Gron's Fated

by V. C. Lancaster

  It might be outside what was expected for his tribe, but he was pleasing his Queen, and he could not bring himself to say he shouldn’t. A male did whatever his Queen wanted, and he gloried in it. His hand covered her free breast and he palmed her gently, just the way she liked. Her legs parted to either side of him as he knelt before where she sat.

  It occurred to him that perhaps the reason she enjoyed her breasts being touched like this was because she wanted children. If that was true, Gron would do everything in his power to be worthy of giving them to her. The idea of fathering children who looked like Ruth excited him.

  Something drew his attention to the trees, perhaps movement, or some small sound, but he was suddenly on alert, his head whipping round to pick out Kranu in the trees watching them.

  Gron growled.

  He shouldn’t have. When a Queen pulled a male’s tail, or drew her stud to her, it was a happy thing, there was no shame in it, and no shame in seeing or being seen. Gron had seen it many times in his life, Grasta or his mother taking pleasure from their males. It was done in the open, shared with the tribe whether they were Bonded or not.

  But still he did not want Kranu watching. Maybe because Ruth was not Kranu’s Queen, and Gron and his brother were technically of different tribes. Maybe it was his strange possessiveness and jealousy of Ruth that made him want to shield her pleasure from Kranu as if Gron owned it. Or maybe because he already suspected Kranu wanted to be Bonded and saw Ruth as an opportunity, and he knew his brother to be an arrogant and demanding male who would not be good for Ruth and make Gron’s life as his brother-mate distinctly unpleasant.

  His brother’s eyes on them made Gron feel as if his sharing of pleasure with Ruth was a performance, tainting it somehow, as if Kranu had already inserted himself between them.

  Ruth followed his eyes, but she only saw Kranu when he dropped from the tree to the ground, landing on his feet and standing slowly. She gave a small cry and scrabbled to cover herself, drawing her legs up.

  Gron stood to face Kranu, walking to meet him as the male approached so he would not get too close to Ruth. He heard a small splash as his Queen presumably slipped back into the water to hide behind the boulders.

  “Kranu, what do you want?” he asked, recognising that he sounded aggressive without reason, but not willing to welcome his brother near his Queen.

  Kranu glanced at him, but he was still focused on the pool over Gron’s shoulder where Ruth hid. “What were you doing?” he asked.

  “Serving my Queen, not that it is anything to do with you. Did you follow us here?” Gron replied, his tail flicking in agitation.

  Kranu scowled at him, his own tail lashing angrily. “The whole tribe uses this pond, Gron,” he said. “Why would I have followed you?”

  “To see Gruth. To watch me with her, and learn what a Bonded male does for his Queen. Perhaps you were hoping I would leave her alone so you could approach her. Grasta’s ruling did not go your way, but I have never known you to admit defeat peacefully.”

  Kranu’s lip peeled back from his fangs. “I know what a Bonded male does, Gron. Our parents are not as shy as you are. But what you were doing was not serving her. I don’t know what you were doing. Imitating an infant, as far as I could see.”

  Gron fought not to show his own fangs and try to intimidate Kranu away. He knew from years of frustrated adolescent rivalry that it would not work. Kranu wanted to fight, he always did, especially with Gron. He could spend hours goading his brother until Gron snapped and lunged for him, only to ultimately be set back in the dirt as Kranu swaggered away, triumphant. Kranu had always had size and age on his side, as well as an emotional upper hand. Gron only fought when he could not remain calm, but Kranu picked his battles, and carefully pruned them to his liking. It was one of the most infuriating things about him.

  Gron struggled now not to rise to Kranu’s baiting. He had to remind himself that his brother was antagonising him because Gron finally had something special that Kranu did not and he was jealous.

  “You do not have to know. It is nothing to do with you. You have no use for the knowledge, no Queen has chosen you,” he replied, unable to resist verbally attacking his brother at least.

  His words hit the mark and stung, because Kranu stopped trying to look past him and locate Ruth in the pool behind him, and shifted his focus to Gron instead.

  “Grasta has declared you two are Bonded. You must be lucky indeed, to be abducted and presented with a Queen to be yours. Evidently she is a Queen, if she has Bonded you. That changes things. After all, Queens do not share their tribes, but here she is. How many males do you think long for more than to serve Grasta, with no rank or acknowledgement ever bestowed on them? Gruth is unique, she is weak and dependent. She needs males to care for her to survive, anyone can see that. She can Bond them, prime them, but she cannot dominate them.

  “You are protecting her now, keeping her alive, but if you were not there, she would have to take more males to replace you, males who know their place, not like you. You have always been a strange one, are you now claiming you will be her only male? For life? You know that is not the way. By resisting the truth, you make enemies in the tribe. Enemies who will see the reason in getting rid of you, so that Gruth may have the tribe she needs.”

  Gron snarled viciously, drawing himself to his full height and stepping close to Kranu, his fur standing on end. “Are you threatening me?!” he demanded.

  Kranu matched his stance without hesitation. “I am drawing your attention to the situation. You were taken before, perhaps you will be taken again. Perhaps you will be hurt. Anything could happen to leave Gruth alone. I know you do not like me, Gron, but you know I am strong, and a vicious fighter. Nothing would ever hurt her if she Bonded me. She needs more males to survive. If you step aside and let her choose me, you will be protecting yourself as well.”

  Gron snarled again, but he couldn’t deny what Kranu was saying. Ruth needed more males to be secure. If anything happened to him, she would be alone, unable to communicate with anyone. It would be better if he negotiated for her. He could trust himself to have her best interests in mind, at least. She needed him to do this for her. Without him, another Queen could easily become incensed by Ruth poaching a new male, or seek to defend her territory, and kill Ruth without a thought.

  But not Kranu. His brother was indeed a strong and quick fighter, but Gron simply could not bring himself to give the male what he wanted. Not him. He would not spend his life sharing his Queen with the despicable male who had tormented him his entire life. There were other strong males, and strength was not everything. Troii was intelligent, and gentle, to name just one. There were others who were wise, talented crafters, handsome, jokers, or who had much knowledge of food and the plants of the forest. Gron would choose any of these over Kranu.

  But he knew that if he did that, sought to Bond other males to Ruth instead of Kranu, his brother would be furious. Gron had heard the threat in what Kranu had said. If Gron continued to keep Ruth for himself, he could find himself attacked or exiled for some reason. Kranu could tell the others that Gron was endangering Ruth with his possessive behaviour, and the other males would seek to dispose of him for her good, whether they wanted to Bond with her or not.

  He didn’t like it, it made him sick to imagine it, but he had to allow other males to approach Ruth. At least he was confident none of them would hurt her. He was less sure about Kranu. His brother had a habit of taking what he wanted by force.

  Gron had told Grasta the Bond had formed between them because they had been held in captivity together, and that he had never intended to be disloyal to the Queen of the tribe. Now he was afraid he had given his brother an idea. If Kranu stole Ruth away from him, and managed to hold her somewhere alone for long enough, the Bond might form between them as well.

  If Kranu tried anything like that, Gron would hunt him down and kill him. He would not sleep until he had Ruth safe with him again, and he would feel no remorse
for finishing the male that attacked his Queen. Kranu had accused Gron of abducting a Queen, perhaps this was an idea he had held for a while.

  That line of thinking had Gron more sure than ever that Kranu was a bad male. It wasn’t just jealousy. Any male that would approach a Bonded male and threaten him and his Queen in the hopes of being allowed to Bond did not deserve it. This was the worst behaviour Kranu had ever shown, but somehow it didn’t surprise Gron.

  His brother had always demanded to have everything, but until now possession was irrelevant in the tribe. Everyone shared anything of worth, everyone had enough food, enough shelter. There wasn’t anything else to want. Bonding was the Queen’s business, and hers alone. But as Kranu had said, Ruth was different. She only had one male, and was lost in a strange world without him. Gron couldn’t imagine that the other males of the tribe were thinking the same way, but he knew that if Kranu did not get his way, he would put the ideas in their heads.

  Not knowing what else to do, Gron stalled Kranu. “Let me think on it,” he told him, relaxing his aggressive stance.

  “What is there to think about? You cannot keep her to yourself, not without putting you both in danger,” Kranu replied.

  Gron growled at his brother for pushing the issue. “Gruth has been here for less than a day. Give her time to learn our ways. This is all new to her.” He felt bad for using Ruth as an excuse, but his head was spinning, and he needed Kranu to leave before he could relax and think.

  Kranu looked again to the pool, and Gron resisted also checking what could be seen of Ruth. Kranu seemed to accept that reasoning though, looking back at Gron. “Do not think I have given up, little brother,” he warned, before retreating back into the forest.

  Gron felt chilled as the truth Kranu had spoken settled into him, his stomach still churning with resistance to the thought of sharing Ruth with another. He returned to the pond and found her in the water, holding onto one of the rocks. She looked at him anxiously.

  “Gron?” she asked, making his name sound foreign, but he found it endlessly endearing as always.

  He wished he could reassure her, but the truth was, she wouldn’t be safe until she had another male, preferably two more. Kranu would not be able to force three males to let him near their Queen, but Gron could be disposed of, and another could be convinced, so two was not enough. Bonding three males within such a short time was not common, as most Queens preferred to be selective and choose from the best males available over the course of years, but hopefully it would mean that Ruth would not have to choose any more.

  Poaching two more of Grasta’s tribe from right under her nose was almost a declaration of war. Perhaps Gron could explain, but it would have to be done in secret, nonetheless. He would begin building a platform they could go to outside the tribal village, just in case.

  Once Ruth had more males, they would be more like a tribe of their own, able to leave for a territory of their own. It would hurt him to leave his family behind, but he hadn’t belonged to them since Ruth had Bonded him. They were already strangers, different tribes. He would try to take males with them that he liked when they left.

  He held his hand out to Ruth, and pulled her from the water. She was bare and wet, and her skin was cold without a pelt to trap her body’s heat, so he rubbed her arms, trying to take the water off her skin. She ducked to her bag and withdrew another square of fabric that she began drying herself with.

  Gron stood unnecessarily near to her, shielding her naked body in case Kranu or any other male was nearby. He was being foolish and strange, but Ruth seemed to prefer to cover her body, and Gron found that he too preferred his brother not to see her exposed, bare skin, unprotected by a pelt. As she pulled a black covering over her head, Gron had one thought pressing on his mind: he had to get back to the village, and talk to Troii.

  Chapter 11

  Gron tried to hurry without looking like he was hurrying. Thanks to his talk with Kranu, he now had the sensation that eyes were always on him, waiting for the moment he left Ruth alone. He held her hand and pulled her along behind him, wishing he had eyes in the back of his head. He didn’t move fast enough that she struggled to keep up, but he could tell she suspected something was going on. She looked unhappy and squeezed his hand every now and then.

  They made it back to the village and Gron looked around. Nothing was out of place, Kranu had just made him paranoid. He had no idea where Troii would be though. Everyone moved about freely during the day. He could be on any of the platforms that stretched overhead.

  Gron knew it was foolish to run straight to Troii after Kranu’s threats. If his brother was watching, he would know that Gron had chosen Troii as a potential brother-mate and was intending to foil Kranu’s plans, but Gron was more concerned that Kranu was at this moment poisoning the minds of others against him, if he hadn’t already, and wanted to secure an ally as quickly as possible.

  The difference between Gron and Kranu’s plans was that Kranu had to hide from Gron, whereas Gron had to hide from Kranu and Grasta. What he was planning was considered treason, but if Kranu told Grasta that Gron was trying to keep Ruth as solely his, the Queen would side with Kranu.

  Eventually he found Troii weaving a basket on the forest floor. Gron breathed a sigh of relief when he saw he was alone. Troii looked up as Gron approached, his eyes clouding with confusion when he saw Ruth.

  “Troii, can I talk to you?”

  “What is it?” He put down his half-made basket and the ferns he was using to make it, giving Gron his full attention. He was right to think something was wrong, though it probably wouldn’t be what he expected.

  Gron knelt in front of where he sat, and Ruth followed his example nervously. “Can I trust you to keep what I say next a secret?”

  Troii’s expression became shuttered, his eyes flicking to Ruth and back, taking in the concerned way she was watching Gron. Troii was an honourable male and did not like to be involved in anything underhanded.

  “We have been friends for many years,” Gron pressed him. “I would not ask you if I had any other choice.”

  Troii looked pained. “Alright, but I don’t like it,” he said reluctantly.

  Gron let out the breath he was holding. “Thank you, my friend,” he said.

  Troii appeared to notice his distressed state. “Gron, what is it? Why are you here?”

  Gron looked around, listening hard for any indication that they were not alone. As satisfied as he could be, when his tribe was all around him, behind trees and overhead in the branches, he turned back to Troii. “Gruth needs more males,” he said quietly.

  Troii looked shocked, then concerned, then suspicious. “What are you talking about?” he rumbled.

  “She needs a tribe of her own. I am not enough to protect her, provide for her, not forever. If anything happens to me, she will be alone, and this is not her home. She needs to Bond more males to her, to make sure she will survive here,” Gron told him.

  He could see the idea blooming behind Troii’s eyes but being held back. “And why are you telling me this?” he asked in the tone of somebody who already knows the answer to their question.

  Gron looked at him, almost apologising for what he was about to involve him in. “You are a clever, compassionate and reasonable male. We are friends. I believe you would not hurt Gruth, and would take good care of her.”

  Troii was still for a moment. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” he said, his voice hard but his expression deliberately blank.

  The accusation in his friend’s tone made Gron look away in shame. “She needs a good male, Troii. I need to know that he will do everything for her. Worship her, as I do. I wish I didn’t have to do this. I admit I wish I was enough for her, but I’m not. I’m vulnerable, and that makes her vulnerable too, and I can’t allow that. I have to make sure she is safe, always.

  “You are a good male, you always have been. And we are friends. We would be good brother-mates together. If I must share her, I want
it to be with you. You are one of the few males I would trust her to.”

  Gron noticed Troii’s hands tighten on the basket he was weaving.

  “Say it clearly, Gron,” Troii commanded.

  Gron forced himself to meet his friend’s eyes. “If you want to, I would like you to Bond with Gruth,” he said.

  For a moment, Troii didn’t moved, simply sat and stared at Gron, his jaw twitching as he considered his words. Then he threw the basket down with surprising force and stood up, whirling away only to come pacing back. Ruth tucked herself closer to Gron’s side in response to Troii’s reaction.

  The male pointed at Gron, furious. “That is... not yours to offer, Gron! It is her decision! Queens decide, you know that!” Troii was angry, but underneath it Gron could see the temptation, the hope, the longing and yearning that most males had to be chosen, so that they too could sleep in a Queen’s arms, be caressed and valued, treasured by someone, perhaps even breed a family. Most males did not want to be spare, to live alone and die alone, leaving a life half-lived behind them.

  “I know. It would be her choice. But she cannot talk to any of us, Troii! How is she to find suitable males? She needs me to find males for her, males I can talk to, who I know are good and worthy,” Gron insisted.

  Troii’s tail was lashing wildly as he paced. “This is treason, Gron. How can you do this to Grasta? You were loyal to her once!”

  “Grasta has her court already. I am loyal to Gruth now. I have to be, she is my Queen, and she has no one else. Gruth cannot go out into the forest and find wanderers, it would be too dangerous, another Queen might kill her. She cannot ask males if they are willing to join her,” Gron explained. “Please, even if you refuse, you must keep this secret. Gruth needs more males before we leave the tribe, and you know some males want to be Bonded.”

  Troii looked at Ruth then, and Gron knew he was considering it. “And what about her? Does she... Did she indicate me in any way? Does she even know what you are planning?”