Casey's Warriors (Bondmates) (25 page)

Finally the woman let out a tense breath. “You have not bonded my son yet.”

With Lorn’s advice in mind Casey lifted her chin. “Oh, I’m sorry. Where are my manners? My name is Casey Westfall. And you are?”

The woman blinked and her shock was obvious. Drawing herself taller she looked down her nose at Casey. “I am Lady Elsin Adar, Matriarch of the House Adar and Lead Representative of the Northern Congress to the High Congress of Kadothia.”

She looked at Casey as if expecting her to be awed, but if the Congress of Kadothia was anything like the Congress of the United States, she wasn’t impressed. “How may I help you?”

Lady Elsin practically gritted her teeth, and Casey had a hard time holding back her laughter. Things were obviously not going the way this woman thought they would. “I came to see the barbarian bride that managed to connive her way into my son’s heart. Do not think I am unaware of your schemes and your weakness.”

Obviously Lady Elsin was trying to anger her but Casey wouldn’t give her the pleasure. She couldn’t argue with being physically weaker, the other woman had a good seven inches on her, but the other part irked her. “Schemes? What the hell kind of schemes would I have? He’s the one who kidnapped me. I don’t know what the world is like where you’re from, but I love Lorn because he’s a good man. Honest, kind, and honorable, not because I want something he has. He must get those traits from his father.”

For a second she was pretty sure Lady Elsin was trying to kill her by glaring at her, but Casey merely quirked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “Look, I don’t know you and you don’t know me. You’ve obviously come here with some preconceived, and wrong, notions, but you are Lorn’s mother so I will allow that you have the right to be worried about the woman that he’s marrying. Let me assure you I do love him and I want only the best for him.”

Lady Elsin sneered. “But you will not take more than one husband, will you? Or allow his men to bond with you. I have heard about you Earth brides. You care for nothing but yourselves.”

That threw her for a loop and she dropped her arms. “What?”

“You are selfish. Lorn loves his blood brother but you will not even consider him for a second husband, will you? Nast is a good, honorable man and I love him like a son, but instead of watching him finally have the happiness he deserves I will have to stand by, along with my son, as Nast slowly loses his mind to the madness. Eventually he will have to be put down like a rabid animal, all because you think loving two men is a sin. Like I said, selfish and ignorant.”

“But…Lorn never told me Nast would die if I didn’t bond him.”

The tall woman gave Casey a look of such disgust that she flinched. “Of course he would not tell you. He loves you and would do nothing to hurt your feelings. He fears losing you if you feel forced to love another man because of your barbaric upbringing. Do you know how badly you will be hurting Lorn if you reject Nast? How much you will be putting my son’s life in danger because you are rejecting
love
out of fear of the unknown? Out of stupidity? You might as well slit his throat now and save him the agony.”

Casey struggled to keep up with the conversation. “Wait, do you mean Lorn could die? I don’t understand.”

Giving a bitter laugh Lady Elsin strolled over to a chair and took a seat like a queen on her throne. “Did Lorn not tell you about the infighting?”

For a moment she considered trying to hide her ignorance, but finally shook her head. “He might have mentioned something about it, but I thought the Hive was your enemy.”

Her honesty appeared to calm Lady Elsin slightly and she took a deep breath before lifting her chin. “Let me be straightforward with you, Earth bride. I cannot read your emotions and that alarms me. If you were a normal bride I would know your love was true. Because of who Lorn is he is in constant danger not only from the Hive, but from those on Kadothia who would use his death as an excuse to weaken me. While it is true no open wars are fought, I can assure you there is a constant power struggle that is just as deadly, and I do everything in my power to keep them from starting a civil war.” She leaned forward the slightest bit, holding Casey’s gaze. “Without a strong, partially or fully bonded circle of men around you and Lorn, he will be vulnerable. Nast is a fearsome Warrior and I trust him above all others to keep my son alive and safe. He would be an excellent husband. Once your bond is complete I will no longer be able to protect Lorn as he will be yours and because of your fear and self-centeredness, you will not bond other Warriors strong enough to defend you both. You will leave him open to assassinations with no one to guard his back with the unquestionable loyalty and love of other bonded males. What will you do without a Healer you can trust implicitly, or a Negotiator to make sure you get dealt with fairly? I highly doubt either of you will survive more than a month.”

Moving on unsteady feet Casey made her way to the couch where she’d recently made love to Lorn and sat on it with far less grace than Lady Elsin had displayed. “I didn’t know.”

“Now that you do, will you do what is necessary to protect my son?”

“I don’t know.” She repeated and looked down at her hands then back up. “Lorn said I can only bond through pleasure. Is it that way with you? I mean did you have to…be intimate with the men who you’re partially bonded to?”

Lady Elsin studied her. “This distresses you. Why?”

Trying not to blush, Casey looked back at her hands. “Well, on Earth a woman who is intimate with a man other than her husband is considered a cheating bitch. It means she doesn’t love him and she’s a bad person.”

“You said you do love my son, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then he knows that. I cannot imagine what it is like to live without the ability to read emotions, but Lorn will always know how you feel about him. Stop being such a child. Any bonding you do will be arousing for both you and Lorn.” She shifted uncomfortably. “As I am sure you are aware he will feel your pleasure and will enjoy it as well. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose by at least trying.”

“I could lose Lorn.”

Lady Elsin threw her hands up. “Have you not heard a word I said? Bonding multiple males is not shameful, or a sin, or whatever else your backwards planet has attributed to the idea of caring for more than one man. If you will not do it for my son, do it for all the Warriors who will have to face the Hive without your shielding. We can only bond so many men before our protection runs too thin to do any good. That means millions of mothers are facing their sons going off to almost certain death in their efforts to protect us all from the Hive. But, what is that in the face of your delicate sensibilities?”

Anger mixed with a heavy dose of guilt and made Casey defensive. “Look, this is hard for me, okay? I’m trying to adapt as best I can. I love Lorn but we’re just learning about each other.”

“Do not be so daft. You will be the other half of his soul and you will know him better than he knows himself.” She made a sour look. “In some ways you already are.”

“What?”

“I can no longer sense my son like I used to. Whatever natural shielding you carry that prevents my mind from reaching yours has extended to him. While I appreciate the tactical advantage it will give my son, I do not like not being able to fully read him.” Lady Elsin’s expression softened and she swallowed hard before saying in a low voice, “It is…distressing to me. For the first time since his birth I cannot feel him like I should.”

Casey tried to see it from the other woman’s point of view and nodded. “I understand, kind of.”

The elegant woman tilted her head and her pupils did that weird flexing thing then she gave a small smile. “Lorn is almost here, and he is very angry with me, as are my husbands. Know this, Casey Westfall of Earth, you will not be proving your love by refusing to at least partially bond other men, to not even give Nast a chance to win your heart. Lorn would never force you because Kadothian men are devoted to their wives beyond anything you’ve experienced, but I’m asking you as a mother to her son’s chosen bride—please try. Allow yourself to open fully to Lorn and you will feel that there is no jealousy. These men will not take his place in your life nor do they want to. Even Nast as a second husband would not weaken your bond with Lorn in any way. In fact, bonding Nast would strengthen your marriage immeasurably.”

“I don’t understand.”

Lady Elsin sighed and rubbed her temples. “How do I explain love to someone so emotionally crippled? To the men you partially bond with you will be their Matriarch, not their wife, and your decision will not only possibly save Lorn’s life, but yours as well because if either of you die the other will soon follow. And even if Lorn did bring a man for you to consider as a husband, do you really believe my son would ask you to bond with anyone unworthy? That he would ever share you with a man he didn’t think would love you just as much? Think on it.”

With that Lady Elsin stood and for the briefest moment Casey could see the other woman’s internal conflict reflected on her face before her expression once again smoothed into a haughty, icy mask. A moment later the door slid open and Lorn burst through with three equally large older men on his heels. The man directly behind Lorn who looked the most like him moved towards Lady Elsin with a severely disapproving expression. All three men were huge. Two of them had hair in different shades of brown with dark tan skin while the third, who gripped Lady Elsin’s arm, had silver hair like Lorn’s. They wore armor similar to Lorn’s but with far more decorations and in different colors. One navy blue, one green, and the man who looked like Lorn had black armor embellished with white.

Before they’d taken two steps Lady Elsin jerked her arm out of the man’s grip and held up her hand. “Stop.”

The older men did but Lorn kept approaching Casey. Before he could close the distance he let out an agonized scream and dropped to the floor, writhing in agony. Casey screamed as well as his pain came pouring through the bond, drowning her in agony mixed with his anger and self-loathing for failing her. Lorn managed to crawl to her side as she moaned in anguish, sure she was dying, wishing she was dying so this would end. As quickly as the pain came it vanished and she panted, her muscles still twitching and jerking.

Lorn gathered her against him, trying to soothe her as she cried with relief at the cessation of the agonizing torture. His voice came out in a broken rasp as he said, “Mother, how could you?”

Casey pushed at his chest, ready to slap the shit out of his mother when she realized the other woman was the cause of their pain. But when she looked up at Lorn’s mother she found Lady Elsin had tears streaming down her face while her men supported her with equally distressed expressions. “She had to know, Lorn. Forgive me for hurting you both, but she had to know what could happen to you, to your men, if they do not have her protection.”

Rage poured through Lorn and Casey struggled to clear her mind of his emotions. “Get out of here. I will no longer acknowledge you as my mother.”

Lady Elsin’s grief-stricken cry matched the emotional pain roaring through Lorn, and Casey fought to find a way to think past it all. She threw her arms around Lorn and held him close. “It’s okay, Lorn, I’m all right. She’s a fucking bitch but she’s right, I had to know.”

Lorn held her so hard she had trouble catching a breath. “Forgive me,
alyah
, she hurt you and I could not stop her. I have failed you.”

With her heart breaking she clasped his face between her hands and forced him to look at her. Though tears filled his eyes and she could feel his soul crying out in misery, he refused to let one fall. “Is it true? What she just did to us…is what the unbonded men will feel if they’re attacked by the Hive?”

He hesitated, then nodded. “It is similar.”

“What he means,” Lady Elsin whispered, “is that what he felt, what I felt and you felt, is maybe one-tenth the power of just one of the Hive would unleash on him and our men.”

“Enough, Elsin,” the man who looked the most like Lorn said in a firm voice. “Our son is a grown man. It is his choice and his bride’s choice to make. You will not force their hand in this matter.”

With that Lady Elsin crumbled entirely and began to sob. The man in the navy blue armor behind her scooped her into his arms and exchanged a look with the other two men. “We are very sorry about this, Lorn. We did not know she would lock us in our room and come here on her own. I promise you we did not come with the intent of harming you or your bride. Forgive us.”

With that the two men in the green and navy blue armor went out the door with a crying Lady Elsin held between them. The man she was pretty sure was Lorn’s father crouched next to them. “My name is Malin and I am Lorn’s sire. Little bride, please forgive my wife. Yesterday we lost over two thousand men to the Hive when they attacked a barracks full of poorly bonded men.”

Lorn tensed against her. “How did they manage that?”

“They hid in a supply ship run by a trusted merchant that went deep into the safe zone.” His steady, dark gaze focused on Casey again. “My wife had the unenviable task of breaking the news to their families this morning and it hurt her deeply. Though it is completely foolish, she feels responsible for the death of every one of our men. That is no excuse for what she did to you, but I pray to the Lord of Life that my wife did not harm your love for our son.” He sighed and rubbed his face hard before giving Lorn a look filled with such sorrow that her heart ached. “Nast was at the training center that was attacked.”

Instant, overwhelming fear filled her causing her to tremble and cling to Lorn as he stared at his father. “Is he…?”

“No, he lives. He managed to rally his troops and they fought off the attack. Thankfully there were only two Hive members with the mercenaries.”

Immense relief filled her and she realized Lorn loved Nast, really loved him. Jealousy panged through her and Lorn looked down with an agonized expression. “
Alyah
, please do not be upset about my feelings for my blood brother.”