Mating Rights (7 page)

Jaxon watched them a long
moment before throwing another stick into the fire. He stood, went to the
wagon, and returned with a burlap blanket. “Here,” he said, wrapping it around
her and Kimber.

“Thanks,” Kimber said,
looking up at him with a smile.

“Thank you,” Mali
muttered, not bothering to look at him until he’d walked off to join the other
men.

Kimber nudged her with
her elbow. “He’s got eyes for you.”

Mali sniffed. “He can
keep on looking. I’ve no use for him.”

“Don’t you? A woman could
do much worse than grant rights to Jaxon. If he’s the same one I heard tales
about as a girl. Even with that face of his. A strong warrior breeds strong
sons.”

Mali slanted her gaze
at Jaxon while the men dispersed and checked the perimeter. “His face isn’t
that bad. I like it better knowing he got it for a good reason.”

“Not many survive the
Ursine,” Kimber said.

“No. I wouldn’t imagine
they would. Do you think they are worried about something? They’ve acted odd
since going on the hunt.”

Kimber shrugged. “Who
knows with men? No doubt it’s all us females that’ve got their breeches feeling
snug. They can hardly stand to sit with us temptresses. But can you blame them
with those harpies over there complaining about everything?”

The women might look
pert and perfect on the outside, but their parents were probably glad to have
them leave the household. Mali chuckled when Kimber made a face behind the
women’s backs, enjoying having a friend to soften her homesickness.

She hoped she wouldn’t
destroy the tenuous bond by having her secret exposed.

***

A rock seemed to be
burrowing into Mali’s lower back. Try as she might to find the offensive stone,
she couldn’t without disturbing Kimber, who was fast asleep beside her.
Mali sat up and dug around under her blanket, but she
couldn’t find anything but hard nodules of earth as the culprit.

Wind battered the walls
of the tent like fists. She shivered as she crawled out of the tent without
disturbing anyone. Standing once outside, the cold night breeze felt like fingers
digging under her skirt and shirt. The embers of the fire glowed from beneath
the black ash—radiating just enough heat to thaw her toes out briefly.
Maybe that was why she was having trouble sleeping?
She missed her warm soft bed and the heat of the stove in her loft. The soft
snores of her papa comforting her with his presence.
She’d
never dared to dream of an alternate life away from home. She thought she’d
live her life on their little farm—unmated, but safe and content.

Mali swallowed, choking
back the well of longing. Walking through the camp, she headed for the line of
trees shrouded in darkness.

“What are you doing
up?” Jaxon said, stepping out of the dark to lean against a tree trunk and
watch her. Shadows hid his eyes, but the stubborn set of his jaw spoke volumes
to his suspicious mood.

Mali nearly jumped out
of her skin. She clutched a hand to her heart to quiet its drumming. “Don’t you
have anything better to do than scare the life out of me? You’re like a ghost,”
she whispered furiously.

He crossed his arms
over his chest. “You didna answer my question.”

She glared at him
hoping he could see her displeasure. “Must you know my every move?”

“I’ve been assigned to
protect you all. So, yes, even scrawny little maids like you must answer to
me.”

“I am not scrawny. Is
flinging insults a perk of the job?”

“It can be.”

She rolled her eyes.
“That makes me feel ever so much better.”

“It should. No one else
here is going ta care about yer arse like me.”

“And you care about my
scrawny arse?”

“I didna say your arse
is scrawny. Seems quite well rounded ta me. Good for squeezing and pushin.”

“How dare you?” she
gasped.

“I don’t care ta mince
words at my age.” He grinned and she could see the whites of his teeth as he
smiled. They looked like a perfect target for a good punch.

She stared at him. “I
am trying to decide how I should take that. I feel I’ve just been insulted
again.”

He scowled and
straightened off the trunk. His stance seemed combative, alert for battle.
“Your dancing around the question is boring. Answer me. Are you tryin’ ta take
off again? I’ve been lookin’ for a reason ta tie you to the back of the wagon.”

“I don’t think I like
the sound of your voice or your threat. I’m not afraid of you,” she said. Her
chin set obstinately.

“You should be. That’s
not a threat but a promise if you can’t behave yerself. Were you raised to be
this stubborn or does it just come naturally?” Jaxon said as he grabbed her
bicep and pulled her close.

“Stop manhandling me,”
she said, grabbing his hand and digging her nails into his fist.

He smirked. The bastard
had the gall to smirk at her.

“Why are you provoking
me into a fight?” he asked. “Some women like to feign disinterest so they can
enjoy themselves without guilt.”

“I promise I am not that
guiled. You can’t honestly think I want you to put your hands on me?”

“Don’t you?” he said
quietly. “You did beg for my kiss. You offered me more than that.”

He dipped his head when
he said it, ruffling the stray hairs around her forehead with his hot breath.
She looked up at him, stunned. “Once was enough for a lifetime!”

“It was that bad? If
you’ve not come out here to fight, you must be after something else,” he
murmured as he grabbed her other bicep and pulled her flush against his body.
The hot, hard muscles felt like iron beneath the
leather and wool clothing. She was under no delusion that he wasn’t carved like
a statue. He might think he was old, but his body felt young and vibrant.
Vaguely, she remembered him capturing her and
crushing her beneath his naked form. Heat suffused her face.

 “I need to
relieve myself. Are you satisfied?” she gritted out.

He stared down at her
for a long moment. She thought she detected amusement, but if he had a sense of
humor, he hid it well. He released her from the prison of his arms without a
fight. “I’ll need to accompany you. You don’t need ta wander around the woods
alone.”

She gasped. “I’m not
doing that with you around. Are you insane? And I was not planning on gallivanting
through the woods in the dark.”

“Just like you weren’t
tryin’ ta escape? You take me for a fool, don’t you?” he said. “I’m coming with
you. I’ll turn my back if it’s privacy yer after.”

Mali attempted to jerk
her arm free, but he held her tight and pulled her along with him. “This look
good?”

“Yes,” she said
tightly. “You can turn around now. Unless you fancy a watch.”

“You think me depraved,
don’t you?” He chuckled.

“If the shoe fits…”
Mali felt her face heat with embarrassment. She relieved herself as quickly as
she could, convinced he would round the tree just to stare at her in a
compromised position. Nothing would surprise her about him.

“You are egotistical
and insufferable.”

“Aye,” Jaxon said,
walking her back to camp.

“I was safe before I met
you. I don’t need you to guard me day and night.”

“Aye. You do.”

“From what? What out
there is more frightening and dangerous than the wolf clan?”

“Keep yer voice down,”
he said quietly. “You’ll wake the entire camp with that banshee screech.”

Mali dug her heels in.
“There’s something else, isn’t there? Something you’re afraid of.”

He stared down at her.
“You’re smart for a farm girl.”

She crossed her arms
over her chest, waiting on an answer.

“We might have a bear stalking
us. Don’t go tellin’ the others.”

“A bear? I thought they
kept to their own kind up in the mountains?”

“You look at my face
and tell me if you can still agree with it.”

She swallowed. “Can you
keep us safe?”

“Not if they attack.
Especially if there’s more than one,” he said, looking around the dark woods.

“How is staying on
watch all night going to keep us safe then?” she asked, poking him in the
chest.

He didn’t flinch, but
caught her finger. His hot palm felt oddly thrilling. She jerked her finger
loose.

“It’ll give ya a chance
to shift and run if we sound the alarm.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s
not very comforting.

Jaxon shrugged. “It’s
the best I’ve got.”

“Don’t you think the
others deserve to know?”

His jaw tightened.
“Would you want to tell that load of harpies we might be bein’ stalked?
Might
be? For all I know the ursine turned and headed back to its own territory. We
didna take time to track it.”

“Good point.” She
sighed. “I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

He grunted. “That’ll be
a first,” he said.

She chose to ignore his
jab. She looked at his face illuminated by spatters of moonlight shafting
through the tree canopy. The jagged white marks seemed to absorb the light. How
sad that his face should be marred forever. She wanted to touch them and wipe
them away. Then maybe he wouldn’t be such an insufferable arse.

She hoped he was wrong
about the bears. Just thinking about the stories she’d been told through her
life made her shudder with repressed fear.

Chaos greeted them when
the tired horses and the overloaded wagon finally rolled through the ten foot
tall gates that guarded the southern valley entrance into Fangor.
Miscalculating the time needed for a wagon to
traverse the rolling hills and mud-mired road, it took the group two full days
to finally reach the Moonlight Festival instead of one day as Jaxon had
thought.

The gate closed
ominously behind them, sealing them inside the city Mali never imagined she
would see in her lifetime. Guard towers dotted the corners of the walls, manned
by men with crossbows and braziers licked by flame. Security should have been
welcoming, but she saw any possibility of escape dashed by the thick beams
marking the edge of Fangor.
She tried to put
that knowledge out of her mind. An overabundance of the wolf clan meant she’d
likely blend in with the crowd. Perhaps it would be enough.

Mali never thought she
could be so happy seeing civilization and being free of the unceasing
complaints of her brethren. Except that she didn’t know how to react to the throngs
of people that crowded the beaten earth streets. In the distance, a tall effigy
of a wolf constructed of straw and wood stood in the center of town, waiting to
be set ablaze to signal the commencement of the festival.

Their arrival at dusk
did not go unnoticed. Men leered from the front of stores and other buildings,
watching the women exit the wagon like hungry foxes stalking a gaggle of geese.
Or hungry wolves, as was the case.
The sounds of
music--of flutes, lyres, trumpets, and the steady pounding of drums, infused
her blood with excitement she couldn’t deny despite the nervousness seeping
into her bones.

“Come on now,” Jaxon
said, reaching for her.

“Oh,” she said.

Jaxon’s hands lingered
on her waist as he set her onto the ground. She looked up at him, feeling
breathless from the unfamiliar and strange scents carried on the wind.

In the street, a woman
wearing a small top that barely covered her breasts and a sheer skirt
embellished with jingling coins, spun and danced with flaming sticks. Across
from her stood a man with a jacket and top hat at a table, shuffling cards
through the air from one hand to another while his audience guffawed in
delight.

“Have you ever seen
anything so marvelous?” Kimber said, breathless with excitement.

“No,” Mali said.
She looked at Jaxon. “It feels like a circus. Or what
I’ve been told.” Reluctantly, she pulled free from him as he helped Kimber from
the wagon. Despite her irritation with him, he was her tent pole of
reliability. Fangor threatened to overwhelm her. She’d never been in a throng
of people before. Home seemed impossibly far away.

“It is,” Jaxon said.
“If you’ve any coin, you’re sure to lose it before the festival is over.”

That gave her pause.
She chewed her bottom lip. “I don’t have anything. Nowhere to go and nothing to
wear. What am I to do?”

Kimber looked at her
and put an arm around her shoulder. “You stick with me. We’ll keep each other
safe.”

“No harm will come to
you. Nicodemus has the inn set aside for first time females. Inside you’ll be
fed and given a bed. There are clothes specific for you to wear that mark you
as virgins.” He held her gaze, unblinking. She felt his stare like a torch.
Heat flashed across her cheeks and forehead.

“This makes my belly
flutter,” Kimber said quietly.