Page 3 of Night's Bride

Sighing heavily, he turned to Emily and gave her a faint smile as he waved a hand toward the woods. “Vrel will catch up. I will take you to the sled.”

“Sled?” She perked up as she glanced in the direction he gestured. “I will be sitting on a sled?”

He gave her a confused look. Did she think that he would make her walk? She was so small and vulnerable that she could not possibly keep up with him and Vrel in the dead of summer, much less in the snow when Ragoru were the most in their element. He had just assumed that they would need a way to carry her comfortably that would not potentially frighten their new mate. He was ashamed, however, that there had not been enough time for him to build a new one that was not stained from dragging larger prey.

“It is not a very nice sled,” he rushed to warn her. “We usually use it for hunting, but Vrel laid down some evergreen boughs to sweeten the scent of the wood and we covered it with furs to make sure that you will be comfortable.”

“That is actually very sweet, thank you,” she replied and took a step toward it. She immediately gasped in surprise when her foot became caught in the snow, causing her to stumble.

Vikt reached over and grabbed her arm to stabilize her and stop her from falling. It had been instinctual and yet the grateful look she gave him made his heart thump heavily with a flow of warmth settling into his chest. His ears twitched nervously as he released her arm, his gaze focusing on the pink rushing once more into her cheeks. She glanced at him uncertainly and he swallowed. Did she wish for him to assist her?

A nervous flutter of excitement took wing in his belly, and he stretched a hand toward her in invitation. He nearly died of happiness right there within his tracks as her expression brightened and she placed her hand within his.

Perhaps this was going to work after all.

Chapter

Three

CHAPTER 3

Emily gasped with laughter as snow surged over the sides of the sled, and she gripped the siderails harder as she giggled. She should have guessed that they would be capable of quite a bit of speed. In fact, Vrel had caught up with them so quickly that she imagined that they were keeping their pace moderated for her sake so that she didn’t bounce too hard in the sled. He had merely shot out of nowhere and come up alongside the sled only to quickly surpass it and join Vikt at his side. He had jogged there with them complacently for a time but eventually broke away to scout up ahead, keeping in touch with eerie, echoing songs that they howled back in forth through the forest. It was only when Vrel caught up to the other male that they enjoyed a brief rest sprawled in the snow while Emily stretched her legs, and then the twins traded places and resumed their journey.

She wondered how Trish was doing and whether her triad had been able to coax her into a sled without too much difficulty, especially considering she likely had to leave most ofher belongings with the transport. Trish had been upset enough and probably hadn’t taken it well, which had accounted for the howls and shrieks that had followed them for a short time upon departing. What had the escort company been thinking when they loaded all of that? But now, with the silence of the forest all around her, broken only by the sounds of the Ragoru and the sled cutting the snow, she hoped that Trish had found a small measure of peace with her situation.

After all, the Ragoru weren’t the terrible monsters that Trish had been fretting about. Quite the contrary. In fact, Vrel and Vikt appeared more uncertain around her than she was around them, and that was a strange novelty. The council had given her a small pamphlet that had been authored by one Evelyn Willock, so she knew that Ragoru family groups were generally comprised of three males, one of whom would be the alpha, around a central female who possessed all the authority within the family. She just hadn’t expected that to apply to her—a human. Given that there didn’t appear to be any sort of alpha between the twins to take on some aspects of the power-sharing dynamic, it gave her a shocking amount of power as Vrel and Vikt seemed to watch for her lead. Even during their breaks, they waited patiently as they fed her until she indicated that she was ready to resume.

She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It was heady, but it also made her very nervous. Did she even want that kind of power with males who were supposed to be her mates? Her parents had never approved of her boldness, but while Vrel and Vikt almost seemed to welcome it, she couldn’t help but think that it was partially because it took the pressure off one of them having to step into the alpha role. That made it somewhat uncomfortable despite the sweetness of the twins. It was most telling in the fact that, while they had warmed up to chatting with her as they traveled, they refrained from coming within touching distance unless she initiated it. Otherwise, they kepttheir contact with her as brief as possible. That stung a bit at first, since it almost came off that they didn’t want physical contact with her, until she noted the way that they seemed to light up whenever she casually touched their arm or hand in thanks.

Oh, Blessed Mother, was she going to have to initiate sex too?

A blush worked its way up her cheeks, and she ducked down deeper into her furs with the hope that the males wouldn’t notice it. She was bold, but she didn’t know if she wasthatbold. She glanced uneasily toward the sun setting beyond the forest. Its fading light was beginning to cast long shadows, and soon they would have to stop for the night. Would they be looking to her to initiate sex tonight? Her lungs worked rapidly, pushing air in and out in quick little gulps as she struggled to breathe through the anxiety suddenly crushing her. It wouldn’t be too much longer, and she swallowed back a squeak of dismay when the sled slowed and drew to a stop. Her gaze lifted and fastened on the two males as Vikt and Vrel moved around to either side of the sled, their yellow eyes glowing luminously in the fading light.

Emily stared back at them uneasily but nearly laughed with relief when Vikt helped her from the sled and set her on her feet, his upper hands lingering on her arms only long enough to assure himself that she was steady before releasing her. There was no undercurrent of some other expectation between them. Vrel studiously examined the sled as he fussed over the binding and thoughtfully grumbled to himself, while Vikt was as polite and watchful as always. His gaze followed her as she moved around the sled but carefully averted when she hurried toward the trees to relieve her bladder.

Although she was relieved that she wasn’t expected to initiate sex in the middle of the woods, their reaction worried her even more when it came to the eventuality of having sex. Shouldn’t there be at least something to indicate that they were eagerto have her as their mate? She wasn’t entirely sure what was missing or if she was imagining it. She bit her lip as she cleaned herself and straightened her clothes before returning to her “mates.” Their identical gazes turned toward her, and they immediately shifted, making room for her between them around the fire they had built while she was relieving herself. She glanced between them as she dropped in the middle, but neither male made an effort to crowd closer. Instead, they thrust food and a waterskin into her hands and chatted amicably.

“It is not much farther,” Vikt assured her with a smile, his slightly harder features setting him apart from the softer expressions of his twin. Even his ears seemed to be set more upright and alert while Vrel’s ears tipped in an expressive way that she found rather adorable. “We have a small handful of nights for traveling at our current pace, and then we will arrive at the outskirts of our communal territory. From there it is only a short distance to our home.”

Emily gnawed on the dried meat and nodded. It was as far as Trish had said, then. She felt even more grateful that the winter made it possible to travel such distances far quicker with the use of the sled. She couldn’t even imagine walking all of that on foot, especially not when the woods would be filled with predators at other times of the year.

“Our home is on the edge of communal territory but closer to the hunting grounds,” Vrel quickly added. “We do not see others very often, but our stomachs are always full and Vikt is always finding good wood to season for me to add pleasing things to our den… home,” he corrected, his ears flattening nervously.

She glanced over at Vrel, suddenly interested. The prospect of having a ready supply of food was great, but seeing another dimension to the males beyond successful predators touched something within her. “Oh, do you carve?”

The male’s ears flattened further to the sides with embarrassment, and he inclined his head. “I enjoy fashioning wood and raw clay that I can find and dig up. I also make pigments from experimenting with various plant materials,” he whispered.

Emily’s brows shot up. She was impressed. She had heard some of the people living in the settlements farther from the citadels had taken to more natural crafts to supply themselves with since the trade routes from the capitals were slow and undependable at best, but she had never met anyone who could actually do it.

“That’s amazing, Vrel,” she replied honestly. “I hope that you can maybe teach me a few things.”

His ears pricked at her words and his expression warmed considerably. “It would be a pleasure to have you assist me. My work is not much, but if you wish to learn from me, I would be delighted.”

Vikt scoffed in response, the bark of his laughter making his twin’s gaze shoot to him in affront as he handed Emily yet another large chunk of meat. “He says his work is not much, but it is his work that is the most admired among this clan of Ragoru. Males are always bartering some excess meat or supplies with the hope of filling their dens with pretty things for their females.”

Vrel’s smile deepened, his ears tipping shyly, and Emily felt her smile grow despite her concerns. She glanced over at Vikt and raised her eyebrows. “And what about you? I assume that you do not just hunt and look pretty.”

The male froze, and for a moment she was genuinely worried that she had somehow seriously screwed up and offended him. Then he cocked his head and a hint of a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. “You think I look pretty?”

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