Page 9 of Night's Bride

“That you are,” Vikt agreed with a fond chuff of amusement. “But I happen to like small, soft, fragile females who have spirits far too big for their bodies.”

She grinned at that observation and was considering a good come back when Vrel burst back into the house in a state of panic. Her head whipped around to him in surprise, but she was not left guessing long because he gestured toward the door urgently as he looked over at Vikt.

“In… in the snow. I need you to help me,” he pled. He was so rattled that his voice practically shook, and Emily found herself quickly climbing to her feet in response only to be gently nudged back toward the cushions by her other mate.

“Remain here,” Vikt rumbled. “I will assist Vrel. We will be back shortly.”

Vrel nodded in affirmation, but he kept glancing back toward the door so anxiously that the idea of being left inside rankled. If there was a problem, she wanted to be by their side dealing with it, not hidden away from any potential threat. She frowned as she watched them slip out the door. It only took her a momentlonger to decide to follow them. Fighting her way out of the cushions, she headed toward the door only to reel back at the last moment when it flung wide open again and both of her mates hurried inside, dragging something large in a pale silvery-gray hue between them. She gaped for only a moment before the snow blowing into the house reminded her to rush over and shut the door, then followed them back over to the cushions where they deposited an enormous Ragoru.

Her eyes went round as she crept up to Vrel’s side and studied the male. Other than possessing a pale color compared to the warm sable gray of her own mates, he was much larger than Sabol, or any of the males in Trish’s triad. The fact of the matter was, if he were standing, he would likely be a couple heads taller than her own mates and possess nearly twice their bulk.

Who the hell was he? Someone from the clan?

She didn’t think so. After Evelyn, there had been no visits from any of the neighboring Ragoru. She didn’t know how much of that was due to courtesy toward the newly mated and how much was due to their reluctance to share physical space together when unnecessary, but the pamphlet seemed to hint at a natural territoriality with the species. It didn’t seem likely that a male would just show up randomly around their house.

“Do you recognize him?” she whispered.

Vrel and Vikt shook their heads in the perfect mirror of each other.

“We are not close to all of the clan, but we would recognize their scent markers from the respective territories within the clan’s denning lands. He does not smell familiar.”

Vikt scratched his ear. “He may be new. It does not happen often, but on occasion someone new will turn up looking for the promise of a home. I have never heard of anyone turning up during the winter.”

Emily bit her lip as she stared down at the male. He was an unknown and that made her nervous about having him in her home. He was so much bigger than her mates that it would likely take him little effort to harm the males if he happened to awaken unexpectedly.

She could ask Evelyn for help… except she hated that she wouldn’t be a part of the trip down to the little red door that marked the woman’s house. Her plans to hunt for it had been interrupted by the snowstorm that had descended upon the woods over the last few days. And now, because of said storm, she would be stuck at home while someone else went.

“I suppose we should fetch Evelyn,” she commented with a heavy sigh.

Chapter

Eight

CHAPTER 8

Vrel did not know how he ended up being selected to get Evelyn when he could barely speak properly to other Ragoru at the best of times. It was even more challenging to do so while her mates glowered at him, but somehow he managed to convey the situation clearly enough that not only Evelyn but her alpha, Thral, rushed out with him back to his den while another of her mates, Vrishna, went to fetch a healer. There was no complaint about having to step out into the snowstorm or attempt to delay things until the storm let up. They merely followed him out wordlessly at an urgent pace—so much so that Thral plucked his mate from the snow and carried her through the trees.

Truth be told, Vrel was not only surprised by that. More than anything, he was in awe of just how quickly Evelyn and her mates fell into a smooth pattern of response to his call for help. There was no question of how to proceed. Rather, Evelyngrabbed a pre-packed bag, and the males immediately scattered as they set about their own tasks in what appeared to be a well-choreographed plan. He suspected that it was not the first time they had to respond to an emergency situation with a new arrival.

Thank Efru. The Dark Father’s halls of the dead may not be prepared to accept the large male just yet. He did not know if he could handle having someone expire right there in the middle of the den. His lower hands twisted anxiously as he led them inside and hurried to Emily’s side where she leaned over the unconscious Ragoru.

Evelyn and Thral solemnly followed him over, their expressions grave. She lay a hand on Emily’s arm with a murmured word that had Vrel’s mate step back so that they could take over. He was just grateful that they had everything so under control because his insides were twisting with anxiety the entire way back to his den and continued to do so as he hovered around Emily, watching.

The male’s eyes and mouth were immediately examined, and Vrel watched curiously as they ran their hands over him only to pause every now and then in their inspection.

“I do not see any wounds,” Evelyn commented, and Thral grunted his agreement.

“He did not succumb due to any harm, or poisoning,” Thral gruffly replied. “Nor does he appear to be weakened by starvation.”

“Definitely not,” Evelyn observed. “Wherever he was before arriving in our woods, he clearly was eating well. Even his fur shows signs of good health,” she observed as she ran her hand along the pelt on his arm.

Thral’s eyes narrowed slightly as they focused on her hand until she removed it with an unapologetic grin. He sighed, his ears flicking as he nodded in agreement.

“It appears that he did, in fact, merely get caught in the storm and was unable to find shelter before it penetrated his pelt enough to adversely affect him.” His eyes lifted to meet Vrel’s stare. “He is lucky that you found him. I am guessing that he was hunkered in the snow and curled up in an attempt to conserve body heat?”

Vrel nodded wordlessly. That was exactly how he had found him. For a moment he had thought that the male was dead. His first impulse was to flee from the corpse and find a way to hide it before anyone tried to blame him and his twin. It was a completely unreasonable reaction, but it would not have been the first time that they were blamed for attracting some kind of ill fortune due to their peculiarity and driven off by alphas they had approached when they were younger and more optimistic. He had only just been able to fight his impulse to check for signs of life. Discovering that the male was alive did not make him feel a whole lot better—a lone male could just as easily be a danger to them and their mate—but it at least calmed him enough to fetch Vikt so that they could decide together what to do.

He still did not know what they would do from there. A shiver of apprehension ran over him and he stepped behind Emily and curled all four of his arms around her, tucking her close to his body. He was certain that she could hear the worried race of his heart, but if she did, she did not shame him for it. She merely turned enough in his embrace to stroke his fur soothingly.

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