Chapter 40
Darion
Even after a long bath and vigorous scrubbing, Fern’s scent was still everywhere. Under his nails, in his hair, even seeping through his pores.
He knew it was probably a bad sign to start a mating ceremony so thoroughly drenched in another she-wolf’s perfume, but Darion could not keep himself from smiling every time he got a whiff of her.
Tending Fern through her heat had been a revelation.
It was like every aspect of her being was meant to draw him in, from her scent, to the softness of her skin, to the pitch of her voice, and to a sex that could actually take a knot.
He was getting hard just thinking about it.
He’d always known on a surface level that omegas were supposed to be special, but thought the other alphas far too forgiving of her disrupting behavior before. She was rare, but that didn’t mean she was above clan rules.
It was only by leaving everything at the door—his own preconceptions, his biases, the promise made to keep Fern at arm’s distance—that he was finally able to see her as his father, uncles, and brother did.
As someone deserving of far more than he’d been giving her.
And now, as he approached the temple, he had to find a way to explain all this to Kyntha.
Kyntha was special, too, and he could see how entering a courtship and discovering halfway through that your alpha had claimed an omega Naravekh could be disorienting.
And so he’d forgiven her outbursts, her tantrums, her demands. He’d soothed her worries night after night, when what he should have been doing was preparing her for Fern’s inclusion. And now he feared all he’d done was make things worse for her.
You did not break a horse by offering carrots and then expect it to take a harness simply because you were kind.
The temple lay just at the edge of the forest, flowers already scattered and torches lit.
Built from dark timber weathered silver at the edges, it rose in steep tiers of slanted roofs, each one narrower than the last. Wolf heads jutted from the corners of the beams, their mouths open toward the sky.
Carved in the doorway were depictions of the gods.
Lurei, the moon goddess and mother to the wolfkin, was center, of course.
To her right was her lover Solas, god of the sun and father to humans, and her sister Veratia, the goddess of truth and quittance, was on her left.
The other gods filled in the sides, and Darion brought his fingers to his lips and raised them to the heavens as he passed the threshold.
The antechamber where he had readied himself for the start of the courtship sixty days ago was waiting for him, but he needed to speak to Kyntha first. He owed her a debt of his apology, for breaking his promise and for the change of heart regarding Fern’s placement in his home, and could not enter the union with it still unpaid.
He approached the door to her antechamber nervously, knowing it was the right thing to do and yet not wanting her to be upset.
It would be a bad look for her to be crying before the altar.
Darion steeled himself, raising his fist to knock, when he heard her and her mother’s voices through the door.
It wasn’t polite to eavesdrop, but he wanted a hint of her current disposition to prepare himself.
“… And I say again, it was a misstep to encourage him to leave the bitch during her heat. Now the whole clan has turned against me.”
Darion’s face twisted in confusion. That was Kyntha’s voice, without a doubt, but stripped of its softness, her tone harsh and cruel.
“I will admit that I had not considered the wolfkin outside of the alphas would care much about her, but what else could have been done? The willow bark was the only misdirect I could think of.”
He registered the words quickly, but the understanding came slower, his heart trying to stop him from fully putting them together. Because if they meant Kyntha had purposefully spoken in a way that seemed like truth in order to turn him against Fern…
No, no, he was not so easily manipulated. There had to be context he was missing. Surely.
“We should have gone with my plan to say I was with child. An alpha will instinctually protect a pregnant female. He would have done anything I asked, including finally giving her to some other alpha to be rutted and bred. And then he would have lost all interest in her.”
“But he would have caught the lie…”
“Mother, you taught me better than that. All I would need to do is force myself to be sick, then muse whether or not I was carrying his pup. No deception to be found.”
Her mother laughed. “I suppose I have…”
Darion, for his part, wouldn’t need to force himself to be sick to throw up.
Who was this she-wolf? This was not his sweet Kyntha. The one who begged so prettily for his kisses, who smiled and leaned towards him whenever he was near.
He swallowed, backing away, about to leave when he remembered what he’d even come there for.
To tell Kyntha about Fern. That she would also be his mate, and that Kyntha had been wrong about her.
Darion’s head swam as he knocked, hoping to find two other she-wolves inside. That what he had heard had all been some misunderstanding, and that his love had never knowingly lied to him.
Katreena called, her voice rising into something he now recognized from the meeting of the clans at Hearth Hall.
“Coming!”
She opened the door a crack, and seeing it was him, lowered her gaze and dipped in small curtsy.
“Alpha Darion, it is an honor to see you on this blessed day. We have missed your company this past week, and pray you are of sound mind and body for this most sacred union between alpha and mate.”
A hint of irritation was there, but he couldn’t address it now. “I need to speak to Kyntha in private.”
Katreena paused for a moment, and then bowed her head, opening the door fully to let him in.
Kyntha was a vision in white lace and silver, stealing his breath as he beheld her.
She looked even lovelier than she had on the first day they’d met, when he’d already been falling in love with her.
For one foolish moment, he believed he must have completely fabricated the conversation.
This was no schemer. She was living moonlight, pure and beautiful.
And yet there was something darker clinging to her now. A wrongness that he could see only from the corners of his eyes, dissolving each time he tried to focus on it.
She smiled shyly, soft chimes sounding when she moved from the chains and small bells threaded throughout her hair.
“My Alpha,” she greeted him, her lashes batting. “I’ve missed you so.”
Her voice… had it always been so grating?
“I… I’m sorry you were forced to tend to her,” she continued, her eyes tearing. She dabbed them with the tips of her fingers. “I know you did not want to, especially after she deceived you into bedding her. But it is over now, and you won’t have to touch her again until—”
“Kyntha, she did not deceive me.”
She froze, then a series of expressions ran through her face like she couldn’t decide on which one to wear.
“What do you mean? She went into heat, and you must have found the willow bark…”
Darion was angry, but he was still trying to understand all that he’d heard and seen in these recent weeks. Dissecting every word she’d ever said to him, especially about Fern.
Did he really know the she-wolf standing before him?
“You were mistaken, the healer explained everything. She and the clan suffered greatly because I listened to you and did not seek other counsel before sentencing her to such cruelty.”
He had not meant to be so harsh with her, but there were cracks in her porcelain skin he was now seeing, and it was getting harder to ignore them.
Kyntha’s lips began to tremble, and she let out a small whimper.
Even that sounded wrong.
“I… I’m sorry, I only know what I was told and what I read and… and how she tries so hard to pull you away from me…”
“She is an omega. It is in her nature to seek comfort from her alpha.”
“And what of my comfort?” Kyntha countered, a hand on her chest, her voice turning shrill. “I am to be your mate, and she is just a Naravekh. She should not even cross your mind unless I am unavailable or unable to breed, and yet—”
“You’re right.”
Kyntha stopped and closed her mouth. She stared at him for a second, then sniffed. Smiled. “I am?”
Darion nodded.
“So… so you will finally release her?”
“No.”
Her smile dropped.
“I will make Fern my mate, too.”
Kyntha took a step back, as though he had struck her. “You… you can’t mean that. A… pack? With her?”
“Aye. It is the right thing to do. She deserves better than her current status, and she means more to me than a simple Naravekh should. You will both be my mates, you will both share my bed, you will both stand by my side, and whoever gives me the strongest alpha will be the mother to my heir. You will accept this.”
Kyntha dropped to her knees, clasping her hands together, the tears flowing freely now.
“Please, you can’t! I am the daughter of Alpha Dane, head of the Ironcoat Clan! I cannot share a mate with some… some… Solvekh bitch!”
Darion’s body shook with rage to hear Fern disparaged so. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath to calm himself.
He would be meeting Kyntha in front of both clans within the hour. This needed to be resolved, and she needed to be at peace with it.
“She is an omega, which means she has Lurvekh blood. And if even Lurei can overlook her humble origins to bless Fern with this designation, then who are we to malign them?”
Kyntha stopped whatever reply had surely been building on her tongue, and looked down.
“I am sorry, Kyntha, to have broken my promise to you. That Fern’s heat, uninduced, came at such a poor time during our courtship. But there is no point in regret. We must look forward, together, and see how things can be made better tomorrow. Do you understand?”
She was silent, and then finally said in a quiet voice, “I understand, Alpha.”
He grunted. “Good. I will see you again soon.”