Chapter 18 About Damn Time #3
Blushing softly, Jonen ducked his head. “I got the rope around his neck, but he dragged me. For miles, but I refused to let go, and he refused to let me get closer. Until uh…I-I started talking to him.”
Corric dragged his eyes off the horse to look at Jonen. “Talking to him?”
Taking a big breath, the small alpha lifted his head. “I told him about you. How his beauty pales in comparison to yours. How you were the smartest, kindest, strongest man I’d ever met.” Jonen’s voice was quiet, and he glanced up at Ridan.
When Brune followed his gaze, he saw Ridan gesture at Jonen to keep going.
“I told him he was no prize to be owned by man, but if there were ever a rider who was his match, it was you. Together, there was no mountain you could not climb or enemy you couldn’t slay.”
Corric’s eyes were wet. “And he came with you?”
“Oh, no.” Jonen shook his head. “He kicked me. Twice.”
Brune winced in sympathy.
Heavy silence lingered between the two. Corric looked like he didn’t know what to say and Jonen was struggling to convey what it was he wanted. Which, Brune supposed, was fair. The man did get beaten up by a horse.
“Corric, I Jonen Bright Fur, am asking for the honor of courting yo—oh.” His eyes widened, and he glanced over Corric’s shoulder to look at Ridan. “I should ask Ridan, I mean Chief Oldsun, for permission first.”
“He accepts,” Corric cut him off without looking back at his Chief.
Ridan grumbled in his chair, “No respect.” as he grinned behind his mug.
Faced with Corric’s clear excitement, Jonen seemed more confident. Endearments and compliments spilled from his stuttering lips, an impressive list if Brune was any sort of judge.
Corric was smiling fondly until Jonen repeated ‘ethereal’ for the third time. “You broke your arm,” he pointed out.
“Oh.” Jonen glanced down at his mangled limb as if he just now remembered it.
“I’d break all my bones for you, Corric!
” he paled when he realizes how that might sound.
“No, what I mean is, well yes, obviously I would do anything for you. I love you and no price is too high. Not that I think you’re expensive!
Or not worth it. You’re just so much be—”
Corric silenced him by sliding his hands over his cheeks, holding him with a reverent gentleness that Jonen sank into. He was taller by a few inches, leaning over Jonen as his fingers tangled in dirty curls. Corric pressed his forehead to Jonen’s.
“Hush, my alpha.”
Then he kissed him.
Petal pink lips pressed against chapped, and fully cheeks brushed against a sleek jawline. Jonen sighed softly as his arms slipped around Corric’s waist, pulling him closer. Even from where he was sitting, Brune could hear the omega purring.
Jonen pulled away, hands still gripping Corric like he might disappear at any moment.
“I know I don’t deserve you, Corric. But I also know that I love you, and I don’t want to live without you by my side.
” He glanced over at Brune for a brief moment before looking back up at his omega.
“And recently I was reminded that I don’t need to protect you.
You are more than capable of making your own decisions.
So, with that in mind…” Jonen stepped back and offered the lead to the magnificent horse to Corric.
“I, Jonen Bright Fur, humbly ask you before our clan for the right to court you, Corric Tylock.”
He’d barely finished his sentence before Corric plucked the lead from his fingers and dragged him back in for another kiss.
This one was violent, searing. It sparkled and popped more than the dying embers in the fire, casting shadows along the planes of their joined faces.
There was no question lingering between their lips.
A roar went up, cheers so loud those who had fallen asleep jerked awake. Someone started playing music again, and Sehleh rushed forward to wrap them both in a huge hug. Her smile was blinding despite the tears raining down her face.
Ridan stood up. With just a look, the celebration stilled. Everyone in camp staring at his stern face. After all, he had the power to deny the courtship. He crossed his arms, one eyebrow raised as he looked down at his pack.
“It’s about damn time.” His words brought a fresh wave of cheers.
While the rest of the clan bombarded the happy couple, Brune watched Ridan. The moment the attention was off him, his face dropped. He stared into his cup before finishing the contents, tossing the mug back onto his fur covered chair before disappearing into the darkness.
Brune lost sight of him as he was pulled into the mob. He was distracted until he managed to end up beside Jonen. He pulled his fellow alpha into a hug.
“Congratulations,” he said earnestly, smiling down at a blushing Jonen.
“Well, I should really thank you. What you said made me realize how foolish I was being.”
Brune punched Jonen on the shoulder. “I knew it would all work out. Look how happy Corric is.”
They turned to see the grinning omega. It was rare to see such a bashful expression on the normally stoic man. Derry was hanging off him while Oosa and Smithe yelled over the din. Whatever was being said, he was nodding eagerly.
“I asked Schok for permission,” Jonen admitted.
“Really? What did he say?”
Jonen wrinkled his nose. “Told me he wasn’t in any position to give permission. But ‘for what it’s worth, I’m glad I didn’t burn you to ashes’,” He quoted Schok in his signature rough voice, the one that sounded like he’d swallowed ash from an old fire.
Laughing, Brune hoped Schok wasn’t as far gone as they previously thought. It might have been foolish on Jonen’s part, but Corric would appreciate the courtesy Jonen went through to court him.
Jonen soon left to get the new horse squared away, Corric tagging along to ‘help’. Brune had a strong feeling the help he had in mind had nothing to do with the horse at all.
It left him bereft of company and he could finally seek out Ridan. Sliding around dancing couples and politely declining to drink with people waylaid him. Eventually, he was able to get away from the fires and check Ridan’s tent. He wasn’t there or in the war tent.
Brune finally found him sitting on the outskirts of camp.
He was camouflaged in shadow, sitting cross legged in the grass with his head tipped back.
At some point, he’d taken the braids out of his hair, leaving it curled around his face.
Ridan wasn’t wearing his cloak, choosing to wear a thick sweater with an oversized neckline.
It dipped just enough to reveal beads and claws resting against his prominent collarbone.
Scuffing his feet so he wouldn’t sneak up on the blonde, Brune joined him. He took a seat beside him, trying to decipher just what it was he was looking at. The smoke from the fires made seeing the stars difficult.
“What are you doing?” he eventually asked, leaning back on his hands.
Ridan was silent for so long, Brune thought he might not answer at all.
“Remembering.”
He hummed. Even on the edge of camp he could hear the singing, smell meat cooking over the open flames. It was pungent, but he could pick out Ridan’s sweet and spicy scent under it all. He wanted to lean into it.
“Anything specific?” Brune prodded.
“Just before,” Ridan answered.
“Before what?”
“Before we had a harpy in our camp. Before I saw magic being used. Before I knew my enemy was willing to sacrifice his children to awaken the greatest evil the world has ever seen. Before my packmates had so much to lose.” Ridan swallowed, turning to look at Brune.
“Before all of that, for a moment, it was just you and me and the stars.”
He remembered that night. When their small fire was the only thing keeping the night chill away, and they kept checking the skies to be sure a storm wasn’t rolling in over the horizon. Peppercorn and Boulder were yanking up the grass by its roots, shaking the dirt out with their clever muzzles.
It was the night Brune realized the depth of his feelings for Ridan.
Licking his lips, Brune had difficulty holding Ridan’s intense gaze, but was unable to look away. “We could have that again.”
Ridan shook his head. “No. The moment’s passed.”
“Then we make a new one,” Brune nearly shouted.
Sitting up, he snatched Ridan’s hand. It was so much smaller than his, fingers almost delicate, as if they weren’t covered in callouses and scars from a life lived well.
He held his hand in both of his. The look of defeat painted across Ridan’s face was so out of place he couldn’t stand it.
Not on Ridan. Not on the definition of victory. Not on his Ridan.
“And when that moment passes, we’ll make another. Then another. We won’t stop. Not until our battle has ended and we can stand beneath Artrax’s wings. And then that too will be another moment.”
Defeat melted off Ridan’s face, only to be replaced by something else. Something Brune liked a lot better. His eyes sparkled as he studied Brune, looking for any sign of doubt. Any sign that his assertions were anything less than completely genuine.
He wouldn’t find it.
Dark eyes dropped to his lips and Brune didn’t need magic to know what he was going to do next. Nothing in the stars or here on land could stop him.
Ducking in, he closed his eyes and carefully pressed his lips against Ridan’s.
They were so soft, a little wet, and tasted like ale and spices.
The press of lips could hardly be called a kiss, at least not until Ridan took hold of it.
He pressed forward, using his held hand to pull Brune closer so they could slot together.
And oh, it was like the first time Brune saw Ridan.
There was no battle to send his heart racing, and yet it galloped in his chest, anyway.
Back then, he hadn’t known why he was so drawn to Ridan, but now he knew.
Now he knew it was because he belonged here, with his knuckles pressed against Ridan’s chest and their breaths mingling.
He’d never kissed anyone before, but it didn’t seem to matter.
Even when their teeth clacked together, or their noses got in the way.
The spark that danced between them didn’t dim.
It burned hotter when Ridan’s free hand slipped along Brune’s shoulder, fingertips dragging along the beads of his necklace.
They slipped under the cord, palm grasping his neck as they tried to close what little distance remained between them.
Brune couldn’t find any air. The only thing he was breathing in was the sweet spice coming from Ridan. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to continue exploring down his neck or stay right here, drowning in his omegas scent and the flavorful softness of his lips.
With a pinch to his neck, Ridan pulled back. He was panting, thin lips swollen from kissing and eyes dilated. It was the most beautiful thing Brune had ever seen, and with space, he could finally detect a new scent in the space between them.
Untangling his tongue, Brune tried to speak. “Ridan I—”
But then the omega was gone. He pushed himself to his feet, taking off at a run. But he wasn’t heading back toward the clan, but toward the darkness beyond.
Agonizing pain twisted in Brune’s chest and he had to fight the urge to croon, to beg his omega to come back to him. Not to bruise the delicate petals in the garden of Brune’s heart.
Several paces away, Ridan stopped. Twisting so he could look over his shoulder at Brune, he smirked. Then he chirped.
It was a wholly omega sound. One Brune had never heard in his life, but his alpha knew what it meant.
Chase.