Leroni and Mala stared at each other. Then they both stared at Ari. Ari turned toward Mala. “Mala....I....”
Mala clamped her lips together. “Don’t say it. Don’t tell me.”
Leroni came to her side. “He understands now. He knows who he is. Hearing someone say his real name must have brought his memory back.”
Mala tossed her head. “I don’t care. Sooss—my Sooss—is gone.” She ran to the sleeping chamber and slammed the door.
Leroni took Ari by the hand and sat him on the platform without a word. He looked different now that she knew his real name. She could only smile to herself. She’d become so attached to him in the weeks he’d stayed in her apartment. She grieved the loss of this peaceful time as much as Mala, but she couldn’t let it show. In a few days, he would leave to rejoin his own people. She would probably never see him again, and her life would go back to the way it was before she found him.
A tumult of voices and running feet clamored down the stairs, and Aeifa burst into the room. She panted with her hand on the door handle and stared at the young man. He stared back at her. She took the first tentative steps toward him. Her eyes searched his. Did he recognize her?
She dropped to her knees in front of him. Taig and Tara came up behind her and stared at their long-lost cousin. The others crowded in the doorway. Aeifa put her hands on his knees. “Ari? Is it really you?”
His hand dropped onto hers. “Aeifa....”
Aeifa launched herself off the floor and threw her arms around him. Tara covered her mouth with her hand, and Taig laughed out loud until tears smarted in his eyes. Then he turned around and snatched up Roshin’s hand. He couldn’t stop laughing for pure joy. “It’s all right now, Roshin. It’s all right.”
Allen hugged Tara around the shoulders with one arm. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “My god! He’s alive!”
They embraced Ari one after the other. Aeifa buried her head in Taman’s chest and burst into tears. Roshin stared at Ari, but he couldn’t bring himself to approach him. Ari smiled at his sister and his cousins. He shook hands with the Ursidreans, and finally stood in front of Roshin. The two young men regarded each other with a level gaze. Then Ari extended his hand to Roshin.
Roshin looked down at the hand. He couldn’t understand it until he looked back up at Ari’s eyes. Then Taig’s words made sense to him. He grasped the hand for dear life. Talya’s hand flew to her heart. She laughed with tears in her eyes, too.
As soon as the shock of reunion wore off and the friends dried their tears, the questions started flying thick and fast. “What happened to you? How did you get here? What’s the last thing you remember? Can you remember what happened when you fell off the cliff?”
Ari only looked at each questioner in turn with a gentle smile on his face.
“He doesn’t remember what happened to him,” Leroni told them. “At least, he can’t tell us what happened to him.”
“There must be an explanation for how he wound up here,” Tara replied. “Is that river where you found him deep enough to carry him here?”
“Not by a long shot,” Leroni replied. “I found him at the height of summer when the river is barely a trickle. There’s no water flow in the sump grove. He just materialized there out of thin air.”
“That’s impossible,” Taig countered. “He must have traveled here over land.”
“How could he do that when he was incoherent?” Allen asked. “He would need all his wits about him to make that trip alone. He would have found it hard before he fell off that cliff, but Leroni says he could barely look her in the eye.”
Aeifa touched Ari’s hand. “It doesn’t matter how he got here. He’s here. That’s the most important thing.”
“We have to at least consider it,” Roshin pointed out. “We’ve got Outliers marauding our borders. If he made it across your territory undetected, anybody else could do the same thing. Scaling back the border patrols may not be the best idea after all.”
“Then the peace agreement really is dead,” Reina replied. “The whole agreement rested on trust between the factions and opening the borders to free travel back and forth.”
Tara rounded on Roshin. “You’ve been searching from the beginning for a way to kill the peace agreement, and now you’ve found it. I hope you’re happy.”
“Don’t blame Roshin for this,” Taman told her. “He suspected the danger of dissolving the borders would come back to bite us from behind, and he was right. We all should have listened to him in the first place, or none of this would have happened.”
“We can still save the agreement,” Taig suggested. “We could have joint patrols combining members of both factions on each side of the border. They would keep their eyes open for Outliers, not each other.”
“In the end, though,” Roshin added, “it’s a good thing you didn’t listen to me. We found out a lot more about the Outliers and their activities because of it.”
“All of us have valid points,” Taig told them. “We have no reason to fight each other when we have a much more serious threat to consider. If we have to solidify our borders and bring back the border patrols to fight the Outliers, we should do it. A common enemy will bring our factions together better than any peace agreement.”
“Taig is right,” Taman said. “Reinforcing the borders doesn’t mean throwing away the peace agreement.”
Silence fell over the group. Leflin and Leroni standing across the room with Anna and Aimee. Leflin nodded at them. “I can see the peace agreement is in good hands. The next generation of Alphas is meeting in this room. You should all take over instead of leaving it in the hands of old men like me and Piwaka.”
“You’ll have trouble convincing him to hand over the reins to me,” Roshin replied. “I don’t dare show my face in my own home village for fear of him.”
“I’ll explain everything to him,” Aimee told him. “When he hears the way you’re talking here tonight, I’m sure he’ll be happy to hand over the reins to you and your friends. Piwaka isn’t as young as he used to be, and he has no one to succeed him.”
“He hates me,” Roshin muttered.
“He knew you opposed the peace agreement,” Aimee replied. “He couldn’t cut you out completely because you’re Aquilla’s son and heir to the Alpha position, but he never trusted you to support him or the agreement. He had to watch your every move to make sure you never undermined him.”
Roshin snorted. “So what’s he going to do about the Outliers? He’ll never believe they’re a bigger threat than the Ursidreans.”
Aimee smiled. “We don’t have to convince him to take the Outliers seriously. We only have to convince him to pass the Alpha mantle to you, and you can deal with the Outliers in the best way you see fit.”
Roshin stared at her. Then he shook his head in amazement. “You’re plotting against your own mate.”
“I want what’s best for the Avitras and the rest of the factions,” Aimee replied. “Let Piwaka retire believing whatever he wants about the Outliers. You’ll become Alpha, and you’ll know the truth. You can organize the Guards to work together with our neighbor factions to patrol the borders together. They’ll keep the Outliers out and let friendly Angondrans through.”
“Do you really think this will work?” Taig asked. “What about Donen?”
“You’ll be Alpha of the Lycaon, Taig,” Aimee told him. “You’re the one who will negotiate with the Ursidreans.”
“Me!” he cried. “I won’t be Alpha.”
“She’s right, Taig,” Allen pointed out. “Ari won’t be fit any time soon to lead your people. The Lycaon will need a strong leader with his head on his shoulders to bring the survivors of this disaster together. You’re the only one who can do it.”
Taig blinked.
“Donen isn’t the one you’ll need to negotiate with, anyway,” Aimee went on. “He won’t be Alpha much longer. You’ll negotiate with Mirin.”
“Mirin
?” Tara asked.
Aimee nodded. “He’s Donen and Aria’s oldest son, and he’s preparing to take over for his father in a year or two.”
“How am I supposed to negotiate with him?” Taig asked. “I don’t even know him. It’s easy to say we’re the future of the peace agreement. We all know each other. I wouldn’t know how to negotiate with a complete stranger.”
“You negotiated with us when we first came to your village,” Taman pointed out. “Besides, you’ll have me and Allen to interface between you two, the same way my father interfaced between your father and Donen. Mirin’s a smart boy, and he’s our good friend. We’ve known him all our lives. You won’t have any trouble talking sense to him.”
“After everything we’ve been through these past few months,” Aeifa told him, “I don’t think any of us will have trouble doing anything we set out to do.”
“That’s right,” Leflin replied. “The future of Angondra is in safe hands with you.”
Chapter 3
After all the guests returned to their own apartments, Reina stretched herself out on the platform in Leroni’s front room. Leroni put the last dishes away. “The kids are asleep. You should go to sleep, too.”
Reina nodded. “I’m exhausted. You don’t know what a relief it is to be back in my own territory.”
“I’m glad you made it back,” Leroni replied. “Even if we never find out what happened to your parents, at least we’ve got you here.”
“What do you think will happen to the peace agreement, now that the Alphas are gone?” Reina asked. “It might fail after all the work they’ve done to bring our factions together.”
“It won’t fail,” Leroni replied. “Donen and Piwaka are still committed to peace. Leflin will take over for your father, and Taig will take over for the Lycaon. The agreement will survive. What will you do? The others seem to have coupled off on your travels. Taig looks pretty good. You could mate with him and live happily ever after.”
Reina laughed. “Taig is very nice. Any female would be lucky to mate with him.”
“But not you, right?” Leroni countered. “What’s wrong with him? I’ve seen you two looking at each other, so don’t try to convince me there’s nothing going on between you two.”
“I won’t try to convince you of that,” Reina murmured.
“So what about it?” Leroni asked. “Are you at all tempted to go back Lycaon territory with him?”
“A girl could do a lot worse than to go back to Lycaon territory,” Reina replied, “with him or anybody else.”
“Did you learn their ways, too?” Leroni asked. “Did you learn to run and build camp and all the rest?”
“I’m not too bad,” Reina replied. “I can build camp as well as the others. I still have some work to do to bring up my running speed, but I’ll get there.”
Leroni shook her head. “It’s amazing. I never would have expected that from you.”
“You learn all sorts of things when your life depends on it,” Reina replied.
“You don’t have to tell me everything if you don’t want to,” Leroni told her.
“I couldn’t tell you everything if I wanted to. There’s too much of it, and I’m wiped out.” Reina looked around. “Where do you want me to sleep? Both rooms are taken, and you and Leflin sleep out here.”
“Sleep there,” Leroni replied. “Leflin won’t be back for hours. He might stay out all night.”
“Does he do that a lot?” Reina asked.
“Only since Renier left,” Leroni replied. “I suppose he’ll be doing it a lot more now that he’s Alpha.”
Reina sighed. “It will be different not to be the crown princess anymore.”
Leroni shot her a grin. “You aren’t a princess anymore. Even if your parents were here, you wouldn’t be one. You’ve changed. I can’t explain how, but you have.”
Reina nodded. “I understand. I’m glad I’m not the Alpha’s daughter anymore.”
Leroni made a face. “I’m not so sure I’m willing to be the Alpha’s mate. I haven’t seen hide nor hair of Leflin since your parents left. He’s too busy.”
“We still haven’t figured out where you’re going to sleep,” Reina pointed out.
“Don’t worry about me,” Leroni replied. “I’ll manage. I always do.”
Reina glanced toward the sleeping chambers. “As a matter of fact, I have a better idea.”
Leroni caught her eye. “I wouldn’t do that if I was you.”
“Why not?” Reina asked. “There’s nothing wrong with him.”
“Nothing wrong with him!” Leroni cried. “How can you say that? His mind is gone.”
“You saw the way he reacted to us,” Reina argued. “He recognized us. He called Aeifa by her name. He even recognized Roshin, which means he remembers the fight when Roshin threw him off the cliff.”
"That doesn’t mean he’s ready for....you know,” Leroni countered.
“Something happened to him,” Reina replied. “He’s traumatized, and the old Ari is trapped inside. He just needs to find a way to let it out. Then he’ll be ready to tell us everything.”
“But you saw the way he just stared at all of you and didn’t answer your questions,” Leroni argued. “He can barely talk after weeks living here. He talks to Mala on their walks, but he never talks about anything that happened before he came here. He never talked about his family, or his parents disappearing, and he never told us about all of you trekking across country together.”
Reina turned away. “I’m going to find out the truth.”
“How are you going to do that,” Leroni asked, “by re-traumatizing him all over again?”
Reina snorted. “Is that what you think I’d do?”
“If you went in there right now,” Leroni replied, “that’s exactly what you would be doing.”
“I only want to talk to him,” Reina told her.
“Mala’s been talking to him for weeks,” Leroni pointed out. “She hasn’t found out anything about him.”
Reina swung her feet over the side of the platform. “I’m not Mala.”
“Exactly.” Leroni dried her hands. “Do me a favor and leave him alone. We’ve all worked hard to make him comfortable here. Don’t go messing it up now.”
Reina stood up. “I won’t. I promise.”
Leroni frowned, but Reina paid no attention. She eased open the sleeping chamber door and slipped into the dark. She closed it behind her with a click.
The aurora glowed in the window, just enough for her to see her way to the platform under the window. Ari’s eyes glistened in the light. He was awake, and he turned to gaze at her when she entered.
Reina’s heart skipped a beat, but she pushed forward and sat next to him on the platform. He looked like the old Ari, the Ari she remembered from the days before he disappeared, but he wasn’t the same. He’d lost his brass, his cheek, the obnoxious confidence of adolescence.
She’d kissed him once before, but she didn’t know this young man at all. Mala was right. The old Ari was gone. Even if he remembered what happened to him, he would never go back to being the same person he was before.
What did she hope to accomplish here? She couldn’t just come right out and ask him what happened to him. Countless others had tried the same thing, without success. What did she have that they didn’t? What did she have that Mala didn’t?
He held her gaze. She searched his soul for the answer, and in his gaze, she found it. A man who held a woman’s gaze like that had nothing wrong with his mind. He wasn’t traumatized at all. She slid closer along the edge of the platform, and he lifted his hand from the counterpane to touch her cheek.
She could barely contain the intensity of his touch. Both her hands flew to his wrist, not to pull that hand away, but to hold it, to contain the enormity of the emotions it brought to the surface.
Her grief when he disappeared paled in comparison to Aeifa’s. She couldn’t feel any
devastation at his loss compared to Aeifa’s and Taig and Tara’s loss. She buried her grief under a callous shell, and in the turmoil of fighting the Outliers and escaping with their lives, she never let it out again.
His touch reopened the wound. She choked it back, but it wouldn’t lie dormant any longer. She pressed her lips together to stop them quivering, and he folded her onto his chest. She buried her face in his arms, and let the emotions overwhelm her.
By the aurora’s light, she stared deep into his eyes. He cradled her face in his hands and held nothing back from her gaze. Somehow, his lips found hers and kissed them. The kiss reignited all the old passion from the night they kissed in the cave. The reserve and uncertainty dissolved, and they returned to that night. This time, though, they kissed alone in that cave. No one shouted and hooted and laughed at them.
Ari’s hands caught her around her buttocks and lifted her onto him. She straddled him, and her body opened its dewy folds to him. He rocked her hips back and forth to rub her against his growing cock. Her pubic bone stroked its shaft down to the base root where it sank into his flesh. A spasm shuddered through him, and he gasped out loud.
She unlocked her lips from his and reared back to look into his eyes. His eyes flashed the yellow light from the sky, and he smiled that old smile, the wild smile that set her blood on fire. The same old Ari was still in there, hidden behind this wall of mystery. Her plan worked. Her body, her passion, her life essence anointing his flesh, her love for him could bring him back from beyond.
He grabbed her thighs and pulled them down on either side of him. She draped over him and rubbed her breasts on his chest. His cock tortured her between her legs. How could she stand this unbearable tension?
He didn’t pay any attention to her clothes or his own. He thrust his hips against her and dragged his cock against the rough leather of her pants, but he made no attempt to take them off. Was this unending foreplay driving him as crazy as it drove her?
Instead, he rolled her over on her back and kissed her. She took the opportunity to shuck out of her pants, but he still didn’t escalate. Maybe he’d forgotten how. Maybe his experience erased that part of his memory. Reina smiled to herself. She would teach him all over again.
The New Angondra Complete Series Page 30