The Alpha's Concubine (Historical Shifter Romance) (24 page)

"I hate to spend these evenings talking of her," Khelt muttered.

Netya sat up, pulling the furs to her chest as she put a hand on his arm. "Khelt," she said gently, "will you tell me what happened between the two of you? It frightens me to see the way you look at her sometimes." She felt him tense, and when he spoke again his voice had hardened into the gravelly tones of the alpha.

"It is nothing you need to hear."

"It would help me to understand. Perhaps it would help you also?"

"There is nothing to understand! Mind your place, Netya, I am still your alpha." He threw the furs off and swung his legs over the side of the bed, bristling as he paced to the far wall of the chamber.

His anger frightened Netya, but she swallowed her misgivings and crept to the edge of the bed. She'd glimpsed the tender part of him that for months she had longed to reach, and she would not let it go now. "It must be painful for you. I know some of your pack died—"

"Is this what I bring you to my bed for?!" Khelt exclaimed, rounding on her. "To hound me with these insolent questions? Take your clothes and return to the cave with the others. I have no more use for you tonight."

Tears came to Netya's eyes. Khelt had never spoken to her in such a way before, and his scorn hurt more than any physical blow he could have dealt. In an instant she no longer felt like his lover. His words had reduced her to the alpha's plaything, something to be enjoyed and cast aside once its lustre was spent.

"It is freezing outside," she said.

"Then wear your cloak." He gathered up her clothing and dropped it on the bed before turning his back again.

Netya dressed in silence, trying not to cry. She found her anger and clung on to it, choosing fury over despair. How could he be so callous? She had been trying to reach out to him, to touch a part of the alpha that he could share with no one else, and he had thrown it back in her face. Was he even capable of being the man she wanted?

Khelt's back remained turned, refusing to look at her. Netya wanted to confront him further, but she remembered the last time she had made a fool of herself by allowing her anger to run wild. It was not that she feared his response, but that, deep down, she realised it would be a pointless effort. He had closed his heart off to her, and once his mind was made up Khelt's will was stronger than stone. She may as well have beaten her fists against the rocks of the cave wall.

Tugging her cloak tight around her shoulders, Netya wiped the moisture from her eyes and stepped out through the drapes into the biting cold. It was not a long walk down to the caves, but it was far enough for the chill to seep into her clothing and pierce her sensitive skin. She had become comfortable in Khelt's bed as her tender body relaxed in the afterglow of lovemaking, and the sharp contrast of being thrust out into the winter air made her discomfort all the worse.

By the time she crept into the cave and returned to her empty spot she was shaking, and even Fern's questions could not rouse a response from her as she pulled the furs over her head and curled into a ball.

—
19—

Caspian

He knew something was wrong when he saw Netya hurrying out of the alpha's den in the middle of the night. He called her name, but the wind stole his voice away before it could reach her, and a moment later the girl had been swallowed up by the darkness. What brash decision had Khelt made now?

Caspian thought about following her, but it was late, and if the alpha had just thrown her out of his den into the cold he doubted he would find either of them in good tempers. Already the bitter air was numbing his fingers, and he resolved to look into whatever had happened the next morning rather than worrying about it now.

He stepped down from the entrance to the seers' cave and relieved himself in the snow, before wrapping his furs back up tight and hurrying inside. By all accounts someone who was neither a seer nor a woman should have been forbidden from such a place, but Caspian had never cared much for tradition. As a child he had spent half a winter in here with his mother and her fellow seers as he fought through a sickness they did not know how to cure. Within a few months he was healthy again, but the women had become so used to his presence that they were more inclined to tolerate his comings and goings, and after it became apparent that no amount of scolding would keep him out they finally seemed to accept that he was the exception to the rule.

Even as a grown man he still sought out the seers' cave for the same reasons he had as a child. It was a quiet, spiritual place, filled with the gentle fragrances of herbs and the eerie light of the strange oils the women burned in their stone lamps. He enjoyed the tranquillity. It was a space for his thoughts to free themselves.

Everyone else had gone to their beds, but Adel still sat awake on the opposite side of the fire near the cave's entrance. Caspian heaved the heavy screen across the opening behind him and settled back into his place opposite her, looking to the game of coloured stones they had been playing in the dirt, his light pebbles against her dark ones.

"I saw Netya outside," he said, watching as the den mother's eyes lit up from within the small mound of furs wrapped about her body. He was disappointed to see her smile.

"Has she finally had enough of him?"

"I would hope not, for all our sakes. I was starting to believe she might be ready to settle here," he said.

"She is little more than a slave to him." Adel grimaced. "She can settle without needing to warm her captor's bed every night."

He gave her a patient look, and the woman huffed, fixing her glower back on the game as she planned her next move. Even after all these years, he could not truly tell whether Adel liked him or not. But like or dislike, the den mother certainly held a respect for him that extended to precious few others. Her willingness to let the topic slide was the result of a dozen such discussions between them that had led nowhere. She could not persuade him that his childhood friend was the barbarian she thought, and he could not convince her that he was a good man who made hard choices in the best way he knew how.

"Well, she has an eye for you, anyhow," Adel muttered, knocking one of Caspian's pebbles aside and replacing it with two of her own.

"And fortunately I have no intention of claiming what isn't mine."

The den mother glanced at him, concern marking her features for a moment. "It almost escaped me, did you take good care of Liyanthe last summer?"

He smiled. "She was very eager once I showed her there was nothing to be afraid of. She seems much more willing to court the other young men now."

Adel nodded, looking relieved. "Good. It took all night to calm her after her first summer fires. Hopefully she can put it behind her now."

"You could have asked her yourself."

She waved a hand impatiently. "What does it matter? You have told me now. I take it she is not the female for you, though?"

He shook his head. "She is a sweet girl, but I would not have sought her out if not for your suggestion. If I managed to help her, that is enough for me."

"Hmh," Adel grunted. "And you have no interest in the Sun girl, either?"

"What is your concern with her, den mother? It is not Netya's fault that Khelt favours her."

"It was a foolish mistake to take her from her people."

"You do not need to tell me again," Caspian replied. "But she has settled better than any of us could have hoped. You said it yourself, she may well have saved Erech's life by staying at his side the way she did."

Adel paused, watching him intently for a moment before speaking again. "I tried to scare her into leaving not long after she arrived, you know."

"Why? She would not have gotten far. Did you want to get her killed? Because if anyone but Khelt had caught her, you know what would have happened."

"I would have carried her back to her own people myself if it had worked," Adel said. "But the stubborn girl refused. She can't even see what will happen if she stays here and has Khelt's child."

"Perhaps not, but it is her choice to make. She may be young, but she is not as foolish as you think."

The den mother's scowl remained firmly etched into her face. Caspian sighed inwardly, wondering if he would ever find some way to reconcile Adel with the rest of the pack. She was barely a few years older than himself and Khelt, and yet he had seen her heal wounds and divine meaning from the spirits with skill beyond that of the wisest and most ancient of seers. If ever there had been a woman destined for great things, it was Adel. But there was ice in the den mother's heart. A bitterness buried beneath years of stubborn anger, and every day it worried him to see the same darkness growing in Khelt. He had tried so many times to reach it and dig out the root of their discord, but at times it seemed an impossible task.

"You see something of yourself in her, do you not?" he said at last.

"I had twice the wits at her age. She may have my hair, but that is all we share in common."

"You saw the way she was with Erech. I recall a similar kindness in you when you watched over our wounded many years ago."

"I never wept over the people who took me from my home." She took Caspian's final pebble from the patch of dirt they had been playing on, then rose to her feet. "Perhaps you will have better luck next evening."

He gave her a disappointed look, but he cared little over losing the game. "Well, we have all winter."

Adel turned and dragged her furs after her without wishing him good night. He collected the playing stones and secured them back in their pouch before sitting up a while longer to watch the fire. The alpha and den mother were the ones with the power, and yet he felt like the balance point struggling to keep both in check. How could he spare time to think of making Liyanthe, Netya, or any of the other females his mate when he had to constantly mediate between two such wilful leaders?

He closed his eyes and lay back, allowing his worries to leave him for a few precious moments before sleep came. How would the night of the summer fires have ended had he allowed his attentions to roam free, without thought or consideration to what the next morning might bring?

He smiled to himself as the world of dreams claimed him. He could think of a few ways.

It took half the morning to track down Khelt on the snowswept outcrop after Caspian found the alpha's den empty the next day. He was perched on the rocks at the edge of the camp, his cloak already white with powdery snow as he stared out across the plains. Just like Khelt. Even against the elements, he would refuse to break his vigil until the weather threatened to freeze him in place.

"I almost mistook you for a boulder," Caspian said as he crouched down beside his friend, brushing away some of the snow that had collected on his cloak. "Did you break her heart?"

Khelt grunted. "Has news of it gotten around the pack already?"

"No, but I saw her leaving your den last night. What happened?"

"She asked me questions I did not wish to answer, and then I acted rashly. I should not have lost my temper with her."

"Did she leave of her own accord?" Caspian said.

Khelt hung his head a little, in the way he always did when feeling ashamed. It was a charmingly wolf-like gesture that carried over from his feral side. "I sent her away. What a worthy male I am, sending my woman out into the cold while I stay warm by the fire."

"Even the alpha has to have his faults."

Khelt sighed, rubbing the back of a hand across his stubble. "She may want me to take her as my mate."

That surprised Caspian. He knew Netya was attentive, but nothing he had seen led him to believe she was truly in love with the alpha. "And... You are afraid she will become unhappy if you deny her?"

"What else can I do? As long as Adel's clan still remember our broken promise, my hands are bound. I want Netya to always be a friend to us, even if she does one day go back to her own people, but how can I keep her happy if she wants the one thing I cannot give?"

Caspian pondered for a moment, collecting flakes of snow on his palm and watching them melt. "If she wants a mate, there is nothing to stop her from finding one. It just cannot be you."

Khelt threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "And who would want to share a female with the alpha, much less a girl of the Sun People with no status of her own?"

"Perhaps you will have your heir before long, then she will be free to mate whoever she wishes. In the meantime, you can work on letting her find the status she needs."

Khelt gave him a curious look. "I know what you say makes sense, but I am not so sure."

"Because you care for her also?"

"Perhaps I do. Ah, but how can I! Preventing her from being someone else's mate makes her no more mine. I feel I do nothing but toy with the poor girl's life."

"Then give her the means to choose for herself," Caspian said. "Let her find a place among the pack to call her own. Even if it is not a mate she desires, it will make her happy knowing she is more than just your consort."

"Somehow I do not think Netya is cut out to be a huntress or craftswoman."

"Apprentice her to the seers, then."