The Mating Ritual: Werewolves of Montana Book 9

by Bonnie Vanak

  Even Dark Fae like him craved light. Unseelie Fae adored starlight. Summer Fae worshipped sunshine.

  Gideon would have given the tip of his pointed ears for a ray of sunshine back then.

  You are no longer that powerless Fae you were when you were mortal, he reminded himself. You are the immortal Crimson Wizard now.

  Oh wait. He gave a grudging laugh. He was that powerless. He might be immortal, but Danu had stripped from him his Crimson Wizard powers as punishment for aiding Tristan, the Silver Wizard.

  Gideon carefully stretched out his legs. Closing his eyes, he breathed deep. Slowly, he stood. Enough room in the ceiling to accommodate his six feet, four inches. Almost a luxury, this particular cell.

  He reached out a hand, felt the cold dampness of a wall. Eyes still closed, he walked the confines of the cell, mapping out the space. Then he opened his eyes, desperate for a sliver of light. One shone beneath the thick door leading to freedom.

  One thousand years ago, he’d been confined to such a cell before he’d died to his mortal life. Back then, he’d been a Dark Fae prince, nearly driven mad by lack of light and sound. He had lived by the door for that faint light, until King Aolke found out and ordered the hallway lamps extinguished.

  There was no light that could cut through the darkness in your soul.

  The mad Summer King had repeated those words to Gideon. King Aolke whispered them into his mind until Gideon thought he’d go mad himself.

  He had comforted himself in the confining darkness with thoughts of his favorite forest glade. Memory sliced through the suffocating blackness of his cell, filling it with green ferns, sparkling silver water splashing over rocks as it meandered down the creek, and thick trees with pale orange leaves and fat yellow fruit that burst into your mouth.

  After fifty years, the memories began to pale.

  After one hundred years, Gideon stood on the threshold of insanity.

  Now he touched the thin beam of light streaming into the cell, grounding himself. He was not the same mortal Fae who had screamed and begged for them to torture him and provide some relief from the silent darkness.

  He was here for a reason. What reason, he knew not.

  Yet.

  Closing his eyes, he breathed in the dank air. Scent aided him in the past. He smelled sour fear, acid anger, and something very dark and nasty lingering below the surface.

  His eyes opened in the gloom. The very nasty scent warned him evil had infiltrated this kingdom.

  You are not the same Fae you were a thousand years ago. You will get through this.

  Back then, he’d welcomed the torture Aolke ordered inflicted on him once a year. It meant leaving his cell, blinding light burning his eyes, but even the sting of the whip and the slash of the knife brought relief from the silent, suffocating darkness.

  Gideon rubbed his scarred wrists.

  Aolke had been ignorant in all the ways of Dark Fae like Gideon. He did not know that torture and pain were tolerated easily, and among some Dark Fae, used to give sexual pleasure.

  But he did know that darkness killed the spirit.

  Aolke was long dead, and his heir Oren now reigned as the Summer King. But Oren must have learned his father’s tricks about the dark cells.

  Gideon touched the shaft of light again. As the Crimson Wizard, he could have blasted through the cell door, torn down the walls with a flick of a finger.

  Where had his wizard powers gone? The goddess Danu could easily strip them away, but she must store them someplace, for eventually his punishment would end and the magick returned to him.

  Maybe she put them inside someone else for safekeeping. The thought alarmed him. But he had no time to entertain it now.

  Gideon sought inside himself for the Dark Fae magick he hoped he had not also lost. He saw it glimmering there, winking like a black beacon in the sunshine.

  Relief washed over him. His Dark Fae powers weren’t sufficient to destroy this cell, but at least he had some magick. First, he needed information. He placed a palm on the door and flinched at the burning pain. Iron.

  No matter. Pain was naught. He pounded on the metal, feeling the iron sear his skin like fire.

  “Open this door now! Let me out!”

  The door opened and Gideon blinked. Two men in bright blue tunics with silver mesh chest plates and bright blue leggings stood in the doorway. Silver swords and daggers were strapped to their waists, and each had a blue cloak attached to the shoulders of their tunics with starburst silver emblems he recognized as the Summer King’s sigil.

  “Who am I?” he asked, hoping to glean insight from their answers.

  The guard laughed. “Not even four hours in there and he’s already weeping like a babe, not knowing who he is.”

  “Who am I?” he repeated.

  The other guard frowned and shoved at his companion. Then he touched his forelock and nodded his head. “You are Lord Gideon Mac Tyrell, Prince of the Winter Court.”

  “Why am I here?”

  “You are Unseelie, our enemy. We cannot trust you until you officially put your signature in blood on the marriage contract. King Oren ordered you confined until you agreed to sign,” the tall guard told him.

  Shock pummeled him. If the guard informed him that he was to turn eunuch, he could not have been more alarmed. There was only one woman he’d sworn to make his wife, and Eleanor was long dead and buried for more than a thousand years.

  He would love her for all eternity. And he’d vowed to never love another woman, a promise he’d kept in his cold heart since holding her lifeless body in his arms.

  “Marriage contract? To whom?”

  The shorter guard sneered. “He’s forgotten already. Lady Alia, King Oren’s daughter.”

  Alia?

  He almost laughed. If he were a pawn in an arranged marriage, it would have to be the one Summer Fae he secretly desired.

  The only woman with whom he might forget himself, who could capture his heart.

  When he’d seen her last month in court, Gideon had wanted her to see the real man inside, the Dark Fae with bright, burning passions, who sacrificed his mortal life to bring peace between both courts. The Fae whose legendary skills as a lover rippled through the female courtiers, who stared at him and moistened their red mouths.

  The Fae who’d longed for a simple touch, a caress to know someone cared about him as a man, not an image…

  I cannot be that man. I must think of protecting my people. There is tremendous darkness in this kingdom, but I know not where it comes from. The Summer Kingdom is riddled with evil.

  As Crimson Wizard, Gideon had no hope of infiltrating this court, for he was too visible and Oren had centuries of hiding secrets. Perhaps this marriage would allow him to find out what Oren hid. Gideon knew he must find the source of evil and quash it before it spread.

  If Danu desires me to become a spy in this court, I shall play the game.

  Assured of this, he kept his thoughts guarded. The guards escorted him down a long, stone-lined tunnel into another larger cell, this time filled with golden light from six flickering torches on the wall sconces.

  The shorter guard, a fat fellow with streaks of red in his long hair, pointed at Gideon’s crotch and laughed.

  “So the rumor isn’t true. The Unseelie do have cocks.”

  Gideon stood straight and tall. If this one thought Gideon was intimated by being nude, he was foolish. Words did not hurt.

  Silence and darkness did.

  The taller one frowned. “Stop it, Camus. Lord Gideon is a royal of the Winter Court and soon to be a member of our king’s court.”

  Flicking his gaze to the plain silver dagger at the tall guard’s waist, Gideon flattened his mouth. “Yes and my father the Winter King will not be pleased at how I’ve been treated, thrown naked into a dark cell like a thief. I demand clothing.”

  The taller guard removed his cloak and handed it to Gideon.

  Play the part. A true Dark Prince would not accept t
his with thanks.

  Gideon held it by two fingers and sniffed. “It smells like the rankness of the Summer Court, but it will suffice.”

  The tall guard reddened as Camus laughed. “That’s the Unseelie for you. Ungrateful bastards, all of them.”

  Camus unlocked the door. “She’s too good for him. Oren should have selected one of our own to marry her.”

  “She’s a woman. Women have two purposes. Fucking and breeding. She’ll give the king the grandson and heir he wants,” shot back the taller guard.

  They did not recognize him as the Crimson Wizard. He thanked Danu for the glamour cloaking his true identity.

  But he did not know how long it would last, and when Danu decided to reveal his true identity as the Crimson Wizard, and they knew he lacked his powers…

  I’m dog meat. He almost laughed.

  All these hundreds of years, relishing his powers, using it to keep the balance between the two rival courts to prevent another brutal, bloody Fae War, and his magick would not seal the peace for good.

  But his marriage.

  The tall guard opened the thick oak door. Gideon gauged his chances. He could run, overpower the guards, but he didn’t know the layout of this underground tunnel.

  And though he’d been the Crimson Wizard for nearly a thousand years and itched to have his magick back, his senses warned there was a greater purpose at work. Danu always had a reason.

  Prudence and patience were required more than haste and power.

  Rolling his shoulders, he arched his spine, wishing these buffoons would leave so he could test his Unseelie powers. It had been too long since he relied on that magick.

  Relying on one’s original magick powers was like riding in a horse and buggy instead of a Ferrari, Xavier, the Crystal Wizard had once joked. X always did enjoy fast cars.

  “Bring her in,” the tall guard yelled.

  The tips of Gideon’s pointed ears tingled. They usually only did that in the presence of someone he knew. Interesting.

  Two more guards brought in a lovely young Fae. Gideon’s breath hitched as he recognized her.

  Alia.

  Last month he had been in this same court as the Crimson Wizard. He had locked gazes with her as she boldly thanked him for destroying her groom-to-be, Lord Moxley. Moxley had been riddled with necromancer magick, serving the Dark Lord, the ruler of hell for otherworlders.

  I must be the replacement groom.

  The flush of youth showed in her delicate, pale skin, the waterfall of sable hair spilling down her backside. Her eyes were the blue of a summer sky, and her mouth was sweet and pink as a blushing rose.

  A white wool gown covered her body, draping over her lush curves, the generous breasts and hips. Alia was curvy, not slender as some female Seelie. A prize for any Fae. His blood tingled as he caressed her with his gaze, his very male and very Dark Fae senses surging naturally and responding to such feminine grace.

  And yet the tips of his ears tingled harder as if he knew her well.

  He could not predict the next move. The guards ripped away her white wool gown, leaving her naked. Alia stared straight ahead, a furious flush tinting her cheeks and throat.

  The guards laughed and Camus licked his fat lips. Gideon’s hands itched to hold his knife, but he controlled his rage. Later, he would seek revenge against the guards for daring to defile her. Too much was at stake now to let emotions rule.

  And yet, he could not help his body’s natural response at seeing Alia. It was more than her body. He had seen countless naked, beautiful woman over the course of his fourteen hundred years.

  Defiance sparked in her eyes, and her chin lifted straight as she stared at nothing. As if the crude leers, snickers and the lusty stares of the guards mattered not.

  Alia had a fierce spirit his own jaded soul recognized. A tingle rushed down his spine. There was something so familiar and dear about her, but he could not pinpoint it.

  Perhaps it was the way she stood straight and tall, as if cloaked in fine furs instead of her own skin.

  Or the flush of anger reddening her cheeks. He could not believe it was shame or humiliation.

  This woman had endured much worse. He saw it in the fury snapping in her blue eyes.

  Gideon smiled softly as he glanced at the guard nearest to Lady Alia, who kept ogling her full, round breasts.

  I would step away from this one, if I were you. She might take your own blade and stab you through the heart.

  But she made no such move. Remaining motionless, she fisted her hands at her sides.

  The taller guard pointed at Gideon’s erection. “Well, at least the king will know he’s fit to do the deed to impregnate her.”

  “Bastard Dark Fae seed,” Camus shot back, shaking his head. “Waste of a good breeding. I’m more suited to get her with child than he is.”

  The guards began discussing Gideon and Alia’s upcoming union in very frank sexual terms, one even making a bet on how long it would take Gideon to impregnate her. Gideon looked at Alia, willing her to not hear them.

  She did not even glance his way, but continued to stare at the wall.

  They were two players in a very dangerous chess game. And for the first time in more than a millennia, he had no clue of the outcome, nor could he influence it.

  “Let’s see if she’s wet as well in the presence of her stud.” Leering, Camus flexed his fingers and reached down to the space between Alia’s legs.

  This he would never tolerate. Gideon seized the guard’s hand. “Touch her and I will slit your throat. She is to become mine and mine alone.”

  The guard stopped. Surprise filled his expression. “You have no blade.”

  “I have no need of a weapon.”

  He released the Fae’s hand. All four guards backed away, fear in their eyes. He gauged their reactions, realized they had no clue of the extent of Dark Fae powers. And even though the Summer King allowed Unseelie lords in his court in order to honor the peace agreement, Gideon doubted lesser folk such as these guards knew the power of Unseelie magick.

  He could use this to his advantage.

  “I apologize for my men’s rudeness. Does Lady Alia meet with my lord’s pleasure?” This from the tall guard, who seemed anxious to please Gideon.

  “His cockstand indicates so,” yelled one guard, as the others laughed. .

  The tall guard frowned.

  Gideon raised a dark brow. “My kind achieve a cockstand by looking at a woman. It is in our nature.”

  More laughter from the guards, and a deeper flush from Alia.

  But he would not stand by and watch them leer at her. Gideon took the blue cloak the guard had given him. She was tall, as most Fae were. He gently draped the warm velvet around her, shielding her body from their lusty eyes.

  She did not look up at him, but now her flush deepened and she trembled. Her fingers grasped at the edges of the cloak as she pulled it around herself.

  Every male instinct raged to remove her from this dark, ugly cell filled with greed and lust and spirit her away to the warm sunshine and a place where he could keep her safe. But he knew he must keep his true intent guarded. Even from his future bride.

  Gideon could not help himself. He gently clasped her chin. A shock of awareness rushed through him, sweet as summer wine. Alia frowned, as if she had also felt it. He rubbed a thumb over the delicate velvet of her soft skin, and lifted her face to see him.

  Rage snapped in her eyes.

  We will both need it to survive this.

  Gideon nodded as he reluctantly removed his hand from her chin. “She pleases me.”

  “Her virginity has been verified by the king’s physician.” The tall guard glanced at Alia.

  Gideon studied his future bride, wondering how loathsome that procedure had been for Alia.

  “And once you bed her on your wedding day, you will give proof of her deflowering to the steward, as is custom here.”

  His disgust grew. “An ancient custom my people no
longer observe.”

  “King Oren demands it as part of the marriage contract.”

  Alia had no say in this, Gideon realized. She was a pawn, as he was, but he held more power as a male.

  He did not need to be Crimson Wizard to see there was something very wrong in this court. They did not revere women and treat them with tender accord as the Unseelie did, but objectified them.

  In his court, had a lowly guard dared to grab a female by her genitals, even a common female and not a royal, he would have that hand removed.

  Along with his cock and balls.

  “Are you ready to sign the marriage contract?” asked the tall guard.

  “A minute.”

  He could not allow King Oren to see him naked. Oren would use it against him.

  Gideon turned, reached within for his Dark Fae powers, wishing to be clad in customary garb. Relief filled him as he conjured clothing on his body. Black tunic, leggings, and soft leather boots. His unbound hair was suddenly tied back in a queue with a simple strip of leather.

  Gideon turned and nodded. The guard went to the cell door, issued instructions.

  A minute later, King Oren materialized inside the cell. All the guards bowed low. Alia inclined her head.

  The Seelie king was tall, with a shock of silvery hair and piercing blue eyes. He carried a jewel-covered scepter about the size of a ruler. The scepter was a symbol of his power, not the source, but this time Gideon noticed the diamond topping the scepter was dark blue, not the perfect sparkling gem it had been.

  Suspicion filled him as he immediately felt the power pulsing from the gemstone. There was a sinister radiance to the scepter, one that hadn’t been present last month when he’d visited the court as the Crimson Wizard.

  Gideon folded his arms across his chest and kept his gaze level. He would never bow before this king.

  “I am happy to see you came to your senses, Lord Gideon,” Oren boomed in his deep voice. “My daughter is most comely. Indeed many a Fae in my kingdom would love to fuck her.” Oren laughed. “Even me, were she not my daughter.”

  Alia bristled, but remained silent.