Indigo frowned. She wasn’t sure that Kya had taken her advice as she’d intended, but at least Kya didn’t look so miserable anymore.
“Thanks, Indigo. I’m gonna go get some sleep now.”
Indigo muttered a goodbye, watching forlornly as Kya took her food with her. She was eyeing Coral’s untouched plate before Kya had even cleared the room.
Licking her lips, she got up and made her way over to Coral. It was only once she found herself standing in front of the other female that Indigo realized she didn’t have any good excuse for coming over. The memory of her last hostile interaction with Coral was still fresh in her mind, and she struggled to think of anything pleasant to say.
Coral was sitting on top of a worn out fur that looked like its brown coloring came from an accumulation of dirt. Indigo sat down on the cold floor beside it and waited for Coral to acknowledge her with a flat stare.
“What do you want from me?”
Indigo tugged at her ear. “Just wanted to see how you were doing. It seemed like Sylvestre was bothering you.”
Coral’s eyelids thinned to slits. “If you’re here to spy for Kya, you’ll be sorely disappointed. I am not interested in that male.”
“I don’t spy,” Indigo grunted. “At least, not for anyone but myself.”
Coral studied Indigo’s face. Her mismatched eyes seemed to penetrate to the back of Indigo’s skull. Finally, she leaned back. “You never were much of a gossip.”
Indigo relaxed a little. “So, can I ask what’s going on between you two? I won’t say anything to anyone else, I promise.”
“There’s nothing going on,” Coral snapped. “I haven’t done anything to encourage him, but he keeps trying to feed me.”
“Do you think he wants you as his mate?” At Coral’s responding glare, Indigo gave a slight shrug. “I’m just not sure why it bothers you. He doesn’t seem like a bad prospect.”
Coral heaved a sigh, and all of the anger in her face was replaced by fatigue.
“My wolf likes him,” she reluctantly admitted. “But all she cares about is breeding. Me, I think he’s too dominant. He’s as bad as Erik, I know it. Oh, he hides it well, behind that stupid smile of his, but in the end, he expects people to obey him. I have no intention of being stuck with a male like that. I’m sick of being controlled. I’m not going to smack your hand if you take a piece.”
Indigo looked up from staring at the meat, her cheeks heating. “I wasn’t…”
Coral waved her hand wearily. “Have it all if you want it. You obviously need it more than me.”
Indigo glowered as she picked up the tray. “I wasn’t aware that you remembered how to be sarcastic.”
The meat was portioned into little cubes, and she popped three of them into her mouth, groaning a bit.
“What are you talking about?” Coral asked, absently. She seemed to be staring off into space, but when Indigo looked, she saw Sylvestre with a group of females clustered around him.
“You’re as thin as a piece of driftwood,” Indigo said. “And I’m the only one here who’s managing to gain weight on rations.”
Coral tore her gaze away from the beta male. “Well you aren’t going to become fertile if you don’t eat enough. That’s how I manage to stop it. It’s harder to do in the winter though. I’m always stuck inside and I get bored and there’s nothing to do but eat.”
“What does eating have to do with being fertile?” Indigo asked cautiously.
Coral pursed her lips. “That’s why you’re so hungry. It’s that mark.” She tapped her own neck, mirroring the spot where Sten’s bite was still visible on Indigo’s. “It signals to your body that you’re ready to take a mate. You’ll eat a lot for a few days, and if you gain enough weight then you won’t want to eat anything for a week because all you’ll want to do is breed.”
Indigo’s heartbeat was a banging drum in her ears. Lowering her voice, she asked, “Are you saying that I’m going to become fertile. That I could get pregnant?”
Coral shrugged. “Good luck with that. The second the alphas get wind of it, they’ll probably stuff you away in a cave until it’s over. They’ll tell you it’s for your own good, too. Like it’s any of their business if you want to take a mate. If you ask me, someone should be standing over their shoulders, telling them where they can and can’t stick it. Then maybe Zane wouldn’t have taken Ginnifer as his mate and we wouldn’t be in any of this mess right now.”
Indigo grabbed Coral by the shoulders, giving her a small shake to stop her ranting. “You’re sure about this? Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Coral scowled and pushed her away. “You are a half breed. It was never a sure thing. Besides, by the time my mother…explained it to me, you and I were not friends anymore. And we still aren’t. The only reason I’m telling you now is because you’ll know for yourself soon enough. In a few days, you won’t be able to think clearly. All you’ll want to do is mate, and you’ll feel like you’re going to die or go insane if you don’t. Congratulations.”
Chapter 25
Indigo gathered the books up from the bed, tiptoeing and trying to go about it as quietly as possible. In reality, it wouldn’t matter if she stomped around the pup. Halley never woke until she was good and ready.
It had been a challenge to find a book that Halley liked. At Halley’s age, Indigo had been devouring novels, but Halley was more interested in picture books and grew bored quickly when the prose wasn’t straightforward. She wasn’t unintelligent; in fact, she understood a lot more than most other pups, probably because of her time living among humans. But eventually Indigo had to face the fact that Halley simply didn’t enjoy reading.
She wasn’t entirely ready to give up, but she had conceded to reading to Halley rather than the other way around. They’d settled on Charlotte’s Web, which had actually held the pup’s attention for a while, though Indigo suspected it was more that Halley enjoyed the silly voices that she gave the barnyard animals.
She looked between the sleeping pup and the pile of children’s books, sighing softly. Most of the books had been given to her by her mother or Zane. She’d intended on giving them to Boaz and Tallow so that all of the Siluit pups could enjoy them as she had, but now she wondered if it would be selfish to keep them for her own pups.
Probably. Perhaps she would just keep a couple.
Smiling to herself, she carried the books out to the living room. As she was lining them up on the shelf, she heard the door coverings rustle, and then she could smell Sten and the scent of cooked meat. She wasn’t sure which one was more alluring.
Dumping the rest of the books haphazardly on the shelf, she whirled around in time to see Sten placing the plate on the table. On it was a heaping pile of steaming muskox meat. She looked between him and the food, her mouth watering.
“Is that fresh?” she asked, gravitating over to the table.
Sten had sat down on the couch, crossing one of his long legs over his knee. “Fresh from yesterday’s hunt.”
“Is that a fork?” She picked up the utensil, holding it up like a holy relic. “I haven’t eaten with a fork in weeks. Please tell me I can have some of this.”
His lips slanted. “It’s all yours. I’ve already eaten.”
Indigo let out a squeal of excitement and stabbed the fork into the pile of meat. Halfway through eating, she actually started to become full. That was when it occurred to her that the tray had held at least two full days worth of rations.
She set her fork aside, her stomach churning. “Did Coral tell you?”
Sten tilted his head. “Tell me what?”
“That I’m going to be fertile soon.”
Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how anxious she’d been about telling him. With her hands knotted together in her lap, she watched him carefully, waiting for any flicker of shock or upset. She saw neither, but his brows drew together in confusion.
“You told Coral?”
“Coral told me,” she said s
lowly. “I had no idea what was happening until she explained it to me this morning. But how did you know if she didn’t tell you?”
“One of my older sisters, Sanne. She was like Coral, and you. Once a year, she would make Erik and I hunt for her nonstop for week,” Sten said, smiling fondly at the memory. “Then the next week, she would disappear with one of the beta males. When they came back, she would be carrying his pup.”
Her eyes rounded. “She had more than one mate?”
“She had one male that she loved,” he said, his lips flattening. “But she had to take a different male each time. Our father accepted her need to breed, but he would not have tolerated her taking a mate. Once a male takes a mate, that bond transcends pack loyalties, and our father would have viewed it as a challenge to his authority.”
Indigo shifted uncomfortably. She couldn’t imagine Zane ever doing something like that.
“Will your brother let you take me as your mate?”
As soon as she asked the question, she realized that she hadn’t first asked if he even wanted her as his mate. Sten arched a brow, but then to her relief, he smiled.
“I’m fairly certain that he will.”
Her excitement returning, she swallowed another forkful of meat and then climbed into Sten’s lap, resting her head on his shoulder.
“Did you want this to happen when you marked me?”
“I didn’t mark you intentionally,” he said. The dress she wore had settled so that the side of her thigh was exposed, and Sten gently stroked it with the backs of his fingers. “Not the first time, anyway.”
She sucked on her bottom lip, before asking, “Do you regret it?”
“Yes.”
Indigo swallowed.
She felt him sigh. “You’re still very young, Indigo. You deserve to have more time to enjoy your youth.”
“I appreciate your concern for my youth, but from what I can see, other youthful females enjoy sleeping around and fighting over males. I’m quite happy to skip all of that.” She tilted her head back to look up at him. “I want you and Halley, and I want to be able to give you a son.”
She could see him fighting a grin. “I would like having another daughter just as well.”
Sten gave her a slow, languorous kiss that had her body tingling from head to toe. Her heart felt ready to burst from its chest by the time he pulled back.
“There will be time enough for this later. We need to sleep tonight,” he said. “We’ll have a lot to do tomorrow.”
She cocked her head. “What happens tomorrow?”
“We’ll need to talk to Zane and Erik.”
“Why them?” she asked, grimacing. The last thing she wanted to do was talk to her brother about her reproductive plans.
“Because it’s the responsible thing to do,” he said. “We’re both still part of their packs. This will affect them almost as much as us.”
“I don’t see why it’s any of their business,” she grumbled. “It’s not like you’re going to challenge either of them for alpha.”
He gave a dry laugh. “Hardly. But it does mean that we’ll have to decide which pack we’re going to be a part of once we become mates.”
Indigo had always assumed they would join Amarok, and she told him as much.
“Amarok is the best decision for now,” he conceded. “But if Zane can manage to establish his pack in a defensible region, it may be the better option.”
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “My brother’s pack would be a better place to raise pups. But…you’d really be willing to leave Amarok?”
Sten looked away, his expression becoming pensive. His eyes slid back to her after a moment, and he leaned in to place a quick kiss on her forehead.
“Finish eating if you’re hungry, and then come to bed with me. We’ll talk more after we’ve gotten some rest.”
* * *
Sten woke before dawn the next day, but it was almost noontime when he finally headed to his brother’s room. He had spent the morning with Indigo and Halley, simply enjoying their company. They had eaten breakfast, taken a bath, and relaxed in their room, all without their peace being disturbed.
It had been good to see Halley and Indigo together. Halley had taken to her almost as quickly as she had to Astrid, which still surprised Sten. Unlike Astrid, Indigo did not give a maternal impression, at least not at first glance. Whenever he saw her around pups, Indigo was always warm and nurturing. However, on her own, she often wore a severe expression that seemed unsuited for such a young face. For as much as she’d opened up to him, he didn’t think she was an easy person to know, not for others.
Erik’s room was empty when Sten passed by. He had expected as much, and only bothered checking the room because it was in the lower quarters and not far out of his way. He wasn’t sure if it could even be called Erik’s room anymore. It was a cramped, dark room, ideal for sleeping and not much else. Certainly not the sort of place a human would want to spend her waking hours, and regardless of what Erik might say, he cared a great deal about his mate’s comfort.
Sten headed to Astrid’s room next, hoping to find them both together. Erik was always less combative when he was with Astrid, and today, Sten needed him to be agreeable because he did not have a backup plan. Indigo would need a mate soon, and he had no intention of allowing someone else to fill the role. The very thought made him gnash his teeth. His wolf sent him images of Kuva and Roch, the males that had been optioned for Coral, and presumably the ones Zane would choose from for his sister. The images were full of blood.
When he couldn’t force his wolf to relax, he did his best to push the animal from the forefront of his mind. When he finished with his brother, he would be meeting up with Indigo, and they would be speaking with her brother together. He knew that by now, Zane must have known that they were together. Indigo might have made a point to hide the mark on her neck, but nothing short of a month’s separation would lift his scent from her skin. He was not sure how Zane would react, but he hoped for Indigo’s sake that her brother gave her blessing, because as far as Sten was concerned, asking her brother was merely a formality.
He grew agitated as he neared Astrid’s room. Lamplight spilled out into the hallway, along with the sounds of raised voices and frustrated breaths. As he reached the doorway, he lost any hope of his brother being biddable.
“How many times are we going to have this argument?” Astrid’s cheeks were flushed with anger as she glared up at Erik. “I’m getting sick of it.”
Erik was fully dressed in layers of dark furs, his black hair pushed to one side. He pulled at a strand, examining it thoughtfully as his mate yelled at him. When she finished, his response was mild, and carried a twinge of amusement.
“We are not having an argument, mate. I have told you what is happening, and now I am waiting for you to accept it. Seeing as how you are having difficulty doing so, I will have to take my leave. Perhaps by the time I return, you will have come to your senses.”
Sten considered coming back later. He disliked being around the two of them when they were fighting, because it put him in an exceedingly uncomfortable position. Erik was usually right, but made his points in the worst possible ways. Astrid was usually wrong, but Sten couldn’t help wanting to come to her defense.
“I’m not staying in this room all day,” she said, stomping her foot. “You might as well take me with you, because I’m leaving the second you walk away.”
Erik turned to Sten, flashing a smile that might have been congenial, if not for the predatory gleam in his blue eyes.
“Ah, brother. It seems that the bear shifters have finally arrived. I have sent Sylvestre to meet with them, and he will be bringing them back for a meal before we send them on their way.”
That was unexpected. So much had happened in the past two weeks, that Sten had hardly remembered what had sent him to Siluit in the first place. They were supposed to escort the group of bear shifters to Siluit, where they presumably had planned to either sta
ge an outright assault, or gather intelligence to assist them in a future attack.
A few days back, before Indigo had interrupted their meeting, they had discussed the bear shifters at length. They’d made the decision not to reveal Siluit’s presence in the Amarok den. If the bears found out that they’d taken in the other pack, then it would call Amarok’s credibility into question. If there were to be any future negotiations with the bear shifters, they needed to appear trustworthy.
“I am going down to greet them,” Erik said. “Do me the favor of watching my mate for the day.”
Sparks of anger shot through him, but Sten managed to keep his expression neutral. “I can’t. I have things I need to do.”
Sten’s words were drowned out by Astrid’s growl. “I do not need a babysitter! You’re being so disrespectful right now.”
Erik waved his hand in a curt dismissal. “We are done with this. You are not coming with me. That is final.”
“Or you’ll what?” she asked, punctuating each word with malice.
Erik leaned down, his back bending considerably so that he could be at eye level with his mate. He put a finger on her nose, and with a slight smirk, he gave a gentle push. He might as well have shoved her for all she staggered back.
Astrid sputtered with indignation as Erik straightened his spine. To Sten, he said, “Make sure she doesn’t go anywhere.” His eyes darkened. “And keep your hands off her.”
Now, Sten did sigh. “I came here to talk to you. I don’t have time to watch Astrid.”
Erik’s good humor vanished, and his words were almost a snarl. “Make time.”
As Erik strode past him, Sten’s wolf fired off images of grabbing him by the neck and sinking his claws into the alpha’s throat. The images were so vivid that for an instant, Sten wasn’t sure he hadn’t actually done it. We he realized that he was still standing with his fists clenched at his side, he felt disturbed. Not since they’d been juveniles had Sten actually envisioned killing Erik.
Chasing the Alpha: Shifters of Nunavut, Book #3 Page 22
