by Leela Ash
“I understand,” Rhett said quietly, stepping aside to allow the elder to pass by.
“Hello there, dear,” he said, his eyes cold as he smiled emotionlessly at her. “It is time for us to go now. We will see your Guardian shortly. Rhett, be ready to escort her back to the house in about three hours. It’s always good to give the Guardian a little break here and there. We all have our own needs and matters to attend to, now don’t we?”
The elder winked at Rhett from above Gael’s head and she caught it, causing her anger to rise. She hated being in the elder’s camp. The men all looked at her as if she were the last morsel on a banquet table and each of them wanted it for themselves.
There was something off-putting about being in their presence she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but her father had promised her she would be safe here in Tanka with the bear shifters. She had heard so much about them that coming had been quite an exciting thing, and it was an honor to be placed as the Maiden of the festival. Yet there were times she was beginning to second guess whether or not she was lucky, or that she’d placed herself in a situation she would just as soon get herself out of.
“Come now, my child.”
Gael cast one last forlorn look back at Rhett who seemed as reluctant to part with her as she was taken from him, but that had nothing to do with the strange, sensual feeling that seemed always to spark within her, and they had only just met. The thought it would be anything more than a fleeting whim was ridiculous.
Still, the further away from Rhett she got, the more uneasy she became. All she could do was hope it would be over soon.
11.
Once the elder had disappeared with the girl, Rhett sighed. What was he supposed to do with himself now? He had really gotten into the role of taking care of Gael. It was strange not to have her at his side. He was a loyal man and the thought of her being without him, even under the protection of the powerful bear shifter elders, was something that made him uneasy.
He paced around the park for a few minutes trying to figure out what he should do with himself for the next few hours. Sure, it had felt like kind of a prison sentence to be stuck with this girl for so long. Every moment of every day had to be consumed with seeing to it she was taken care of, as well as making sure they weren’t breaking some kind of rule that would make them both ineligible for the ceremony.
And yet, there was a kind of comfort in the routine. A happiness and a sense of purpose he hadn’t had since he had belonged in Stonybrooke, before he had been ostracized and exiled because of his final mistake…
He shook the thought away. The memories would only serve to make him miserable. No, he would focus on the present.
He headed toward the tavern and hesitated. There was nothing that he wanted or needed there. The elders still hadn’t found anybody to get the yecha root from the wolf shifters in Stonybrooke so the job still fell on him. Maybe they were testing his mettle, giving him a task that only he could perform and enough time to do it. He would have to do his best.
With a resigned sigh, Rhett shifted into his wolf form and bounded off down the road that led to Stonybrooke. It hadn’t been very long since he’d been unceremoniously rejected and reminded of his shameful exile from his pack.
Now that the bear shifters were treating him so differently after being chosen to be Gael’s guardian, he had no idea what he was supposed to do with himself. The pack he had hoped to form by coming to live with the bear shifters was beginning to dissolve around him. He wanted so badly to be able to provide himself with the same security he’d had when he was able to live in Stonybrooke among his own kind. There had been a comfort and security there he was probably going to lack forever.
When he approached the town, he slowed his gait and sighed. There was a lot of angst he’d built up in regards to this place. Even if he was accepted again, would he even want to live there anymore? They could have treated him better after he had lost his parents to the war.
Instead, they’d left him to his own devices and he had ended up a nervous wreck; an alpha with nobody to give him guidance or show him love except for the group of boys who were just as lost and scared as he was. He resented the hell out of the Stonybrooke wolf shifters, yet he was one of them, intimately and in a way he would never be able to escape.
“Rhett!”
Rhett froze at the sound of his name. The voice that called to him was unmistakably wolfish.
“We’re over here, man. Come here. We need to talk.”
Rhett furrowed his brow and caught the eye of a shifter he had known once, during his stay in his first and last foster home. The man’s name was Axel, and he was an upstanding shifter in his own right. He had a group of people he led who did a lot of community outreach programs. Rhett had thought that was quite a laugh, considering Axel had been his foster brother once and hadn’t given two shits about the community or helping those in need when Rhett had known him.
Then again, he’d also trashed Axel’s bedroom the first day he’d been welcomed into their home and gave him hell every chance he got. They were both alphas, but Rhett was an alpha with no place to turn, and with nothing to lose.
That had made them fundamentally different, diametrically opposed, and that had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. He had run away from that home, feeling that everybody there would have been better off without him. The adjustment period just took far too long for a young boy as angry and troubled as Rhett had been.
“Axel,” Rhett said, shifting back into his human form. He was wary, but he knew that Axel had always had a soft spot for him, no matter how much of his stuff Rhett broke. “What do you want?”
“Look, we wanted to talk to you about that ceremony.”
“The Maiden’s Harvest?” Rhett asked, frowning.
“Yeah,” Axel said.
“Why do they even call it that when it’s the frikkin summer solstice anyway?” another shifter whom Rhett had never met said.
“Shut up, Eric,” Axel said without looking at the man. He clamped his mouth and Rhett turned his attention back to Axel.
“What do you need to talk about?” Rhett asked, his stomach churning. This was the most civilized conversation he’d had with another man, not counting the elders in quite a while, and definitely the most civilized it had been with another wolf shifter. He felt a deep longing to be reconnected with his kind, but he knew that would be impossible, not after what had happened. They would never trust him again.
“Look, we probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but we overheard the Council speaking about a really messed up tradition the bear shifters used to have. It’s really twisted and dark. They brought it up because the solstice is coming, along with the planet the bear shifters originate from coming into alignment, or something like that. I don’t know. There were a lot of details and I didn’t catch all that stuff. It’s not the important part anyway.”
“What about it?” Rhett asked impatiently. Maybe if he answered their questions, they would help him out and get the yesha root the elders needed for their preparations. Then he would be able to go back to Tanka and enjoy the taste of triumph.
“The elders, man. They’re messed up. The really crafty ones, you know? Who are super traditional and dogmatic? They might want to resurrect the old ceremony to direct power toward one of the portals on Oak Mountain. If that portal opens up then they would have a direct link back to the planet and it could get them all home.”
“That would be great,” Rhett said. “Why is that a bad thing? We all want to get back to where we belong. The human world is not what makes us happy.”
“Well, that’s true,” Axel said, pursing his lips. “But the ceremony is called the Maiden’s Harvest for a good reason. Thank you for bringing the point to our attention, Eric.”
Eric grinned, and Axel continued.
“They’re going to use her to open the portal. There’s a lot of power the practitioners of black magic can utilize when it comes to a woman’s purity.
They plan to rob that from her. Each elder will play his role, and—”
“Stop!” Rhett shouted. “You don’t know anything about this! I the first place, it’s just for fun and in the second place, you’ve never met Tanka’s elders. They are righteous, respectful men who only want to make sure that everybody is taken care of and enjoying the festivities. Maybe it used to be about that freaky shit, but you know that nobody in their right mind would ever dream of doing something like that! What the hell is wrong with you people? If you’re just trying to fuck with me then you’re going to need to get the hell away before I tear your throats out.”
“We aren’t fucking with you,” Axel said firmly.
But Axel had always rubbed Rhett the wrong way. There was no way that his phony smiles and obnoxiously optimistic attitude toward him were genuine. It was probably some kind of set up so that they could all laugh and watch as Rhett fell from grace yet again.
“You guys are full of shit. What are you thinking, bringing me rumors? If it was that important, wouldn’t the Council be rounding up all kinds of soldiers to raid the place? Step off it man, that’s ridiculous.”
Rhett glowered at Axel, who stared him down, his eyes cold and serious.
“You don’t have to believe what we’re telling you, but for everybody’s sake, I hope you realize the council may not be as grounded as you think they are.”
“Whatever, man,” Rhett growled, turning away from them to begin his transformation back into his wolf form. “You can think whatever the hell you want to think. Just leave me out of it. You got it?”
Axel said nothing, and Rhett completed his transformation.
He took off back on the road toward Tanka, growing more furious after speaking with the group of wolf shifters. So they thought they knew everything about everything, did they? That was the last time he would ever go back to Stonybrooke again. Nothing good ever came of it. He always came back angry and upset.
The bear shifters in Tanka may have been a little bit competitive when it came to the role of the Guardian, but at least they weren’t liars and frauds who would turn their back on their own kind in a time of need. They hadn’t even turned their back on someone who wasn’t their kind. He, and even Gael, had been accepted within the town of Tanka, whether they were viewed with resentment and suspicion or not. It was still a home when he hadn’t had one, and he was going to defend that home with everything he had. No questions asked.
12.
“Do you understand all of your duties and obligations then, my dear?”
Gael nodded. She hated the way the elder kept referring to her as his dear. She had been at the encampment for hours now, memorizing strange feeling words that somehow managed to roll off her tongue with ease. It was probably due to the bear shifter blood that was such an over-inflated part of her lineage, but something about the things that she was saying felt sinister rather than wholesome, the way the ancient texts her father sometimes shared with her were.
Being an avid book reader, Gael had come to the conclusion long ago that words were alive. They were imbued deeply with meaning and brought to light, they could change the course of things with their power. And although the ceremony was all in good fun, there was something about the whole process of preparation that was making her wonder what was so important about the things that they were having her say and do. Shouldn’t she be able to have at least a basic understanding of her role in all of this?
“I have a question,” Gael said, eyeing Shenar firmly.
“A question?” he asked, his face contorting in an expression that gave her the impression that any questions she might have were preposterous. She supposed the elders were probably used to being obeyed without question in this place. But she was more human than bear, and they were not her council of elders. Not technically. Every clan was supposed to have one, and she answered only to her own, back near the estate that had been in her family for so much longer than she could even count.
“Yes. What am I saying?”
Shenar laughed, a harsh, unpleasant sound and glanced over his shoulder as if he were afraid the other elders might have heard her inquiry.
“You are giving the sacred rites to initiate the ceremony. The powers do not work without the consent of the vessel you see. It is basically you saying you agree to be the Maiden of the Harvest, that’s all.”
“That’s all,” Gael repeated.
Shenar nodded enthusiastically, his lips tight. Why did she get the feeling that he was hiding something?
“Well, there he is! Right on time.”
Gael followed Shenar’s line of sight to Rhett who was walking through the camp, his face drawn and serious. Something was wrong.
“Hello, my boy. Welcome back. How did you enjoy your afternoon, Maiden-free?”
Gael felt his anger start to rise and hid it from his face. They didn’t have to speak as if she were the world’s biggest burden. It hadn’t been her choice to go there, or even Rhett’s choice to guard her. Really, it was their own fault for taking all these silly rules so seriously. She got that there was a rich tapestry of history woven into the upcoming celebration, but how far did they really have to go with this?
“It was all right,” Rhett said, though Gael could tell that his face was telling a different story.
Shenar didn’t seem to notice, and if he did, he didn’t care and simply took Rhett at his word.
“That’s good. It is time for you to return back to the house with the Maiden. There are some preparations we must make that she cannot be here for. It is important that the two of you stay in tonight.”
“Why?” Gael asked before Rhett had a chance to accept Shenar at his word. She knew he was just as traditional as the other shifters here, even if he was a wolf shifter and not a bear shifter. He would probably never ask the question himself.
“Oh, dear Maiden. We must have some of our secrets,” Shenar said, chuckling. “She’s quite inquisitive. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a human in our midst, wouldn’t you say?”
Rhett nodded silently and Shenar guided them toward the edge of the camp.
“You two, please enjoy your night. There is much pleasantry to be had in a cozy home.”
“All right,” Gael said, still kind of put off by the whole situation.
The elders sure could act strange sometimes. Why would it matter where she was for the night? She had half a mind to refuse, but that would cost her the honor of being the Maiden of the Harvest. That meant that her father would be sorely disappointed to find that she wasn’t living up to the one thing that she had ever done to make him happy. She couldn’t let that happen. It was too much.
“Let’s go,” Rhett grumbled, walking ahead of Gael and heading toward the house.
Once they were out of hearing range of the elder’s camp, Gael touched Rhett’s arm. He tensed up, but didn’t shrug off her touch the way she had expected him to.
“What’s wrong?” she asked quietly.
Rhett hesitated before looking down at her, his dark eyes tormented.
‘It’s kind of a long story,” he said. “I don’t know if you’d even be able to understand.”
“Maybe not, but I can listen,” Gael said.
He cast a dubious look at her and shrugged.
“Wow, I just keep running into you assholes today!”
Rhett’s throat vibrated in a deep growl and Gael sighed as Tommy approached them, this time with two of his buddies.
“What do you want now, Tommy?” he asked. “I’m under orders from the elders to get the Maiden back home. You don’t want to get in my way. I’m warning you.”
“Oh, don’t I?” Tommy asked, grinning at Rhett.
Tommy turned his eyes onto Gael and made a kissing face, and suddenly Tommy was on the ground. Rhett was unbelievably fast, his powerful blows striking Tommy’s face repeatedly.
Gael watched in awe, her body frozen as she took in the horrific and violent display. The man was incredibly strong and t
alented, and yet the violence made her sick to her stomach. She had to turn away so she didn’t have to watch as Rhett finished with Tommy and stood up, the growl in his throat louder now than it had been before he’d even attacked.
“Who else wants to try it?” Rhett demanded. “Who else?!”
The other two men helped Tommy to his feet and shook their heads at Rhett who was bellowing at them to get the hell out of here. Gael was trembling by the time Rhett turned back to her, his handsome face contorted in fury. When he saw her though, something in his expression changed instantly and he went to her, his face softer than it had been when he had been dealing with the bear shifters.
“Are you all right?” he asked. He looked as if he wanted to reach out to touch her, but seemed pained by the idea and chose against it.
Although she was disappointed, in a way she was relieved. The force of the violence was more than a little bit intimidating and she just wanted to go somewhere she felt safe.
“I’m going to be fine,” she said, still unable to control her shaking hands. “Let’s just get out of here before anything else happens.”
“All right.”
They headed back to the house, Rhett walking beside her, strong, silent, and withdrawn. Gael was lost in thought, wondering just how long it would be before her life returned to normal.
13.
When Gael finally emerged from the bathroom, Rhett couldn’t help but feel a little bit relieved. She had been in there for the better part of an hour. She had run a bath as soon as they had walked through the door, and he stood guard, worried the entire time about what she must think of him for losing his temper on Tommy like that.
Tommy had been his friend once. At least he thought he had been, yet Rhett hadn’t been able to control his temper when it came to Tommy’s attitude toward Gael.
