Page 38 of Dawn to Dusk
He knew.
Balthazar curiously eyed us, anticipating an oncoming argument. He huffed a breath, mentally preparing to be a non-biased party.
“What the hell do you think you are doing, yeti?” I asked him.
Edur tried to imitate Esmerey’s calm flat facade, except he was horrible at it. His eyes twitched with nervous energy, and his foot tapped against the ground with agitation. “My job.”
“You are a caveman.” Scent marking was usually only used for two reasons. One was if your mate rejected a soul mark. Two was you were old and sick of waiting for your mate, so you chose your own. I could easily understand why Esmerey was a good candidate to be a chosen mate, but you could only do that with explicit permission. That was like forcing her into a marriage with him, without telling her, which was something she already experienced enough of.
“There are little ones present.” Balthazar snarled a warning to both of us, then focused on me. “Set a good example and regulate yourself.”
I took a deep breath and willed the red fur on my arms to retreat. I carefully boxed up my old instincts to meet this disagreement with violence and pushed it back into the recesses of my thoughts, keeping a tight grip on my humanity so I could pretend I was a man.
“You scent marked her.” My whisper reminded me of a boiling teapot.
Balthazar’s eyes whipped to Edur in shock. “You what?”
“It was a mistake. I was drunk.” A worthless excuse not worth the words wasted on the lie. This was not a mistake you made because you are drunk. It was an idea that being drunk gives you an excuse to shake off any liability for.
“Horseshit!”
“Take it somewhere else. Both of you.” Balthazar tried to wrangle control over the situation.
Except this was explicitly against our laws, and no one had protection against breaking them. Not Edur, not even Balthazar. I did not have to take my rage anywhere. My glare bore into Edur. “You can not scent mark her. She does not belong to you.”
“I know.” He snarled, losing his temper. Trying to be louder than me in an effort to scare me off with his dominant aura. Some of the children whimpered and backed away.
I stabbed my finger at his chest, and he shoved my hand away from him. “Unless you learn how to control your emotions, you need to stay away from her. You have no right to infringe on rights like that.”
The suggestion that he should back off made his own instincts rise to the surface. His eyes frosted over, and his fangs elongated.
“Take a run, kids.” Balthazar clapped his hands, putting himself between us as Edur pushed closer to me. One snarl from the belly of a beast who killed gods, and Edur backed up. As a predator, his pack functioned differently from my herd. His instincts required him to submit to his alpha in a way that did not affect me, but I did take a calculated step back out of respect for the wyre.
“Neither of you can make decisions for Esmerey. She is unclaimed. She entertains who she wants until her mate finds her, if she even has one.”
Witches were free spirits that were not tied to soul mates, unless the gods decided to pair them with a beast. There was a good chance she did not have a mate, and by beast tradition, was free from any and all shackles unless she agreed to them.
“You can’t tell him to stay away.” Balthazar pointed at me then turned that same finger on Edur. “You can’t say the same thing with your scent.”
My head shook with disagreement. “He’s too emotional and is going to hurt everybody involved.”
“Esmerey’s call. Not yours.” Balthazar snarled again.
I wanted to argue, but he was right. Despite this, I could not demand that Edur step back. I stomped away, livid.
Balthazar sighed behind me. “What is wrong with you?”
I glanced back to find Balthazar’s critical glare leveled on Edur. I wasn’t supposed to hear that. I walked far enough away that he probably figured I would not hear, but as a prey species, my hearing was superior to theirs. Everything about me needed to be skilled enough to outsmart the creatures hunting me.
It wasn’t so much a problem now. Predators did not hunt the same way anymore. We were forced to band together to survive Councilwoman Ira’s regime. Besides, food resources were readily available. Food competition wasn’t thesame anymore. We were stronger working together. Although, apparently, sex competition still worked at it’s finest.
When I made it to my room, I wrote out a letter to Esmerey, explaining that I would be absent until Edur’s claim wore off, and that I would make it up to her. Then, I went and stuffed it in her mailbox.
Selfish prick.
Chapter 13:
Esmerey
