by Gordon, Eva
Chapter 14
Cassia awoke to the feel of Ulric’s hard muscled body spooned behind her. They fit so well together. She breathed in his masculine scent and sighed in complete contentment. She never wanted to part from him. But leave, he must. Her mind raced. If she cut his hair and dyed it, could they escape to Judea, Gaul, or even Dacia to meet with Albius? Unfortunately, the masking scent worked to hide humans, but not lycans. Could they outrun the powerful lycans hot on his scent? Would his mother remain safe in Etruria, without the presence of Petronia and the majority of the Lupercal? How risky would it be to rescue his fellow slaves? Ulric would never leave his slave den brothers and sisters to suffer the consequences of his escape.
Gaius had to leave as well. Since Cato’s murder, the joy that once had lit his face was extinguished. She feared for his life. Gaius acted willing to sacrifice himself in order to bring down Domitian. His duty was to be a physician, a Lupercii. Yet if they deposed Domitian, so many innocents, her own people included, would live or would they? Was not one Roman emperor just as evil as another?
She wiggled at the tickle of Ulric’s warm breath on her neck. “Cassia, I sense your worry.” He sat and traced a finger from the curve of her shoulder to her hip.
She turned and glanced at each distinct slab of muscle on his broad chest. He could serve as a study model specimen for a lecturer to point out all the muscle groups on his taut body. Raw masculinity, built for combat. And lovemaking. The burst of erotic sensations she experienced over and over again made her greedy for more. By the look of his magnificent arousal, he was ready.
He smiled and drew the blanket over himself. Her wolf mark warmed but her nether area felt stretched and sore and he might suspect such. Little went hidden from lycans. She sat. “Oh, Ulric, I cannot bear to be without you.”
He drew her into him, pressing her against his strapping chest. She rested her head over his strong beating heart. “We are fated to remain together for all eternity. Nothing will tear us apart.” He inhaled and then kissed her hair. “Patience. Together we’ll escape this decadent land.”
“Just promise me Macula will not kill you.”
“My problem is Emperor Domitian. He grows tired of my defiance. I refused to shift and kill the noble woman, Quintina Eulia, a convert to Christianity. I shifted only when he sent the deserters to kill her. If the crowd had not shouted for me to live, his Praetorian Guards would have finished me off.” He stiffened, his voice somber, “He even forced Varus the dwarf to fight a female gladiator, knowing he was my friend.”
Domitian loved pitting women gladiators against dwarfs almost as much as seeing beasts tear men apart. Normally, they pitted three dwarfs against one woman. His poor friend must have died swiftly. “I’m sorry, I know you were fond of him.”
He snorted. “Varus heeded my advice about sword techniques. He quickly had her on the ground. Before waiting for her fate to be determined, he insisted the emperor allow her to live so he might have his way with her. This pleased the crowd. Domitian let her live.”
She raised her head and shot him an incredulous stare. “Rape?”
He shook his head. “Varus only said he wanted her to spare her life. When she was brought to his chamber, they simply talked about their homeland in Gaul.”
Cassia sighed. “Let us hope Domitian’s enemies kill him soon.” Perhaps Gaius handing over the copy of the physician’s journal would force the Senate to act as they had long ago with Julius Caesar’s assassination on the Ides of March. Would the Senate brave killing another Emperor and risk civil war?
Ulric scoffed. “If Domitian were a lycan, his pack would have turned on him long ago. Without Macula as his guard dog, he would have been gutted like the sow that he is.”
“When Petronia returns she will remind lycan alphas that their allegiance belongs to the Lupercal and not to some despot human king or any other human.”
He kissed the top of her tousled hair. “The only human I will obey is you, my mysterious Shifra.”
She stiffened. The name had been part of her past, a personal memory she rarely shared even with Gaius. Shifra, an orphan, longed for her aunt who had died valiantly so she could escape enslavement. In her dreams, she often communed with Aunt Tamara’s tawny wolf shape. The message, was always the same, “find your life mate.” As she grew, Feronia became more prominent in her dreams. The goddess with the flowing white stola and large wolf by her side told her she would found a great healing school that would far surpass that of the humans.
He lifted her chin. “Your given name has power. Tell me what it means?”
“It is Hebrew for beautiful.” She never had thought of herself as comely and bit her lip.
He pressed his thumb over her bottom lip, and pierced her with his seductive eyes. “A truly fitting name, yet unlike our Chattian names. Not one a warrior would take.”
She playfully threw him a frown. “My namesake was a warrior of sorts. Igal once told me Shifra was a midwife. She disobeyed Pharaoh’s decree to kill all the first-born Hebrew males. She risked her own life, and because of her, Moses survived and led his people to freedom.”
He smiled ruefully. “Then the name is indeed powerful. Now tell me why the name Cassia?”
“When I was young my hair was lighter and not as brown. Gaius said it looked like the color of the spice, but also because I made his life more interesting or as he put it less than ordinary.” She laughed at the memories of the sometimes trying moments being raised by a single homosexual man without a female role model. She gazed at his wolf aura, silver with brooding grey eyes. “What does Ulric mean?”
“Power of the wolf.” His eyes shrewd with fervor. “Someday I plan to fulfill its meaning.”
She kissed his chin and then met his eyes. “Feronia would not have bound us had she not a good purpose for our union.”
He captured her mouth with hungry urgency and kissed her long and hard. He then gentled and kissed the hollow of her throat, leaving her delirious. “My wolf maiden.”
Warm moisture gathered between her thighs. She opened her legs like a wanton woman. “Please, again.”
“Sweet Cassia, we made love half the night and you are too sore and bleeding.” He probed his finger into her channel. “Am I right?”
“Yes, but…”
He planted a gentle kiss on her lips. “Do you realize Feronia directed Lucius to keep our secret?”
She threw him a sidelong glance. “I assumed it was out of gratitude for saving his life.”
“After Nidia’s death he prayed in Feronia’s Temple to make her a wolf maiden so they would someday reunite. Feronia appeared and commanded him to unite a destined wolf maiden with her mate. Once the task was fulfilled, his prayer would be granted.”
She scoffed, “That will mean he won’t take any other wolf maiden in this lifetime.” She slipped her tunic on and quipped, “He is after all, Macula’s son. Sooner or later all alphas wish for an heir.”
His tone aired his confidence. “True, Lucius is a lycan. He will not remain celibate but I believe his word. We became blood den brothers and his promise to keep us together is a sacred vow.”
She raised a pensive brow. “So there is good in Macula’s line.”
“His grandfather, Lucius I, was considered an ethical alpha leader. It’s a shame he fell on his sword after the death of his wolf maiden. His niding sons grew to depend too much on human influences.”
She had heard the story of how Macula’s mother had died of pestilence when he and his older brothers were adolescents. “Did your mother tell you about Macula’s family?”
He sat at the edge of the bed and his face reddened, “Floretta confided in me.”
The reminder of Floretta’s lust for Ulric made her blood run cold with jealousy. “Promise to stay away from that nemesis.”
He laughed wholeheartedly. “Now that Macula has returned, she will tread more carefully.”
“He is lycan. How can he not know his wife is after you?”
He snorted a bitter laugh. “Macula knows, but makes a game of it. He despises Floretta. She is not his true life mate, but he enjoyed the power of her gang lord father.” His tone darkened. “It was my warrior mother who pleased him.”
Knowing the shame he and his mother must feel, she sat next to him and held his hand. “Would Macula not kill you if he found you with Floretta?”
“He warned me that if he ever found my scent inside of her, he would have me killed along with the omegas from my original pack. Floretta knows this and risks too much.”
Never had she been tempted to poison anyone until she met Floretta. Her Hippocratic Oath forbade giving a lethal drug to anyone, even upon a person’s request. Her knowledge of anecdotes for the countless Roman poisons was vast. Her purpose was to heal. Not kill. “I don’t know who is worse, Macula for allowing her to pursue you or Floretta for wanting you despite the consequence.”
“Within human Roman law he has the right to kill her, but since she is a wolf maiden he cannot. However, he could divorce her. Now that Domitian tires of me, he may tempt the fates and accuse Floretta of adultery. And seal my fate.”
She turned to meet his eyes. “When Petronia returns, all the enslaved omega lycans will be freed.”
He stood and wrapped his arms about her. “I can no longer wait that long to be with you. On the next waxen moon, I will release the omegas. Let them attempt to stop us. But first I want you to leave Rome; only then will I risk an escape.” His small pack of omegas would not have much chance against Macula’s large pack, but if they could leave the walls of Rome and head toward the hills and countryside, they might survive their flight.
“No. I’m your mate. I will not leave your side.”
He lifted her face and his grey feral eyes burned into her. “I will not move unless I know you’re safe. If anything happened to you, my life would not have meaning.” He smoothed her face with his calloused hand. “My love for you is more important than my life.”
She batted tears and protested. “What would my life be without you?”
“Your life is far more important. You are goddess touched.”
She tried to turn from his smoldering gaze, but he held her face and kissed her. She moaned in passion as he probed her mouth with his tongue, and brushed his fangs against her lips. She growled a rumbling sound of satisfaction, and her claimed wolf mark burned for him.
He smoothed her disheveled hair and laughed, “Must I remind you that you are not a wolf?” He kissed her forehead and stood. “Time for a bath.”
***
Ulric lay back in the warm bath and imagined a life raising their children far from Rome with a pack of loyal wolfen.
Cassia planted a kiss on his cheek and stepped out. “Rest, gladiator.”
His wolf awoke, tempted to drag her back in. “Where are you going?”
“To pick herbs from my garden. If I’m to leave, I need to prepare curative potions.” She threw him her dimpled smile and left.
He looked forward to sniffing her hands to determine what plants she had worked with. He stood and glanced down at the wounds where javelins had penetrated his body. Not even one scar. A consequence of her magic healing.
He smiled as he heard her conversing with Egidius as if the goat were a cherished child. He donned his tunic with a smile, thinking of their future together. The approaching scent of lycans interrupted his thoughts. His ears picked up voices at the gates. No. He growled. Macula and Floretta. He had planned to leave at noon. What in Hades were they doing here? The goat baaed and Cassia approached the gate, her sweet voice asking who comes. No! Cassia come back in.
He dashed out. His master dismounted and bowed to her while his beta men and the litter bearers set Floretta down.
The female viper stepped out of the litter and cursed. “Nemesis!”
Macula looked at her with curious dismay. Ulric approached and snarled. “Why the sudden visit?”
The alpha leader grinned, bearing his long fangs. “We are not here to visit but rather to collect my property!”
Floretta glared at Cassia with daggered eyes. “What are you doing here?”
With a mischievous smile, feigning shock at her question with a raised brow, Cassia answered. “I live here.”
“Nox said you had left for Judea with Igal the blacksmith to be with your tribe.”
Macula hearing this for the first time turned to the harpy. “Floretta, whatever are you talking about? Cassia is Roman.”
Cassia laughed. But her pulse betrayed her. “As you recall Igal mistook me for someone else. Surely Nox is mistaken.”
“Nox sensed the truth, Shifra,” Floretta drawled. She turned to her husband. “She is a Judean.”
Macula quipped. “Half of Rome’s slaves are.”
Ulric stepped up. “Gaius adopted her as an orphan. The memory of her past is too painful.”
Macula snapped. “Your opinion does not matter, omega!” He sneered at Cassia. “My dear physician I smell a lie.” He waved his hand dismissively. “No matter, the past is the past.”
His wolf’s hackles rose, yet Ulric controlled his need to rip his throat. He bowed his head like a subservient dog. At least Macula’s reaction was casual, clueless that she was the child seen with the she-wolf that had almost destroyed an entire galley. The memory of the event long forgotten.
Floretta scowled at Cassia, “How dare you lie?”
Macula placed a hand on Floretta’s shoulder as if to stop a scorpion from a lethal strike. He twisted a sinister smile, “My dear, is that any way to talk to the physician who saved our son’s life?”
Not placated, Floretta snapped at her, “Where is Gaius?”
Cassia answered, “He will be back on the morrow.”
Macula lifted a brow. “Too bad. I must talk to him.”
Ulric sensed Cassia’s temperature drop. She must dread Macula talking to Gaius. Had he been sent by his master, Domitian, the gutless soft sow, who sends women and children to their deaths?
Floretta inspected his bare chest and frowned. “Your wounds must not have been so great.” She raised an accusing brow at Macula, “Did you not say he was near death?”
“Put away your claws, my beloved wife. When I last saw him, he had lost so much blood even I doubted his survival.” He smiled at Cassia, “Once again your healing hands have worked their wonder.” He sniffed and he lifted a brow. “Now I see how you healed.”
Ulric stiffened. Macula must know of her true nature.
Cassia shook her head, “Dominus, the curatives from the east work fast on lycans.”
Macula laughed, “That is not what healed him. The gladiator took your maidenhood.”
Cassia flushed red and shot Ulric a quick glimpse.
Floretta, her white paste wrinkled into a mask of fury, “So that is why he feigned his wounds.”
Macula smiled, enjoying the game. He snorted, “Oh, I assure you my dear wife, Ulric was near death. I for one am happy Cassia let him satisfy his needs. It makes an alpha stronger and speeds up healing.” He shook his head and turned to his beta soldiers. “Does not the entire area smell of his seed?” he hooted. Laughing harder when he saw the pained look on his wife’s face. His frivolity directed at tormenting Floretta rather than humiliating Cassia.
His pack simultaneously nodded and joined in with Macula’s howling laughter.
Ulric roared and grabbed the nearest beta. He lifted him and threw him into the fountain. The beta’s huge splash soaked Floretta’s stola and she shrieked.
The others stopped their mirth, knowing the consequences of toying with the dangerous gladiator, and worse, the vindictive wolf maiden.
Macula sneered. “So it appears this physician is more than just a woman for bedding.”
Ulric reigned in his senses. He had to protect her. “No.” He twisted a roguish smile and snorted. “She means no more to me than the other women that satisfied my needs after the arena. All of Rome knows my fondness for virgins.” Ulric
stared down at the wet beta who cast his gaze down. “My male needs are not a laughing matter for lowly betas.”
Floretta wringed out dampness from her wet stola and glowered at Cassia.
Despite the danger, Cassia pressed her hand over her mouth, struggling not to laugh. A giggle escaped. She bowed. “I’m sorry, domina.”
The haughty woman hissed at Macula, “I for one think he should not fornicate with our son’s physician.”
Macula ignored her and grinned at Ulric. “I’m glad you’re fond of her. It has been such a long time since you last slept with a prostitute I thought perhaps you were saving your frustration for the arena.” He laughed. “No harm done. Human women will never bear our children. A hard lesson our son had to learn.” He tapped a finger on his lips. “Perhaps I shall reward you with your own prostitute.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw Cassia glare at Floretta, fearless of the dangerous woman. If they were she-wolves, they would be at each other’s throats over him. He had no doubt that in physical combat Cassia would win.
Macula gently gripped Floretta. His voice honeyed, “Come, wife, be happy that our gladiator is healed and perhaps less aggressive since his needs have been met.”
Floretta twisted away as she spoke to Cassia, “I advise you to focus on your clinic. I would hate to think that you might be perceived as a common whore rather than a physician for our lycan kind.”
“I assure you, domina, it is my intention to practice medicine above all else. In the future I hope to be as lucky as you are and someday find a suitable husband.” She smiled at her intended dig.
Floretta’s eyes narrowed at her in murderous rage and Ulric worried. Jealousy would guide the viper’s wits and kill Cassia.
Macula commanded, “Ulric, return with my men.”