Chapter 3
Rourke walked into the office where Ulric, Geri, Farkas, Tala, and Due were waiting.
He sat at the oval table, rested his elbows on the surface, and cradled his head. "Anyone other than me having the feeling this didn't go as it was supposed to?"
Ulric grunted. "You mated a witch."
"I'm well aware, thank you." He looked up and met the others' gazes.
"Where is he now?" Tala's eyes narrowed as she spoke.
"I left him in my room. I can't decide if I'm gonna let him stay with me or give him a room of his own."
"Don't you think you'll go crazy if you have him in another room? You're mated, and while it's not a normal mating, he's still your mate. You'll need him nearby." Geri looked skeptical.
"Yeah, you'll go crazy." Due leaned back in her chair. She was the only one of them who was mated, or the two of them were the only ones in the group who were, he guessed he should say.
"I don't feel as if I'll go crazy." He'd been relieved to leave Ezra behind. He rubbed his chest where the glow resided. Yes, relieved.
Due gave him an unimpressed look and nodded at his hand still moving in a circle over his heart. "Sure you don't. Give it an hour or two."
"Perhaps best to keep him in your room." Ulric didn't look pleased, and Rourke sighed. He didn't want him in his space. He never wanted to see another witch ever again.
"What did the male give him before he left?" Farkas sought Rourke's gaze. The suspicion in his eyes was clear, and Rourke didn't blame him. They'd only recently gotten him back. The witches had kept him prisoner for months. He was weak and starved, and Rourke didn't think he slept.
"Not sure, but I think it was some metal things to put in his hair."
Farkas nodded. "Why doesn't he have as much shit on him as the others? He only has one ring in his lip, and hardly anything in his hair."
Rourke shrugged. "No idea." He had his entire dick pierced, but Rourke wouldn't tell anyone.
"What about tattoos? Does he have any?"
"No. Or he kept his shirt on, so I don't know."
Farkas widened his eyes. "You fucked him with his shirt on?"
Rourke flashed his teeth. "Yeah."
He raised his hands in the air. "Okay."
"But it has to mean something, right?" Ulric looked between them. "The queen bitch has piercings everywhere, tattoos all over, and all her hair is braided with loads of those jewelry things. The other guy too. His entire head was full of braids, and even his ears were tattooed."
"Ezra has some stuff in his ears." Tala pointed at her ear. "Daith and tragus or whatever it's called."
Rourke stared at her. "What?"
She shrugged. "I Googled. I think it's what they're called."
"He has more than two." Ulric drummed on the tabletop.
"Yeah, but the others were in the earlobe and a helix."
Rourke had no idea what it all meant, and if someone asked him what kind of piercings Ezra had, he wouldn't be able to name or describe them.
"Maybe it's a sign he's young?" He hadn't considered how old Ezra was. Old enough, right? Damn, all he had focused on was to get through the mating. But he'd have noticed if he was too young, right?
"Nah, I'd say he's over thirty, and we've seen many far younger with a lot more bling."
Rourke let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Thirty was good. "Let's move on from the piercings. Wasn't it weird out there?"
"Witches are weird."
"Yeah, but not only was Ezra reluctant to face them, Shixyll didn't so much as look at him before leaving. He sought her gaze, but she ignored him."
"He looked ready to run and hide when we were to leave your room." Ulric's finger-tapping stopped.
"So he didn't want them to see the bite? Had they wanted him not to go through with it?"
"Did he...eh...struggle?"
Rourke flashed teeth again. "He wouldn't be fucking mated if he'd struggled. It might be an arranged mating, but I wouldn't force anyone." Though, right now he felt like he did. He didn't think Ezra had been with a man before, and he hadn't exactly given him a mind-blowing first experience.
"I didn't mean you did. But he didn't look as if he came here voluntarily." Ulric looked resigned, and an ache spread in Rourke's chest. It was why he'd allowed the witches to pick who he'd mate. He might force himself to go through with it, but he didn't want inflict it on anyone else.
"You think they compelled him."
Ulric rubbed his neck and scrunched his face. "I think he's an insult."
"What?"
"They're not okay with same-sex relationships, right? It was why we were certain you'd get a female mate."
Rourke nodded. They were secretive about their ways, but their homophobia came through loud and clear.
"And he's not...decorated, which must mean something."
Most likely.
Tala leaned forward. "And by making you mate a male, they made sure there will be no offspring. You can't continue your bloodline."
"Right, so they gave me a male, which in their culture is frowned upon. His face isn't filled with piercings, and he won't give me children. But I will give him more power and longevity. So they came out as winners?"
"He didn't look as if he came out a winner, and according to the scriptures, you should gain power too." Ulric took up the finger-tapping. "Speed and strength and stuff."
"I don't feel any different." Other than the warmth in his chest. Rourke leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. What the fuck did it all mean?
"I did this so we could have peace." He'd bound himself to a witch for the rest of his life to ensure peace for his people.
It didn't feel as if they'd entered peacetime.
* * * *
Ezra stared at the wall. He was back in the same room or apartment as before. There was a kitchen part, a couch with a coffee table, a TV on the wall in front of it, and then the bed.
What was he to do? Did he have any tasks? Was he allowed to leave the room? Allowed to put the TV on?
He undid his braids, brushed his hair, and rebraided it with the rings Jiprix had given him. He wasn't sure he wanted to display them, but no one other than him would know they were payment for giving himself to a shifter.
When the door opened, he jumped to his feet and fastened his gaze on the floor. The footsteps faltered. "What are you doing?" Flint sounded confused.
Ezra didn't reply, and Flint took a step closer, moving slowly.
"What...eh...what's your name?" Ezra chanced a glance and was met with wide eyes.
"Rourke Flint of the Flint Pack. What's your name?"
"Ezra Inaxx Kuxium Enizax." Ezra went back to studying the floor.
"Is Enizax a clan name? Shixyll is also named Enizax, right?"
"No, there are no clan names. Enizax is a family name."
Rourke was quiet for a few seconds. "You and Shixyll are related?"
Ezra nodded.
"Huh. What made you volunteer to be my mate?"
Ezra looked into Rourke's eyes before he could stop himself.
Rourke growled, and Ezra stumbled backward.
"You didn't volunteer, did you? Fuck." He turned around and left the room. Ezra stared at the door left slightly ajar. What was he to do now?
Minutes went by, several if Ezra was to guess, then the huge man pushed the door open and stepped inside. "Hello again."
Ezra dipped his head. Was he to be punished now?
Should he have said he volunteered to be Rourke's mate?
He hadn't said he didn't, but he'd read it in his expressions somehow.
Why had Shixyll made him believe he'd volunteered?
To humiliate him further? Being ordered to mate with a man for the clan's sake was one thing, but to do it of his own free will.
..Was it what everyone here believed? That he had wanted Rourke to do what he had done? Heat overtook his cheeks again.
"Are you okay?"
He nodded.
"Do you find the floor interesting?"
Was he making fun of him or was he tricking him into looking at him so he could punish him for being rude? "Eh..."
"So Rourke is a little upset about you being here against your will. He can't let you go now. The deal was a volunteer mate to strengthen the relationship. Not whatever this is."
Ezra blinked at the floor. Would it mean they'd attack the clan? "No one volunteered." Or he assumed no one had since he'd been told he'd been chosen.
The man sighed, then silence stretched. "What do the braids mean?"
Ezra's hand flew to his two braids on the side of his head. "The more braids, the more you've proven yourself to the clan."
"Hmm. And the things in the braids?"
"Gifts, a sign of respect." And Ezra had next to no braids and few cuffs and rings.
"Okay." There was a tapping sound, and Ezra raised his head enough to see the man drum a fingertip on the kitchen table.
"You need to relax, man. I get nervous with this..." He gestured at Ezra. "Tenseness."
Ezra nodded, but he couldn't get his shoulders to drop. He'd never set foot back home again. He'd live with monsters. "What's your name?"
"Sorry. I'm Ulric Flint. Pack enforcer and Rourke's second in command."
"Are you his brother?" They didn't look alike.
"No, everyone in the pack is named Flint, blood-related or not."
It explained why Rourke had believed Enizax was a clan name.
"Are you hungry?"
Ezra shook his head. He didn't think he'd be able to eat anything.
"Want to come with me to the dining hall?"
Ezra gave another head shake.
"Right. I'll be going then." Ulric moved toward the door, and Ezra searched for something to say. Anything so he wouldn't be annoyed with him.
"Thank you for talking to me."
Ulric stilled by the door. "Eh...yeah...sure." Then he left the room.
* * * *