Page 10 of Night’s Bride (Ragoru Origins #3)

Nash slowly awakened as if painstakingly surfacing from a pool of water. He dragged in a deep breath and shuddered as his eyes opened and he blinked groggily. He was inside. The glow of the fire was unmistakable even if his surroundings were unfamiliar, but at least it was warm. That much was encouraging, even if it was filled with the distinct scent of two Ragoru, and a third scent that was just as powerful but far sweeter and more pleasant that he could not identify. He swiped a hand over his face and sighed with equal measures of relief and exhaustion before turning his head to get a better view of his surroundings. And froze.

A dark gray male with a faint warm undertone to his fur was directly across the room from him. The male was smaller than the average Ragoru and possessed a slender build, but Nash regarded him warily, dread pooling in his belly as the other male turned, locked eyes with him, and also froze in place. The male did not appear aggressive, but that did not tell him much. How many males had he approached since becoming an adult— males who had appeared to possess desirable traits for his triad until they turned on him and drove him away? They had been small, vicious males that snapped their teeth threateningly until he gave up and continued on his way. It was better than the alternative where there would be a chance of hurting the other male.

Despite being an alpha fully capable of leading a triad, he was too large to reassure most males that he would not bully them, and not aggressive enough to enjoy the combative struggles that some males participated in to acquire their triad kin. He could have held them down and gently dominated them until he won their trust in his strength and their compliance, but it never seemed to be worth the effort when he did not enjoy utilizing unnecessary force. By coming to the northern lands in search of the clan he had heard of, he had hoped to find other larger males like himself who would not be immediately predisposed to finding him a threat. It was just his miserable luck to run into not only a small Ragoru, but the smallest, daintiest male he had ever seen outside of a juvenile. Truthfully, dealing with smaller Ragoru was an exhausting situation that he simply did not care to repeat.

Unfortunately, seeing how he had somehow ended up inside a den with this male, he had the sinking feeling that he was not going to be able to run away to avoid a confrontation this time.

Might as well get it over with.

With an inward groan, Nash sat up and froze in surprise when the male scampered back nervously, his slender ears flattening as his yellow eyes went wide. Nash stared back, caught off guard. He was accustomed to the aggression of males off-put by his size and assumed that he would be cruel because of it, but this male wasn’t just unnerved—he was genuinely afraid of him. From all appearances, he seemed to lack an aggressive bone in his body.

Swallowing back the bitter bile that had risen to his mouth, Nash immediately lowered his gaze slightly with the hope to put the male at ease.

“Be at ease. I will not harm you,” he quietly entreated.

From his peripheral eyes, he saw the male shiver but his stiff posture relaxed slightly as his ears pricked briefly toward Nash with curiosity.

“Who… who are you?”

“Nash.” Nash glanced up at him briefly but lowered his primary eyes, keeping only his secondary set directed upon the male as that would be perceived as less threatening. “I am confused. My last memory was that I was lost in the snow. Where am I?”

“Th-this is our den… my brother, Vikt, and I.” The male visibly swallowed. “I am Vrel. We are members of Alpha Clan—first clan. Y-you are in the clan lands.”

Tension fled from Nash’s shoulders at the words. He had made it.

His secondary gaze roved over the smaller male, taking in his smaller features. It was rare for Ragoru to be born so small unless—a memory surfaced of a pair of twins his mother birthed when he was an older rog. Of a total of five healthy offspring she had birthed, they were the smallest. He had been enchanted when he first spotted them, but the magic of the moment had quickly become a nightmare when his mother, upon inspecting her young, broke their tiny little necks before handing them over to his alpha father. Nash had been struck with such grief and terror that he hid. He refused to come out of hiding, despite the signs of his mother’s own intense grief, until his second father found him and gently explained.

Survival in their world was hard. The two little ones were twins. They had shared a sack in their mother’s womb which, among Ragoru, was as good as a death sentence. It was an anomaly which caused stunted growth, made them more delicate, and because of that they would possess certain disadvantages that would make it difficult for them to survive into adulthood—and even if they managed, they would struggle to fit into a triad and mate. Culling them was a mercy in their world, even if a tragic one. One that his mother privately grieved over for the rest of her life. She never knew that he often followed her after that, her own shadow whenever she sought solitude. And it was a memory that continued to haunt him even as an adult when he finally came of age and left the den.

That this male and his twin survived was extraordinary.

“You are a twin,” he rasped aloud and then immediately regretted his words as he watched Vrel flinch. “I do not mean that there is anything wrong with this,” he hastily explained, “I have never seen adult twins before.”

Vrel’s ears twitched nervously as he eyed him. “It is rare,” he admitted. “We were the only rogs born to our mother. She was unable and unwilling to exact her mercy upon us, as my alpha father put it.”

There was a hint of bitterness in the male’s voice, and it was clear to Nash that the alpha had possessed a different opinion than the mother. No doubt their mother protected them from the alpha when she refused to kill her offspring.

“Life must have been very difficult for you,” Nash acknowledged. “Not even in regard to your alpha father, but also from other Ragoru. And yet you showed kindness and charity in saving me when many Ragoru would not have. I thank you.”

Vrel’s ears pricked, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. “Th-these are the clan lands,” he replied as if that explained everything.

The corners of Nash’s mouth tipped. The male discounted his own generosity far too easily when it was something he had rarely been treated to among Ragoru. Clan lands or not, the twins had found him and chose to save him when they could have pretended otherwise and left him in the snow to die. Ragoru of Alpha Clan might have taken him if he approached and asked for charity and to be accepted within their clan, but he did not have as much faith that another Ragoru would have gone out of their way to save him from death.

“Still, I thank you for your kindness,” he rumbled. “There are many males who have seen a male like me and would have let me die due to worry that I would seek to harm them.”

The male’s ears flattened to the sides with obvious embarrassment, but Nash was pleased to see him become more relaxed. Vrel peered at him, and to Nash’s surprise the male took several cautious steps toward him.

“It did occur to me,” Vrel admitted. “Not to leave you,” he immediately amended with another embarrassed flick of his ears, “but that you might harm us… and our mate.”

The last was said so quietly that, for a moment, Nash thought he had imagined it.

“You have a mate?” he queried, just to make sure he had heard right. He glanced around cautiously. “Your alpha?—”

“Oh! No, there is no alpha,” Vrel interrupted with a nervous chuff. “Evelyn, the human who established the clan, thought that a mate would be good for us. She did not understand the… uniqueness… of twins.”

Nash did not know a lot about twins, but this was one point his second father expounded on during his explanation: the reason why it was difficult for twins to be able to successfully mate. The uniquely close connection between the twins that made it nearly impossible for them to be accepted into a triad would also interfere with their ability to mate without another male to act as alpha. Neither twin would be able to take the position of alpha over the other. And yet they had a family because of the clan. It gave Nash hope. It also explained what that third scent was.

“How do you…” he began delicately, and Vrel’s head dipped as the male gave another awkward chuff.

“Our Emily is not only very understanding but willing to assist us,” he admitted. He fidgeted in place, his tail flicking nervously. “She is very strong, brave, and kind… and…” his eyes rose to lock directly in a faint, if very nervous, challenge with Nash’s secondary eyes, “and she will never leave us.”

Nash’s mouth curved in response to the defiance. Despite his obvious unease, the male was letting him know in no uncertain terms that he could not steal their female from them. It was admirable and sweet to see that level of devotion and affection, not only on the part of the males but hearing it of the female.

“He is right,” a feminine voice interrupted, startling Nash so much that his head turned toward the voice.

He had been so distracted by Vrel, and the den was so laden with the combined smells of the twins and their female that he had not noticed her approach. His breath left him, however, as he stared upon her. Humans possessed an unusual appearance that bordered on ugly in some respects and yet there was a uniqueness to it that was interesting. And with Emily, her interesting appearance was as captivating as her delicious scent.

“Emily, I presume,” he rumbled.

She inclined her head in agreement as a second male, identical to Vrel except for the braid he wore behind his left ear in contrast to the braid behind Vrel’s right ear, peered at him warily.

Her lips worked silently, and her gaze was guarded… cautious. He might have thought that it was entirely out of worry for her own safety if it was not for the way she regularly sought out her males with her eyes as if silently weighing their own wellbeing.

“I mean no harm,” he repeated, lowering his head further. “And I extend my thanks to you as well for seeing to my welfare. And I also extend my appreciation to meet a female of such generous spirit as to be a loving mate to twins.”

A look of surprise crossed her face, but she must have been educated by her mates on the lot of twins because the icy reserve in her eyes melted a little and she exchanged a glance with the male behind her before once more meeting Nash’s secondary eyes.

“Thank you, but it is not necessary. They are mine and I could do no less. Nor could I do less than what I did for you seeing that you were in need. But I am relieved to see that you understand the situation so well. And now that you are awake?—”

“Now we eat,” the other male, Vikt, interrupted as he exchanged a look with his twin before regarding Nash with outright curiosity.

Nash was not sure what Emily had intended to say but the disbelief on her face communicated that it was not that. But she did not disagree. Instead, she smiled and nodded, and he felt relief flood through him to such a degree that he dared to lift his primary eyes to them.

“I could eat,” he admitted, and her smile grew.

“Then we eat,” she agreed.