by Jade White
“I’ll let everyone know,” Geri said as he ducked out of Holda’s tent. “Thank you for your help.”
“You know that’s what I’m here for. Now get going, you have a meeting to prepare for. Get the pack’s conditions and let me do my job.”
Geri walked back to his tent to get some rest before the long hike to the Speaking Stone. When he reached his tent, he found that Freki had left and breathed a sigh of relief. He flopped down onto his bedroll and turned his thoughts towards the impending mating. Despite her objections, it was going to happen regardless. This alliance was crucial for their people’s survival through the long, hard winter, especially if the Raptors make it up here before the snows set in.
Could the Raptors even survive the harsh winters up here? Probably not. The garter snakes always hibernated when the snows fell, so these shouldn’t be any different, right? But they had feathers like birds, so it didn’t make any sense.
It was all so confusing to him. He stopped thinking about it for now and went back to thinking about Gerda. She was so beautiful. Whenever they faced each other on the battlefield, they were equals. Neither one could turn the other onto their back, and neither backed down. Her mottled grey fur was always so soft when they clashed. He sighed. It could have been a worse match. The woman wasn’t stupid at least. After her initial temper tantrum wound down, she would see her father’s logic, hopefully.
*
“I am not mating Geri and that is final!” Gerda shrieked at her father while he stoically sat in their tent.
“You will and that is final!” Onris growled at his rebellious daughter.
“Well, I won’t sleep with him and this whole mating will be a sham!” she said as she stomped her foot.
“Well, in that case, you’ll have a choice of either me, or Holda witnessing your union, who will it be?”
“You are impossible, you know that? An insufferable old fool that has delusions of peace and dandling grandpups on his knee. Well, you aren’t getting them!” Gerda said, spinning around while folding her arms over her chest.
“Yes, I will, you know this is the best course of action. You heard the reports from the southern scouts, they have no reason to lie. The reptiles are coming, and if they manage to conquer our divided people, our way of life will be over.”
Gerda stood there fuming. “You’re not backing down on this are you?”
“Nope.”
“What if I sleep with someone in the pack?” she asked archly.
“You know that every male, mated and unmated, in this pack is related to you in some way shape or form. You wouldn’t do that,” Onris replied smugly.
“Gods damnit, you’re right,” Gerda said, as she exasperatedly pushed her blonde hair from her fair face.
“Now that you have no more objections, you’re mating him. Once we hold the negotiations at the Speaking Stone, you will mate him.”
“So soon? I don’t even have time to make a dress! First you rob me of my choice, then you rob me of my special day, have you no heart?” Gerda said as she started to sob.
“Stop being so dramatic. There’s sure to be someone out there who can lend you one,” Onris said attempting to comfort his distraught daughter.
“It won’t be the same! What will I pass on to my daughters?” she wailed.
Onris sighed and left the tent, knowing his daughter was purposefully being difficult. He had a suspicion as to where his dead mate's wedding dress had wound up.
He entered the tent without ceremony. “Alright, Astri, where’s Ingrid’s mating outfit?” he demanded.
“How dare you enter my tent without announcing yourself first!” the flame haired man said as he jumped up from his bedroll.
“Look, I don’t give a fuck about your false modesty. She was your sister, and I know you took her dress back after she died instead of letting Gerda have it.”
“Yes, because my twin sister was my everything and when she died whelping your spawn…”
“Look, she was my everything, as well.” Onris sighed. “When she and my son perished in the birthing tent…a part of me died, yoo, now give me the dress for Gerda to wear.”
“Or what?” Astri sneered.
“I’ll exile you because you are an obstacle to inter-pack peace which we so desperately need right now,” Onris replied.
“You don’t have to exile me. Have the stupid dress, I refuse to live with those northern mongrels while I still breathe,” Astri said as he began to pack his things.
“Look, they killed your mate, I understand, but it was a battle and…”
“And nothing! You sent her off to scout knowing there were Northerns out there. You’re just as responsible, actually more responsible for her death than the northern curs that ripped her throat out.” Astri spat as he threw his meagre pack over his shoulder, donned his furs and stormed past Onris. “Her dress is in my storage chest. I’m done.” He pushed his tent flap aside and stormed out without looking back.
Onris shrugged and lifted the lid to the wooden storage chest that lay shoved in the corner of the messy hide tent. The brazier and oil lamps gave a warm orange glow to the interior. He made note of having to extinguish them before he left. Astri was apparently not bringing his tent with him, so he could pass it on to a pack member who could use it. There were a few younger warriors and their mates who still lived with their parents, they could use it. Hunting has been slim so finding adequate hide for their tents had been difficult.
Inside the storage chest was a beautiful white leather tunic decorated with winter ermine fur. The bell shaped sleeves had the black tipped tails around the opening. Most wedding tunics were decorated with beads and quills in intricate designs, not this one. This one was beautiful in its simplicity, nothing but white leather and ermine to set it off. Only his former mate’s family knew how to make white leather. Luckily, Astri passed the lore down to Gerda after her mother met her death, hence her panic at not being able to make a proper mating tunic in time. Onris picked the dress up and folded it gently over his arm. He extinguished the flames inside the tent so it wouldn’t burn down while he determined a new owner.
He made his way back to his tent and found his daughter curled up in her furs, fast asleep. It had been a difficult day for her, that’s for sure. He crawled into his own furs and lay there for a little while. The members of his pack had come to him with many grievances and conditions for the merge and he had to weigh each of them. Most of them were concessions about food and hunting grounds. He sighed and rolled over onto his side in a futile attempt to sleep. Tomorrow he would give his daughter away to a virtual stranger and former enemy. He puffed his cheeks out and stared at the ceiling of his tent. This wasn’t going to be fun.
***
The next morning, the Eastern Pack packed up their things and placed them on their sledges. Each member transformed into their wolf shape and slipped into the harness that allowed them to pull their meagre belongings behind them. They made their way to the Speaking Stone where the Northern Pack were waiting.
“Geri!” Onris called out as Gerda followed reluctantly behind.
“We’re finally here,” Geri replied as he padded out, also in wolf form. “What conditions do you bring?”
“My pack demands fair use of the northern chamois hunting grounds.”
“Done. My pack demands fair use of the eastern moose hunt,” Geri said as he paced around the large stone that marked the border of their two territories.
“Agreed. Now, does the Northern Pack have any other demands for the merger to take place?”
“We demand our leader mate with your leader’s daughter,” Geri called out. “That will cement the merger and we will become one pack again. With our numbers, we shall prevail against the threat from the south.” Or at least give them a good fight, Geri thought.
He eyed Gerda from a distance and noticed her body language was hostile. Her hackles were raised and her ears were flat against her skull. Her lips were curled up in a threat
ening snarl, which revealed her sharp white teeth that were more than willing to pierce his throat. He swallowed hard and began to immediately regret his decision to mate her.
“In return,” he continued, “he will grant his mate co-leadership of the combined clans, in my absence, she will make all decisions in my stead and her word will be final.”
Gerda’s ears perked back up. Did I hear correctly? Co-leader? Nobody in the history of our people has ever done that before. She looked quizzically at her father, hoping he would accept. The old dog would be a fool not to.
“We accept, and offer our daughter as mate to the leader of the Northern Pack.” Onris called out.
“Does she accept of her own free will?” Geri countered. “I will not have a mate that has been forced to my bed. We all know this is needed but her well-being is paramount to me.”
Gerda visibly softened, clearly taken off guard by this offer. She looked at her father, and back at Geri. What was the old fool waiting for? He should say yes!
“Well, what’s the answer?” her father asked her with his one good eye gleaming in the murky morning light. “Is this of your own free will or will we walk away?”
It was up to her? She could just lead the entire tribe away and leave them to the raptors, or she could choose to go through with this mating and at least give the wolves a chance at survival. She thought for a moment. She honestly could just screw their entire race over if she walked away.
She noticed the shaggy white form of Holda staring at her from behind Geri. That old woman was the last living witch of the Wolf people. She had seen some things over her many years of life that most of them could only dream of. Rumor has it she was even alive when the war between the North and East began. The old woman’s yellow eyes bored into Gerda’s soul. She had no real choice, it was either mate with Geri, or they would all perish at the hands of the invaders.
“Yes, by my own free will, I agree to mate Geri Fenrison, and accept his offer of co-leadership,” Gerda announced.
Her father snapped his head around and looked at her, pride beaming in his good eye. Holda just nodded and faded back into the darkness with the rest of her pack.
“So it is decided. We shall meet here tomorrow for the mating ceremony,” Geri called out. “Since the pack is merging, I will waive the dowry requirements.”
Onris nodded as they took their leave. “That was very brave of you, Gerda.”
“Thank you, father. For some reason, I didn’t want to see our people driven to extinction by whatever is coming from the south. Holda might know how to counter these things.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if she did. That woman was old when I was born, and that’s saying something,” he said as his tongue lolled out of the side of his muzzle in a wolfish grin.
“Anyway, I’ll go start the purification ritual for the mating ceremony,” Gerda said as she turned towards the wide river that marked the border between the North and the East.
All the birds had flown south for the winter, so the crisp late autumn air was silent except for the gurgling of the river as it traversed in the same direction. It was fed from one of the glaciers in the high mountain home of the Northern Pack. She looked for the root her aunt had told her about before she died at the hands of the Northern Pack. Astri’s mate, Ingrid, was her father’s sister and the closest thing she had to a mother after her own died in childbirth when she was five winters old. She found the tell-tale serrated leaves of the root and dug it up with her front paws. She then changed back into her human shape, picked it up and walked towards a slow running lagoon off the side of the river. She set up a small fire and unfolded a small water skin from her parka. She hung it up over a frame, filled it and set it up to boil. She peeled the root with her stone blade (since using the silver would contaminate it and make her very sick) and pummelled it with a nearby stone. She threw the fibrous tuber into the steaming water skin and disrobed.
Gerda stepped into the frigid glacier fed stream and winced at the cold biting into her skin. She wished it were summer but what can you do? She untied her braids and let her pale blonde hair flow free in the wind as she walked deeper into the pool. She looked at her cheerful little fire and noticed the suds bubbling up over the water skin so she quickly stepped out of the pool and took the hot water skin off of the fire. She dunked it briefly into the water to cool it off and set it down on the nearby rocks.
After she got acclimatized to the icy water, she dove under the surface to wet her hair. She came up sputtering for breath as she wasn’t accustomed to bathing in such cold water. Grabbing some of the froth from the bag, she massaged it into her hair and body, soaping herself up with the purifying root. She paid special attention to her voluptuous breasts and sex region because those were the places where life magic happened.
She knew that when a male and female coupled, the possibility of pregnancy was always present. The first time was the most special time because that’s when the life energy was able to finally enter the female. She needed to be clean and purified before it happened or else the life energy would get tainted and the woman would have pregnancy complications for the rest of her life.
The root had a combination of saponin and a mild acid that caused her skin to tingle as she cleansed it of impurities. This was the first step of the mating ceremony. She will have to do this every day including the day she is mated. Luckily, the mating ceremony was tomorrow so she would only have to bathe in the chill one more time.
After Gerda finished cleansing herself, she rinsed off by going back under the frigid surface of the pool and came back out. She smelled of the vaguely musky root as she wrung her hair out. She sat next to the fire brushing her hair dry with a bone comb thinking of her future with Geri. He really was a good-looking man. He was dedicated to his pack, even though he was hot headed. She definitely could have had a worse match.
She heard a rustling in the bushes and stopped brushing her hair and struggled to cover her nakedness. She stood up and was prepared to change into a wolf to defend herself, but she was grabbed from behind. One strong hand covered her mouth and the other strong arm held her tightly by her waist.
“If you have no maidenhead, the union will be seen as void,” her uncle Astri hissed in her ear. “So, let’s take care of that, shall we?” He brutally threw her to the stone ground, knocking the wind out of her. “And what would your father say if you became with child?” he said as he untied his fur leggings.
Gerda lay on the stone ground, stunned and struggling for breath while Astri removed his pants. She tried to fight back but he was on top of her in no time. She felt him prying her closed thighs open with his hips. “Oh, come on now, it won’t hurt for very long…you might even enjoy it, you selfish bitch.”
She felt his hot, hard cock at the entrance of her sex and her eyes flew open. She screamed, and attempted to scratch at him but he grabbed her hands and held them roughly over her head. “Now stop it, you, the more you struggle the …” he stopped, his eyes went blank and rolled back into his head.
Astri’s lifeless corpse slumped on top of Gerda while she struggled to free herself. Someone rolled Astri off of her nude body as she struggled to cover herself. She looked up, and saw Geri standing over her, holding a bloodied silver dagger. He had a grim and angry expression on his face as he reached down to help Gerda to her feet.
“Thank you,” she said blushing at her nakedness.
“You were fortunate I was nearby,” he said as he tried to avoid staring at her curvaceous body that would soon be his. Gods damn this woman is beautiful, he thought.
“You aren’t supposed to witness my nakedness before our mating,” Gerda said as she hastily pulled on her fur clothes.
“Sometimes, an exception must be made; I think this was it,” he said as he kicked Astri’s corpse into the river. “I hope your father won’t be too upset.”
“No, he won’t. Astri wasn’t part of our pack anymore; he self-exiled out of protest to our mating,” Gerda
explained.
“Looks like he really wanted to ruin our chances,” Geri said as he watched Astri’s body float down the southbound river.
“Anyway, thank you for helping me,” Gerda said blushing. She couldn’t help but look down to show her subservience to the charismatic alpha that stood before her.
Geri reached out and cupped her chin gently and tilted her head upwards to meet his gaze. “We’ll be equals, remember? You can look me in the eyes.”
Her bright blue eyes met Geri’s and she couldn’t look away. He broke the gaze and looked around nervously for a moment and then drew her in for a long, lingering kiss. Gerda’s legs went weak as she felt Geri’s soft, warm lips meet hers for the first time. Her head began to swim with passion as he pried her lips open with his eager tongue. She felt her sex moisten as their velvety tongues danced around each other while they embraced next to the river. She wanted more.
Geri broke the kiss and smiled. “If we continue, I can’t guarantee my behavior,” he said with a wolfish grin.
“Well, we will have tomorrow night,” Gerda said breathlessly.
“That we will. See you then.”
With that, Geri changed into his large black wolf shape and loped off through the bushes back towards his camp.
CHAPTER TWO
Geri stalked back to his tent through the bushes, fuming at the fact that if he had been three seconds slower, Gerda would have been raped and unable to go through with the mating ceremony. He would still have her, it wouldn’t have been her fault, heck it wasn’t her fault. She was following tradition and purifying herself before their mating.
He knew seeing her before they were mated was a bad omen but he had to do something when he heard her screaming. Seeing that piece of sheep shit on top of her drove Geri to such a rage it was a miracle that all he did was stab him through the heart.
He had his own purification to do before the mating ceremony, so he went to Holda’s tent and scratched at the door.
