“Absolutely not.” Wruin’s voice held a low, dangerous note that I didn’t like.

“Are you mental?” Endre’s voice was incredulous, with a hint of anger. “Let you leave with her?”

I blinked at them, no longer used to having to ask anyone for permission to do as I chose. I stuck out my lower jaw as I tried to think of the proper response. Wruin still was the king of us all, and Endre the benefactor that gave my people and me a home when we found ourselves without one.

If they were anybody else, if they were one of my people, the fire that would blaze from my eyes would have quelled their protests. I held my head down, not wanting to give away just how angry I was. Powerful muscles throughout my body, honed by a constant regimen of work, even as a king, flexed and relaxed over and over again.

“We are shifter-mated.” I protested.

I’d come to them after my flight, to take my own advice. I could have taken her behind their backs, I could have just fled with her, but I’d done the right thing. They were now the ones refusing to see sense.

“Then don’t leave the sanctuary, Taka. And don’t go near her! Do you understand me?” Wruin came close then, his nearness forcing me to look him in the eye.

I was the youngest of the brothers, and had always been the more playful, patient brother. I’d never had to be as hard as Endre or Wruin. I didn’t want to have to be now, but they were leaving me little choice.

“I will die without her.” Both of my brothers flinched at my words, but neither gave in. They had their mates, they should understand my plight. Wruin’s mate was my mate’s sister, which should mean something, but I could see it didn’t.

“If you stay in the same area as her you will weaken, of course, but you will not die.” Wruin wouldn’t look at me now, he’d turned away to stare into the flames of the fire in Endre’s longhouse.

“So we are to be prisoners until we weaken to the point that we die, is that your proposal?” I was really angry now.

Aska was trouble, there was no doubt about that, but anyone that had met Abigail, Wruin’s mate, would know that she was capable of much more than the life she’d lived. The woman had obviously been indoctrinated by her father, and her loyalty was deep, but that did not mean she could not change. She had to, it was our only hope!

Wruin’s shoulders slumped, and he took a deep breath before he responded. “Yes.”

It was my death sentence, pronounced by my very own brother.

I knew he’d been the cause of Endre’s banishment, whether self-imposed or not, but I didn’t think he’d ever do anything again. I knew the sense of it, that he was trying to save all of our people, but it still stung. The pain of his betrayal ate at me, but I stood tall. This was not going to end so easily.

“Then you’ve made the same mistakes twice, Wruin.” I left then, ignoring Endre’s calls for me to stop.

Wruin might be the king of us all, but I was not going to sit and pine to death on his command. How dare he talk to me as if I was a child? I went back to my tent, my blood boiling with rage that I could barely contain.

I could sense her presence, not so far away. She felt like an itch just beneath my skin, one that I couldn’t scratch. She felt like a promise almost fulfilled, but still out of reach. She felt like the little bit of future I didn’t have to look forward to.

“Damnit!” I cursed as I kicked off my boots, surrendering for the night.

My loyalty should be to my brothers, to my own clan, but she had changed it all. I hated her even more for that, even if it wasn’t her fault.

I brought her image to mind, and somehow managed to see her in her cell. For a moment, I was confused, but then, I realized I was actually seeing Aska. This must be some strange aspect of being mated, I decided. I wanted to know her thoughts, to find out what she had planned, but could not get near them. She was blocking out everything around her. I should be able to hear her thoughts, to speak to her even, but I couldn’t, I could only see her.

She faced the wall, a tray of food and her drink ignored. Her head rested against her knees, hiding her totally from me. I studied her, looking for clues as to who this woman was beneath her invisible armor. She was clothed in black leather, that hid her from me. Her body was shaped as a woman’s but her muscular frame was obvious.

Her hair, a long black line down her back, with braids mixed in to hold it away from her face, was the only hint of femininity about her really. I could not see a single sign of softness to her. Resting on my bed, I wanted to do…something. Her wrists and ankles were wrapped in chains, chains that were embedded into an oak wall with deep penetrating screws. She would not escape those chains; fur in her cuffs protected her from the silver, but she could not touch it to even attempt to pull the chains away. Wolf shifters could not touch the stuff, it burned them quickly and deeply. It would burn other magicals too, eventually, but wolf shifters had it much worse.

I knew she wasn’t asleep, I don’t think anyone could hold those kinds of shields up that she had in place while asleep. She was plotting then, plotting an escape. My heart and stomach twisted together, my rational brain telling me to leave her to rot, she’d attacked his people and his family. My heart and stomach told me something different, to get her out, to mate with her, to make her mine, whatever it took.

With an angry growl I rolled over, letting the vision of her go. This was going to kill me, one way or another. I thought about giving myself some relief, of taking the hard aching length into my hand to take away the ache, or even trying to find someone else to do it for me, but it wouldn’t work. I know Aska is the only one that could make this burning ache in my groin go away.

How could Endre, of all people, not understand what was happening to me? He’d left us all when Wruin told him to leave. Wruin hadn’t said he should go so far away, he’d just wanted Wruin to leave his woman and her lover alone. Endre had exiled himself, instead, despite the woman not being his true mate. Why had he stood with Wruin, then?

Anger, hot and agitating, made me blood boil. What was so bad about my proposal? I’d only wanted to be imprisoned with her, I didn’t ask them to let her go, or to let her run away with me, just for them to allow me in with her. Had they thought I was weak? That I’d fall under her spell? Obviously, neither man really knew me.

“Taka?” A high, male voice called out of the darkness.

Damnit, Hata now! I was never going to get any sleep.

“Come in.” I called, turning up the lamp as I sat up again.

I had to draw in air through my nose to calm down the beast inside me that wanted to escape. Anger was its own animal, and Hata didn’t deserve it. The boy was just a teenager in love, though he didn’t know it.

“Thanks, my king.” Hata ducked into the tent, his chest puffed up to make himself look broader. The boy wanted to be powerful and strong, like his father, but at 16 he hadn’t made it there yet. His voice was still squeaking, he had growing left to do.

“How may I help you, Hata?” I hoped my tone would dissuade him, but he wasn’t deterred in the least.

“Ingrid…” He began, but I was losing my patience.

“If you complain about that girl one more time, Hata, I will send you to one of the lands in along the Russian steppes, where we will never have to hear you again!” I glared at him, but softened when his eyes went wide with fear. I hadn’t meant to growl so loudly, or with such venom.

“I wasn’t going to complain, Taka, only ask if I’m in love with her. I can’t sleep for thinking of her, and how soft her cheeks are, how silky hair is. I want to…hold her hand all the time.” He was blushing as he spoke, and I relaxed. At least he was seeing sense finally.

“Hata, you’re…” I was going to say mated, which took one beyond even the definition of love, but they weren’t prepared for that yet, another couple of years and they would be, but not right now. “You’re both 16, and the only ones of your peers that age. It’s natural you’ll think about her like that, but for now, you both need to focus on learning your crafts and getting along.”

Hata was training to be in the small militia we kept in our world, but there had been little need for him until now. I almost wished we’d trained even more than the handful of males and females we currently have, now that we needed them.

“But she’s so beautiful, Taka! Gods, she makes my heart burn, just to feel her cheeks against mine.”

“Out, get out! I’m not staying awake to listen to you wax lyrical about a girl you would have sworn you hated only hours ago. Do as I told you, boy and have some respect for your king!” I shooed him out with my hand but he just kind of glared at me, not ready to go yet.

“I do respect you, my king, I just need some advice. Why are you so grumpy?” It was only his youth that saved him.

“Because my sleep keeps getting interrupted. Now off with you, boy! Leave me in peace!”

He pursed his lips, nonplussed, and I swear, it was only the fact that I’d witnessed his birth that saved him this time. “It’s not like we shifters need a lot of sleep anyway.”

I do, I needed the escape of it, at the very least.

“Boy, if you don’t wish to meet your gods tonight, I suggest you go to bed.” He was right, we didn’t need a lot of sleep, but I’d tried to keep my people on a schedule throughout our confinement below the ground. Having people awake in rotations allowed me to keep the peace in a land that was almost overcrowded.

Hata gave me a rather put-out look but he scrambled to his feet. “Fine, but I’ll be back tomorrow, Taka. You’re going to advise me on how to make her mine.”

“Only she can decide that, Hata, now get out.” I realized the validity of my own words as he left, laughing at my evil mood.

“Cheeky cub!” I muttered, but let him go. He knew he could get away with far more than he should.

I fell asleep with her bent frame in my head, her face hidden from my view. I wasn’t looking to save her, only get her out of her cell so that we could figure out what to do next.

* * *

Two days later I was staring at a wall of my own, Endre’s wall actually, wishing whoever was banging on metal outside would just stop. My head was pounding, my heart was racing, and I felt like I was going to climb the walls. Or all over whoever was pounding that metal and beat them into a pulp. This forced separation was taking its toll.

I glared at Endre as he came up to the table I was sitting at and put down two cups of coffee. “Here try this.”

“I think I might just prefer some ale.” I growled the words at him, my mood black and spoiling for a fight.

“That’s the last thing you need.” Endre’s tone was superior, or so my brain told me. I wanted to punch him too.

“You can’t do this to me, to us.” I growled at him.

“I spent hundreds of years here, alone, Taka. You can take a little distance.” Endre didn’t seem to quite understand.

For a moment, I could understand Airitech’s hate for my brothers and I. We were the dragons, rulers of the magical world we inhabited and he wanted our power. We were also arrogant.

“Crawl in a hole and die.” I whispered it, but I wanted to shout it.

I was miserable and these two had made sure it would only get worse. Guards were stationed at the door to her cell and they’d all been informed not to let me near her.

“She will only turn you to her side.” Endre replied, his words resigned.

“Do you think me that weak? That careless? I ruled my land happily without you two for generations and it was only nature that forced us from it. Do you think I’d have succeeded if I was so weak?”

“The mating is a strange thing, Taka, you wouldn’t understand, you’ve only just discovered it.” Endre’s words were careless, and my jaw tightened as I shot daggers at him with my eyes.

“Says the man that ran off to pout for a thousand years over a woman that wasn’t even his mate.” The words were forced from between my teeth my jaw was clenched so hard.

I’d never been so angry, never. How dare he?

“On top of that, you’ve only just met your own mate.” I added the last for good measure.

“Ah, but I’ve been with her in my dreams for years now. Did you know about Aska before she attacked us? Did you dream of her? Did you long for her as I longed for Thyra?”

He had me there. Aska had blanketed herself from me somehow. I couldn’t be rational in my current state, even if I tried.

“Look, Endre, you two are making a mistake. Instead of protecting the clan, you’re putting them in danger. Keeping us apart is only driving me to distraction and making me weak and angry. How is that going to prevent what you say you fear?”

“Because, the guards have been ordered to…drop you, if you try to force your way into her.”

I could only glare again at my brother. I’d got the information I needed out of him anyway, though he didn’t realize it.

The guards had been ordered to kill me. No more than I expected from the two that had already betrayed me.

“I’ll have my people out of here by tomorrow afternoon.” I told him, watching his face as shock spread across it.

“You’re leaving? But you’ll die much faster!” Endre actually sounded a little upset about that.

“It’s not like you care.” I left him, the coffee, and the future that should have been ahead of me behind as I left the hall. I was leaving, but I was taking Aska with me.