Of Savage and Sin (Wolves of Ossary #2)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

–Bain–

“YES,”

NAYA SAID softly but firmly as we made our way through the earthen tunnels leading from Mave’s dens to Callum’s with my sister and her pack. “I’ll marry you and become your queen, Bain. As soon as possible.”

“Ta?”

I stopped and looked at her, worried I might have heard wrong because I wanted her in all ways possible. Every way I could get her.

“Ta.”

She nodded and smiled. “Very much ta.”

I didn’t care if we were holding up the progression, I had never felt so overjoyed, and I showed it, pulling her into my arms and kissing her even more tenderly than I had back in our chamber. Kissed her with every bit of me and all the moments I hoped we would share. All the hope that Adlin would be wrong and I wouldn’t die when we were fully mated.

The past few hours lying with Naya had been everything she had promised and more. She excelled at lovemaking every bit as much as me, so each and every moment was filled with extreme pleasure that only ever seemed to get better.

As callous as it might sound, her ability to pleasure my cock with her mouth might very well help me defy the curse all on its own. I had never seen or felt anything like it, and death would have to go to war with me to leave more of that behind.

Even in all the various ways we had lain together, and she’d pleasured me, or I’d pleasure her, she had felt different. New. Impossible to compete with. And she would be if I survived. No female would ever be able to satisfy me again but her. I knew that as a deep, down absolute truth, and it didn’t daunt me.

It made me hungry for that life.

This life.

For all the memories we could make and the love we would feel because it would be endless. Bottomless. Wrapped around us every second of every day.

“’Tis safe to say we are all elated by this news of marriage and eager to hear more of how well you love and rut with each other into the wee hours of the morn because ‘tis arousing and inspiring indeed,”

Mave said with amusement, tearing us from a kiss that had gone from gentle and loving to hungry and sensual. “But we all answer to the same alpha who would prefer us united under one roof rather than lusting in a tunnel.”

“Understood,”

I managed gruffly, forcing myself to end the kiss, but not before I murmured against Naya’s lips that we would marry straight away.

That very morning.

“I’ll hold you to it,”

she said softly, dewy-eyed when our lips finally parted and our gazes connected again.

“Me too.”

Mave nodded with approval and gestured for everyone to keep going. They were at last being welcomed back to Brother Callum’s castle.

“Speaking of that,”

Naya said in my mind as we kept moving, “how do you think this is going to go because I can only assume Callum’s being forced into it?”

I bit back a sigh, knowing he was.

Given how close their wolves had once been, Callum and Mave had been estranged for too long, and it weighed on the rest of us. Callum remained angry at Mave for not keeping an eye on his mate, Ceara, when he was away, and I didn’t entirely blame him. Ceara had felt inadequate and ineffective after losing half of her front paw, and Callum not marrying her only made her feel less a part of the pack. Yet when he was away, Mave, Ceara’s closest friend, wasn’t there to keep her from leaving the pack and being abducted by Tadc.

To this day, Mave refused to say why she had not been there when she'd promised Callum she would be. It only fed into the discord between the two, especially when Ceara returned to the pack malnourished and abused with pups born of Tadc who were equally malnourished. Pups more important than most because they carried the bloodline of our powerful enemy and that of our fated mates.

“Whatever comes of this, Callum and Mave know they must get along for the greater good,”

I assured Naya, praying I was right. Outside of seeing each other briefly at Tréan’s Great Den, Callum had taken strides to avoid our sister.

“Mave helped Kaia save the pups, though, right?”

Naya said. “Pups Callum is calling his own so essentially she helped save his children? I’d think that would count for something.”

“Mayhap it will,”

I replied, cautiously optimistic. In case Callum caught this internal conversation, I made my opinion known. “It should. ‘Twould if I were him. All who risk their lives for our offspring should be forgiven, especially if they are kin. Pack.”

I was glad when I felt Callum’s presence in my mind, no matter how briefly. It was time he knew where I stood. He was my blood brother, and I loved him, but I agreed with Tréan. Dissent within the ranks could easily become the enemy’s victory.

“I couldn’t agree more,”

Naya said, having been thinking things over, but then she would not have gained the wealth and status she had if she hadn’t made a habit of thinking often and well. “Yet I can’t help but wonder, setting forgiveness aside and digging a little deeper, how did Mave know to protect Kaia that night? It sounds like she knew where Kaia needed to go when she fled Tadc. Better yet, it sounds like Mave knew who she needed to save. Namely, pups born of the enemy and my bloodline.”

“I knew through my connection with our matriarch who lost her life that very night,”

Mave said, repeating what she had told Tréan and me when we asked her the same thing. “I knew no sooner than Kaia did.”

“Well then, we can only be thankful you had that insight,”

Naya replied, speaking her mind to Mave because that’s who she was. “Here’s hoping you continue offering insight, especially to Callum, because I can tell you from experience secrets breed distrust, and distrust is all your enemy needs to ruin you and everyone you care about. The truth, however shitty it might be, can do the opposite. It’s more powerful than you might think.”

Everyone fell silent after that, but I knew Mave thought about what Naya had said, and that was something. A start. Because Naya was right and clearly sensed what Tréan and I did.

Mave wasn’t giving us the entire truth.

She kept secrets when she should not. Whether she would take my mate’s advice was yet to be seen, but for now, it must be set aside because Naya was about to meet Callum, someone as important to me as Tréan and the pups of her bloodline.

“Not just that,”

Naya said telepathically. “I’m about to meet the man who may be Storm’s fated mate. Or at least he would be if he hadn’t decided to take Ceara back and raise her pups out of guilt.”

I flinched at how straightforward she was, hoping Callum hadn’t caught it, but at the same time, it was something most of us were already thinking, and he no doubt knew it. He had cared for Ceara when they were mates, loved her in his own way, but had never been in love with her, so I’d agreed with Tréan when he had counseled Callum not to marry her and make her his queen.

So, in some small way, we were all responsible for Ceara leaving us.

“No.”

Naya’s tone was gentle but firm. “Ceara walked out on her own four paws, knowing Tadc was out there somewhere, so she and she alone is responsible, and by the sounds of it, she’s more than paid the price. As to the guilt you and your brothers are determined to carry, let it go. It doesn’t belong to you. All you can do now is protect her the best you can going forward, so long as she doesn’t walk out on you again. If she does, it’s on her.”

While they were tough words, she was right, and I knew my pack felt the same based on the tremor of agreement that rolled through my mind. We loved Ceara, so we hadn’t cared when she became crippled. There was more to a pack than just hunting. Other vital roles she could have fulfilled, yet she left us anyway, and when she did, it hurt us badly. Tadc taking her had only added insult to injury.

“You are bold with your tongue, my new sister,”

Callum said into our minds, surprising me when he addressed Naya before meeting her. “Bold as you step onto my territory.”

I tensed and kept my hand close to the blade sheathed at my waist when those ahead of us parted, and Callum’s wolf stalked our way, every bit as big as me, with a rich mahogany pelt flecked with gray and tan. While I knew his human half would not dare harm my mate, his wolf was another story. There was never any way to truly know how our inner beasts might act or, in this case, react because they were their own creatures. Us, but not us. Capable of acting of their own accord on rare occasion.

If this was one of those, I would cut my brother down here and now.

Naya didn’t help my fear and anxiety when she sank to a knee without the terror most would feel in her position, honoring Callum as the alpha and king because she was on his territory. Yet she kept her head up rather than lowered and her eyes level with his, bowing to no one but Tréan.

“Nice to meet you, Callum.”

She nodded once to acknowledge his standing. “Sorry if you didn’t like what I said about Ceara, but I’m right, and you know it.”

I couldn’t help but notice when she paused and cocked her head, considering Callum, the Viking blade at her waist shined brighter with the glow of my wolven eyes. With the power of Wolven and Viking magic that clearly gave her insight based on what she said next.

“I hope since getting Ceara back, you now see her true strengths.”

She shook her head slowly, marveling at whatever she felt because I could not sense or see it. “It was never about hunting but more. Better. Priceless to many to come.”

A soft, knowing smile curved her lips. “She’s exceptional in all the ways the Wolves of Ossary will need most.”

Would he accept those words? Listen to them? Or continue to feel Ceara needed to be defended? I understood why he did it. We all did. But he walked on dangerous ground right now, confronting my mate like this.

Fortunately, I felt Callum’s wolf soften as he eyed Naya for another tense moment. One that lasted too long for my taste. Rather than stalk off broodily like he tended to do lately, he surprised me when he shifted to his human half, bent a knee, and lowered his head to Naya. “Thank you, my new sister. I look forward to speaking more.”

He nodded once at me, honoring me as her mate and his brother, then stood and held out his hand to Naya with a small smile I hadn’t expected, given his terse greeting. “Until then, I believe a wedding is in order?”

“Here’s hoping.”

Naya met his smile and let him pull her up, taking in his human form as she had his wolf in a way that kept my inner beast from growing jealous or possessive. I was used to females flocking my way but wasn’t unaware of their appreciation for Callum, too.

Unlike me, he wasn’t in the habit of enjoying many but had a silent, easy way about him that seemed to appeal to females. I suppose his strength and superior hunting abilities were also to be commended.

“Sure, that’s gotta be it,”

Naya teased telepathically, shooting me a smile as we continued behind Callum, who ignored Mave’s presence.

When I looked at Naya in confusion, she rolled her eyes. “You’ve got hot brothers, Bain. Not as hot as you,”

she granted, slipping her hand into mine, “but pretty damn hot.”

Though tempted to scowl, I couldn’t find it in me when her smile brightened, and she squeezed my hand, excited we would soon be married. I was, too. More than I ever thought possible. So I was pleased when we made our way into Callum’s great hall.

“Word travels fast around here, doesn’t it?”

Naya exclaimed, taking in a hall not all that different than mine but more festive with spruce and berries strewn about.

“Hey, there, cousin.”

Kaia smiled and embraced Naya. “Sorry I headed this way a little sooner. I figured there might be some prepping in order.”

“Wow.”

Naya took in everything. “I guess wolves really are that connected because...”

She trailed off when she spied a thin white wolf with dull fur and sad eyes standing off in the distance, watching us.

“Is that her?”

Naya whispered. “Am I seeing your matriarch’s ghost?”

“No.”

Kaia smiled softly in that direction. “That’s Ceara.”

Seconds later, three little pups joined her. The males were playful with each other, but the mahogany-colored female eyed Naya warily, if not a tad ferociously, as she sat in front of her mother.

“Holy attitude,”

Naya murmured, chuckling. “Distrusting to the bone, eh?”

“But strong,”

Kaia said. “Really strong and protective.”

“Clearly.”

Naya slid her cousin a look. “Reminds me of you.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Does she have a name?”

“Not yet.”

“And what about that one?”

Naya’s gaze followed the ebony-colored male that had grown bored playing with his brother and sniffed around a female slightly older than him with frisky interest. “What’s his name?”

“I’d be inclined to call him Trouble,”

Kaia muttered under her breath, gesturing for someone to stop him when he tried to mount the female, bedamned the occasion. “He’s strong and protective as long as he’s not distracted by the opposite sex.”

Naya grinned. “I like him.”

Kaia rolled her eyes. “I thought you might.”

Naya’s eyes grew a little sad when she looked at a gray-colored pup, and with good reason because he was a loner, eyeing everyone warily when left by himself. Rather than join the others, he curled up in a little ball and pretended to sleep. “And him?”

“No name yet, either.”

Kaia sighed. “He hasn’t been reunited with Ceara long or taken to the pack, but Tréan’s sure it’s just a matter of time before he’s accepted.”

“Accepted?”

Naya frowned, and I didn’t blame her. “I thought the Wolves of Ossary accepted all wolves? That this, our pack, was a safe space, no matter the wolf?”

“It is,”

Tréan said, his tone soothing in a way meant to calm Naya’s inner beast. “But ‘tis hard to accept a wolf that won’t accept us, and thus far, outside of his siblings and mother, he has refused all contact, including with me, his alpha.”

“So, what?”

Naya shook her head. “He gets exiled if it doesn’t work out?”

“No,”

Tréan assured, his tone stern and unbending now. “Never.”

“He just...”

Kaia searched for the words. “Won’t ever be happy if he doesn’t let other wolves into his life. We need each other. A pack. Bonding. And it will weigh on him after a while.”

Before Naya could question that any further and keep worrying because I knew she would, Tréan gripped her shoulders gently and looked into her eyes as her alpha, soothing her in ways nobody could. “He will be all right. You have my word. ‘Twill just take time.”

He offered a warm, prompting smile. “Until then, might we find happiness amid all the difficulty? Might you marry Bain and become my sister in every sense of the word?”

I felt the fight inside Naya to understand the lonely pup better, yet she trusted Tréan to protect him. It was evident in how she grew less tense, and her attention turned to what lay ahead.

Her need to be closer to me in every way possible.

So she met Tréan’s smile. “Ta, and the sooner, the better.”

The corner of her mouth curled up, and a sparkle lit her eyes all for me. “Bring on the shotgun wedding.”

So it was that I married for the first time shortly after to the woman of my dreams, quite literally, and Naya became mine in every sense of the word except one because we hadn’t completed our Fated Mate Cycle yet.

Although odd, given the place and era, our pack understood she was a time traveler from the future, so it didn't affect them any when I chanted her into her wedding attire and vowed my loyalty to her. Or should I say the females didn’t seem affected because I knew nearly every male not taken had trouble looking away from Naya in her silky black strappy dress and high heels because she was glorious. Beyond beautiful. So sinfully sexy, it was a constant struggle to keep my cock down for the remainder of the celebration.

Every second of every minute of every hour was brutal.

“You made it all of five minutes,”

she said out of the corner of her mouth as I held her on my lap at the small feast later that morning. “I think you probably just became that lusty pup’s superhero based on what he saw when we sealed our vows with a kiss, husband.”

Husband? Me? I had vowed never to hear those words because they might mean commitment, but nothing had ever sounded so good. Meant to be. Part of me. And I made that clear over the next few hours, touching and teasing her without being too obvious. I enjoyed every part of her beautiful body and mind as she touched and stroked me discreetly in return, even as we enjoyed everyone else’s company.

Yet despite the joyous occasion, we were on the cusp of war, and Niall and Tadc were out there, biding their time, and we all felt it. Little did we realize how short that time would be.

Moreover, how preciously scant our time together as husband and wife would end up being.