by Maya Carnage
"I was nervous with your mother. I wanted to make sure everything was perfect for her, and if the smallest thing happened, I felt like a complete ass," said Pops. "It took me some time, but eventually I realized that our love wasn't meant to be perfect. Real love has flaws, Lorth. That includes your mating with Tracy. There will be ups and downs, son. You can't get around that."
"She's different than Mother. Tracy's already been through so much, I just want to make sure this is amazing for her," I said.
"She loves you, so you can mess this entire thing up, and she'll still be happy. How's the surprise going?" Pops asked.
Ah, the surprise. I've been working fervently during my spare time on a mating ceremony gift for Tracy. It has been tough, between the garden, trials, helping Exxil with Hex, and working at the shop I've not had that much time, but I manage to complete the gift on schedule. I do not know what Tracy's reaction will be, hopefully good. I came up with the idea for it right after we landed. It's taken over three months to finish it. Exxil and Havrick, and even Gher and Gallan helped out when they could.
"I'm showing it to her tonight," I said.
"Havrick took me out there the other day. I have to say that you did a good job, Lorth. Did you design it yourself?" Pops asked.
I shake my head. "I tried, but then I realized that I have no skill at sketching, so I asked Gallan to have his uncle do it."
"Exxil slipped up and mentioned it to the children. They want to come by and see it, but I told them they have to wait until after the ceremony. You know how impatient Ferle can get, though. If I were you, I wouldn't take that long, just to be safe," said Pops.
Ferle is filled with energy. The boy has little to no patience sometimes. If he wants to see Tracy's gift, then he won't wait long. "I'll make sure to bring him by as soon as possible," I said.
Pops nods.
Not that much later, Tracy and Havrick come back into the house. She is laughing with him. He gestures wildly with his hands, when Havrick sees me, "This one knows you in and out. If she wasn't brought here because she was abducted, then I would have sworn she's known you her whole life," he says.
Knowing that Tracy did well on the trials lets me breath easier.Kate did not give me any hint whether I did well or not. When she gets back from Helencia's, she and Havrick will talk with Pops.
Tracy sits down on my lap, she wraps her arm around my neck, and the four of us talk about the upcoming ceremony.
The good thing about a mating ceremony is that it isn't necessarily a tribe event. We can't invite as little people we want. Tracy only seems to associate with the human women and Aaga and Quentah, so she won't be inviting that many of the tribe. My family will be there, and I'll invite Francis, Teris, and some of the hunters. It will be a small gathering.
Pops and Helencia have volunteered to cook the food. It is usually the responsibility of one of the mates' parents to prepare the food and the other set of parents supply the decorations and prepare the area.
Exxil and the children are going to make the decorations. Ferle is making a chain out of pieces of paper. Lucia showed him how to do it.
The only thing Tracy and I have to do is show up. Well, Tracy still has to find a gown to wear. She doesn't seem the type of female to be critical of what kind of dress to wear. The ceremony isn't for another couple days, longer if needed, so she has plenty of time to find the perfect gown for her.
It doesn't matter to me if she shows up in a tunic and leggings, as long as I walk away with her as my mate by the end of the ceremony.
"Helencia has everything ready for the dinner," Kate said, coming through the front door. "So how did you do?"
"Tracy did great, we don't know about Lorth, we've been waiting for you to get back," said Havrick.
"I'm here, now," said Kate.
Everyone pauses for a second.
I take a deep breath in, and slowly release it. I think we've all been sitting here nervously. We all know Tracy did well, but my fate is still undecided. We don't have to pass the trials to become mates, but it is a family tradition. If you pass all of the trials then your mating will be blessed with good fortune.
I gesture for Kate to speak.
"I talked with Tracy before the trials, to make sure I had a good idea of how she would answer these questions. Lorth, I don't know what to say..." My breath gets stuck in my throat. "...but that you did pretty damn well."
Tracy lets out a laugh.
Pops and Havrick begin to chuckle.
I sit in silence. For a second there I thought that I failed. It wasn't a feeling I would want to feel again anytime soon. With a relieved smile, I thank Kate for being my partner.
"It wasn't any trouble," she said.
I look at Pops nervously. He gets the final say in the trial, whether we passed or not. He looks at Tracy and I not saying a word. When we can no longer bear the anticipation, Pops speaks.
"My son Lorth has belonged solely to me for a very long time. Now, I have dreamed of him happily mated, but I knew on that day, regardless of how happy I was for him, it would be a sad day. No one wants to say goodbye to their children. I am no different. With that said, I have to say that in the time I've come to know you, I couldn't find any faults in you being my son's mate. So, Tracy, I'm sad my son is leaving, but I'm happy I get to call you daughter," said Pops with a bittersweet smile.
I release a relieved breath.
Tracy clutches at my neck tightly. We share a smile.
"Thank you, Kenan. It means a lot to me," said Tracy.
It's going to be good for Tracy. I've been trying to make my own family feel like hers, and now that Pops has reiterated the same idea, she might start to believe it.
"I'm ready to eat," said Kate. "You guys ready to go?"
Havrick shouts his agree and makes his way out of the house. He doesn't wait for the rest of us. Kate follows him out, with Pops trailing behind her. Before he leaves, "I'm going to go let Exxil know that the food is done," he says.
When it's just the two of us, Tracy lets out a tense chuckle. "That wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."
I rub soothing circle on her back. I feel better knowing that my mate was also slightly nervous. She always seems to have it together sometimes, and in truth, she is struggling on the inside. I want her to know that she can come to me whenever she needs to, that she doesn't have to put on a false face for me, that I want her to be honest and vulnerable when we are together.
That's what mates are for.
"Most of the time, things are worse inside our heads than they are in reality," I said.
"I get that, but at that moment, it's hard to remember that."
She stands up. She looks around the house with a perplexed expression. "Can I ask you a question?"
I nod.
"Are we going to live here after the mating ceremony? I don't mind the place, but it's going to be weird getting frisky with your father under the same roof."
Laughing, I stand up and take her hand. She's right it wouldn't be comfortable mating in the house. That's why I am excited to show her, her surprise later. It's something I have worked tirelessly at for some time now.
I didn't want to continue living with Pops, after Tracy and I became mates. I figured she also didn't want to, and I didn't want us living with Kate and Karen.
I figured that we needed a place to ourselves.
"You don't have to worry about that, my mate," I said.
She rests her head on my shoulder. "If you say so, but seriously, we need to find a place."
I chuckle softly under my breath.
∞∞∞
Helencia bustles around all of us, making sure everyone has enough food. I glance over at the table that holds the large assortment of food. There is enough there to feed most of the tribe. Helencia must have been working all day on it. They even brought over a few more seats, that way everyone would have a place to eat without having to sit on the floor.
Tracy and I sit together on one of
the chairs. Pops, Exxil, Ferle, Rexxil take up the entire length of the couch. Havrick sits by himself on a stool. Hexxil sits with Lucia in one of the larger chairs. Jessa and Kate sit together at the table. Helencia, when she isn't running around checking on all of us, sits down in the last chair.
Havrick and Exxil tell stories from our childhood, causing the women to roar with laughter at some of our antics. Havrick also gushes over how amazing the food tastes. It causes Helencia to look shy for the first time.
When none of us can eat anymore, Helencia asks Hex and Havrick to help her divide the food out. "I'm going to give it to the elders. I know that they get tired cooking their food."
After they leave, Kates asks us what are we going to do for the ceremony.
"I'm going to ask Helencia to cook. She seems to love doing it, and she knows the recipes here better than I do," said Tracy. "Lorth and I decided that we want to have the ceremony by the garden. It's our second home, pretty much, so we want it to be included."
After Tracy confessed that she was ready to start the third trial, she and I talked about the mating ceremony. Most of the time the mating ceremony occurs soon after the last trial is completed. I wanted to know what her plans were since the females of the tribe usually have most of the say in what goes on.
We both thought that the garden would be the best place for the mating ceremony. It was the first thing that we bonded over. It was what brought us together.
"The kids are going to help with the decorations," said Tracy.
"Yeah, I've been showing them some arts and crafts from back home. Ferle is excited to show off his awesome skills," said Lucia.
Ferle nods eustatically.
"That only leaves the dress. I haven't decided what to do for that. I'm hoping that Helencia might know where I can get one," said Tracy.
"I thought you could use Farris's gown. She would have liked that," said Pops.
Mother was content with having only sons, but I know that she would have loved to have had daughters. Meema wore her mother's gown. She would want Tracy to use the gown.
"If you don't mind," said Tracy.
Pops shakes his head. "I want you, too."
"I guess everything is settled," said Tracy. She looks at me, "Are you all right with having the ceremony tomorrow?"
"I don't think I can wait another minute," I said. "Tomorrow is great!"
Helencia and the others arrive back an hour later. We thank her for dinner, and Tracy asks if she'll cook the food for tomorrow's ceremony.
"Absolutely! I would love to. Is there anything specific that you'd want?" Helencia asked.
I look at Tracy. She shakes her head, and since I don't have any particularly favorite dishes, I say no.
The women hug Tracy goodbye, some of them even have tears in their eyes. Exxil says he is taking the children home because it is getting late. Lucia offers to go with him, to help put them down for the night. Exxil says he has it, somewhat harshly causing Lucia's face to fall. Exxil does not see it, or he does but chooses to ignore it. Havrick stays behind with the women, enjoying their attention. Pops goes home.
"I'm tired, Lorth. You ready to call it a night?" she asked. We stand outside the women's house; you can hear them talking and laughing from inside.
"I promise I'll have you in your bed soon, but first I have something I want to show you." I take her hand, and we walk toward the garden. We walk slowly, not being able to see that well with how dark it is outside. The moon is barely showing itself, only a sliver of it is visible in the sky. Tracy grips my hand tighter when a beast off in the distance calls out. She has nothing to worry about. As long as I am by her side, nothing will harm her. I quicken my steps, wanting to get there before she can become too worried about the dark.
The garden looks uninviting in the night. Especially with the greens littered throughout the garden. Tracy and I have been searching for the best spot to grow them, so far they seem to thrive anywhere.
It reminds me of the thick forest near the Mountain tribe.
"What is it you wanted to show me?" asked Tracy.
"It's not that much more ahead."
I continue pulling Tracy behind me, taking her deeper into the woods behind the garden.
When I was first looking for a place to build at it took me some time to decide where. I wanted it to be close enough to the garden, that way Tracy would not have far to walk when she wants to work outside. I also wanted to make sure that there would be no neighbors around us, I loved living in the village, but I think I would enjoy having more privacy. Then I had to make sure it was far enough away from the garden so that Tracy would not know what I'm doing.
It wasn't easy.
I finally decided on a spot a short walk from the garden, though you can't see it from there. It is deep into the woods.
When we start getting closer, I ask Tracy to close her eyes.
Smiling, she complies.
"Wait one moment," I said.
I gently guide her through the cluttered ground, to the front of the house. When we are in place so that she can see the whole thing, I tell her she can open her eyes.
She gasps.
"It's beautiful," she said. "Did you build this?"
"Mostly, I had Exxil and Havrick, and some of the hunters help me. Gallan's father designed the house. I tried, but then I realized that I had no eye for that kind of work," I said.
She laughs. "It doesn't matter. I love that you took the time to makes us our own home."
I took Tracy's hand that I'm holding and bring it to my lips. Kissing her knuckles, I think about how glad I am that she is going to be mine very soon.
"Can we go inside?" she asked.
"It's your home, my mate. You don't have to ask permission." I lead Tracy into our new home.
The house is two stories high. There are four bedrooms on the top floor and two on the bottom. I'm hoping that Tracy wants to have plenty of children, I've always wanted a large family. The outside is painted a light shade of blue. Tracy once said that that was her favorite color. The windows on the bottom floor reach from the floor to the ceiling, letting in natural light. It sits about a foot off the ground with steps leading onto the small porch. There's enough room to put a small bench there.
Tracy and I walk into the living area, where I've already set up a couch and chairs with a rug underneath. The living area is in the center of the house. To the right are the two bottom bedrooms and an indoor bathroom. To the right are the kitchen and dining area. I wanted to have a place for everyone to eat without having to sit on the floor. There is a large wooden table in the center of the room with nine chairs around it. The kitchen is through the dining area. The kitchen isn't that big. There is a small set of counters lining the walk, next to them is the fire pit with the rack for cooking. In the middle is a small table with two stools.
Tracy wanders through the lower level of our home. Commenting on everything as she goes.
"I love the colors you chose for the walls. They're very bright; it makes the place feel happy."
She trails her fingers across the table's shiny, smooth surface.
When she is ready to go upstairs, I take her to the staircase behind the living area. We have to go through the kitchen to get to the sectioned off area where the stairs were built. I let Tracy go first, and I watch her ass as she climbs the stairs.
When I do not immediately follow behind her, she turns around and catches me gawking at her backside. She lifts a brow.
"Your ass is a sight to behold," I said chuckling.
She shakes her head and continues to the second floor. I jog up the stairs behind her.
The stairs take us up to a narrow hallway. On the other end is a small window. On each side of the corridor, are two doors. Tracy looks into each room. Afterward, we go back downstairs and lie down on the only bed in the house, which is in the room closes to the front door.
Lying on our backs, I ask Tracy what she thought of the house.
"I'm goi
ng to like calling this place home," she said. "Maybe when the cold season is over, we can build a greenhouse out back and even a small garden. I would like to start growing flowers. Gran did in her greenhouse."
"We can do whatever you want us to," I said.
To my surprise, Tracy sits up and straddles my waist, leaning down to kiss me.
My hands move of their own accord, reaching down to grip her ass. I give her bottom a firm squeeze. I think I love her ass just as much as I love her.
She settles her weight more firmly on top of me. Her cunt presses down on my hard cock. I can feel her wet heat through both of our leggings. She rocks her hips against mine.
Her tongue swipes across my closed mouth. I part my lips and let her in. Our tongues tangle together.
I roll her onto her back. I take over, thrusting between her thighs. I take her head in my hands and angle her head, deepening the kiss.
"Lorth..." she moaned. She places a hand on my chest, pushing.
I raise my head, looking down at her. Perplexed for why she is making me stop.
"I want to make love with you," she said. "Tonight. Now. In our house."
I swallow.
I've wanted to feel Tracy's moist heat around my shaft since she took me into her mouth. The pulsing of her cunt as it milks my cock. I always figured it would be after the mating ceremony, that is what I thought she was waiting for. I've wanted her for a while, but I was willing to wait until she was ready.
Chapter Fifteen
Tracy
My chest flutters with nerves. I can feel my anxiety raising as Lorth doesn't say anything. Even though this isn't my first time, it feels huge. Maybe because Lorth is the first man that I genuinely care for.
Lorth hovers above me, staring at me with a serious expression. He probably wants to make sure this is the right choice. He can be overprotective most of the time, but that is something I find attractive in him.
