A curve of claw, p.7
A Curve of Claw, page 7
In what they called their grand hall, which was a hide covered long tent with a curved roof, the den gathered with us for the completion of the joining ceremony. I was nervous to see Filene, because of how pissed off she’d been the night before, but the moment we walked inside the hall, she walked forward and hugged me.
“Sweet daughter, I’m so happy you’re part of our family now.” What? Was this the same woman who had called me what I assumed was a whore in their language less than a day ago?
“Thank you, Filene,” I managed to get out.
She cast her eyes over my face in concern and then a smile split her features. “I am very certain that you belong to my sons, Elizabeth. I know what you thought you could do yesterday, and now, what the truth actually is.” She lowered her gaze to my neck. Without a mirror in the tiny bathroom, I had no idea what the marks looked like and suddenly I was mad crazy to know. Just how bruised and raw was my neck? At least she didn’t say how noisy I was. I was well aware that my voice was a little raw for the wear this morning. I’d always been vocal in bed, but I’d never completely screamed my head off in pleasure, either. And I did that last night and this morning.
“I’m sorry if I insulted you,” I said honestly. She was my damn mother-in-law, after all.
“You’re very young and you really didn’t know what was going to be asked of you, which is as much mine and Adriel’s fault as anyone’s. It’s forgotten. Come, the ceremony won’t take long and then we’ll eat.”
Ash brought my hand up to his mouth with a smile, “If there’s anything bears like to do, it’s eat.” Something about the wicked glint in his eyes said he wasn’t necessarily speaking about food and I squeezed his hand and smiled.
On a raised platform near the back of the hall was a long table with carved wooden chairs. Adriel was standing at the center chair. We followed Filene, and Ash and Axe led me to one side of the table and I sat between them, Axe next to his father. Filene sat on Adriel’s other side, along with two other young men and a young woman. They all looked related and before I could ask, Ash whispered in my ear, “That’s our family. We’re the oldest at 18 plus 10. Next to our mother is Tavian who is 18 plus 7, Lynk is 18 plus 5, and our only sister, Daeton who is 17.”
I frowned. Where was Griegs? Before I could ask that question out loud, Axe leaned to my other ear, “We’ll talk about our other brother later, love; it’s best not to bring him up right now.”
He kissed my cheek and smiled at me, but there was a tightness to his eyes that bothered me. My brain spun over the possibilities. Either Griegs walked out last night, which would explain the arguing I vaguely heard while we were going to the tent, or he had done something and gotten kicked out. He had a temper, but then again most were-animals did, part and par of having a beast wriggling under your skin.
The den, including the nomad members that had returned for the collaring ceremony but now stayed to celebrate the marriage, sat around two long tables down either side of the hall. Down the center of the hall were food laden tables draped with dark scarves. Electric chandeliers dipped from the ceiling, flickering the false impression of flames across the enclosed room.
Adriel stood and the room quieted. “There is little that brings joy to a father than the mating of his children, and I stand here in front of my people as not only your king, but a very happy father. A better bride and mate for my sons I couldn’t have willed to life in my wildest dreams. Not only does she bring joy to her mates, but she brings peace and power to the den.” He raised a goblet and everyone in the den raised theirs. Ash and Axe reached for one glass in front of my chair and held it together.
Ash whispered, “Take a drink, aleni,” and they brought the cup to my lips and a sweet red wine filled my mouth as Adriel said, “We drink to the hope of the future.” Ash took a drink as Adriel said, “We drink to remember our past.” Axe took a drink, draining the cup, as Adriel said, “We drink to the love in our hearts.”
Axe put the goblet upside down on the table and cheers went out from everyone in the hall and everyone drank until their cups were empty and then turned them upside down on the tables in front of them. Ash supplied the answer. The ceremonial cups were turned upside down to prevent evil spirits from sticking around to drink the wine and then deciding to stick around permanently. I thought it was about the cutest thing I’d ever heard, but I kept my mouth shut and my smile to myself. I didn’t want anyone to think I was disrespecting their beliefs.
Adriel looked down at us and then walked silently down the platform while two men carried a black cauldron on an iron stand that was literally glowing red on the bottom. Sticking out of the top was a wood handled poker. The men put the cauldron in front of Adriel. Ash and Axe stood up and walked down to their father. Something was happening, but no one was saying a word.
Filene’s soft voice filled my ear. “No matter what happens, don’t move or make a sound. This is important.”
I nodded, not taking my eyes off of Ash and Axe who stood shirtless like every other man in the room, their eyes on their father.
Adriel began speaking in their language. Filene translated:
Do you swear to protect your mate to your last fighting breath?
Ash and Axe answered together in a word that meant Yes.
Do you promise to hold her heart carefully forever?
Yes.
Do you promise to love her above all others to the best of your abilities?
Yes.
What is the name of your beloved mate?
Their eyes met mine with such intensity that I struggled not to gasp at it. And then they spoke.
“Elizabeth.”
Adriel pulled the poker out of the cauldron. The end was glowing bright red and appeared to be a symbol of some kind made out of the iron. I realized in a flash of understanding that it was not a poker, but a brand.
Take this brand in silence to prove yourself worthy of your mate.
Before I could register what he was doing, Adriel pressed the brand over Axe’s heart and held it there. The sound of sizzling flesh and the sickly sweet smell of burning skin filled the room. Axe didn’t move a muscle or make a sound but I had to grip the chair I was sitting on and grind my teeth together not to run down there and shove Adriel out of the way. I felt Filene’s arm around my shoulders. It was both comforting and restraining.
He repeated the phrase to Ash as he picked up the poker from the cauldron again so it was once more burning red. Ash’s eye ticked, but that was the only evidence of the pain that I knew was riding rough over his body. It warred against every instinct I had to remain silent and still, but I did.
When the poker clanged against the cauldron, a cheer went up from the bears and Filene pressed two dark green leaves into my hand and said, “Go get your mates.”
I stood abruptly and moved quickly down the stage to them and led them by the hand towards the side of the hall where one of the men who had carried the cauldron to Adriel was holding open a flap of hide so we could exit.
Outside, alone, we walked a few yards away and I kissed them both and looked up at them. “What was that about? What is this symbol?”
Burnt into their flesh was a symbol I’d never seen before, like a crooked scrolled S with a slash through it, feathered on one end and pointed at the other. “It’s the symbol for your name, Elizabeth,” Axe said. “In our language your name is Alisiquete. You wear the mating marks on your neck, and we wear the symbol of your name over our hearts.”
I felt tears prick at my eyes and then I realized that I had seen but never thought much about the scar over Adriel’s heart. It was his brand of Filene’s name.
Ash took one of the leaves and cracked it open down the middle, turning it over my open palm and squeezing out a clear liquid. Aloe. “Come, sweet mate, and tend the brands. It’s your part of the ceremony. Then we can eat.”
My fingers trembled as I slid the clear gel over their wounds. They told me that the metal of the brand was mixed special so that the marks would scar permanently and not heal. I really was theirs forever. When both leaves were emptied of the gel and their marks were covered, the pain of the burn eased some, I said with a whisper, “Didn’t it hurt?”
Axe grinned, “You’re worth any pain.”
“Definitely,” Ash agreed.
When we were seated again, Ash went to the tables in the center of the hall and filled up a plate for me. I could see every sort of meat possible from deer to chicken. The wild animals were hunted by the den overnight, slaughtered and prepared for our wedding feast this morning. The farm animals were the den’s.
Axe and Ash talked to their father while we ate, and I mostly thought about our living arrangements and what waited for me back in Cleveland. I was not really much of a confrontation girl, but I would have to make it clear to my former lovers and guards that nothing would ever happen between us again. I wondered if the coven would lose any of their alliances because of this. The coven wanted me to collar a bear to protect the integrity of the alliances, but it might cost us one or more alliances.
Jesuit was powerful enough in the nest to cut ties to the coven and turn their backs on us out of spite. Melo had the ear of his king, too. The wolf alpha coveted the relationship with the witches too much to listen to Adam, though, and Adam was certainly popular enough with the female wolves to not be alone for long. I wasn’t sure about Tosh, though. He was king and not a man that liked to be pushed aside for anyone or anything. Mishka had seemed resigned to whatever happened, but that’s most likely because he’s so old. Wisdom definitely comes with age. He might be more upset at losing my weekly blood donation than my bed warming abilities, but Ash had been very clear about that. But Brone. It’s not as if we actually had a relationship of any sort, or that we even talked much when we were together.
“What are you thinking about so seriously, aleni?” Ash asked, pushing aside his fourth empty plate.
“Going home.” I answered honestly.
“There is a lot to discuss. Have you thought about where you would like to live?” He tugged gently on one braid.
I told him about my house and my condo. “I can’t be so far away from work, though, so living here full time isn’t going to work for me.”
“It’s no problem,” Axe entered the conversation. “We would live here if you wanted, but it wouldn’t be our choice. We’ll borrow a tent for the March full moon, but we should be able to have our own built and furnished by April and use it for the full moon celebrations and important ceremonies only.”
“Are you guys tied to the full moon like the wolves?”
Adriel answered, “Not really. We are not compelled to shift on the full moon or any other time, but our beasts like the communion with our spirit ancestors during that time. Many things line up during the full moons that do not line up at any other time. And each full moon has meaning to us, and you’ll learn about that as we go along. For this month, the full moon and the solstice cross together, so you will not be here for our ceremony but we would welcome you to come when you’re finished for the celebration afterwards.”
“I’ll have to clear that with my mates,” I smiled and all three men laughed.
We finished the leisurely meal and then Adriel stood up and the tent went quiet again. “It is time for us to complete the joining of Ash and Axe’s mate to our den.”
Chapter Nine
In the center of the den city where I had completed the collaring ceremony, the entire den gathered. I stood between Ash and Axe, and Adriel addressed all of us together, his voice booming with authority and power over the crowd.
“To mark the final part of the mating bond between Elizabeth and her mates, Ash and Axe, the den will shift as one and pledge their allegiance to their union.”
I turned a confused look to Ash and Axe. Axe said, “We’re going to shift for you. If you were a bear, you would shift too, and then stand perfectly still and the den would rub up alongside you in two rows to commit your scent to their memory. It’s a way to include a newly mated bear into the den and make sure if she were in trouble, that anyone in the den would be able to find her and help, if something were to happen to her mates. Since you’re not a bear, you’ll need to stand still and hold your hands out from your sides, palms facing out, and our people will walk by on either side and caress your palms. We’ll be the last ones, and then you’ll go with us back to the tent and we’ll stay in our shift until we’re able to shift back to human form.”
Ash smiled at the look of disbelief I gave them. “We may look like bears but we’ve got our full human brains working so you’re in no danger from anyone here. It’s just part of the ritual. Trust me, aleni; becoming part of the den like this is the very best thing for all of us. You’re part of us now. One of us without the fur.” He kissed the tip of my nose with a grin.
Axe pointed to the braided leather belt holding up his trousers. “Well?”
Narrowing my eyes, I jerked him towards me by a belt loop. “You’re awfully bossy.”
“Just wait until I get the handcuffs from my dresser drawer. You haven’t seen bossy yet.”
A shiver of delight slid down my spine and I undid the belt and knelt down, sliding his trousers over his gorgeous, sculpted legs and helping him step out of them and his moccasins. I looked at his cock, hard and ready, and he laughed. “We don’t have time for that, Alisiquete. Tend your other mate.”
I stripped Ash’s identically beautiful body and folded their things at my feet. I stood silently and watched the wall of naked people drop to all fours and shift. It was possibly the most incredible thing I’d ever seen. Coppery skin stretched and sprouted varying shades of black and brown fur. Faces elongated into snouts with sharp teeth and bones cracked and snapped as their bodies reformed. Ash and Axe became hulking enormous solid black bears, their fur as onyx colored as their natural hair. They shook themselves out at almost the same time, a snuffling growl from their mouths as they opened their jaws to show their gleaming white teeth and took in deep, gulping breaths. Scenting. They were scenting me.
Snapping to attention, I straightened and held my hands out from my body. Adriel, in his black shift, chuffed at the bears and they began to lumber towards me. From their shoulders, they were shorter than me by about two feet, so somewhere around three and a half feet but they were longer than I was tall by a good foot. And although shorter than me, they outweighed me by several times over.
As the first two bears rubbed against my palms, I felt the dense, thick fur against my skin and the scent of nature that surrounded me. The odd thought, as the bears passed by me in twos, was that they smelled like home. It was a sweet scent, comforting, and my collar tugged around my heart, reaching all the way to where Ash and Axe watched over the proceedings carefully.
I kept my eyes on them while the den lumbered past me until my arms tingled from being held outward and my palms were numb from the fur rubbing them.
The last two past me before my mates were Adriel and Filene. Her fur was the color of cinnamon and she was considerably smaller than the others, as was the only other female in the den that was of-age, Filene’s cousin named Faun. Daeton hadn’t come into her shifter abilities yet, so had gone home after giving me a tentative hug of welcome when the meal was over.
The bears had disappeared to their own tents once they walked by me and Ash and Axe rubbed their broad, furry sides against my hands and then one of them bumped into the front of my hip and I turned and walked between them towards the tent. They squeezed their bodies through the opening while I held the covering flap open and then ducked inside. They were sitting on their haunches, a space between them just right for me.
One of them, I decided it must be Axe because he was so bossy, nudged my hand so it slid over his muzzle and made a contented huffing sound. “Want me to touch you, big boy?” I teased, my fingers sliding into the silky shorter fur on the top of his head.
He growled in agreement and I complied happily, sinking both hands into his thick fur. It was coarser on his back and thicker, smooth like velvet on his belly that he bared for me when he rolled onto his side. When I had run my hands over every inch of him, I turned to the patient Ash and gave him the same attention.
I sat back on my heels and looked at the two large bears as they lounged in front of me. It was all very Animal Planet. Then Axe rolled to his paws and reached one clawed, furry paw towards me and to my surprise, he slashed the vest open without touching my skin. The sound from his throat sounded like an order. Bare from the waist up, I gasped as he reached his paw out for the trousers and jerked to my feet, holding my hands up.
“Wait, wait! Shit!” No claws near the pussy. Ever. “Hold on, let me take my clothes off.” Grousing at the destruction of the vest, I stripped quickly and stretched out on the rug on the floor. They both stood next to me, looking down and sweeping their dark gazes up and down my body. I shivered under their intense gazes. At the same time, they pressed their cold, wet noses to the space behind my ears and I shrieked and laughed, while they scented down my body, lapping at my skin with their scratchy tongues. When their tongues traced the swell of my breasts I shivered at the attention. When they lapped at my hips, I moaned. When they tickled the backs of my knees with their tongues, I laughed and writhed under them.
