Bride of Glass

by Jeanette Lynn

  “But that’s... that’s crap!” I burst out.

  “It’s the Lo denaii way.” His voice was soothing, this taller yet less beastly beast, the low timbre of his voice, the way he spoke, it was calm and reassuring.

  The look on his face was slightly apologetic—his eyes, however, as they traveled back and forth between us, dipping down below the depths of the pond, not so much.

  Tokre caught the action, growling softly in warning.

  “Well, the Lo denaii way is shit!” I shot back at him, scowling at every beast present.

  I was so full of my own bologna I was surprised it wasn’t coming out of my ears, I was bluffing so hard. But I was nervous, quickly panicking, and had long ago grown desperate. Would I ever catch a god damned break?

  Adjusting Tokre’s hand so it covered my ass, my breasts covered by his chest, I told the male, “I haven’t accepted that asshole’s anything. He’s lying! And what if one of the males is deaf? Then what? What then?”

  “Deaf?” White, fluffy brows shooting up, the male glanced between us in mute surprise.

  “You heard me. I said what if he can’t hear the challenge? Then what? How can he contest it if he can’t hear it in the first place, genius?”

  “Ah… well...

  “You don’t know,” I finished waspishly. Tigerlady was on a roll! Rawr.

  The first snow beast I’d come across that speaks full sentences, appears to have a brain in his thick skull, and he’s speechless. Hah! Oh, the irony.

  “Yep. Well, you guys go think on that,” my hand waved at them and I sniffed, “and we’re going to go-”

  “Rek claim Tokre female! Rek-”

  “Is a jerk and I can’t stand him! He stole my fur! Tried to kidnap me! Broke into my home! Dragging me from my hut! And I want nothing to do with his stupid... stupid… argh! His stupid, stupid ass! And no matter how much I begged or pleaded, he didn’t care, and he blistered my damned butt black and blue!” I screamed, in a rage, then slapped a hand over my mouth at my shocked outburst. “And he- he- He. Made. Me. Freaking. Pee!” I just had to go and blurt through my fingers.

  Tokre’s hand began stroking along my back soothingly, but the tension riding him didn’t let up. Neither did his warning growl.

  Chest heaving, panting heavily, I felt lightheaded, sure, but I felt good. Really good. It was like all the shit I’d been holding in for so long had finally bubbled up, boiling over, and burst out. It was sort of… freeing.

  “Rek stole Rosie-lindy’s mating fur? Rek hurt Tokre’s mate?” At the scandal in Zhuii’s voice, then the slow thread of anger, a quiet, burning rage building in the serious yet jovial beastie, a murmur of discontent rose up in the crowd.

  Rek started rambling in his language, whatever that was, as if to defend his actions.

  “But Rosie’s not your mate. Rosie denies you. Lo denaii don’t harm females. We don’t beat them, ever,” I heard the slim male bark sharply. His silky smooth voice was at odds with the anger tingeing his words, and I had to tell my inner tigerlady to calm her shit as her stomach fluttered at his words. Cool it, vixen, I warned myself. Not going to happen.

  Tokre’s chest rumbled and I felt like he was doing it for me, the tiger-beast in his heart answering the one roaring to life inside of mine.

  Turning to my mate, pride shone in his eyes as I stared up at him. Did he understand? I felt, to an extent, as if he did. Was that pride for me?

  “Tokre?” At my question he kissed my lips gently, a quick, sweet press of his mouth to mine, cuddling me close. Dipping down lower, tucking me under his arm, maneuvering his bundle easily with one arm, legs kicking, he swam for shore.

  Once there he lifted me up, setting me back in towards the shallows when he would have lifted me up and out, but I’d gasped at the cold chill in the air. Pressing my hands tight onto the ledge, checking to make sure my toes touched the bottom and my fingers held tight, he hopped out.

  Shaking himself out like a wet dog, water droplets splashing everywhere, I watched, fascinated, as he marched straight for Rek.

  The warrior didn’t see him coming as Tokre charged, lunging, his lips pulled back in a menacing display. Latching onto Rek’s back, Tokre locked an arm around the warrior’s thick neck, shocking the shit out of everyone, beasts and this lowly human alike, wrestling him into a choke hold and throwing them to the side with all of his weight.

  Rek roared, the sound tapering to a strangled snarl as Tokre took him down.

  All the other beasties just stood there, staring, watching, curious, various expressions of surprise streaking across their animalistic mugs. Most appeared to be impressed.

  Rek bucked, trying to shuck Tokre off his back, but my beast-mate was pissed and determined. Tokre had rage on his side, that was for sure, but it would only stand up for so long to Rek’s warrior skills.

  I was scared, frightened for Tokre. What if he lost? What if Rek won? What would it mean for him, either of them, or for me? Would that make Rek my mate? Would that make Tokre suddenly not mine? I couldn’t afford to find out, honestly.

  There was snarling and jaw snapping, Rek managing to swing Tokre to his side, his claws slashing perilously close to my deflowerer’s washboard tummy. No, I thought, in a panic.

  “Help him!” I shouted, my hands clutching the muddy lip of the pond, my legs kicking about like that would somehow prove helpful. “Don’t just stand there, you fuzzy brained, kidnapping idiots! Help him!”

  Zhuii glanced down at me, along with the blue-eyed jolly-white-furred-bean-pole for a beast, and the orange-eyed beast moved closer. “Rosie-lindy want Tokre lose?”

  Thin, beastie lips dragged down, his bright eyes pinching into a confused, displeased squint. He liked that idea about as much as I did.

  “What? No! Not help Rek! Rek is poo! Rek is… Rek is blech! I hate Rek! Boo, Rek!” Shaking my head, I set the male straight. “Tokre! I mean help Tokre! So, you know, go help him!” The you fool was tacked on silently, though I wondered if it would have affected him, had I elaborated. Zhuii was a little slow on the uptake, but in no way did I think it was indicative of diminished noggin juice.

  Grunting, Zhuii glanced from the snarling pair duking it out a few feet away from us, Rek having thrown Tokre and, surprisingly, allowing my beastie to gain his feet, the two circling each other, waiting for the other to make their move.

  “Noyel interfere,” the blue-eyed beastie offered, his sapphires for eyes glowing as his lips quirked up ever so slightly, “but Noyel want favor from Rosie for it...”

  The beast let his words trail off tellingly, going from mostly full sentences to that broken beast speak English Zhuii and a lot of the others used. I was already grimacing at that remark.

  “Zhuii do it,” Zhuii interrupted curtly, tossing the smaller male a disgusted look over his shoulder. “Zhuii good male, good beastie,” his eyes slid to meet mine and he gazed down at me earnestly, “show Rosie-lindy Zhuii good mate, good to Rosie-lindy and her Tokre.”

  I didn’t buy that Swamp Thing dung for a millisecond. The giant boner he was sporting as he spoke, contradicted the squat male.

  The blue-eyed male was no better, and in some ways possibly worse, demanding favors and such and who knew what the heck else, but still!

  “Gah, no!” I shouted above the din, startling both males with my barked out response. “Uh... I mean no, erm, thank you?” My words came out soft, in a rush, though no less vehement.

  Staring down at my pinched features, my face scrunched up like I’d just sucked a mega sour gummy worm, Zhuii bent low, shoving the other male away from me with a rather well-aimed butt bump as he knelt.

  While the other male, surprised, flailed back, flopping ungracefully to his ass in the tall grass off to the side of them, cursing quite vividly, Zhuii frowned down at me. “Rosie-lindy no want help for her Tokre? Rose-lindy want Tokre lose? Be Rek’s mate?”

  We’re at this mind-fuck bull now? Oh… not even on a good day, buddy.

  “He coul
d win,” I huffed out, though I didn’t sound quite so certain, even to my own ears.

  A deep, stuttering rumble started up within Zhuii as he gazed down at me. Shaking himself out, his fur ruffling in the breeze, he inhaled deeply before speaking.

  “Zhuii be good second mate to Rosie-lindy,” the beastie rumbled out reverently, his voice gone deep and gravelly, heavy with his purr. “Zhuii save Rosie-lindy mate.” Head tilting curiously as he eyed me, his bottom lip jutted in a strange, unintended beastly pout. “Rose-lindy do worse than big Zhuii.” Big Zhuii puffed his chest out, full of masculine pride.

  If I had a pin I’d freaking pop him, I thought with an inner snicker. On the outside, I was squawking unintelligibly. That cheeky, mutant, fur beastie of a git!

  “W-w-what?!” I spluttered, but he’d already stood as if to make his way into the crowd. “I said no,” I called after him, but it looked like the bulky male wasn’t listening.

  “Oh... no-no-no-no-no,” I began mumbling under my breath. One balls to the wall quirky male was enough to deal with on a good day. I did not want nor need to add the horny one!

  There was a pained snarl, and while I couldn’t see what was going on clearly, I had a feeling my male wasn’t the one everyone’d be betting on. The male Zhuii’d tumbled to the grass rolled to his feet with a grunt, shaking his shorter but still shaggy head of beast fluff, to glance over at me.

  “What are you looking at? Never seen a lady panicking before?! What?!”

  The blue-eyed gawker almost lost his footing, blinking down at me, jerking at my outburst.

  Tiger, not the fly. Tiger, not the fly, I chanted, the mantra growing louder and louder in my head until I was shouting it out loud. “Tiger, not the fly. Tiger, not the fly!”

  By the time I’d hopped out of the pond and started running, I was screaming, bellowing my mumbled war song aloud.

  Males jerked up at my squealed out roar, watching as I descended upon them like a mighty mouse on steroids. Hairy beasties cleared a path as my stark naked, water speckled, glistening ass came scrambling up the way.

  My teeth chattered like crazy, limbs half frozen—my nipples so hard and beaded they could cut freaking glass—but I was on a mission. I had to deal with one male on the regular now, a snow beastie with a snarling disposition and a monster of a wang, no way was I adding more to that! And I’d picked him, damn it, whether he’d picked me first or not. I’d picked him, and I was keeping him!

  Marching right into the thick of it, the fighting males circling each other once more, my fighter for the win worse for the wear, his lip swollen and bloodied, one eye swelled shut, gashes marring his once white fur, skin exposed, rivulets of red dribbling down his abdomen, and still he stood, in all his snarling glory, fighting for me and what felt like my honor. Tough as he was, he wouldn’t last much longer against Rek, I just knew.

  I had to think fast, hard as it was with my good bits frozen over, icicles in my hair, my butt cheeks clenched so tight there was a distinct possibility they’d frozen clean together, forming a uni-butt. Launching myself between the pair, right when Rek would have lunged for Tokre, I stunned the lot of them, plastering my back to Tokre’s bloodied chest, a growl in my throat, his name on my lips.

  “NO! MINE!” I screeched, throwing my arms out protectively, as menacing a snarl as my lacking human voice could produce rumbling my chest to tumble from my lips. “He’s mine!” I punctuated my words by lunging at Rek, my hands lifting, fingers curling, like I thought I was some kind of bad assed beastie myself.

  Rek jerked back like I’d just kicked him in the balls with all my might and flicked his dick, almost tripping on his oversized feet as he scrambled to backpedal. Rek, for all his macho warrior bull, suddenly looked poleaxed, wobbling on his feet.

  “Ooga-booga! Boo! Woo-woo! Ar! Ar! Grrrr! Rawwwwr! Grrr! Mine! Mine! Mine! Shoo! Go ‘way!” I shouted, growled, and bellowed, dancing around in front of Tokre like a lunatic, as if my nutty dance, which was really more of a hop and a jig, a wiggle and a skip, a wild half frozen nudist’s cry for help, my arms flailing wildly about me.

  My skin was turning a purplish blue in spots, it was so freaking cold, and my toes had long ago lost their feeling, but this would end now.

  Tokre reached for me on my last lunge, when I made to advance on Rek, his arms wrapping around me to jerk me to his chest. I mighta gotten a little carried away, but Rek was still slowly backing up, still tripping over his feet in his haste, his wild green eyes, wide in his fur-lined face, bulging. With a garbled, shocked noise, he threw his hands out, as if to ward me off.

  I wanted to shout, “Boo!” but Tokre was shaking, breathing heavily into my hair, shaking as badly as I was, and my first instinct was to comfort him. Reaching out, I petted my beast wherever I could, trying to coo to him softly between shivers, hoping he could feel the vibrations.

  It had been terrifying standing up to Rek—he could’ve ripped me to shreds if he’d so wished, but I’d done it. I’d done it, and it had been frightening, wild, and exhilarating, all at once. I wanted to shock Rek again, relish watching the momentary panic I felt on an almost daily basis wash over him, but I’d be pushing my luck.

  Some other time, perhaps, I told myself, turning when Tokre went to shift me.

  Twisting, my arms held out, he scooped me up. Curling in close, my knees sat on either side of his hips, my legs folded under me so my feet could curl under my bum. I was long past frozen through. If they put me on the shelf at the grocery store they coulda sold my ass as a meat-sicle.

  Teeth chattering, I shivered when Tokre’s hand reached up to cup one of my beat up butt cheeks in his paw of a hand. Reaching for him automatically, I wrapped an arm around his back, snuggling close. He was warm, furnace burning hot, my skin stinging viciously from the contact.

  Tokre stared down at me, the strangest look on his face. “Mine!” I told him, pressing my hand to his chest, making sure everyone around heard. His free hand came to press to my chest and his face lit up when I did my best to garble out a purr for him.

  Mine, he mouthed, his lips pulling at his face until a mouth full of sharp, pointy looking teeth smiled down on me. His busted lip pulled, causing it to bleed anew, but I’d never seen a more blindingly bright, happy smile on anyone or anything in my life.

  Mine, I mouthed back. “I’ve claimed you, mate-y boy. This is the part where you kiss me,” I leaned in to whisper to him, touching my fingers to his lips. Pulling back, I pressed my fingers to mine. Kiss, I mouthed, and waited.

  Tokre made a funny chirrup noise, as if doubly pleased, and, swiping at his split lip, he pressed his mouth oh so softly to mine. There was nothing wild or wanton about it, just a simple press of our mouths, and yet I felt it all the way down to my frozen toes.

  Tokre inhaled as the kiss lingered, chuffing noisily as he breathed against my skin. As if scenting something he liked, he let out a contented rumble, his mate-purr vibrating his chest.

  Several large beasties must’ve walked up on the madness at some point, a scary looking one with white, frostbitten looking, arctic, white-blue eyes watching it all from a short distance away. An equally as scary looking beastie with dark patches of fur streaking his coat, his thick arms crossed over his chest, a long weapon sheathed at his belt but still visible, was talking quietly with the larger one.

  Tokre was still shaking, even as the kiss ended, he was still so riled up. His wide chest heaved, his heart thumping wildly, thudding against my breasts like it was determined to slam free of its ribbed prison.

  I’d like to think it could’ve been a fair fight between them, but Rek, while equally as winded as Tokre, had far less blood smearing his fluffy thickness. My stomach twisted at the thought of what could have transpired.

  Zhuii, walking over and patting Tokre on the back gently, clasped Tokre’s wrist in his huge paw of a hand and, holding it, glanced to me sharply. “Rosie-lindy change mind? Want Zhuii for mate, protect Rosie-lindy and her Tokre? Zhuii be Rosie-lindy’s Zoob
ie?” he grumbled out gruffly, a sudden furrowing to his brow that hinted he was offended, quite deeply, at my rebuff after he’d offered to save my male, but not about to comment on it. Tough alien potatoes, or whatever tubers passed for them here.

  Rek was now looking pretty Rek-less, as he stood off to the side of the impromptu fighting pit, grumbling and snarling under his breath fiercely. I’d have laughed at that if I wasn’t beginning to feel so utterly gobsmacked.

  “Uh, no?” I squeaked out, to which the dark clouds hanging over Zhuii’s expression lifted and he smiled wickedly. “Good,” was all he said, which made no damned sense—just, none at all.

  Then, glancing to the frosty-eyed giant and darker furred comrade watching with keen eyes from the back of the crowd, Zhuii lifted Tokre’s arm up high at the beings’—who I assumed were some type of beastie higher ups, like a leader and co-captain or something—short nods.

  Zhuii shouted something in their beastly language, to which the other males gathered about all roared their agreement, slamming their chests with closed fists, and cheers rang out.

  The words Rosie-lindy and Tokre were shouted, Rek starting to move forward, a hitch in his gait, growling as he rocked from foot to foot in agitation.

  As if I thought it would somehow help, my hand shot up to slap to Tokre’s forearm and I shouted our names out, too. I probably looked as utterly ridiculous as I felt doing it, but I didn’t care.

  Rek froze when a low but disturbingly deep, rusty rumble rent the air and beastly words were growled out.

  Shoulders bunching to hunch, Rek let off a chuffing huff. Another growl from the giant beast looming had Sir Rek-less staring down at his giant, fluff covered feet. It was a warning from the big bad frost daddy, and he meant business.

  Starting to grumble and rumble under his breath again, subdued but not happy about it, his hunched shoulders twitching like they itched to lift, Rek looked like he might almost ignore the command and advance anyway.