Page 78 of Wolf Caged
“I’ve never heard of Beltane before. Is it like a solstice?” A change of subject seemed like a good idea and it might divert his attention away from teasing me.
I took another sip of my mead and this time it tasted better, and that sweet spicy tang in the air swirled with the scent of it, invading my lungs and my mind, easing the tension from my body.
“Of a sort. Millennia ago, when the seelie and the unseelie roamed the human world, the mortals felt a need to ward off my kind and appease us to prevent our wickedness from spoiling their lands and taking their people. On the first day oftheir May, they lit great bonfires and drank mead spiced with woodruff, and danced long into the night, frolicking to celebrate the rebirth of the world through fire. My kind would grace them with our presence, drawing magic from the rite.” He swirled his mead, seemingly lost in it. “They no longer celebrate Beltane as they once did, so my kind celebrate it instead, carrying on the tradition with the fire of rebirth.”
Several men jeered and I glanced in their direction, and lingered. By the gods, I had never seen a pig as large as the one they were turning on a spit, its skin glossy and dark. My mouth watered as they basted it with what looked like mead from one of the open barrels, sloshing wooden ladles of it over the animal before they swept a thick brush along the length of it, spreading the mead and making sure every part of it was basted.
“The little wolf hungers. She has an insatiable appetite for meat,” Kaeleron purred.
“If you mention your nether regions, I will throw this mead in your face.” I slid him a dark look, hoping to silence him with the threat, but he only laughed instead.
“Throw it in my face and I will order you to lick me clean, my lamb.”
“Ugh. I’m not a lamb.” I had to lock my arm up to stop myself from hurling my drink at him, all too aware he would carry out that threat and make me lick it off him if I did.
Since my threat had failed to make any impact on him, I gave him the cold shoulder instead, enjoying my drink as I took in the celebration.
I frowned as a male stepped up behind a female who was bucking the trend and wearing leather trousers and a loose blouse rather than a dress, sliding his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder. The larger male she had been speaking to a moment ago, one who had feathered his fingersacross her cheek and leaned in for a kiss from her, didn’t seem to mind the attention the other male was giving her.
In fact, the two of them shared a smile and struck up a conversation.
Kaeleron shifted in his seat beside me, sitting up and leaning far too close to me for comfort, his scent of wild storm swirling around me, as drugging as the mead. I scowled at him, but he didn’t notice, was too busy staring in the direction I was.
“Ah. My little lamb is curious. The brunette female is Kali, a warrior who serves in my legions.” He placed his hand on the seat beside me, his little finger brushing the side of my thigh, his look unrepentant when I shot him a glare.
She was pretty, with her braided dark hair and pointed ears, and the way her face lit up with her warm laughter, but she looked as much a warrior as Kaeleron had called her, her body honed for battle, but somehow still feminine.
“Which of the males is with her. I thought it was the larger one, but the tall, slender blond fae seems more intimate with her.” I studied them closely, struggling to figure out which was her lover.
“They are both her mates.”
My head whipped towards Kaeleron so swiftly I almost headbutted him. “I’m sorry. You mean she’s in love with both of them, not that they’re both fated to her.”
He shook his head. “They are fated. It is unusual, rare even, but it does happen. Ivaron, the blond male, hails from the Dusk Court and she met him during talks between the courts, quickly realising he was her second mate.”
I looked at that male, with his burnished bronze leather trousers and gold-studded tunic. He looked as elegant as any fae of this court, but perhaps a little less dark.
“The larger male is Taegen. He is a member of the Shadow Court, though he does not hail from this land but rather the DarkRealm.” Kaeleron inched closer, his shoulder brushing mine, sending a jolt through me that had me hyper aware of him again. “You would call that realm Hell.”
Hell. Many species of immortals came from that shadowy realm, including demons, and I had heard stories that it was where dragon shifters like Neve lived. Even vampires lived there, acting as mercenaries for the other species, willing to fight in their wars for money. Had Neve and Riordan come from that realm?
“He’s fae though,” I said, not quite a question and not a statement, because I wasn’t sure what he was. He had black hair and pointed ears, and had Kaeleron not mentioned where he had come from, I would have assumed he was from the Shadow Court.
“An elf, rather than an unseelie. Her family disapproved of the match, and then she discovered she has two fated mates and they disowned her. Jenavyr gave her a place in her legion.” Kaeleron idly swirled his finger around my shoulder, tracing patterns on my bare skin, and I jerked it. This time he stopped without me glaring at him. “Ivaron was away on business and has only just returned. It is little wonder she is so happy to see him. I am sure she would have missed his presence tonight.”
Two fated mates.
“Is it a fae thing?” I said.
Kaeleron arched a brow at me. “Missing your mate?”
“No. Having two of them. I’ve never heard of it before.” And some small part of me willed him to say any immortal who was blessed with a fated mate could have two of them.
Because I desperately wanted it to be true.
I wanted a second fated mate—one who would want me and would love me.
“It is a fae thing. I have not heard of another species having more than one potential fated mate. Perhaps demons, and thosewith fae blood in their lineage.” He moved away to refill his goblet.
