Page 89

"Finally."

The metal gate clanged shut behind me. I spun around to see the black wolf lounging against the wall, thankfully provided with pants now. He watched me quickly scan his body with a grin.

"You’ve read the Marquis de Sade?" I said, my eyebrows shooting up.

"I'm impressed you know. I'm Sylvan, by the way.

" He tried to put one hand through the bars for me to shake, but he jerked it back when the barrier started to spark.

He wiped it on his leg, instead. "Our relationship has developed in quite the topsy turvy fashion.

Bonding first, then learning each other's names. "

"I haven't given you mine."

"That's right, Julie, you haven't."

"Bonded?" We all turned to see Kelly, Ophelia, and Nancy at the gate. It was unlocked, and they were ushered in. Their eyes went from me to Sylvan.

"Why yes? What did you think my little attack was about? I was on my own, not leading a vanguard. I had to bide my time, waiting for just the right moment to make the little woman mine."

He said the words with a carnivorous smile, his fingers wrapped around the bars, ignoring the fact the metal was beginning to spark.

The tiny flutter of his eyelids made me wonder if he liked the pain.

I frowned, taking an involuntary step back.

Bonded? My hand went to my neck, the women's eyes following it, which brought them near.

A quick inspection both confirmed his assertion and ratcheted the tension in the room higher.

"Black wolves don't bond," Kelly said, shaking her head, her voice beginning to rise.

"We kept him locked up here in case of this eventuality," Ophelia said. "This is not unexpected."

"You say you laid in wait for this girl, wanting to bond her," Nancy said, drawing nearer, the deep purple of her dress trailing over the floor. "Why?"

"Because together she and I are going to save this place from imminent destruction."

Silence fell over the room like a thick blanket.

I stared at the man in the cage, part of my pack, apparently.

Or was I part of his? He was beautiful, as they all were.

Even the black wolves seemed to possess this peacock gene that made them look like supermodels.

But he was an alien presence here, moving restively in his cage now, as the three Council members communed via Vulcan mind meld or something.

I wanted out of here. I wanted out, the scar gone, our connection broken. I wanted to be free of his influence.

Not going to happen, my dear , Sylvan said as he shot me a look. And you'd do well to listen to me, if you want to keep those pretty men of yours safe.

"You're raving," Kelly said. "The black wolves haven't made a serious attempt to break through the gate in centuries. The gold we harvest isn't useful to them, and I scarcely think you'd try to force yourself in here to steal televisions and microwaves."

"Which begs the question—why? If what I say is true, why would my people be coming?"

When Sylvan's eyes slid over to the council women, mine followed. They were curiously calm. Ophelia cleared her throat, and said, "They come for what we have, and they lack. Men."

Sylvan's grin spread wider.

"It has always been the way, it appears. As a warrior culture, we've produced a distressing surplus of women since the time of the curse."

"Curse!" Nancy spluttered. "Of course, one of you would see the fact that our forebears survived and took Tirian form as a curse. It was a blessing!"

"For you. For my people, it heralded a great change.

The history books say we didn't take women as mates, kept none in our camps or settlements.

We roamed the land, taking what we needed, killing the men and children, raping the women, and then leaving once we knew they swelled with child.

When they gave birth, they always produced sons.

Sons that grew up to be Tirian, taking nothing from their mothers except for perhaps colouring.

The sons returned to us on instinct, and we trained them to be the next legion of warriors. "

He scraped his hair back from his face.

"And so the cycle repeated. Over and over, until you."

"The goddess transformed us, made us a symbol of strength,” Nancy snapped. “We rose from the ashes?—"

"Yes, yes, I know. I've read your histories too.

But the problem is, you have what we need.

Male births have been declining for years.

We solved this problem by assigning the many women we now produce in groups to the men, giving each one an embarrassment of riches to slake his lust upon.

All in the hope of producing more sons, more warriors, only for them to be few and far between.

You've kept my people placated somewhat, by sending through your males who refuse to kowtow to your matriarchal rule. But this was a blessing and a curse."

His blue eyes slowly moved around the room, taking in each and every one of us.

"Mine are a primitive people, preferring the arts of war to those of learning, but even those lunkheads couldn't help but see the differences in your beasts when you shift.

The white, the grey, they brought something to the gene pool, something that turned the rising female child tide a little.

Your men, when put to the women, produce exponentially more sons.

They don't want your gold or your technology or your learning, they want your men. "

"And what is your role in this? Why would you fight your way past our men to get through the gate and bite an untried girl?" Kelly said.

"Could we send them more men?" Nancy said, stroking her chin. "Perhaps we could instigate a swap. It would keep the peace on both of our ends."

Ophelia just stood there, arms crossed, eyes boring into the black wolf's. He snorted and then began to pace, tugging his hair back into a ponytail, his fingers scraping against his skull.

"Always so fucking short sighted," he muttered.

He turned back to the bars, slamming his hands down on them, causing the men around us to jerk up their weapons.

The electrical charge started to build as he stayed in contact with the steel, his hair beginning to lift in response, but he remained unmoved.

"You don't understand. They won't be appeased.

They have always thought that this was an act of aggression by your goddess, that she struck out against us for our 'crimes'.

That the declining numbers of our warriors, that we drown in female children, was a deliberate ploy to reduce our effectiveness, to weaken and soften us.

You could send half of the men here to them, and they would not be satisfied.

Those men you send, by the way, would be caged and moved from one group of women in heat to the next, fucking and fucking until their dicks are raw.

They don't want breeders, they want to eradicate every damn hint of your existence.

Your goddess can't use you as the mechanism with which to punish us, if none of you exists.

They are gathering a force—mercenaries mostly—and are going to fight their way through your meagre little gate and massacre every single woman and child here.

The men will be fucked until they're dead, and then the male children our women bear will be brought up in the proper manner.

The Volken, my people, will rise again as a bloody and violent force, and no one will be able to stop them. "

"And why did you bring this information to us? Surely anyone within your host would see it as an unforgivable sin to warn us of this attack?"

"Because I am their seer, and I know what's going to happen.

They won't fucking listen to me, so I hope against hope that you will.

I bit Julie because there was no other way for me to get into your community without a bullet to the head.

You respect mate bonds in ways we don't. Let me out of here, let me take my place by my mate's side, and let me help you avert this threat. "

Kelly crossed her arms across her chest and stared at Sylvan.

"Goddess, seers, visions. This is just a mystical load of bullshit."

She looked around when her pronunciation got no response from anyone else, her brows creasing when the two matriarchs stayed as they were, regarding the interloper. "Mum?"

"You haven't been made privy to this information," Nancy said. "You're not old enough, and we thought it would harm your performance as alpha."

"What? What the hell are you going on about?"

She demanded answers from the older woman, but Nancy's eyes went only for Ophelia.

"You've done your best, as we always knew you would," Ophelia said, her voice much gentler. "We needed someone to bring the pack into the 21st century, adapt to the outsiders returning, and you have done well in this."

"Mother, what the hell are you saying?"

"When I was alpha, I was hamstrung by the more traditional focussed matriarchs. They resisted me at every turn, and I needed to do what I must without the label of alpha to tie me down."

"No." Kelly's head shook wildly. "No, I took you down. I beat you fair and square."

I would not have wanted to be Kelly right then. Ophelia’s eyes, those perfect pearl grey, cool, calm, and fucking merciless eyes. I thought about seeing them staring down at me as a kid and shuddered. Ophelia was always a regal figure, and now, she was positively imperious.

"Take my hand." She stared down at her daughter, Kelly quivering with the effort of refusing her request, but her palm slapped down into her mother's. "Julie, take Nancy and Kelly's. Nancy, you and I will take the black wolf's."

"His name's Sylvan."

"Sylvan, then," she said.

"Excuse me, ma'am, but you can't do that. Any contact with the bars, and you'll be electrified," one of the soldiers said.

"That won't be a problem, will it, Sylvan?"

He grinned and thrust his hands through, the bars sparking and then reverting back to cold, hard metal in a second.