Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Sylvik
Jess Miller, the Community Development Coordinator, had been a big help.
She pointed out how successful the first two Kap’paral celebrations had been, and how members of the community came to both.
While I wasn’t so sure about planning an event for all of Eastshore, I told myself that there wasn’t enough notice for anyone but the orcs and their families to bother coming.
No matter how many flyers Jess posted.
By the morning of the twenty-first, I had all the permits I needed, and Brooke had arrived to help arrange everything.
My backyard was mostly wild, melting in with the woods behind.
But there was a large clearing a few lots away where we’d held Kap’paral last month, and Abydos agreed that it was the perfect place for the Solstice Circle.
We spent the day clearing the space, dragging underbrush and logs into a neat pile to burn later. Korrad and his son showed up, and I found myself watching Brooke surreptitiously as she worked with the boy.
She was just as cheerful and outgoing with him as she’d been with me last week, and I found myself jealous. Of a child.
I should have kissed her last week. I wanted to, the gods of the ancestors knew. I held her hand when I wanted to be holding her. I wanted to taste her, to pull her flush against me, to claim her mouth and then her body and—
Fuck.
Groaning, I turned away, tugging my leather gloves into place before bending to grab another large log.
It was bad enough my Kteer kept me up most nights, growling and whining in frustration…I didn’t need to be distracted during the day now too. I had to assume this itchy, irritable feeling was due to a lack of sleep…and the fact that whenever I tried to eat, my stomach was too knotted to eat much.
Stupid Kteer.
Stupid biology.
I tossed the log on the burn pile with a faint grunt, then stalked into the underbrush to look for more.
There were trails throughout, and Karnak had dropped by yesterday with two dozen lanterns to place along the said trails, for the females participating in tonight’s Hunt.
The males’ heightened senses guaranteed they wouldn’t need the extra light, not when searching for their Mates.
My Kteer growled in need at the reminder of what would happen after the Circle, and I swallowed my groan of frustration. Any time I allowed myself to think about the Hunt…
Claim Mate taste claim Hunt bite CLAIM.
Gods below, my fucking Kteer just would not. Shut. Up.
Scowling in frustration, I scratched my chest, my claws trying to dig through my shirt into my skin. Skin I wanted to press against Brooke, skin I wanted to—
You’re doing it again.
How was I supposed to make it to December 22nd?
But the hours passed, as they always did, and soon enough the sun was setting.
Karnak and Jess volunteered to set the lanterns through the trails, and when they returned—her lips were swollen and her hair mussed—I could smell their arousal and assumed they’d gotten a head start on the night’s festivities.
It didn’t help my concentration, especially not with Brooke prancing around in those tight jeans and high boots, welcoming everyone so enthusiastically.
Her braids might make her look innocent, but I wanted to run my claws through them, spread her silky hair out around her shoulders, lay her down on a bed of fallen leaves and—
You’re doing it again.
Right. Focus.
I stomped back to the patio, where she’d set up the buffet Riven and Aswan—who used to have his own restaurant in Bramblewood—had provided.
It was easier to pretend to check each of the large heat lamps for the fourth time than have to focus on why I couldn’t seem to concentrate when Brooke’s scent was in the air.
Apparently, the true Solstice Circle was supposed to occur in the middle of the night—the longest night.
But in deference to the young kitlings running about, and after a discussion with Giza, we’d decided to hold the event at eight.
He was the oldest orc I’d seen since leaving Alaska, and it made me—made us all—feel… I dunno.
Hearing his stories, knowing he was keeping our people’s memory alive? It made us feel less guilty, somehow, for leaving that all behind.
Besides, here on Eastshore Isle, we were building a new home, a new identity. A new clan, even though we’d all been born in different places. Giza was in charge of keeping that alive.
So when we were all gathered around the bonfire and he lit it, a hush fell over us. I glanced around, noting the familiar and new faces; mainly orcs and their Mates, but a few others.
Abydos was across the fire, and despite the edginess in my stomach, I was beyond glad to see him. I’d spent the better part of a decade working for him—caring for him, keeping his life in line, and I was delighted by the change Riven had wrought.
Tarkhan stood beside him—he had been Abydos’s best friend since childhood—with his Mate Sami, who was Riven and Brooke’s cousin. He viewed the world with a good-natured smile, his arm thrown around his Mate.
Abydos’s twin brother Aswan had one arm around his Mate Hannah, the other holding a toddler on his shoulders.
His daughter Tova clung to his leg while his oldest son Ben stood at his mother’s side.
I’d been grateful for the way he’d opened his home more than once to me and the other Bramblewood orcs, making us the foods we remembered from his restaurant in Colorado.
Akhmim and his Mate Rosemary stood behind them; I remembered Akhmim as a quiet young male, but he appeared to have blossomed here on the island, like so many others.
I knew his Mate taught school with Sakkara’s Mate Nikki, who stood with Sakkara and young Emmy off to one side.
Sakkara, like Garrak, held himself apart, the way a chief should, watching over his people.
Since moving here, I’d been able to meet Abydos and Aswan’s younger brothers, Simbel and Memnon.
Memnon was remarkably like Abydos, both in attitude—grumpy—and reverence for nature.
He and his Mate Maya ran the local landscaping business and plant store.
Simbel was still in uniform from his position at the local high school and seemed to be delighting in teasing his new teenage son while his Mate Rissa rolled her eyes.
The others…
The others were all males I’d gotten to know in various forms since moving here to Eastshore.
Giza was our memory keeper, the one who kept our records in his own skin.
His Mate Harper was younger than him by more than a decade, and was laughing as she strapped their baby daughter into the carrier on his chest.
Perpetually grumpy Cairo, who ran the autobody shop, ignored everyone around him as he bent to kiss his Mate’s neck. Meli, the town’s cheerful baker, giggled and swatted him before pulling him closer. My own Kteer rumbled in longing at the sight, and I had to turn away…
Only to catch Jess, Eastshore’s Community Development Coordinator, stretching up on her toes to press her lips against her Mate’s jaw. Karnak still didn’t look comfortable in crowds, and I’ll confess I’d only met him briefly, but I knew his art had quite a large online following.
Speaking of which, anyone who used social media knew of charming Thebes, whose online following had dubbed him a sort of ambassador for orc-kind, making it easier for us to come out of the shadows.
His Mate Ashlyn traveled in the same circles as Abydos and Sami, and I’m pretty sure she owned most of Eastshore’s historic district.
There were others I didn’t know, but some I recognized, like good-natured Luxor and his more serious Mate, the librarian Zoe.
As always, they cuddled with their enthusiastic dog, whose name I couldn’t remember.
It was an amusing contrast to Tanis and his talented Mate Liv—Olivia Zhang, the famous violinist—who each carried one of their twin sons.
Seeing them all gathered here tonight…
I swallowed.
Fuck me, my Kteer was pulling me in all directions. Fierce joy, to be surrounded by so many of my brothers, even those I didn’t know. Frantic confusion, as I searched for something I couldn’t name. And under it all, a desperate sort of need that these males and their loving Mates weren’t helping.
Some of them I’d known—or at least known of—for years. Some of them I’d only just met since moving to Eastshore. All of them had been at Kap’paral last month, and some I’d seen since then. It was strange to be among so many of my brothers, brothers I barely knew, and still feel as if I belonged.
We all belonged.
As the flames leapt higher, Giza lifted his hands.
“Friends, welcome to the Solstice Circle. In our ancestors’ time, this was a sacred night, a night of new beginnings.
We would extinguish our cookfires and gather to light a large fire, like this one, as a community.
We would feast and stay awake all night, pushing back the darkness.
And in the morning, when the sun rose, and we knew the days were finally growing longer, we’d take a spark from this fire back to our homes, to light our fire for the new year. ”
He slowly lowered his hands and grinned at his audience, the light catching the memory tattoos on his cheeks and making them dance. “This year, we opted not to stay awake all night. Well…” He looked down at the gurgling baby he wore strapped to his chest. “Some of us.”
There was chuckling around the circle, and when one of Tanis’s twins let out a loud “Ba-aba-baba-ab!”, there was more laughter.
Giza had joined in, but now he took control again. “Thank you for being here, friends. The words are simple. Torvor the Strong, keep us safe.”
Although I’d never participated in a Solstice Circle, I dutifully repeated the words, along with those gathered. “Torvor the Strong, keep us safe.”