by Amber Burns
Klaryssa’s eyes widened a little. “I’ve never heard of anything so…” She struggled to find the right word.
“Overpowering?” Dresdyn supplied. “All-consuming?”
“Yes,” Klaryssa replied with a nod.
Dresdyn sighed and lowered his gaze to his feet for a few moments before raising his gaze once more. “Why do you think I was so utterly horrible to you when we first met?”
“What do you mean?” Klaryssa asked.
Dresdyn sighed and hung his head in shame. “I would have helped you even without demanding payment of you,” he admitted. “But I knew you to be my mate even before I saw you. I smelled you long before you came running through the bushes, and my soul recognized you immediately.”
“Truly?” Klaryssa asked with a soft smile even though Dresdyn’s gaze was still averted.
Dresdyn nodded. “Yes, and it frightened me beyond all measure, for I had spent years determined to not find my mate.” He slowly raised his gaze. “I knew, from the first moment I saw you, that my life would forever be changed, and so I tried to ignore my natural instincts by treating you no better than one of my past conquests...all in the hopes that I could somehow fool myself into not believing that you were the woman with whom I was destined to spend the rest of my life.”
“But it didn’t work?” Klaryssa asked.
Dresdyn slowly shook his head. “All I could think of was protecting you and keeping you safe from those who would do you harm; and once I had killed them, all I could think of bringing you home...no matter how much the thought terrified me.”
“Why did it frighten you so?” Klaryssa asked in confusion.
“Because, when the men in my clan become mated, their mates become more than their lovers and mothers of their offspring. Their mates become their very reason for being, and if their mates are suddenly taken from them by the permanence of death, then the male in question goes mad...and he must be put out of his misery for the safety of all, lest he go on a rage-fueled and blood-crazed rampage.” Dresdyn hung his head again. “My brother and I were forced to kill our father after our mother’s untimely death, and then I was forced to kill my brother eight years ago after he tragically lost his mate.”
Klaryssa gasped and covered her mouth. “Oh, Dresdyn,” she murmured while reaching out with her free hand and rested it atop Dresdyn’s knee. Realization dawned upon her face. “Is that what drove you to become the black knight?” she asked softly.
Dresdyn regarded Klaryssa silently for a moment. “Meera told you, didn’t she?”
“Only that you were the black knight, and that it was tied to your father’s death, but she didn’t tell me how the two events were connected,” Klaryssa answered gently.
Dresdyn sighed and then nodded. “Yes, I became the black knight after my father’s death. It was my way of coping in the aftermath of a good man dying when countless villains who are truly deserving of death and punishment roam free,” he growled. “I only went after people who did harm to the innocent,” he clarified quickly.
“I know,” Klaryssa answered while getting up from her chair simply to close the distance between Dresdyn and herself and sit in his lap. “Meera told me.” She tenderly kissed her lover’s cheek while draping her arms around his neck, and she leaned her head against his when Dresdyn’s arms wrapped around her waist. “I am sorry about your father and your brother,” she murmured.
“Thank you,” Dresdyn answered softly while briefly closing his eyes and simply drawing comfort from Klaryssa’s closeness. “What other questions do you have?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
“Mates are presented only on the night of the hunter’s moon?” Klaryssa asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?
“Because it is meant to symbolize the end of a male’s search for his mate...his hunt for her, if you will,” Dresdyn explained with a smile before turning his head and nuzzling into Klaryssa’s soft hair. “The entire clan gathers together on the night of every full moon, but it is only during the hunter’s moon that mates are presented to the clan.”
“And...what am I to expect during my presentation?” Klaryssa asked.
Dresdyn grinned. “Once we are presented before the clan as a mated pair, then the true fun begins.” He lightly nuzzled Klaryssa’s nose. “Once the presentation is complete, you are then given a ten-minute head start before I then hunt you down while in my wolf form.”
Klaryssa gasped, and her eyes widened as her jaw dropped. “Hunt...hunt me down?”
“It’s symbolic, my love,” Dresdyn replied with a gentler smile. “Yet another way of representing the end of a male’s hunt for his mate...the end of my hunt for you,” he added huskily. “And it is a tradition that has been observed for many generations.”
“What will the rest of the clan be doing while you’re busy hunting me down?” Klaryssa asked curiously.
“The males will partake in revelry as well as a communal hunt, in which they run freely through the woods in their wolf forms,” Dresdyn answered. “The females will remain behind in the Keep, and once the males return, a feast will begin,” he added with a smile.
“I see. What happens once you catch me?” Klaryssa asked curiously.
Dresdyn’s eyes slowly shifted to amber, and he grinned at Klaryssa wolfishly after licking his lips. “Then, we consummate our union. At last.” He gave a playful snap of his jaws.
Klaryssa’s breath caught in her throat, and her cheeks turned pink. “Well, then, I will have to make sure that your hunt is a short one,” she said with a coy smile.
Dresdyn growled low in his throat while regarding Klaryssa through half-lidded eyes.
Klaryssa nervously bit her bottom lip them. “How can you be so sure that I am in fact your true mate?” she asked softly. “I keep waiting for you to realize that you’ve made a mistake.”
Dresdyn’s arms tightened around Klaryssa, and his eyes returned to their normal blue. “That day will never come,” he murmured.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because the magic inside of you calls to my very soul, like the sweetest of siren songs,” Dresdyn answered in a fervent whisper.
“But, I have no magic,” Klaryssa protested.
“Yes, you do,” Dresdyn replied with a smile. “The mere fact that your father was a being of pure magic guarantees that you have some magic inside of you, Klaryssa, my love.”
“But, I can’t cast any spells,” Klaryssa protested.
“It matters not if the magic is active or dormant,” Dresdyn replied. “All that matters is that the magic is there inside of your body to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?” Klaryssa asked worriedly.
Dresdyn sighed and remained silent for a few moments as he thought of the best way to explain the topic they had just broached. “Carrying a female child in the womb is no different from a normal, human pregnancy,” he clarified. “However, if the child is male, and woman carrying him does not possess magic, then she is driven mad to the point of death.”
Klaryssa’s eyes widened in horror, and she shifted her position enough so she could look Dresdyn in the face. “What? Why?”
Dresdyn sighed and gently rubbed Klaryssa’s back in attempts to soothe her. “When a male shifter is born, he does not gain the ability to shift into his wolf form until he begins changing from a boy into a man. However, when the male child is still within his mother’s womb, he is connected to his mother in every way, and while the moon holds no sway over him once he is born, the same cannot be said for when he is in the womb.”
“Are you saying that a male child shifts while in the womb?” Klaryssa asked softly.
“Yes,” Dresdyn answered softly. “During every full moon, and it would drive their mothers completely mad. The women would fall into the grips of a powerful moon madness. They would become convinced that they were either being hunted, or that their unborn child was trying to kill them.” He sighed and hung his head. “None of those women survived
their pregnancies. Those that did not fling themselves from cliffs in a desperate attempt to escape a non-existent pursuer would die trying to carve their unborn children out of their wombs.”
“Dynol’s mercy,” Klaryssa whispered.
Dresdyn slowly exhaled a shaky breath. “It was a very dark time for my people, Klaryssa. The ancient texts refer to it as the Dark Scourge.”
“How did your people get past it?” Klaryssa asked softly.
“It is said that Blaiddwych, the Great Wolf, took pity upon his children, and he then imprinted upon us the ability to sense when we were in the presence of our true mates. He also rendered us incapable of fathering children with females who were not our mates.”
Klaryssa frowned. “I thought you said that your people mated for life.”
“We do,” Dresdyn answered with a nod. “Once we find our mates, we are eternally faithful to them; but, until we find them, we are able to satisfy our carnal urges without fear of accidentally impregnating a woman who is unable to carry our child.” He offered Klaryssa a loving smile. “Our seed is useless unless spilled within the womb of the woman for whom we are each destined. It was the Great Wolf’s final gift to us...the assurance that no more innocent women and children perished.”
Klaryssa remained silent for several moments and kept her gaze lowered. After a few moments, she lightly pressed a hand to her belly, and when she finally spoke again, it was after she slowly raised her gaze to the Dresdyn’s. “So, when you told me that I was irreplaceable to you…”
“I meant it,” Dresdyn replied fervently before lightly resting his forehead against Klaryssa’s. “With every fiber of my being, I meant it, my love.”
“Oh, Dresdyn,” Klaryssa murmured while moving a hand so she could brush her fingertips over her intended’s cheek. “I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.
“Say you will never leave me,” Dresdyn entreated fervently.
“I will never leave you,” Klaryssa murmured with a shake of her head. “Never. I’ll stay with you always,” she managed to add moment before Dresdyn captured her lips in a deep kiss while tightening his arms around her.
“I love you, Klaryssa,” Dresdyn husked against his beloved’s lips.
“And I love you, Dresdyn,” Klaryssa whispered. “It makes no sense at all, but...I do. Dynol’s blessed mercy, I love you.” She kissed him. “How can this be?” she asked. “How is it possible for us to be in love after so short a time?”
“Because we are the missing pieces of each other,” Dresdyn replied with a smile. “Despite my determination to never find you, I have been waiting for you for years, Klaryssa, my beloved.” He raised his right hand so he could reverently cup his mate’s cheek. “And now that I have found you, my heart and soul are filled with unbridled bliss the likes of which I have never before felt.”
“Oh, Dresdyn, I feel the same way,” Klaryssa murmured before giggling softly when Dresdyn nuzzled her nose. “What about Cerridwyn?” she asked before giggling with mirth as her intended playfully snuffled her neck.
“What about her?” Dresdyn asked.
“We shared the same father,” Klaryssa answered. “Does she have magic in her blood as well?”
Dresdyn slowly exhaled. “There is a strong possibility that she does possess magic within her, and that means that one day she will be mated to one of my clan mates.”
Klaryssa nervously bit her bottom lip. “Dresdyn, she’s only a child. I won’t have her given away and mated off.”
“I have no intention of seeing her mated until she comes of age,” Dresdyn replied calmly. “My people are not in the habit of giving children away as mates, and we have firm rules set in place just for situations such as these. Now...there is something I must ask you.”
“You can ask me anything,” Klaryssa replied with a smile.
“You mentioned last night that Cerridwyn is thirteen,” Dresdyn began. “Has she begun…” He raised his gaze to the ceiling as he searched for both the words as well as the courage for what he was about to ask.
“Has she begun what?” Klaryssa asked curiously. “Developing?”
“No,” Dresdyn replied with a heavy sigh. “The other thing,” he added as redness began coloring his cheeks.
Klaryssa blinked. “Bleeding?”
The redness spread up to the base of Dresdyn’s hairline. “Yes,” he grumbled while closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. When the unmistakable sound of giggling reached his ears, he lowered his hand and opened his eyes only to find Klaryssa shaking as she attempted to keep her giggles stifled. “I’m sorry, is something funny?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Apart from the fact that a big, strong warrior-wolf like yourself just became adorably awkward while talking about a perfectly natural occurrence?” Klaryssa asked with a warm smile and an amused twinkle in her eyes. “Not a single thing, my wolf.”
Dresdyn narrowed his eyes then growled playfully before tickling Klaryssa’s sides. “You want to giggle? I’ll give you something to giggle about,” he said with a smirk before growling again.
Klaryssa giggled hysterically while squirming upon Dresdyn’s lap and trying to escape. Her struggle was futile, however, for her mate had no intention of letting her go. “Dresdyn! Dresdyn, stop!” Klaryssa managed to squeal in between giggles and desperate gasps for air. When her love finally relented and ceased his attack, Klaryssa leaned heavily against him and struggled to catch her breath as residual giggles escaped her. When she finally regained control of her faculties, she raised her head and glared with mock menace at Dresdyn. “That was mean,” she said with a small whine.
“Any meaner than your laughing at me during my period of discomfort?” Dresdyn asked with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk.
“That was completely different,” Klaryssa retorted with a pout while crossing her arms.
“Oh, really?” Dresdyn asked with his smirk still in place. “How so?”
“Because, with all the bloodshed you’ve seen, and all the women you undoubtedly had your way with before I came along, the discussion of a perfectly natural female occurrence is enough to make you blush?” Klaryssa asked with an amused smile.
“And how is that any different from the way you blushed when you saw my manhood for the first time?” Dresdyn asked cheekily.
“It’s very different,” Klaryssa answered primly. “I’m a virgin, and yours is the first and only one I’ve ever seen.” She blushed when Dresdyn gave her a very wolfish grin. She cleared her throat. “All I’m saying is that I find it strange that one such as yourself, who has seen more than his fair share of bloodshed gets squeamish about blood that isn’t the result of murder and decapitation.”
Dresdyn snorted softly. “There’s one way of putting it,” he said before sighing. “Perhaps my awkwardness stems from the fact that the subject at hand it pertains to your sister who is decidedly not yet a woman.”
Klaryssa pouted in thought. “I suppose I can understand that.” She sighed softly. “Alright, I promise not to laugh at you anymore. Now, what was it you asked me? If Cerridwyn had started bleeding yet?”
“Yes,” Dresdyn replied with a nod.
“No,” Klaryssa answered with a shake of her head. “No, she hasn’t started bleeding yet, but I believe it will happen soon. I was her age when I...actually, no. Now that I think about it, I was younger than her when I got my first menses. I was twelve.”
Dresdyn nodded in thought. “So, it really could happen soon, you think?”
“Yes, why?” Klaryssa asked.
“The females destined to be mated to the men in my clan, their innate magic doesn’t become detectable until they bleed for the first time,” Dresdyn explained. “Which is why I asked if Cerridwyn had begun…”
“Blossoming?” Klaryssa supplied with a small smile.
“Yes, exactly,” Dresdyn answered with a nod and a smile that was full of gratitude. “In any case, if Cerridwyn had already begun to blossom, and there was no scent of magic
, then I would not need to do anything, for there would be nothing we need concern ourselves with. But, since no blossoming has occurred, then we will simply have to wait until it does before I determine what is to happen next.”
“What exactly would happen?” Klaryssa asked. “And, would you even be able to scent Cerridwyn’s magic since you’re not her mate?”
“Magic is able to be scented by all the men in my clan,” Dresdyn explained. “However, when the male destined to be the female’s mate scents her magic, he is then immediately overcome by the inexplicable compulsion to be near her, and to spend every waking moment in her presence.”
Klaryssa nodded slowly. “Alright, I understand. Now, what did you mean when you said that you would determine what would happen next?”
“Well, if I scent any magic coming from Cerridwyn when she blossoms, then I will immediately sequester her away to one of the castle’s wings. She will have full range of the wing, and you will be able to visit her as often, and for as long as you wish. I will also restrict her human contact to women, and to already mated men, and she will be forbidden from attending clan gatherings until she reaches maturity...as is the custom for all females in the clan who are hovering on the cusp of womanhood as your sister is.”