by Gordon, Eva
Ulric’s heart drummed. The woman he described reminded him of Cassia, the woman with the goat. Lovely green eyes and hair with highlights of reddish brown. The woman who stirred his hardened heart. Could she be a lycan? No. She smelled human. And the other woman was named Shifra, a Hebrew name. Perhaps a slave. Certainly not a wolf maiden without the protection of a lycan guard.
Igal returned from the back of his stall, a broad smile on his face as he held a glittering golden-jeweled scabbard. “Behold.” He withdrew the gladius. The capulus had an ornate silver wolf head. It brought memories of the wolf head on his father’s sword hilt long ago. He swallowed to contain his tormented emotions. How did Macula know? This sword was meant for a dignitary, not a gladiator. He scoffed, “I cannot imagine my master Macula requested such a gladius made for me.”
“Macula commissioned the sword but it was your mother who specified the design.”
“I see.” He smiled. An honor to his father.
“Your mother accompanied Macula and handed me a drawing. He lowered his gaze, his voice grave, “She is still his hostage.”
Ulric’s mood darkened. His nails were ready to extend into claws. “I wish I could take her away but Macula threatens her and my enslaved brethren.” He spat on the ground. “Now that I’m Domitian’s pet, he will never release me.”
Igal frowned. “I understand.” He sighed and lowered his voice, “Perhaps the rumors of rebellion against the Emperor will come to fruition.”
“Perhaps your god will make it so.” Ulric glanced back at the blacksmith’s handiwork. “Thank you for the gladius.” He mounted it on his belt. “Tell me, this woman with green eyes? Are you sure her name was Shifra and not Cassia?”
“No, her name was Shifra. That I will never forget.”
Ulric patted him on his thick shoulder. “Very well, my friend. Until next time.”
***
Ulric guarded Macula when the new head of the Lupercal, Petronia marched in followed by ten fully armed beta men and three dangerous looking female alpha lycans. Their black armor and Spartan styled helmets evoked images of battle-worthy lycans. He growled at the betas. He was after all his master’s guard dog. Even the most abused of dogs defended a master no matter how cruel he was. The raised welts from his recent flogging were still fresh and stung like jellyfish barbs. He earned them by not bowing fast enough to Macula’s wife, Floretta. In truth, his punishment was because he rejected her romantic advances. Again.
Floretta brought him fine garments and a special ring. A payment for him to ravish her behind Macula’s back. He refused and flung her ring to the ground. Enraged, she ordered him flogged until his blood painted his back red. Until he no longer could bear the pain and lost consciousness.
Macula stood and bowed. He returned to his seat and gestured for his slaves to bring more seats for his guests.
Petronia locked eyes with Macula but spoke to the gladiator, “Ulric put your fangs away. I’m here on your behalf.”
Ulric cast his glance down. “Yes, domina.”
Macula gritted his teeth and turned to him. “Silence, slave!” He glowered at Petronia. “You have nothing more to say to Ulric, domina.”
She growled at Macula until he submitted to her authority and cast his glare down. “I wish to buy the Chattian lycan. How much?” She signaled to one of her females, who carried a treasure chest and opened it before Macula. Inside were coins of gold, silver, and gems. Since time immemorial, the Lupercal had acquired vast riches. Yet such a price for a single slave was unheard of.
Ulric swallowed. As a lycan gladiator, he had compromised their secret society. Why would she buy him when she was within her rights to end his life?
Macula grinned, his tone strained, “You can offer me half a kingdom, but he is not for sale.” He walked around the bare chested gladiator with red lash marks still bleeding on his back. “You see Emperor Domitian favors him more than any other gladiator.”
Petronia fumed. “Feronia requires all alphas to do their duty as pack leaders. Give him his freedom or execute him, but do not keep him as your dog!” She approached Ulric, touched a fresh bleeding welt and tasted the blood on her finger. “That goes for all your omegas. Free them now before we the Lupercal order it.”
Macula boomed a laugh and roared for his men. Armored lycans and three master archers marched in, outnumbering Petronia’s personal guard. They growled and brandished ready swords. “I do not mean disrespect to your person or the Lupercal, but you are in my territory.”
Ulric glowered at Macula’s men. Were their weapons laced with wolfsbane? Would he dare profane the Lupercal’s law against the use of the odorless toxin?
Petronia’s lycans bore their fangs and grumbled growls. The Lupercal had the right to enter all territories at their leisure. Petronia remained calm, yet she snapped in a deadly tone, “Do not presume you can shoot me with a wolfsbane laced arrow like your father attempted to do to my brother long ago.” She lifted her chin. “The packs will not tolerate such sacrilege. Only the Lupercal is allowed to use wolfsbane to execute rogue lycans.”
Macula blanched. “You’re mistaken. If indeed my father sent an assassin to kill Albius, how did he survive?”
Petronia scoffed, “Your Lupercii had poor aim.” She gave Ulric a knowing glance. “Furthermore, only a coward uses wolfsbane to kill enemy packs. We lycans pride ourselves on defeating our adversary with fangs and claws.” She grinned, baring glistening fangs. “A coward’s mother does not weep upon his death.”
Macula clenched his jaw as she shamed him before his pack. “I assure you; we used it as a last resort, Domina.”
Ulric fumed. Liar! Macula’s pack far outnumbered his father’s pack. If he remained a slave to a coward then he must negotiate his mother’s release. “Domina, if it pleases you, take my mother, a wolf maiden worthy of a proper alpha.”
Macula glowered at Ulric. “You have not been given permission to speak.”
Petronia straightened her small frame. “We will take Rohesia.”
“She is not yours to take,” Macula protested.
Petronia glanced at the treasure. “You have a mate. Keep the treasure; she leaves today.”
Macula locked eyes with her. He finally broke eye contact and relented. “Take her. She is barren anyway.”
Petronia flashed a fanged grin. “On this day forth, you will remain loyal to your mate and leave all captured wolf maidens alone.”
Macula glowered at her, but bowed nonetheless. Even with the power of the emperor’s friendship, he did not push his luck.
Ulric dared not breathe out to show his relief.
Petronia smiled. “I will send a Lupercii for her this afternoon.”
Macula signaled for one of his betas. “Send for Rohesia. Now!”
***
Gaius embraced Cassia. “Promise me you will not go to the market until I get back?”
She dared not roll her eyes. Since the incident with Igal recognizing her, Gaius thought it best she not go out. Did he think she would encounter him again in the throng of the market? He was being over protective. “Yes, but remember a blacksmith rarely leaves his station. I can stroll countless other streets while hidden behind my veil.”
Gaius wrinkled his brow. “Cassia, perhaps it’s best you come with us.”
“And what if a lycan is injured?”
“Most heal without intervention. Besides in Rome only a pack war would cause injury.”
“And what of the lycan gladiators? Macula uses betas in their human forms to entertain the Romans. We always treat their slashed bodies.” She omitted mentioning Macula’s prized alpha, Ulric.
His eyes twinkled. “Don’t worry about your Ulric. He is indestructible. Besides Petronia hopes to free him.”
Her face flushed and she spat, “I was not worried about him.” As if she still might fool him. She frowned. “Anyway once he’s free, I’m sure he will return to Germania.”
He shrugged. “True.”
�
��Gaius, let’s go,” Cato called as he waited on his horse.
Cassia pushed him out the door. “Go on. I shall be fine.”
He stepped closer and whispered. “If you heal anyone, remember to use powders and potions so they don’t suspect.”
“I promise, now go.” She waved him off. He was right. Few lycans needed her attention. Not even the one she dreamt about. No more such thoughts. Better to focus on gardening medicinal plants and preparing potions.
***
Ulric bowed before Macula. “Master, may I bid my mother farewell?”
“Yes, I shall permit it. But be warned. If you escape, your Chattian brethren will be killed. Slowly. And remember though I’m not permitted to kill a wolf maiden, you can still have an accident or her secret revealed.
“What secret?” Snapped Ulric.
“We know she attended several secret meetings with outlawed Christians. A crime punishable with death. Let us hope the emperor does not find out I once harbored a criminal.”
Ulric’s need to shift and rip out his throat was staved by the fierce low growls of his four guards. Yet it was his promise to his mother that kept him from attacking his master. “I’ll remain your gladiator as long as she is not harmed.” He shot him a fevered stare. “Nor will I leave my den brothers and sisters to suffer death.”
“Good, we understand one another. Now go, you have earned an hour to visit her.”
Ulric entered his mother’s room before her departure.
She embraced him and gazed up, her eyes moist with tears. “Ulric, I promise to work on your freedom.”
He grimaced as she touched where the whip had struck his flesh. He knew how she suffered upon seeing him beaten. He looked down at her, his brow furrowed with concern. “Mother, Macula knows of your secret meetings in the catacombs with the Christians. One word and you will be arrested.”
She took a salve from her bag and tenderly spread it over his wounds. He tried not to flinch as she touched the reddened cuts. “Floretta is a vindictive bitch!” She spat, and then sighed. “Ulric, do not let him blackmail you. I only went to one meeting with my friend, Quintina Eulia, a Roman noblewoman of good standing.” She sighed. “Yet I realized my faith is in Feronia.”
He heard mention of his mother’s old friend, a childless widow who helped feed street children. “Are you sure, Mother? Macula said you joined the cult. Remember, he has access to the emperor’s Praetorian Guards and assassins?”
“I assure you, I have not. Their savior died for the sins of man. The promise of heaven appeals to many, but their religion serves only humans, not our kind.” She gave him a patronizing smile as if she still had things to teach him.
“But Mother, you are human.” Would a human god not serve her better when their lycan goddess had not?
“Think of our goddess Tanfana of the grove.”
He nodded and spoke with a trace of sarcasm, “Our so-called sacred goddess.”
She held his hands and met his gaze. “I dreamt of her. She goes by many names. She told me in a dream that in this land she goes by the name Feronia.”
“The Roman goddess.” His face creased in distain.
“No the goddess of all wolfen. Like you, I had doubts about Feronia. I begged in prayer to find out who to worship. Tanfana came to me and told me she is known as Feronia. She promised me that your father and I would be reunited. This promise and the hope for your freedom keep me from despair.”
“Good. Promise me, no more meetings with the Christians. Domitian calls them godless and a blight on Rome. He has no mercy. I have witnessed the gruesome deaths Christians suffer in the arena. Not only men and women but children as well.” Torn asunder by wild beasts, burned, or crucified.
She frowned. “Roman blood lust has no bounds. That is why I worry for you.”
He threw her a brave smile. “I do not plan on dying. Petronia will soon leave for Gaul. On her return, you must ask her to take you there. Once you are out of Rome and in the safety of another pack, I will free our betas and follow.”
She added more salve to an open sore on his shoulder. “She returns for the Lupercalia. Until then, promise to stay alive, my son.”
“I will.” He wanted to tell her of Cassia, the beautiful woman he had escorted to her home and how she too wanted him to leave. Why bother? He might never again see the beautiful woman who had caught his attention.
She threw him a proud smile. “I plan to acquire a bow and return to my skills in archery.”
“Such a skill is always useful.” He furrowed his brow. “Don’t think you can eliminate Macula without retribution from his pack.” His mother had been a well-known warrior, a Wodan’s battle maiden before his father met her while she hunted boar. The wounded boar gored her horse, and his father rescued her before the fierce beast impaled her on its tusks. While dressing her injured leg, he saw the mark of the wolf and knew she was meant for him. Ulric remembered his once fierce mother. Well muscled and foreboding. A worthy Chattian warrior. Now gaunt, she no longer laughed. If she went to Gaul, Wodan’s warrior maiden might return.
He escorted her out to her litter. Petronia’s Lupercii and two strong betas bowed as she approached.
As he returned to his station, Floretta called for him, “Ulric, you are to guard Lucius!”
He bristled at the sound of her voice. “Yes, domina.” He hated guarding the foolhardy boy of seventeen years. Lucius, their only surviving child, recently had donned the toga of a Roman citizen. Their first child had died in childbirth. His mother always fretted and was too overprotective and the boy often rebelled against her suffocating hold. He also blamed his mother for the death of a young human girl he once had loved. Today Lucius practiced his favorite sport, chariot racing. A dangerous pastime, even for a lycan. Lucius boasted of someday racing his chariot in the hippodrome. Macula had hired the popular charioteer Eco to train his son in what could be a profitable endeavor. Lucius and Eco met daily and became best friends even though Eco was human. Eco pledged his blood vow and became a trusted member of the lycan circle.
Ulric followed Floretta to the stable. Was it out of spite that she chose the son of the woman who Macula enjoyed the most? A few years younger than his mother, Floretta was every bit a noble Roman woman with the classic facial features, long dark hair, and olive skin. A beauty who did not feel a strong bond for her adulterous alpha mate. Macula loved her well enough but wanted more children. They were not true life mates. Ulric wished she had not chosen him to have a liaison with. The woman was brutal with her slaves and the pack. Floretta even banished an alpha female from Rome. The unfortunate female lycan complained to Macula about Floretta’s treatment of the pack. Then there were rumors she had poisoned Lucius’ human girlfriend. The girl’s death caused a rift between mother and son.
They approached the boy who was wearing his xystis, a sleeved garment designed for charioteering as he readied his desert horses. While Eco held the team, Lucius scowled at his mother. “Father gave me permission to practice in the hippodrome.”
Floretta sighed deeply. “This sport is so dangerous. Perhaps if you wait another year.”
Lucius’ face reddened. “Mother, you have coddled me enough! I’m considered almost too old to train. Must I remind you, I’m now a citizen not a youth.” He lowered his voice. “An alpha is impervious to major injury.”
She raised her voice. “Several alphas have been killed in races.”
He laughed. “Eco is the best trainer, and my new horses have won several races and know the course well.”
She shook her head. “At least take Ulric.”
He scoffed. “I do not need a nurse maid and furthermore, I ride alone.” He glowered at Ulric. “Stay here, omega!”
Ulric’s hackles rose, but he suppressed the urge to teach the whelp who the real alpha was.
His mother frowned. “Lucius, you will not talk…”
His brows lifted in affront. “What? I can talk to this slave however I please. Look at you, Moth
er. Every chance you get you fawn over Ulric.” He snickered. “And he finds your scent unappealing.”
Ulric wanted to argue but held his tongue. The boy spoke truth. If Macula found his scent on her, he might punish Ulric by killing one of his enslaved den brothers. The bitch even had his favorite prostitute sold. He stopped visiting the brothels, afraid Floretta might murder the women he slept with. Of late, he desired none. Since he had met Cassia, no other woman occupied his thoughts. If freed, would it be so wrong to take a human not a wolf maiden as a mate? No. He must stay away. His attraction to Cassia placed her in grave danger.
Floretta’s connection with Rome’s underworld of thieves and assassins threatened anyone who crossed her. Born to human parents, she was unaware what her lycan wolf mark meant. Her father had been a powerful gang leader before he met his end by an assassin’s blade. Once she had become accustomed to the pack lifestyle, she forced lycans to do her bidding. Next to the emperor, she was perhaps the most dangerous human in all of Rome.
Floretta raised her eyebrows. “How dare you!” She raised her hand to slap him, but turned on her heels and stormed off.
Lucius snapped at Ulric. “Leave! Before I tell Father you mean to bed Mother.”
Ulric’s face heated in fury. “I have no desire for your mother or any other Roman.” He lowered his head. “If you will excuse me, master?”
The boy taunted. “You can leave and find a dog to couple with, barbarian.” He and Eco laughed.
Ulric stalked off.
***
Cassia gave Ferox the day off to visit his sister across the Tiber. The burly guards Gaius had hired to protect her stood in front of the villa and looked menacing. In reality, they were just big and ugly. They lumbered and their breath reeked of wine. When Gaius had hired them, they had been sober. One, a former Roman soldier, worked at a local tavern to stop brawls, and the other was a borrowed slave from Cato’s household. She smirked. It would be too easy to outmaneuver them. Except for the guard’s half-drunk vigilance, she enjoyed the solitude of having the place to herself.
Gaius would be proud of her. She organized and cleaned the entire lycan infirmary. The expansive clinic included a surgery, large cots, a hot bath, and washbasins. Outside, a fountain with the statue of Asclepius, Greek God of healing, stood in front of a patio garden. A place to soothe the body and soul.