Loving Lucius (Werescape) (23 page)

Violet smiled. "Yes."

So we heard all sorts of praise about the mysteries of secret subterranean vaults and tombs, as well as the perks of avoiding extermination rays AEI from Violet on the way down the concrete steps. The points she added about Egyptian pyramids and burial caches impressed Lucius so much he shot me a wink and claimed Violet should be teaching at the school instead of learning. I'm not so certain about that. But the comment made Violet beam with pride. Lucius rolled what he called a rollaway bed, a sturdy cot-like bed on wheels, into Suite 19 and opened the contraption so Violet could see she had a mattress like our bed. And she was thrilled. Who wouldn't be after sleeping on the trail as much as we had riding halfway across the United States Territories?

Plopped upon her bed, Violet locked an innocent gaze on me. "Where's Sherry?"

Mated. I suppose there's no way to skirt the truth. I sat beside her upon her squeaking bed.

Lucius shot me a covert glance and turned away to load our clothing into one of two wall lockers across the room next to the wide bed covered with all of our bags and baskets.

Like he feared dealing with the subject. I had to choke down a giggle. I turned to Violet. "Sherry married Tacitus."

Violet's brow furrowed. "She did? Why wasn't I invited to the wedding?"

Lucius didn't turn to face us.

The man probably grinned from ear to ear. But an explanation was unavoidable. "Shifters don't have a ceremony where people are invited."

Her scowl twisted into curiosity? "What do they do then?"

Why did Violet have to be so curious? "I suppose you'll need to know living in a Shifter community." I tried to appear absolutely calm. "They bite the woman they mate."

"Tacitus bit Sherry? You always said biting was unsanitary. Human bites being worse than most animal bites."

I nodded. "But that's just the way things work among Shifters. When you're older--"

"Don't say that, Elise. I am older."

Wrong choice of words. Time to fix the slip by just stating things clinically. "It's called mating. Not marriage. The bite is like poison or something. And the bite makes a permanent bond between the two people. One other Shifters can detect with olfactory nerves. So, they know which Shifter a woman belongs to after she's been bitten. The bite is called
the marking
."

Violet's angry mask metamorphosed into awe. "Oh, that's better than those fairytales! But this is real. Do I get to mate a Shifter when I'm old enough? I want to be marked."

Lucius leaned into the wall locker's upper wide open section used for hanging clothing.

Probably laughing his ass off in silence. Oh well. Everyone has to learn to survive with Shifters. "If you find a Shifter who loves you and wants to mate with you, yes."

Contemplation consumed Violet's face. She stared across the room for a minute. Then turned an accusing mask my direction. "Why is Lucius unpacking our things?"

My heart sank.

Now for the unavoidable declaration. "We mated."

Violet's dark eyebrows pinched together. "He bit you! And all the men around here can smell you?" She grimaced. "I don't know if I like that part of the marriage ritual." Her mask of distaste smoothed back into curiosity. "When did you fall in love? When I left this morning, you were worried he'd show up to bother you."

I never said that. "What do you mean? When did I say that?"

"You don't have to speak to tell me things."

"I think you need a hobby or a lot of chores." I shoved off of her creaking the larger traditional bed and strode to the bed to dig through something. Anything to avoid Violet's stare because the point about love was hanging over my head. Ringing loud. Droning like a wailing phantom. Was our mating indicative of love? I'd damned sure felt something. But how would I know what the feeling is? I never loved a man before. And the bite makes the two parties act all frenzied with mating. How can anyone know whether they feel love or not when driven to procreate?

"Well, I'm glad anyway," Violet blurted.

Lucius finally looked her direction.

Not laughing or grinning. He just looked. Past me.

"Good, then. You can accept that we've mating and begin school tomorrow." I'd need her to go. To leave me alone so I could think about what she'd said.

****

From Elise's silence while mindlessly foraging through a leather backpack at the foot of the bed, I could tell her little sister had said too much. It all began when she asked about us falling in love. About the timing. Although love mattered little with the marking's bite, my mate would need to hear an admission of love from me. How am I going to convince her we're supposed to be together? Wolf chose her. A Shifter can battle his Wolf. But a Wolf knows best. A Wolf can sense things the human part of a Shifter can't.

That's the equivalent of love.

Add my attraction to her.

Also add my need to protect her.

Both are expressions of feeling. Feeling that mirrored the Normal concept of romantic love.

And just what is romantic love ultimately in the end? Respect. Always had been respect in any situation. Trust. The reason Normal marriages failed AEI was because they lacked respect between the two mates. Tomorrow, we'd discuss love after leaving Violet in class with the other children.

Elise slapped the backpack's flap closed and wandered in a half circle that straightened out in the direction of one of the bedside tables.

The one on the other side of the bed. Far away from me. Tomorrow seemed so Gods-be-damned far away. I slid my gaze to Violet whose gaze flicked between her sister and I.

Knowingly. That one sensed the rising conflict. Saw her sister's internal battle. Her ability to detect those with pain is truly strong. Maybe that's why the gray of her eyes was so dark. I shot her a wink.

Her mouth stretched into a broad smile that split into a grin.

As if she'd purposely mentioned love to affect Elise the way she had.

The devious rascal. She's destined for long days at school where she can battle with the intelligence of some other Shifter's sons. A place she'd sniff out a Shifter who could match her strategic thought processes move for move so when the time came, she'd know whose bite was right. The man who could beat her at her healing games would win her heart. Keep her happy. And Elise and I could take care of the Mating Fever during school hours.

****

Elise seemed to drift away in deep thought until we'd gone to bed. She fell asleep but immediately carried on with her quiet thoughts after we woke in the morning. I'd see to it that this madness of love ended today. My mate would not be besieged by guilt when we'd done the right thing. When we turned to our subtle subconscious demand of mating. I shoved the door to the enormous school room wide.

Youths of every age turned to us from where their efforts landed them around the space. The small groups tended to be composed of same-age individuals with an adult teaching at a table or on the floor. The older teens weren't anywhere to be seen. But often the older Shifter males had individualized studies they could manage in their private quarters. That left them time to hunt or help their sires, learning in the process, since everything at a Shifter compound revolved around learning for survival and compound maintenance.

The strictest of the teachers, the one who kept everything in order and on schedule in the school, Rose, stood up from where she leaned on a palm over a table of children about Violet's age. "Good morning, Lucius. Are you escorting the sanctuary's newest addition to school?"

What would Violet say to that question? I slid my gaze to the little one.

Her observant expression split with a smile and she nodded wildly.

"Well come along then." Rose waved Violet over and looked at both of us. "She'll be home early enough to do her homework before the evening meal."

Excellent. I pressed my back into the cold glass door and waited for Elise to pass so we could talk in the corridor.

She stopped a foot beyond the door, staring back into the classroom.

The door closed with a rush of air. The ventilation system kept the underground habitat's air crisp and dry. Not too cool. It didn't have much to do this time of year except strip all the moisture the living exhaled out of the air.

"She looks like she'll be fine," Elise noted, staring through the glass.

"Of course she will. She's about to teach Rose that looks can be deceiving."

Elise grinned like a proud mother. "Oh yes. They have no idea who they just welcomed into their parlor."

Yes. The flies will be buzzing erratically today. "Let's go back to our room. I want to discuss something with you."

"Oh?" Her brow knitted with her pursed lips.

"Come on. Let's talk in private." I snaked my arm around her shoulders and guided her back until she could stand alone behind our closed door.

"What kind of discussion?" she asked. "Did I do something wrong?" Her tone had pitched from comfortable before the love question arose to alarmed now.

"No." I wagged my head and waved to the bed.

"Oh." She stared at the bed. "Is sex a discussion?"

How could she have phrased what we shared together as a simple act? "Mating, Elise. Sex is between two people who have nothing to share but the act. We share more."

"Oh," she said a bit too surprised for my comfort.

"Come on, sweet little kitten." I extended a hand to her. "I'm going to take care of your tone."

Her brow arched. "Tone? How does one take care of another's tone?"

This discussion won't turn into a scolding. I wriggled my fingers until she slid her smooth palm against mine and pulled her along until we settled on the edge of the soft mattress, side by side, still holding hands.

She rolled a questioning gaze to me in profile.

A submissive expression. We'd have none of that. "You're worried about what Violet asked."

Her dark eyebrow arched. "Oh?"

This one knows what I'm referring to. I gently rubbed the pad of my thumb along her index finger. "About us falling in love so quickly," I carefully stated softly.

A pop noted she gulped down my statement. "Maybe a little." The admission set her off on a wave of rapid blinking.

"Now stop that. Look at me."

She lifted her chin toward me this time firmly resolved by the way she faced me. "Alright. I can't believe I just went along with everything."

Silly woman. She had nothing to do with the bite. "Remember I marked you without so much as a warning. It was my choice, Elise, to offer my protection to you."

She nodded. "I was there."

Well, then smile. Or wink. "I want to explain what you probably haven't thought about."

"Alright."

Hopefully she would listen. "I have lived with my Wolf for thirty years. Long years that taught me more about being human than I can probably write in a book. But there are things about each Normal or Shifter that are nothing more than shared subconscious needs. Deep down inside, we want what makes us happy. What makes us whole."

She blinked thoughtfully, her pale gray gaze roaming across my face before locking back upon my gaze.

"Listen, Elise. Our subconscious knows what each of us needs. It's why we are struck hard by certain things. Why we find certain people appealing. Why we find certain people attractive. Our subconscious drives our fear. It also makes our heart race when we set eyes upon someone who balances our weaknesses. Our perfect match, Elise."

She nodded. "I understand."

"But we're different because I have my Wolf to bitch and moan about what I do not see."

"And I don't." Her gaze snapped downward.

Did she feel inferior? How foolish. I used a few digits of a finger to lift her pointed chin until she was forced to look me in the eye. "You are not inferior. You were raised by Normals who didn't teach you to use your instincts. Look deeper. Go back to when we first met. What did you think of me?"