.
The last thing I heard before I was completely out was, “I'm sorry.” But I had to have been dreaming because Riah didn’t apologize.
Chapter Thirteen
Curtains being whisked open woke me up. Riah’s heat was gone. It was just me spread-eagle, taking up the entire bed.
I raised my head and blinked, waiting for the person who’d interrupted my sleep to come into view. When the scene finally became more clear, I pulled the sheet closer to me.
“Hello,” a woman said.
“Um, hi,” I answered, looking around the room.
She smiled. “I’m Mekhi’s mother. I’m here to help you get ready for the ceremony.”
My eyebrows raised. “Your Mekhi’s mom?”
She nodded and came closer. Thinking it was rude to just stay laying on the bed, I raised myself into a sitting position, making sure my bare legs were covered by the sheets.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I told her. Why hadn’t Mekhi mentioned he had a mother living with him? Why hadn’t I met her last night?
She looked me up and down, taking in my appearance. “You’ve been on the road for a while, haven’t you?”
I shrugged, not knowing what the correct answer was. We hadn’t been on the road that long, but that clearly wasn’t the answer she wanted. When I had the chance to take a shower, we’d been interrupted, so maybe I did look a little worse for wear. “Kind of. So, can you tell me more about this ceremony? I’m new to all this.”
Mekhi’s mom patted my leg. “It’s our opportunity to give thanks to our creator.” She stopped herself short, her lips tightening. “It’s a bit archaic, but we still do owe our existence to our goddess. That we can never take away from her.”
Goddess? Seriously?
Though, who was I kidding? I’d accepted the fact that I was a Morphling. And Riah was a wolf some of the time. And hell, now I’d met someone who shifted into snakes. “Are there others out there like us?”
“Well, there are very few like you, my dear. You’re an oddity. Mekhi has been blessed by that. Strangely enough, not by our goddess. She hated your kind.”
“My creator hates me?”
“You really don’t know anything, do you?”
I shook my head. That was pretty much what I’d been trying to tell her.
“Artemis didn’t make you, Anika. Actaeon made the Morphlings in consequence to our goddess’s actions. He thought they would rival her, and you do.”
“Oh,” I said simply, feeling dumb. “I guess I understand why she doesn’t like my kind then. So, all of you are made by someone different than me?”
When she smiled, her face seemed to crack even further, her wrinkles deepening. “Yes, but that was all a very long time ago.” She pulled some hair that had fallen over my shoulder and moved it to the back. “The only ones we have to worry about now are the wolves.” She dropped her head to the side. “Speaking of, one is currently down in my kitchen eating us out of house and home.”
I could see Riah doing that. Neither one of us had eaten very much on this journey. Things kept getting in our way. I changed the subject, not wanting to have to discuss Riah with Mekhi’s mom. I was still so conflicted about my own feelings for Riah. When we touched or were even in close proximity to one another, I couldn’t think clearly. I could only guess it was the mate thing taking over. But when we were fighting or I had to listen to his assholish mouth, I couldn’t stand him. “So, what do I have to do at the ceremony other than getting bitten. Mekhi informed me of that part last night.”
Mekhi’s mother shrugged. “Not much. We’ll have a Wise One come to bless the bond. They’ll read from the scripture, much like a human wedding, and then he’ll bite you.”
Oh, yay. I couldn’t wait for that part.
I refrained from rolling my eyes as I listened to her. “So, how long will it take?” I asked.
“Just today,” she said. Her gaze narrowed as she inspected me even further. “Mekhi tells me you’re in search of more Morphlings. That’s a little dangerous, isn’t it?”
“I suppose it is,” I told her honestly. “But my mother told me in a note she left for me that I needed to find my people, so that’s what I’m going to do. I wasn’t planning on finding mates on the way.”
She nodded, knowingly. “It must’ve come as a shock to you.”
“You have no idea.”
She rose from the bed and pulled on my hand. “Well, let’s get you in the bath and scrub you down. You can ask me anything you want in there, and I’ll answer whatever I can. The ceremony starts midday and we still have to pick out the perfect shift.”
“Shift?”
“A light dress, almost like a nightgown. The Goddess likes us to want to be one with nature as much as possible. You’re lucky. When Mekhi’s father and I had our ceremony, I had to be naked.”
My eyes rounded. Yeah, there was no way I was doing that in front of a bunch of strangers. I didn’t care if Mekhi was the leader or not. Not happening.
I followed along beside her numbly. When we stepped into the bathroom, the tub was already filled with water. Pockets of steam rose up, making the air foggy and moist.
“Off with that shirt,” his mom said.
I looked back at her, confusion ripping through me. “I can take a bath myself.”
She pierced me with a glare. “You’re lucky I told the others it was just going to be me and you. Usually, all of the women folk in the town follow the female to the river where we bathe her. I got you a hot bathtub and just myself.”
Without a second thought, I tore the shirt over my head and slid down into the bathtub. The water sloshed over the sides in my haste to get covered.
Mekhi’s mom nodded in approval. “I’ll wash your hair and you worry about your body. How does that sound?”
“Perfect,” I told her, grabbing the soap from the side of the tub before she told me she was going to bathe me too. This ceremony was already way too embarrassing. I didn’t need to make it any more so.
We cleaned me up in silence. She’d told me I could ask her whatever I wanted, but when the time came, I couldn’t think of anything. I didn’t even know enough to ask her questions. Instead, I concentrated on scrubbing my skin down. I didn’t think I could be that dirty, but Mekhi’s mom kept pointing out that I had to be as pure as I could be for the ceremony. By the time I was through, my skin felt almost raw and I’d cleaned every crevice and orifice of my body as much as I could.
When Mekhi’s mom had piled my hair up on my head, she turned my neck. My skin burned. She was staring at the mark Riah had given me. “Such a brute,” she tsked. “Mekhi will be more careful
. I doubt he’ll leave a mark half as big.”
Well, that would be nice. “He certainly wasn’t nice about it,” I told her. Since she’d seen me naked and was helping me bathe, I felt I could at least confide in her about this.
“So strange that your mate should be a wolf.”
I wasn’t one to judge, but wasn’t all this strange? “How so?”
“The wolves were one of Artemis’s last creations. She made them specifically to hunt your kind once Actaeon made you.”
“They’ve been hunting me my entire life.”
“I wonder what it could mean,” the older woman mused. “It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that one of your mates should be her precious ones.”
I looked up into her face. She felt my stare and returned my gaze. “Well, if you figure it out, could you let me know? He bugs the shit out of me.”
At first, her lip peeled apart into a smile. Then, her shoulders heaved and her laugh followed right after. She held her sudsy hand to her belly and laughed and laughed. It made my insides warm. Finally, she calmed herself and looked down at me. “I think we’re going to get along just fine, Anika the Morphling.”
I smiled in return, almost glowing in her motherly affection. Afterward, I gave my body one last scrub, not wanting to let her down.
Before I knew it, she’d rinsed my hair and stood near the tub with a towel in her hand, avoiding her gaze while I got to my feet. I took it from her and wrapped myself with it. Whatever we’d washed me with made my skin tingle and almost glow. I’d felt cleaner than I ever had, as if the raw parts of me were showing and there was something beautiful about that. If only I were able to change into my true form for the ceremony. I’d love to have Mekhi see me. He said he did, and I believed him. But what about the real me? The reflection of who I was on the inside?
When we walked back into the bedroom, there were several thin white dresses draped over the bed. “Oh, good,” Mekhi’s mother said. “We have quite an array to pick from.” She checked her watch and beamed. “We’re making good time, but the hair will take a little while. Let’s get you into your shift and then we’ll work through what you want your hair to look like.”
