Lucian stood but didn’t move to leave. His eyes were narrowed on his brother as he took Peri’s hand.
Peri nearly jumped at the contact. She had been expecting Lucian to leave with the others, but instead he took up a position in front of her, shielding her from the Alpha’s glare. She rolled her eyes at his overprotectiveness, but in her heart of hearts she was honored that he would think to try and protect her.
“Lucian, I know she is your mate, but you are not bonded yet. No blood rites have been performed and, therefore, you have no right to stay when I have ordered you to leave.” Vasile’s voice was calm, not demanding and not cruel. He was just stating the facts.
“Do you want me to stay?” Lucian asked her.
Here heart warmed by his thoughtfulness and seemed to swell in her chest. It had been so very long since someone had worried about her, had tried to protect her. Though it was not necessary, it was still a nice gesture. “If he asked you all to go, he must have a reason. He will not hurt me, Lucian.” She squeezed his hand affectionately and then released it.
He turned to look at her. Though she was tall, he was taller still and she had to look up at him to meet his eyes. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead and whispered, “I will wait for you just outside.”
She knew he had said it out loud for his brother’s benefit and that made her chuckle under her breath. Her mate the maverick, back in the living only a couple months and already bucking the system.
When the door had closed behind Lucian, Peri let out a deep breath and sat back down. “Okay so I’ll admit that was a tad childish.”
“A tad?” Vasile asked with a raised brow.
She huffed. “Oh blow it out your ass, Alpha. I was killed, brought back to life, and discovered that I had a werewolf for a mate, and not just any werewolf but one that was supposed to be dead. Forgive me if I’m slightly testy.”
“I concede,” he said holding up his hands. “You have every right to be childish, testy, or any other emotion that strikes your fancy. You have been through a lot. There are some things that I wanted to talk with you about, and I hope that it might help decrease the number of childish episodes you might need to have.”
Peri gave him a dry look at his words but made a motion for him to continue.
“I know that you have been around the wolves and mated pairs for a very long time, but even still there might be things that you don’t know about being a true mate or being mated for that matter.”
Peri actually sat up straighter as she folded her hands in her lap. “And pray tell, what does this have to do it the fact that I just bit your head off because I thought you were questioning my power?” She asked him pointedly.
“It has to do with you acting, as you said, a tad childish. You feel out of your depth, Perizada. I’ve known you a very long time, my old friend, and if there is anything I know about you, it’s that you don’t like to be uninformed or misinformed. So I’m going to help you get your bearings. The rest is up to you.” He paused and folded his napkin as he seemed to gather his thoughts. He laid it down next to his near empty plate and then began to speak again. “You know that the males are possessive, and jealous to a fault. You know that they carry a darkness inside of them and without their true mate that darkness slowly takes over. What you may not know is that once a male finds his true mate, the need to be with her, to bind her to him and to take care of her, is overwhelming. It’s nearly all he thinks about. For my brother I believe this desire is going to be even…let’s see, what’s the word…,” he rubbed his chin as he thought, “intense.”
“Great,” Peri drew out under her breath.
Vasile smiled sympathetically. “He, as you know, comes from a very different time than the one we live in now. Even though women in the Canis lupis world were held in high esteem, they were never outspoken, nor did they dress in clothing so revealing. Our current culture is desensitized to these things, but that wasn’t always the case. Also, you have to remember that women were considered lower than men in the 1600s. That was never the case in our world. Our females have always been treasured—considered precious. Lucian is going to be much more modest in many ways, and he will seem so much more overbearing than the males who have changed with the times. I ask that you be patient with him.”
“You say that as if I’ve already agreed that I will be his mate,” Peri challenged.
Vasile gave her a coy look. “What would you do if he were to look at another woman?”
“Gouge his eyes out with an ice pick,” she answered without thought or hesitation.
“And if another female were to touch him?”
“I’d beat her with the bloody stump of an arm that I had just ripped from her pathetic body. Holy crap, I’m phsycho!” She leaned forward and gripped the edge of the table. Her eyes were wide as she realized the intense anger she felt was simply because Vasile had planted the idea of another women being near Lucian. “Is this what true mates feel like all of the time? This need to kill anyone who might show interest in their mate? Because, if so, then seriously, Vasile, we need to get you all some counseling.” She asked sounding every bit as shocked as she looked.
Vasile chuckled as he watched the usually calm fae attempt to catch her breath. “It gets better once the Blood Rites has been completed,” he told her. Then he cleared his throat and with a slight blush added, “and once other things have been consummated.”
Peri shook her head as she looked at Vasile from the corner of her eye. “Are you seriously blushing? Bloody hell, man, we’re not teenagers. Hell, we’re not even twenty-somethings. Call it what it is, sex. S-E-X,” she spelled out, “Doing the deed, bumping uglies, hittin it, tappin that…,”
“I thought you said we weren’t teenagers?” Vasile interrupted her rant.
“Sorry, I watch way too many movies. And I’ve been around Jen. Okay, so being around Jen is probably the reason for the immature references to sex that seem to always imply some form of physical punishment.” Peri leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers under her chin. Her eyes met Vasile’s and they stared at one another silently for several minutes. He was waiting for her to admit it. If she were honest with herself, then she would just fess up and admit that there was no way in any hell that she would let another woman near Lucian, which meant she was going to have to do this whole mate thing. Honesty is so overrated, she thought as she let out a deep, resigned sigh.
“Let’s just say, for arguments sake, that I am willing to be his mate and do all the Blood Rites and yada yada. What then?” She asked.
“Then you would have to learn to live with each other,” Vasile smiled innocently.
Peri’s eyes narrowed at the Alpha. “Do you have any idea how many times I’ve wanted to turn you into a turd and flush you down the toilet?”
“I imagine that my brother will somehow surpass whatever number that is many times over,” he told her smugly, then added more seriously. “It will ease the possessiveness somewhat, if you complete the bond. He won’t feel the need to claim you in front of every new person you encounter and it will free him of the darkness he wrestles with. For you, it will help you not want to rip off the arms of other females and beat them with their bloody stumps.”
She shrugged at that. “Well at least that’s something.”
There was a knock on the door and then Alina’s head poked in. She smiled at Peri and then looked at her mate. “You called?”
Vasile motioned for her to enter the dining room. “I’ve told her from the male point of view what I can, but I think perhaps she needs to hear things from your side of the bond.” He stood and met his mate halfway down the table. He pressed a kiss to her lips tenderly and then headed for the door. Before he closed it behind him he added, “And be careful, mate, there’s been talk of turning wolves into turds and flushing them.”
Peri rolled her eyes. “Not wolves, just you. Geeze,” she glowered, “dramatic much?”
Alina laughed as she sat acros
s from Peri. She leaned back in the chair looking relaxed and composed, as usual. Peri had always admired that about the she-wolf. Here this woman lived in a mansion full of possessive, bossy werewolves and she rarely even raised her voice.
“Alright, Luna,” Peri finally said, “what’s your take?”
Alina’s head tilted ever so slightly to the right as she took in the high fae before her. Her lips twitched as she seemed to fight the grin that threatened to bloom at any moment. “Before we begin I just want to know one thing. What’s driving you crazier, the fact that you are mated to a wolf, or the fact that you want to, I think Jacque put it best, jump his bones?” she spoke at last.
Peri let out an exaggerated huff as she met the Alpha female’s eyes. “Why are you and your mate suddenly so interested in my sex life?”
Alina laughed. “So Vasile went there, did he?”
“Oh yes, but he was much less crude than your daughter in-law, or even myself.”
“Consummation?” Alina asked knowingly.
“The one and only,” Peri answered dryly.
Alina sobered and her voice grew serious as she leaned forward in her chair. Peri could see that the Alpha wanted her to listen, and to hear well what she was about to say.
“There is no walking away from your mate. I’m not saying that to challenge you Peri and I’m not saying it to scare you. I’m telling you because you need to fully grasp how permanent a true mate is. You, who have been alone for so long, will never be alone again. I only know Lucian from the stories that Vasile has shared with me. But if he is anything like Vasile, then he will do anything to take care of you, to provide for you, protect you and love you. That doesn’t mean it will be easy, but you don’t have to fear losing him.”
“What about all the bossiness and broodiness?” Peri asked. “You yourself said it. I have been alone a very long time, doing my own thing. I don’t take orders. I won’t be caged and the word ‘submit’ is pretty much a death sentence to the one saying it.”
Alina smiled at Peri as if she was a cute little dog that had performed a trick. “For one so wise, Perizada, you can be awfully dense.”
Peri pointed a long finger at the she-wolf. “See, that is why you should all be turds.”
“Any relationship is give and take,” Alina continued as if Peri hadn’t spoken. “Sacrifices must be made by both parties. You both will have to make changes and allow the other to make mistakes. As for submitting, well, you know what pack life is like. There has to be a balance of power. There has to be an Alpha, and those beneath him must submit. But your mate will never ask you to submit to him, not unless he truly felt it was necessary and a compromise could not be met.”
“And I would just have to do it?” Peri snapped.
“I would hope that your relationship at that point would be one of deep trust and love. I would hope that if he was asking that of you, then you would trust his judgment, and trust him to take care of you. Submission was never meant to be a negative action. Submission is an act of love and service because someone must lead, and the others must follow. Your greatest act of love to your mate is when you submit and that comes in many forms. Think of it like this,” she scooted forward and laid her hands on the table between them. “For a wolf to give another his stomach is an act of ultimate submission, right? The stomach is the most tender and vulnerable place on the body and puts the wolf at the greatest risk. So what do you think it means to Vasile when I, his werewolf mate, lie in bed with him? How much trust does he see from me when I sleep on my back, vulnerable to him? Are those not forms of submission? Do they demean me in anyway?”
Peri sat speechless across from Alina. The air from her breathing seemed too loud in her ears as the words the she-wolf had just spoken ran through her mind. She had never looked at the relationship between true mates in quite that way. They were wolves, she got that. But then, she realized that she totally didn’t get it at the same time, because, once again, she was not a wolf.
“I’m going to blow your mind one more time,” Alina interrupted her epiphany moment. “Now that you realize what it means to submit and what it means to your mate, ask yourself this; how much trust and love must he feel when he gives his stomach to you? You have the greatest treasure of all, Peri. Lucian will only ever fully submit to you. He will only ever lie in your bed on his back, exposing his stomach and neck to you. He will only ever trust you with that. How great his love and trust must be for one so proud, so strong, and so dominant to yield to you.”
Peri didn’t hear Alina leave. She sat in stunned silence as she considered her words. Lucian submit to her? It was nearly laughable. But then, how did any relationship survive if not for the bending of two wills? Alina had said there was no getting around it. She was Lucian’s true mate. It was a bond that would not be denied, one that no one walked away from. After several minutes of thought she stood, straightened her shirt, and let out a deep breath.
“The way I see it, I have two choices,” she told the empty table. “I can accept that I’m going to be mated to a werewolf, or I can accept that I’m going to be mated to a werewolf.” She shook her head as she turned to leave the room. In a final huff of resignation she mumbled to herself, “Damn if I don’t like either one of those.”
Into the Fae by Quinn Loftis
www.quinnloftisbooks.com
@AuthQuinnLoftis
Other books by Quinn Lofits
Grey Wolves Series
Prince of Wolves
Blood Rites
Just One Drop
Out of the Dark
Beyond the Veil
Fate and Fury
Sacrifice of Love
Luna of Mine
Elfin Series
Elfin
Rapture
Book 3 Coming Soon!
Gypsy Healer Series
Into the Fae
Wolf of Stone, coming October 31, 2014
Stand Alone Works
Call Me Crazy
Acknowledgements
As with any work of fiction, there are many people to thank along the way.
To you, the reader. Thank you for taking the time to read this story and go on the journey with me. If you liked it, please leave a review on your favorite online bookseller (or all of them!) and connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, etc. The greatest help you can do to keep a writer going is to support them by spreading the word about their books and leaving them encouraging words. If you are really inspired, join my mailing list to get updates first on my current and future writings.
Also I would like to thank my editors and cover designers. A good editor is essential to getting the story correct (and in my case- two editors). Thank you so much, Kathie at Kat’s Eye Editing and Melissa at There for You Editing. They made the book just that much stronger and such a better story that you all got to read. It would not be the same book without them. Also a thanks to my proofer Ashton Brammer for going over the novel with a fine tooth comb to catch little errors that bug people. A thank-you to my AMAZING cover artist Ravven for such a pretty cover. She puts so much detail into every cover-I can’t say how lucky I am to work with her! A great cover helps get people interested. They may say never judge a book by its cover, but everyone does! I greatly appreciate all those that can do what I cannot, like editors and cover designers. I’m grateful I was able to find great professionals to work with on this book.
I’d also like to thank my hubby for continuing to push me further down the writing road. He gives me time when I need it to work on my stories. He encourages me to keep going each and every day on this adventure. And he does all the behind-the-scenes effort to make this work. This would be so much harder without his help. So thank you, B. for pushing me off the deep end (or the cliff as I see it sometimes). And a great big thanks to my little munchkins who keep me going from before the sun comes up ‘til long after it sets. Love you AK and KB.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my novel!!
; About the Author
Originally from Wisconsin, B. Kristin currently resides in Ohio with her husband, two small children, and three cats. When not doing the mom thing of chasing kids, baking cookies, and playing outside, she is using her PhD in biology as a scientist. In her free time she is currently hard at work on multiple novels. Every day is a new writing adventure. She is a fan of all YA/NA fantasy and science fiction and continues to promote good indie books on her own blog at www.bkristinmcmichael.com. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads
The Blue Eyes Trilogy
o The Legend of the Blue Eyes
o Becoming a Legend
o Winning the Legend
The Day Human Trilogy
o The Day Human Prince
o The Day Human King
o The Day Human Way [2015]
The Chalcedony Chronicles
o Carnelian
o Chrysoprase
o Aventurine [2015]
Standalone Books
o To Stand Beside Her
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