Mathis laid his hand on Margot’s neck. “This is my mate, Margot Martin. Margot, this is my father, and the two elders behind him, are my grandfathers.”
“You have claimed a mate. That is wonderful news. I see the mating bond glows brightly between you. Your mother will be ecstatic. Come, both of you. Let’s get you into a warmer environment.”
Mathis followed his father and grandfathers outside. He kept his hand on Margot’s neck, needing to touch her. Even though he just made love to her, he wanted her again, but then he always wanted her.
They made their way around the many potholes in the road. Several men, bundled in furs watched as they walked from the hut to his father’s house. Mathis recognized a couple of them from his childhood. Where would they stand when his uncle brought charges against him?
A dog sled team was tied next to the house. Christmas lights hung haphazardly from the roof. Aluminum siding peeled off the sides. Mathis made a mental note to send his mother a check. His father would be too proud to accept help, but his mother would put the money to good use. It would be his Christmas gift.
The door opened and Malina hurried out and hugged Mathis close. “Thank goodness you are all right. I couldn’t believe it when uncle ambushed you at the territory’s border.”
“Let your brother get into the house, niviasar, daughter. Have your mother fix us something to drink and get Mathis’s mate some clothes.”
Mathis smiled and nodded at Malina as she hurried inside. The party moved into the house. The smells of Suaasat and herbal tea filled the air. Mathis’s stomach growled, reminding him, he and Margot hadn’t eaten a meal since the night before. At the sound of the door opening, Mathis’s mother hurried from the kitchen. She froze for a moment. Then her face broke into a smile, and she rushed to Mathis, and enveloped him in a hug. “My son, you’re home.”
“Hi, Mom. Sorry to cause such a fuss.”
“Nonsense, come in and rest a while.”
“This is Margot. We are newly mated. Margot, this is my mother, Nicole.”
“I see the bond glowing brightly between you. Congratulations to you both. We will have to celebrate after your uncle is appeased. I can feel your hunger. Here is Malina now with some things your mate can try on. Food is almost ready.”
“Margot, go with Malina so you can shift. I’ll be here waiting for your return.”
Margot dutifully followed his sister down the hall. Mathis turned to his father. “What do you think will happen with the angakkuq? Will he side with Itigaituk? Margot got lost in the storm and wandered into nanuk territory by accident. We had reached the border of your territory when Itigaituk’s men attacked us. Margot was shot with a tranquilizer dart, while I was attacked by two nanuk. If Ujarak hadn’t come when he did, I think they would have killed us both.”
“I fear my brother wishes to start a war between the nanuk and the lycans. He would have used your deaths as an excuse. No, amarok in the village would be safe. Speaking of which, you have not met your little sister, Cybille. Like you, she is amarok. Her wolf is very strong. We have kept her hidden from your uncle. She is sleeping now. I must ask you to find a home for her away from the nanuk.”
“Surely, my uncle doesn’t make war against children,” Mathis said, unable to believe his uncle would be so foolish.
“He is very angry, always wanting more than he has. I don’t know what happened that my brother hates me so much. For some reason he has fixated on the lycans. I fear it is because of your mother.”
“Is Mother safe? What of the other lycans who have mated with nanuk? This is the twenty-first century. Itigaituk must release his racism and embrace modern times. A war between nanuk and lycans would only bring the shifters to the attention of the humans. This is madness.”
“I agree and our angakkuq is wise. He understands the dangers of Itigaituk’s beliefs. Still, he will not want to anger your uncle, who has married his daughter. I am not sure how he will deal with this situation.”
A slight sound came from the hall. Margot, dressed in warm clothes, stood next to Malina. Mathis held his hand out and she hurried to his side. He slipped her under his shoulder where he could keep her close. She hadn’t said much since their mating and he hoped she wasn’t regretting the circumstances.
"Ujuk!" Mathis’s mother called. Mathis stepped back as the front door opened and the men he saw outside came in along with his two brothers. Talking loudly, the men went into the kitchen. His father and grandfathers joined them. Margot looked up at him in question.
“The men normally eat first. I’ll wait and eat with you. Mother will make sure there is enough for everyone. Malina, why don’t you show me my new little sister while we wait.”
Chapter Five
“She’s beautiful,” Margot said looking down at the sleeping child. Cybille lay on her side, her hand under her cheek. Her dark hair lay in ringlets around her head. Margot noticed the resemblance to Mathis in the strong nose and jaw.
“She is amarok, like me, and only two years old. Father needs me to find someone to adopt her.” Mathis frowned, his eyes sad.
“What? Why?” Margot asked confused. How could his parents not want to keep such a beautiful child? She’d always wanted a daughter.
“It isn’t safe for her to stay here. My uncle is stirring up dissent against the lycans. Any wolf shifter, even one who is half nanuk will be ostracized by him and his followers.”
“How can he do that? She’s his niece, his family. We could already have a child Cybille’s age, if you hadn’t hidden the mating bond. Let me have her. I’ll raise her.” Margot looked from Cybille to Mathis. She reached for his hand linking them together. Would he trust her to raise his sister? She’d never wanted anything more than this chance. Her heart ached for the little girl who would be torn from her family.
“This is a child, Margot. Once you take on this responsibility, it’s yours for life. Are you ready for that? Are you willing to make the necessary sacrifices?”
“You did want to have pups one day, didn’t you, Mathis? We would be starting our family early, that’s all.” Margot smiled up at her mate. She could feel through the mating bond how much he wanted to keep his sister with them. He too ached for the little girl.
“It will break my mother’s heart to send Cybille away. I hope it will help if she knows the child will be raised by family. Come on, the men are finished. I heard the front door close. Let’s go to the kitchen and talk with mother about this.”
§
They walked into the kitchen to find his mother crying in the arms of his father. Mathis’s heart clenched, feeling her pain. He remembered the tears she’d shed over his leaving, tears they’d both shed as they had clung to one another. His mother gave up her pack for his father and then she had to give up her lycan children.
“Taliriktug, Cybille is just a baby, mon petit bébé.”
“I know, Nicole. I’m sorry. It’s for her safety that I send her away, you know that. Mathis will find her a fine home, with a family and pack that will love her. He will make sure our baby does well in her new home.”
“Cybille will stay with us,” Mathis said from the doorway. “Margot has agreed to raise her as our own. You can visit her anytime you want, Mother. In fact, perhaps you should come and stay with us permanently.” He would gladly build them a home on the mountain.
“You know I can’t leave your father. We are mated as you and Margot are. I wouldn’t want to live without him.” His mother wiped tears from her face. Margot put her arm around his mother. His father’s head lowered as he stood helplessly next to his mate.
“Why don’t you all come?” At least they would be safe from his uncle’s plots.
“No, son.” His father shook his head. His face stricken. “The nanuk must hunt the seal to stay strong. We will stay here. I will protect your mother. My brother will not harm her. Only the amarok among us have the ability to live farther south. You and Cybille should have a pack to call home and a place to run free
.”
“How many amarok children reside here? Do they all need a safe refuge?” Margot asked.
She looked at Mathis, her gaze worried. “Any child is welcome,” she sent telepathically. Inside, his heart warmed. His mate would save as many as she could. She continued to hold his mother, offering comfort.
“I will ask around the village,” Taliriktug said. “We keep them well hidden for their own safety. I know of a few parents who might need their children adopted. Bless you for taking them, bless you both.”
His family expanded faster than he could fathom, and he needed to keep them all safe. He never expected to be the Alpha of an amarok pack, but who better to raise these half lycan and half nanuk children? There was room on the mountain of the resort. Jared and his mate would welcome the children. He had money saved, and his mate was an heiress. Already possibilities shot through his mind.
Nicole motioned the group to the table and served soup to Mathis and Margot before sitting with them. “I know you often feel like an outcast, Mathis,” she said her head bowed. “I want you to know that your father and I love you. We sent you to Jasha Wolfe so you could learn to control your shifting. You are Alpha and shifted from birth. Cybille is the same. She shifted hours after being born. Thank goodness no one was in the room except me. Sending you away was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and now, I have to send another child away. I don’t know how I will bear it.”
“I’m so sorry,” Margot said reaching for Nicole’s hand. “I promise you, Cybille will lack for nothing money can buy. Mathis and I will give her a good home.”
Nicole looked up, tears in her eyes. “I would expect nothing less from the mate of my son. You must be a strong woman to be chosen for him.”
Margot laughed easing the tension in the room. “I don’t know how strong I am, but I will do my best for both of your children, regardless.” She looked at Mathis.
He smiled at the look in her eyes. If he didn’t know better, he might think she loved him, even though it was probably only hero worship. Still, he hoped she would come to love him. He squeezed her knee under the table. He was proud of her, proud she was willing to take on these children and provide a good home for them.
Sudden pounding on the front door made them all rush into the front room. Mathis’s father opened the door to find Itigaituk and two other men standing on the threshold.
“How dare you take my prisoners? I demand you return him to me immediately!”
“Do you not recognize your own nephew, brother?”
“Nephew or not, he is a spy. I will take him in front of the angakkuq.”
“Then let us all go. I am sure our angakkuq will want to welcome Mathis to the village.”
“Where is the lycan that was with him? Where is the woman?”
“She is here and will come with us. Nicole will escort her. Now, brother, let us see what the angakkuq has to say.”
Mathis squeezed Margot’s hand and then released her, as Nicole came up beside her, coats in her hands. When his father took his arm, Mathis allowed himself to be guided out the door. Itigaituk stood fuming. He glared at his brother and then followed the men. The other two guards waited for the women to pass before bringing up the rear. Ujarak and Kumaglak came running to the group and then followed behind. Other members of the village joined until a whole procession made their way to the meeting hall where the angakkuq waited.
They walked into the long building and to the other end where the angakkuq sat. As the crowd entered, groups broke off and took seats around the outside of the hall, until the original band stood before the angakkuq’s chair. The village elders sat in a half circle behind the shaman, including Mathis’s grandfathers.
Itigaituk walked to the front. “This is the spy I told you about,” he said motioning to Mathis.
“I think my brother is confused,” Taliriktug said, stepping forward. “This is my oldest son.”
“He’s a spy, he was caught on nanuk land,” Itigaituk yelled.
“Can a son not return home to visit his mother?” Taliriktug asked the assembly.
“What of the lycan woman with him? She, too, crossed into nanuk territory.”
“She is my son’s mate. The mating bond is there for everyone to see. He came to introduce his mate to me and his mother, which is only fitting.” Taliriktug smiled.
“What? No, they are spies, looking to report back to that damn lycan beta’s council. They will try to steal our land,” Itigaituk said, waving his hand around to emphasize his point.
“The lycan beta’s council has no desire to steal our land. There are plenty of hunting grounds open to them, they don’t need ours. My brother has jumped to the wrong conclusions. He and his men shot at my son’s mate and fought my son, bear against wolf.”
“Your son is a disgrace! An amarok among nanuk. You should have left him to die, unnamed and unwanted.”
“My son is an honorable man. I would have him at my side, no matter which foe I came upon.”
“Angakkuq, surely you can see what my brother does not. That his son is an enemy to the nanuk and must be destroyed.” Itigaituk pleaded his case.
The silver haired man looked from Mathis to Itigaituk. He rubbed at his chin. “I see a young man with the mating bond glowing brightly from his chest. I see an old man who should give up his petty jealousy and enjoy what he has in life.”
“I want justice! I challenge Mathis. He must defend his honor if he is truly here to visit my misdirected brother.” Itigaituk puffed up.
Mathis had little chance of beating his uncle in their animal forms, and his uncle knew it, which explained his attitude.
“A challenge has been called. Do you accept?” the shaman asked.
“As the one being challenged, do I pick the weapon used?” Mathis asked, looking first at his father and then to the shaman.
The elders conferred and then whispered to the shaman. “It is so, in this case.” He nodded.
“Then I accept and request we use war clubs to complete our trial.”
“An old and revered weapon. Neither man may change into their animal form, to do so is a forfeiture of the fight. We will reconvene at sunrise tomorrow and may right favor its warrior.”
§
“Are you out of your mind?” Margot asked, her hands on her hips. She finally had a mate and the first thing he wanted to do was get himself killed. “Let’s make a run for it. Your family can cover for us.”
“Margot, I can’t leave now. My honor and the honor of my family are at stake. I have to meet my uncle tomorrow. But tonight, I can concentrate on you and our mating. Didn’t you say you wanted the next time to be in a bed?” Mathis reached for her.
She ducked out of his reach and retreated to the other side of the bed in the room his parents gave them. “Oh, no, you don’t. I want answers, and I want them now. What is this war club you’ll be fighting with? Why are you doing this?” Margot’s eyes burned and she quickly blinked back tears. They had a plan to help the amarok children, a future together, all of which would disappear if something happened to him.
Mathis sighed and sat on the bed. “The clubs are made of bone from a whale or walrus and I’m doing this because I must.” He patted the bed next to him.
Margot reluctantly walked over and sat beside him. It would be very distracting sitting so close to him and he knew it. Her body responded the minute he looked at her, possession in his gaze. He put his arm around her and pulled her close.
“Have I told you how much I enjoy your scent? My wolf wants to rub around in it until it covers me from head to toe.” He kissed her ear.
“Mathis, be serious.”
“I am being serious. Let’s get out of these clothes and I’ll show you how serious.”
“Stop seducing me and tell me what is going on.”
“How about I do both,” Mathis asked, reaching for her shirt. He slowly released each button, letting his fingers rub lightly against her skin. She shivered as goose bumps ran up her
arms.
“My uncle will expect me to run, because that’s what he would do. Right now he and his spies are watching this house, waiting for my expected exit. Because they are busy watching me, they won’t notice the gathering of children, or the vehicles leaving the village.” Mathis slipped his hand inside her now open shirt, his palm resting on her ribs before his fingers brushed against the underside of her breast. He tweaked her nipple.
She gasped and pushed into his hand. “Where will they take the children?”
“To Jared. I wrote him a letter explaining what was going on. It will be delivered with the children. He will keep them at the Alpha’s lodge until we get there. All except Cybille, who we will have to take when we leave.” He pushed the shirt from her shoulders.
“If we leave, you mean,” Margot muttered.
“Hey, none of that,” Mathis said, his fingers tilting her chin up so he could look into her downcast eyes. “I need you to be with me, to believe in me. I can’t have your doubt touching my thoughts while I’m fighting. I’m trained in fighting techniques. I can beat my uncle. You know that, right?”
Margot nodded. She did know, but it didn’t remove the fear. Mathis was so much more than her bodyguard, now he was her mate. Reassurance and warmth suddenly flooded her mind, filling her with comfort. She relaxed and leaned into his warmth. Their link through the mating bond felt so right, she almost forgot he could monitor her at will.
He lifted her toward the middle of the bed, before coming down beside her. Reaching for her pants, he eased them off.
“Commando?” he asked noticing her lack of underwear.
“I didn’t feel comfortable borrowing someone else’s.” She smiled and reached for the laces on his shirt. Once they were loose, he pulled the shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor.
The Gift of My Mate (Siberian Volkov Pack Romance Book 9) Page 4
