Wolf
Part II

Arel walked to the edge of the forest pool and kneeling down, touched the surface lightly with her delicate hand. She glanced at her sister who lay sleeping on a mat of fur, laid under the sheltering branches of a tree whose bark was a pure white, and whose leaves shone in rainbow colors under the warm afternoon son. Arel smiled at the sight of Thena. After many days, the fever had subsided, and she was well again.

The ruler of this place, the one that Darek to his shame called Brother... The young girl took a deep breath. Her hatred of this Rajan was so great that it was of a strength equal to her love for Darek. When Arel saw what he had done to Thena, she had wanted to claw and bite him, but Darek had held her back, and Rajan had stood in grim silence, his arms folded, until she was secure in her Mate's arms. Then she remembered his words, spoken in a deep voice which seemed to be heavy with sorrow. You can help your sister, Arel, but not by wasting your blows on me. Nurse and care for her. She needs you.

As he held her, Darek's heart was pounding too, and she could feel his body trembling in rage. You have betrayed me, Rajan. I call you Brother no longer! You said no harm would come to Arel's sister, and you lied! Her Love had spoken to the Lord of the Black Cliffs in words that cut like the whip's lash, and Rajan's face had darkened in anger, but he had turned away, calling to his wolves, and Arel had not seen him for the space of several risings and settings of the Day Star. She knew that he sent every hour for word of Thena, except for the time that he was in the mountains hunting.

And when Thena was awakening into consciousness, he slipped into the room and knelt by her bed, watching the girl with a strange expression on his face, one that Arel could not fathom. Thena had not seemed to notice him, but her eyes had locked onto Arel's face, and a smile of joy had touched her lips. Since then, she had grown in strength and the warm glow of her skin and lips had returned. Her wounded body had healed without a scar, because of the special nectar which Arel distilled from certain flowers and used to bathe her wounds. Her eyes were a brilliant green again, her hair glossy and radiant.

Each day, they walked in a forest garden that was enclosed by steep cliffs, and swam together in a deep pool formed by the river plunging over a sheer rock. At night, she slept by her sister on the soft furs. Arel saw her Bond-Mate only when he came for word of Thena's recovery. It was almost as if they had never left the tree-homes of their people, as if Arel had never known what it was to love a Male. She blushed at the thought of Darek and how she longed for him to hold her again. When she looked up, she saw that her sister stood beside her at the rim of the pond.

Arel stood up and took Thena's hand. "You slept well, my Sister?" the girl asked, worried by a new expression in Thena's eyes, by the frown on her lovely brow, and the tight unsmiling line of her mouth.

"I am well-rested, Arel," she answered, adding in a low voice, "and strong enough now to plan our escape."

For a moment, the younger girl had to look down. She could not meet her sister's searching gaze. Finally, she forced herself to speak. "Thena, I cannot go. I promised Darek..."

Thena's voice was impatient and brusque. "That promise has no meaning! I have been both imprisoned and harmed! He broke his word, Arel, or rather, the Wolf that he calls Brother broke it for him. But it is all one. They cannot be trusted, not even your Darek. Did he not bind you in the ritual?"

"Yes, but it was only a symbol!" Arel felt her breath coming rapidly. It was so hard for her to defy the sister she loved, the one who had guided and instructed her, who had been as a Mother when she who bore them had died...

"He does love me," the younger girl added haltingly, "and I love him!"
"How can you love your captor?"

Arel looked into the green eyes of her sister. There in the forest glade, Thena stood proud, defiant, untamed, her body clothed in the Enemy's supple hides, but her heart unbound. She sighed. How can I tell her? she thought. The hatred was in my soul as it lies in hers, but Darek was kind to me. Not like Rajan. "You must go without me, Thena," she whispered, conscious of the soft breeze, the ceaseless sighing of the water that gushed over rocks into the deep pool, and the bright flicker of the prismatic leaves as they turned in loving embrace with the wind. "It will break my heart to lose you, but I cannot leave him." A deep shame overwhelmed her, and she hid her face in her hands. But then she felt Thena gently pull them away and stroke her cheek.

"I understand, Little Sister." Thena's hand clasped her own, and she was smiling. "When the time comes, I shall return alone to the grassland. Until then, do not betray me, even to your...your Bond-Mate." She took a deep breath. "I intend to escape, Arel, and nothing or no one can stop me. Not even you."

Arel had never seen Thena look so serious, so determined. "I would never betray you," she cried, embracing Thena, feeling her sister's strong arms encircle her. Then she heard a gasp, and Thena's body stiffened. Quickly, they separated, and when Arel turned, she saw what had startled the other girl.

Rajan stood at the edge of the glade, where a small trail led into its lush, grassy shelter. His arms were folded across his chest, he wore the black tunic she remembered from the Ritual, and his looks were stern. When she turned to Thena, she saw the unmistakable fires of hatred burning in her sister's green eyes, saw her cheeks deepen their golden-rose hue, and her fists clench at her side.

"What do you want?" Thena's voice was steady, but Arel sensed the undertone of rage. This Male had intruded upon their time together, had dared to show himself to one he had so cruelly abused. Moreover, the remorse he had shown before was gone. He looked arrogant, proud, merciless, as befitted the Ruler of these Savages, as Thena called them.

When Rajan spoke, his voice was deep as she remembered it, but not sorrowful. She could not identify his emotion. Perhaps he felt none, for no being who had a heart could do what he had done to Thena.

"I want to speak with you, Beauty," Rajan said in a cold tone. "You may leave us, Arel," he added, softening his voice and his glance slightly. "My Brother, your Bond-Mate, has been longing for you these past days...and nights. Now that your sister is well-rested and strong, she no longer needs you by her side."

Rajan's last words were said in an ironic tone which left little doubt that he had overheard their conversation. Arel felt her heart pound in sudden anger, but the pressure of Thena's hand caught her attention. "Go to your Husband, Arel. I will speak with my captor. Unless he kill me outright, there is nothing he can show me in the way of suffering, beyond what I have already learned."

Arel embraced Thena and ran to the trail's entrance. Rajan moved aside to let her pass. She had noticed that at her sister's last words, his dark brows had drawn together in a frown. Down the path, she turned and peered anxiously through the thick screen of leaves and wood. She could see that Rajan had approached Thena, was standing a few steps from her. But before she had time to see more, she felt a strong hand grasp her arm gently, and she turned to look up into Darek's face.

In a moment, she was resting her head on his chest and sobbing. For these many days, Arel had been strong, nursing her sister. Now she gave way to her feelings, and felt the soothing touch of her Love. "Come, Arel, let us go home," he murmured.

"But if he hurts her again..." Arel felt her throat constrict with fear and rage, and her body trembled uncontrollably, but Darek held her and stroked her long hair until she was calm again.

"Look at me, Arel," he whispered.

Feeling a kind of awe, she gazed up into his brown eyes. She could not doubt the truth of what he said next.

"Of his own will, my Brother has sworn to me, at the temple of the Father of Mountains, that he will not harm your sister. And I have sworn to kill him if he breaks his vow. The Elders of the Black Cliff Tribe have witnessed this. They will ensure that either he keeps his promise, or I keep mine." The Male took a deep breath, pulled his Mate to his chest, and Arel felt his lips engulfing hers. When he drew away, he whispered, "You believe me, Arel?"

And she answered, "As I believe that the Day Star will show its light again tomorrow..."

Without looking back, Arel followed her Bond-Mate back to their dwelling cave. The only sound on the trail was the crisp breaking of leaves and twigs beneath their feet, the occasional warble of a bird, and the sighing wind as it soothed the fears of every living thing.

Thena watched the dark-haired Male steadily, not taking her eyes from his face. For a moment, she imagined that Lujal was restless under her gaze, but he did not turn away. "Well, Beauty, do you feel strong enough to escape from me?" he laughed. He was as arrogant as ever, but she forced herself to remain as icily calm as he seemed to be.

"That is not your concern, Lujal," she retorted. The tall, powerful Male moved closer to her, but the girl stood her ground defiantly. In unwilling fascination, she found herself scanning his muscular body, bronzed by the sun, his glossy mane of black hair, his savagely handsome features and his eyes that were even blacker in the Day-Star's light than she remembered them from the cavern. To her own horror, she remembered Lujal's sensual lips on her own, his mouth tormenting her nipples into hardness, and the sweet, wet pain that convulsed her hidden lips while his hands mastered her breasts, and his manhood plunged into her body...

She saw by the expression of hungry desire on Lujal's face that he remembered it too. Involuntarily, she took a step backwards, but the Male didn't lunge at her as she had expected.

"Give up your plan of escape, Beauty," he smiled. "It's useless. Even if you could get out of the fortress, you would never survive the journey back to your homeland. Wolves, Big Cats, or Outcast Males...one or the other would have you in its jaws before too long." Suddenly, his voice softened inexplicably, and he drew closer to her. "I've come here to tell you that you are to be bound to me, Thena, just as your sister was to Darek. You'll be my Queen, live in my cavern, bear my sons. And I'll have no other Females as wives," he added with a proud sweep of his hand. "Now come to my throne-chamber for the Ritual. I want to take you to my bed tonight, as my Bond-Mate!"

Lujal reached out and grasped her wrists tightly. She could see the desire in his eyes, and against her will, she glanced at his loins, where the swelling of his manhood under the tunic he wore proclaimed his hunger even more openly.

Thena stared at him in open astonishment, not even aware that he was pulling her toward him, that his hands were clasped around her waist. "Mother of us all!" she cried. "Can it be possible? Can you believe that I would willingly share your bed, after what you have done to me?" She felt unable to speak further, even if Lujal's lips had not been pressed against hers, shutting off any further words.

One powerful hand embraced her, and the other moved from one of her breasts to the other, opening her soft deerskin dress at the bosom and exposing her body to his hot touch. In one violent motion that seemed to catch him off-guard, Thena pushed with both hands at his chest, and when he staggered under the blow, she slipped away from his grasp and ran past the glade, along the cliffs to a rock which overlooked the river below the tranquil pool.

A raging confusion of water lay beneath her, and its wild spray wet her face, while a wind swept up from the battered rocks below and called her to join it, to be carried down the fierce tumbling river and into oblivion.

While she stood looking down, mesmerized by the chaos that awaited her, Thena heard Lujal's voice calling her. She turned and faced him defiantly. "I am going to die, Lujal," she cried, "rather than be your captive!"

He was watching her closely, his body tensed to spring. The girl longed to leap into the freedom of death, but something, perhaps the thought of her sister, perhaps the longing to see her home again, stayed her. Like a stalking animal, the Male sensed her hesitation. Before she could act, he had lunged onto the rock and was holding her tightly in his arms.

"Once again, I've saved you from a fall, Beauty. You owe me something for your life, especially since you've shown your gratitude so far only by trying to kill me!"

As he carried her from the rock and laid her on the soft fur, Thena felt a deepening panic. She knew he intended to rape her again, and her heart raced wildly at the thought, but her womanhood betrayed her once more. Between her thighs she felt the pulsating response that was beyond the control of even her strong will... Oh, let me die rather than feel pleasure at this Savage's touch, she prayed wildly, as Lujal bent over her.

"I've sworn not to harm you," he murmured in a low, husky voice, "but even the most aged of our Elder Tribesmen would understand my taking your body! The Father of Mountains himself could not resist you! And to make love to you is no injury!" She closed her eyes in desperation, but could not shut out her sense of touch, nor shield her body from his demanding hands that stripped her clothing away, and grasped her breasts in a triumphant gesture of ownership that almost drove her to madness.

Suddenly, her body broke free of its paralysis, and the young girl began to fight back, kicking, clawing, even biting. She stared fiercely into Lujal's eyes as she struggled, but even when her nails and her teeth struck his flesh, and the crimson blood trickled from the wounds, he did not flinch, nor did he strike her. He clenched his jaws tightly, and his eyes blazed in passion, but he was never brutal, even when he bound her wrists with the braided cord that had encircled her waist.

Lujal was breathing heavily when he drew back to look at her. "I feel something different for you," he said in a low voice. "I have from the beginning. And I could never hurt you again, even if I hadn't taken my oath at the Temple. But this you must understand. I rule here, and you must submit to me! There is no other way." For a moment, his voice seemed almost persuasive, as he added, "Your sister has accepted her new life. Why can't you do the same? If I have to bind and gag you in order to enjoy your body, I'll do it, but I'd rather give you the same pleasure that you give me."

The girl watched her captor closely. For a moment, his voice, his look had been almost...tender. She lay quietly, for now that her wrists were tied, she had no real chance of escape. It would have to come later, and in order to gain the chance of freedom, Thena would have to seem resigned to her fate, and lure Lujal into relaxing his guard.

"I despise you, Lujal," she said coldly. "But I am not so foolish as to think I can escape. It seems that I must submit to you and the ways of your Savages."

Lujal looked startled by her quick surrender, and then smiled wickedly. "Indeed, you must, Beauty. And I will begin by showing you another way of making love, one that we Savages practice."

"Why do you call it making love, Wolf, when it is the violation of a woman's body? You twist meaning to suit your own purposes!" She spat out the words, putting all the contempt she felt into them, and she was not surprised when Lujal clamped one bronzed hand tightly over her mouth.

"You shouldn't talk while I'm loving you," he whispered. "It only distracts you, and it might make me angry. And I don't want to make love to you while I'm angry, because I might hurt you." He removed his hand, tore a strip of cloth from his tunic, and gagged her tightly. His eyes flashed in anticipation as he wound the cloth around her mouth and knotted it securely at the back of her head. "In a little while, you may be begging me to take this off so that we can kiss," he murmured, "and to untie your hands to let you embrace me." She shook her head violently, crying out words that were meant to be Never, Lujal! I hate you! But they were muffled by the heavy cloth that covered her lips.

The Male grasped her thighs, and she tensed herself for the invading force of his manhood, the taut, swollen shaft that would thrust inside her, bruising the delicate tissues of her body, battering and ramming into her until she cried out in pain.

But instead, to her shocked amazement, Lujal gently spread her thighs and placed his mouth on the soft petals of her womanhood, the outer lips that lay hidden beneath the silky growth of golden hairs at the base of her abdomen. Incredulous, she raised her head and shoulders, bracing herself on her bound wrists, and stared at him. Lujal was lying at full length on the ground, his dark hands clasped firmly around her thighs, and his mouth fastened on the place he had violated so many times.

Now the Male's insistent, probing tongue thrust into that corridor of warmth and wetness, and he seemed to be reveling in her body, for she heard him making sounds of pleasure, low noises of delight, that she had heard before only when he was raping her. He looked up and gazed into her eyes. "These lips are as sweet as any flower," he murmured. She shook her head violently and tried to pull away, but he grasped her thighs more tightly. "No, Beauty," he smiled, "I want to kiss you in a special place, so you may understand what pleasure is."

Suddenly, the girl felt Lujal's tongue touch a small, erect bud of flesh above the opening to her body. She stiffened in surprise, but after a moment, she could no longer try to resist him. She lay back, her senses inflamed by the spot of passion which Lujal had found and brought to life with his agile tongue and warm mouth.

It swept over her, the tingling fire that raced up and down her limbs, the sensation of cold that followed it, the dizziness, and then the movement of her body, her back arching and hips twisting, beyond any control of her mind.

Thena began to moan, low throaty sounds that were muffled by the gag. She felt Lujal's tongue thrust at the small, swollen part of her, and incredibly, she longed to fasten her hands in his dark hair, to clasp him and cling to him, as if he were the only rampart that could save her in the storm which convulsed her body and dissolved her heart in liquid, icy fire.

"Lujal! Take me, now!" She cried out the muffled words before she knew what she said. Her captor drew his mouth away from between her thighs and bent over her.

"Do you want me, Beauty?" he whispered. She couldn't answer him in words, only in gasps and soft moanings, but he seemed to understand.

Lujal's glittering black eyes gazed into hers, and this time there was no triumph in his look, but instead a tender longing and desire. Thena felt his hardened maleness plunge deep inside her, and she thrust her hips upwards to welcome it, to let it fill her completely. The Male's strong hands untied her wrists and released her mouth, and Thena heard herself cry out, "Please, please..." The girl's lips parted in rapid breaths, and her hands locked around his neck as if she would draw Lujal into her and fuse them as one being.

He held her tightly and thrust his hips back and forth in a powerful, steady rhythm until time stopped, and the sky seemed to grow dark, or perhaps it was only the clouding of her vision turning inward.

Suddenly, Thena was twisting, grasping at him in wild desperation, clinging to him, and crying out again and again, "Lujal...Lujal...!" as waves of lightning pulsed through her body, obliterated its connection to the world, separated it from her soul, and left her weeping in the tight embrace of her lover.

When Lujal awoke in his bed of furs, with the walls of his cavern chamber gleaming around him, he reached for his Bond-Mate and pulled her to his chest. To his pleased surprise, she wound her arms about his neck, and lifted her rounded, golden hued breasts invitingly. "Good morning, Love," she murmured, and he wondered for a moment if he were dreaming.

But her rosy nipples were sweet in his mouth, and the fragrance of her body was not a dream. Nor was the velvety texture of her skin as the Male ran his hands over her body."Good morning, Beauty," he whispered, and followed his words with a passionate kiss, placing his mouth over her soft, ripe lips and thrusting his tongue into their nectar. She is not like the same Female, he thought in wonder. Since the afternoon before, when he had kissed her secret lips, satiating himself in their essence and bringing her the ecstatic release she had never known before, his beautiful young captive had given him her heart.

And I lied to you before, Beauty, he mused, touching her soft cheeks and lips tenderly with one finger, stroking her golden hair with one powerful hand. I said there was nothing I wanted from you that I could not take.

But there was always your love, which only you could give to me...

Her eyes were gazing into his now, and he felt the throbbing between his legs from his erect manhood. But this time, he thought of her and restrained himself.

"Shall I make love to you now, Beauty?" Lujal said in a low, sensual voice. "Or do you want to sleep?"

"I want you to take me, Love," she murmured, "but not here. Let us go back to the Forest, where you first taught me to love you..."

The Ruler of the Black Cliffs felt his heart pounding more rapidly. He stood up and drew his Love gently to her feet. Looking down at her, he answered, "Whatever you wish, Thena." He embraced her, feeling the warm, voluptuous curves of her body pressed against him, gazing into her huge green eyes. She is more beautiful than the Night Star, he thought, and felt a twist of joy in his chest when she looked up at him and smiled.

As they dressed, Lujal watched her in admiration. She was graceful, but her body had a lithe power to it that fascinated him. He remembered the evening before, the Bonding Ritual. She had submitted to it all, allowed him to clasp the golden bracelets around her wrists, kept silent during the ceremony, and afterwards...

Afterwards had been a night of love unlike any he'd ever known. This girl is as passionate as she is beautiful and strong. She is well-chosen to be a Queen. Almost as if the Father of Mountains had sent her to me, he marvelled silently. He glanced at her firm belly, and thought of the child which might be growing there, even now...

"Of what are you thinking, Lujal?"

Her soft voice startled him. She had dressed in a short garment of soft woven fibers, fashioned for her by Arel as she kept watch during her sister's illness. It was a brilliant green, the same color as Thena's eyes, and the translucent cloth revealed the outline of her breasts and small waist. It was an airy thing, better suited to the heat of the grassland than the fierce winds of the mountains. Her slim thighs and well-shaped legs were not covered, and Lujal felt his breath come more rapidly as he scanned the lines of her body.

"I was thinking of you, Thena," he replied in a husky voice. "You're the most beautiful Female I have ever seen."

She laughed softly, and reached up to touch his hair. He grasped her hand and brought it to his lips. "Let's hurry to the Forest, Beauty," he murmured. "I'm a Male, and there are limits to my patience." He thought that a quick flare of emotion sparkled in the depths of her green eyes, but she smiled again, and she did not protest when he pulled her to his chest and luxuriated in the softness of her lips and the firmness of her body under his seeking hands.

"Why do I see no other women here but Arel and myself?"

Lujal rolled over lazily onto his back. The warm sun in this sheltered glade and the muted roar of the river falls had almost lulled him to sleep. It was late afternoon in the mountains now, but the flat rock on which they lay was still radiating the gentle heat it had taken from the Day Star. Lujal had made love to his Bond-Mate again and again that day, and each time she had responded in a way that brought a deeper longing for her, something he had no way to name.

To see her like that, he thought, remembering the way it had been... Her body trembles, her voice cries out my name, her eyes close one moment, and then open wide, gazing at me, while she pants through half-opened lips, and her beautiful face blushes as if the setting Day Star were touching it in rose-gold...

"Lujal...?"

With a start, he realized that he had not answered her question. "I was thinking of our time together," Lujal said, "but I can answer you, Beauty. There are other Females here, and you will see them at the proper time."

"When will that be?"

The Ruler of the Black Cliffs Tribe studied his beautiful Bond-Mate. She seemed relaxed, lying next to him, on her side, her lips curved up in a gentle smile. Her golden hair glimmered in the softening light, and her eyelids were half-closed, so that her thick, dark lashes shaded the green orbs. And yet there was something about her, some intensity in her voice or tenseness about her body...

Lujal sighed. It was time now to tell her everything, but it was not a task he relished. The Females were kept in ignorance by the Elders of their People. They lived in a fantasy world with no wars or battles, where even the hunters were gentle with their prey, and lulled the deer into a stupor with a harmless poison, before they killed them swiftly and painlessly. Not like the Males' hunting, where the wolves and the men pursued their prey with fierce howls, while torches flared, and blood ran scarlet on the black rocks...

"Soon, Thena," he answered. "First I've got something to tell you about our people, yours and mine."

She watched him intently. Lujal sat up and leaned his back against a warm, smooth boulder. He felt awkward as a whelp, for never before had he told these words to any Female. "Males and Females haven't always lived apart," he said quickly, wanting to get it over as soon as possible. "Our tribal Elders say that some evil spirit drove the women to live in the grasslands, and the men to these caves. But except for our one God, the Father of Mountains, I don't believe in things I can't see or touch..."

"Or kill?" Thena's clear voice interrupted him, and Lujal glanced at her. His Bond-mate sat by his side, her lovely face untroubled and smiling, but there had been something in her voice which made him study her carefully before he continued.

"Yes, or kill in the hunt. What difference does it make how it happened?" he added impatiently. "Or why? Our people live apart, and we only meet each other in the Seasons of Love, when the Female Elders choose the girls they'll send to the Sea-Lake." She was visibly shocked by his words, and the tall, powerful Male couldn't repress a smile. "Yes, Beauty," he said in a low voice. "You were sent away from your home so that Darek and his men could take you and bring you here, to the Black Cliffs. It's part of the Bond between your people and mine."

"The Bond?" Her voice was taut with shock that she tried to control. "What Bond could there be between Women and... and..."

"And Savages?" Lujal reached out to touch her hair. It was soft and glossy in the reddening light. "You see I haven't forgotten what you used to call me. It's an old bond, older than any living Male or Female. It's so powerful that any Male who breaks it, dies. The Males live here, apart from the Females, without any contact between the two tribes. But once every summer, the terms of the Bond require that your Elders send their most beautiful young girls to the Lake, as tribute."

Lujal noticed that green flare of emotion in her eyes again, and her lips tightened. She spoke quietly, but he sensed the restraint in her tone. "Among our people, those whose child-bearing time has come travel to this Lake so that the Great Mother may swell their bodies with new life. It is our most sacred ritual."

She seemed to defy him to contradict her, and for a moment, Lujal felt almost sorry that he had to destroy her mystical beliefs in a Goddess that would give her people children without the evil of violation by a Male. But one way or another, that seed must be planted, he thought. "Yes, Beauty," he said. "And you've seen them come back, with Female babies at their breasts. But a few don't come back. Haven't you ever wondered what happened to them?"

Her eyes were almost luminescent now, and her whole body was rigid as she listened intently. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Our Elders tell us that they were called by the Great Mother, to be her handmaidens in the Lands of grassy fields and eternal star-shine. But I never believed it. I always thought that wolves had taken them."

"Then you were wiser than most of your people," Luja murmured. "My brothers, the wolves of these mountains, took them, but not to kill. Just as Darek took Arel, and I took you. It is forbidden for a Male to mate with a Female whose sign is the same as his. If they bear sons, they remain here. Those who bear daughters must leave, and are sworn to silence when they return. If the Bond were to be broken by either side..." He looked up into the dusky sky and despite himself, felt a faint shiver of cold. "The legends say that Evil would destroy both our people if that happened," he continued in a deliberately careless tone. "But as I told you, I don't believe in spirits, evil or good."

"Why does my sister believe that she will stay with Darek? What will happen if she bears a girl-baby? Won't she be sent back to our people?" The young girl's voice was vibrant with tension. Lujal gave her a smile with a hint of mischief.

"And what about you, Beauty? Aren't you wondering what might happen to you? But don't worry," he added proudly. "I rule the Black Cliff Tribe, and that gives me certain privileges, including the right to keep my Bond-mate for as long as I wish, even if she bears me daughters as well as sons. I've extended those rights to Darek, because he's my brother."

A sudden revelation seemed to flow over Thena's mind. Her color rose in obvious anger, and she cried, "The other Females you boasted about, the ones you mounted...were they part of your privileges?"

Surprised at her quickness, Lujal stood up and pulled her roughly to her feet. "Yes," he retorted. "I had the Females from the Lake, before they were given to their Bond-mates." He saw the angry question in her eyes and answered hurriedly, "Except for Arel! She was Darek's from the beginning. As brother of Rajan, he had that right. But the others were nothing to me, Thena!" Lujal found himself speaking rapidly, suddenly anxious to make her understand. "I didn't allow myself to get children on their bodies. And after I tired of them, I gave them to their Mates." He paused and then pressed his mouth against hers in sudden passion. "But you I could never tire of, Beauty," he said, his voice husky with desire.

Miraculously, she no longer seemed angry. "I understand it all now, my Love." Her soft voice was a sigh of fragrant warmth against his cheek. "I am so grateful that you have opened my eyes to the truth, for I have been as unaware as the singing birds in the meadows..."

"Then you still feel the same about me?" Lujal cradled her in his arms and carried her to a grassy spot where he had laid a velvety robe of furs. He laid her down gently, feeling the smoothness of her skin under his hands.

"Yes, Lujal. I feel exactly what I felt for you last night, when you took me as your Mate, and closed the golden bonds about my wrists..."

He bent over her, gently spreading her thighs apart, but she put up one slim hand, touching his chest lightly. "Please, Lujal. Lie down and let me love you this time."

"Men of my tribe do not lie beneath women," Lujal retorted brusquely. His powerful hands pinned her wrists to the ground, and he bent over her unclothed body, feeling the surge of hunger that never seemed to leave him, whenever she was near.

"Let me give you the pleasure that you gave me," she whispered shyly. He stared at her in silence for a few moments.

"You would do that willingly?" Lujal asked. The thought of her lovely, warm mouth touching his manhood made the strong Warrior almost weak with desire for that moment.

"I love you," she answered, her voice as melodic as the water's muted song. "That part of you is beautiful and strong. Why should I not wish to kiss it and give you the delight you gave me?"

Silently, Lujal released her wrists and lay down on his back, stretching his long powerful limbs and closing his eyes. He felt her tongue and mouth caressing his maleness, and the moans of pleasure sounded in his throat like the love growls of a wolf in heat. Her tongue was like gentle lightning. It flickered around the throbbing head of his member, teasing it into an explosive erection. Just before the streams of liquid could jet from his manhood, Lujal pulled the girl to his chest and thrust himself inside her. She lay above him, clasped to his body, while he cried aloud, closed his eyes in ecstatic torment, and drove his seed deep inside her.

As he lay beneath her, Lujal looked up into her beautiful face. His Beauty smiled at him, and he felt an incredible warmth course through his body. His limbs and belly had seemed to vanish in the furnace of his climax, so that he was a disembodied glow of passion, but now they had returned. His whole body was at peace, and so was his mind. The Father of Mountains be thanked that I took this She-Cat on the mountains, he thought drowsily. She's not only strong and beautiful, but she loves me, like no other Male was ever loved by a Female...

The prick of pain was so slight that he would not have noticed it, except that it was followed by a cool, almost delicious sensation that spread in slow billowing motion throughout his body. It took a great effort, but Lujal the Wolf, Ruler of the Black Cliff Tribe, opened his eyes and gazed searchingly into the deep-water green of his Love's eyes. It didn't surprise him that her glance was a flash of triumph, that a fierce smile curved her lips, and that she was bending over him like a cat whose sharp claws were about to tear at his body. But he was sinking too deeply into the long sleep to care.

"Thena..." His voice seemed locked into his throat, but he managed to speak her name once, and add, in a tone which might have held great sorrow or bitterness if he had possessed the strength for these emotions, "Why...?"

"Why?" Her lips were close to his now, and she seemed to fill each word with the same venom she had used to send him into death. "Because I despise you, Lujal, just as I always have. I didn't lie when I said my feelings had not changed, that they were the same as when you bound my wrists with the golden bonds. I hated you at that moment, and I hate you now!"

She leaped gracefully to her feet, and Lujal looked up at her. Her voice seemed to come from the sky and to reach him at the bottom of a deep, black pit, where he lay in chill silence and solitude. "I wanted to lie above you so that when I pricked you with the juice of the Malen berries, you would not fall upon me, and trap me here!"

"Will I die?" he murmured, without fear, and almost without any real curiosity, so cool and heavy were his limbs, and so faint the beating of his strong heart.

The girl he had loved, still loved in a way he had never thought possible, held his golden dagger in her hand. "You will die, Lujal," she answered quietly. "As I have sworn you would, ever since the night you and your wolf pack hunted me down. But I am more merciful than you. Before I plunge this claw into your heart, I will let the kiss of the berries put you to sleep, so that you will not have to see your life's blood pumping out onto the Mother's breast!"

He smiled and tried to rise, but it was impossible. Keeping his eyes open with an effort, he whispered hoarsely, "Beauty...do you remember what you said to me that night, when I made love to you for the first time?"

"Yes," she answered proudly, her hair golden in the dying sun. "I said 'you'll die for this, Lujal!'"

Lujal closed his eyes. He could tell by her fragrance that she bent near to catch his words. "And I said 'it's well worth dying for, Beauty,'" he whispered. "And so it was..."

Darkness fell, and the Wolf slept.

Thena ran cautiously and swiftly down the mountain trail, the same torturous path which Lujal had followed so easily, carrying her, a captive, tightly tied like a trophy of the hunt. Her eyes blurred by the moonlight, her heart beating rapidly, her mouth made dry by anguish and apprehension, Thena did not stop until she reached the beginnings of the grasslands. As she coursed down from the mountains, the girl had stopped every hour to anoint her body and feet with a smooth, odorless liquid, brewed to extinguish scent, and designed to foil the tracking wolves of her enemies.

Now at the brim of the Mother Lake, Thena tore off the hated garments of her captivity and plunged into the healing waters. Warm, nurturing, buoying her body as if she rested on the breast of a kind parent, the liquid eased her pain of body and of mind. Later, she nestled in a silky, matted bed of grass which had been the sleeping place of some other hunted creature, but she slept fitfully, thinking of Arel, mourning her loss, and in her brief dreams, seeing Lujal, feeling his hands and mouth on her nipples, her breasts, her lips.

When Thena woke to the Day-Star's earliest warmth, her sister was bending over her. "Arel!" she cried in delighted amazement, and sat up so quickly that dizziness overcame her, and she fell back onto the bed of grass.

"Shhh," the other girl whispered, glancing around cautiously. "I too used the scent-destroyer, and took the quickest way down the mountain...one of their riding beasts." Arel gestured toward the creature which was tethered to a tree, and nickered softly at the sound of her voice. "I knew you would come to the Lake. Now, we can go home." The younger girl drew her sister to her feet and led her to the mount. Thena felt sorrowful without knowing exactly why.

"But you loved Darek," she murmured. "How could you have left him?" Arel smiled and touched her sister's cheek with a soft hand.

"You needed me, Thena. I could not let you go back alone. Besides..." She blushed and looked down at the grassy ground for a moment. "I will go back to him one day. Will you forgive me for that, my sister?"

Thena smiled in return. "How could I do anything else but forgive you, and love you? Now, show me how to ride this creature and we will go home indeed."

It was the last day of a long journey when the two girls, leading their steed, entered the land of their fore-mothers. They both felt uneasy without knowing why. But all seemed quiet and peaceful. The encircling fences of wood were in place, and the guard women were on duty, their bodies gleaming in the torchlight. Thena remembered how surprised she had been at the powerfully muscled bodies of the Males compared to these who protected her people.

Tare stepped forward to bar their way as they walked out of the shadows, but she lowered her spear and smiled broadly when she recognized them. "You have come back!" she cried. "We did not know if we would see you again. But why have you returned without babies? Has not the Great Mother made you swollen in the belly?"

"Perhaps," Thena answered tersely. "But we must not speak of that now." She made an effort to return Tare's smile when she saw the woman eyeing her with open curiosity. She felt Arel's trembling as the younger girl leaned against her for support. "We must see the Elderesses, now. Take us to them."

"I must not leave my post, but you may go in and enter the House of Wisdom. There will be much joy at sight of you." Tare looked relaxed and unsuspicious, but Thena felt uneasy, like a girl called up before the Elderesses to recite her lessons.

Silently, the two sisters entered the Chamber. Wedra, eldest of all in years and knowledge, was standing before a dim fire, while three other women sat in a circle around her. They looked up as the girls entered, and Thena immediately sensed the emotions of fear, shock, even anger that hung on the air like a scent of blood. "We give all honor to thee, living symbols of the Great Mother," she began, but Wedra interrupted her. The older woman's voice was taut with some restrained emotion.

"Why do you return here, Thena and Arel?" she demanded. "I sent you to the Lake, for the perpetuation of our people. Why have you returned with empty arms?"

"What should we bring you, honored One?" Thena replied. She watched the woman closely. Wedra's hair was white as the grasses when the Day-Star had bleached all their color. Her face was a deep brown, and the thin lines about her pale blue eyes and straight lips reminded Thena of the veined rocks in the Black Cliffs. "Tomorrow I will hunt deer for your stomachs, and Arel will gather every herb that is wanting for the relief of sickness, or to give beauty to the sense of smell or sight."

"Leave us," Wedra cried, gesturing to the other women, who rose and glided out into the night. When they were alone, she continued harshly, "You should bring us children, Thena. You have been many weeks gone, and by now you must know why you were sent to the Lake."

Wedra's eyes burned like the embers of wood in the fire, but Thena would not look away. "We met those whom you sent us to meet, honored Mother, but he who mounted me..." She paused, noticing the way that Wedra's eyes narrowed at her words, and her mouth curved downward in disapproval. "He who mounted me also misused me. He bound and gagged me, ravished my body and then beat me without mercy. I would not stay to be his slave!" she finished proudly. "I will not!"

The old woman gazed from one to the other of them. Her long woven robe of white seemed to sparkle with the suddenly flaring embers. "Is this true, Arel? Have you two foolish girls broken the ancient Bond between our Tribes?" Her voice was a wind's whisper over the blades of grass. Arel nodded in mute dismay.

"It is true, honored Mother! But Thena could not live as Lujal's slave. I will return to Darek, my Bond-Mate. But she can never return! She would be killed!"

"Killed? Why killed? Only the Renegade Males kill Females. What have you done that they should wish to harm you?" Wedra's face had paled, and her hand trembled as she stretched it forth to touch Thena's shoulder.

"She slew their ruler, Rajan," Arel cried. "It was the only way she could escape! She is not to blame!"

"Silence!" Wedra bowed her head for a few moments, while the fire's light danced around them and made dream-like patterns on the woven walls. "You have broken the Taboo, and great evil must follow. You cannot remain here to bring ill-fortune to our people. You must go back to your Bond-Mates and fulfill the ancient imperative...to bring new life to our land..."

"I will not!" Thena protested angrily. "Nothing can make me return to that place!"

Wedra sighed and stretched her thin arms out in a gesture of renunciation. "Then go from our land! Sleep in the grass with the birds and the deer, but do not bring evil upon your sisters and mothers!" The old woman turned away and vanished from the Council Chamber in a ghostly flash of white that soon dissolved into the darkness outside. Thena felt the hot tears begin to spill out of her eyes.

"I have brought this trouble to you, Arel," she whispered, sinking to her knees before the fire. "If only you had not followed me...but I did not believe what Lujal told me about a Bond between our people and those savages! Even now that Wedra has said it as well, it is like an evil dream..." The girl placed her hands over her eyes and felt the liquid well onto them. But a quick touch from Arel brought her to her feet. Tare stood before them, the spear in her hand.

"Thena, I know that you could kill me in any contest between us, but still, you must go. Wedra has said it. I must give my life to drive you out, if it is needed. Please, Thena, do not force us to hurt you. We all love you both. And yet, you must leave us!" Infinite pain was in Tare's clear, strong tones, and Thena shook her head.

"No, I will not resist you. Come, Arel." She took her sister's hand with infinite tenderness and together they walked out of the fire's circular light, out of the round, swelling keep of the Chamber, out of the safe enclosure, and into the darkest night either of them had ever seen. Later that night, in a grove of trees far from their beloved home, the two outcasts fell asleep in each other's arms, as innocent as cat cubs seeking warmth and comfort from a threatening storm.

Thena awoke first, sitting up quickly, her eyes straining to pierce the raw, misty darkness that seemed to soak into the damp ground and drip from the trembling branches of the forest. She heard and saw nothing to explain her sudden terror, but like all of her people, Thena trusted the messages of her soul as well as those of her thinking mind.

"Wake up, Arel," she whispered, feeling the pounding pulse of urgency in her throat, her chest, and at each point of her body where the life's blood shone blue through her skin. "We are in danger!"

"How...what, Thena? I hear nothing." The younger girl was drowsy, rubbing her eyes like a child. A fierce surge of protective love ran through her sister.

It is my action which brought her to this hazard. I will not let her be hurt, she vowed, but it was a vow made to be broken.

In seconds the eerie fog-hung silence of the grove was torn into shards of harsh yells, sickening odors, and huge, hulking forms. Renegade Males! Thena had only time for that one brief thought before a figure bent over her and rough hands clutched her wrists, jerking her violently forward until she was pressed against the chest of a Male, beside whom Lujal was a model of civility and gentleness. He was quick though for such a massive creature. Before she could react, Thena was spun around, her wrists bound behind her, and a strip of leather tied brutally over her mouth.

The Male who held Thena seemed to be the head of these monsters. He turned her about again and stared hungrily at her face, his mouth inches from hers. She was aware of yellowed teeth and even yellower eyes. She also saw that her sister had been taken captive as well. There seemed to be several Renegades. Two of them mounted a nearby rock to keep watch, while the one who held Arel grinned horribly at his leader.

"I'll take this little one first, Gerf, then share her with the others-if there's anything left!" He was slavering as any hungry beast would do, and when Thena met Arel's terrified gaze, she shuddered violently. "Right here, under this tree!" he added, laid the girl down roughly and began to remove the filthy hides that passed for his clothing. Gerf also laughed, even more loudly than his friend.

"I want some privacy. Even you won't want to see what I'm going to do to this one, Targ!" he boasted. In a few moments the ferocious Male had strode out of firelight's range and found a sheltered spot behind a boulder. The full Night-Star's light could barely penetrate it. Thena was thrown to the ground and felt, rather than saw, Gerf bend over her. Then her clothing was ripped from her body, and his roughened hands began to paw her viciously. "I want to hear you scream," he whispered hoarsely, untying the gag and throwing it to one side. "But first I want to taste that beautiful mouth..." His harsh lips bruised hers for what seemed an eternity. When he took his mouth away, Thena let a shriek of despair and supplication break from her throat.

"Great Mother! Help us!" The words were cut off by Gerf's hardened tongue, thrusting between her lips. His knees jammed against her inner thighs, forcing them apart, and his hands grasped her breasts again.

"Now," he grunted, glaring down at her in a savage frenzy that seemed more like hunger than desire. "Now, Bitch!" But as the monster poised to enter her, a flare of light blazed in her eyes, Gerf's heavy body was pulled from hers in one rough motion, and a voice she had never thought to hear again broke the silence.

"Well, Beauty, I knew you couldn't keep out of trouble without me!"

The tone was a mixture of reproach and amusement. The voice was deep and unmistakable. And when she looked up at the figure with a glowing torch in one hand, Thena saw the dark eyes and handsome face of Lujal, her Lord and Master.

Lujal had thrown Gerf solidly against a nearby tree. Now Thena screamed in terror as the Outcast Leader pulled an ax from his belt and brandished it. But the fear was for another, not herself.

"Lujal! He has a weapon!" At the sound of her voice, the tall dark haired Male glanced at her and smiled, a dangerous curve to his sensual lips. His eyes gleamed in the light of the torch which he now thrust into the ground. Lujal's muscular chest was bare, and glistened with sweat. He wore only a loincloth of black leather, and a sword hung at his side.

"And so do I, Beauty," Lujal said in a low voice, taut with menace. The heavy battle sword was in his hand, and its blade met the edge of the ax with a thunderous sound that sent blue sparks into the air.

"This woman's mine!" roared Gerf, as the two men circled each other warily. "My men will cut you up and feed you to the carrion-eaters!"

Lujal laughed wickedly. He balanced the sword in his hand, and moved as agilely as a stalking wolf. "Nothing here belongs to you, Gerf. I know of you and your foul ways. We could smell your stench for half a day before we caught up to you. One of your men was preparing to harm this Female's sister when we found him. The girl's Bond-Mate, my brother, didn't approve." He added with deliberate sarcasm, "We sent Targ and his friends back to the fire-pits where they were born. Now you can join them there!"

Thena's wrists were still bound, but she had managed to struggle to her feet. Now she gasped in relief when she heard that Arel was safe, and Lujal smiled at her, that lazy, triumphant smile she had once hated so much. "Thank you, Lujal, for my sister's life, and mine," she cried. But at that instant, Gerf charged, swinging his ax. The powerful, bronze-skinned Male of the Black Cliff Tribe raised his sword.

"Don't thank me yet, Beauty," he growled, lunging to meet his enemy's onslaught. Chest to chest, panting in each other's faces, sweat gleaming on their bodies, the two Males fought, sword battering the ax, each blade missing its target by inches. Thena choked off a scream when Lujal fell against a rotted log, and Gerf raised his ax with a guttural sound of glee. But just before the blade struck, Lujal rolled to one side, leaped to his feet, and drove the sword straight into Gerf's massive chest. The beast-man gave one ghastly cry, staggered, fell, and was silent.

Lujal pulled the sword from his foe's chest and held it in the torch flame. "I won't have a proud weapon stained with that thing's blood," he growled. Thrusting the sword into a leather sheath at his side, he strode to Thena's side, gently pulled her to his chest, and kissed her mouth, a long, sensuous melding of their lips which sent fire shooting up and down every vein in her body. She eagerly returned his kiss, opening her mouth to accept his tongue, lifting her naked breasts to his seeking hands, all the while feeling herself trembling and faint with desire.

"Take me, Lujal," she murmured, when he had released her mouth and she was able to speak. "Now, here...please..." She heard his low, husky laugh, but it was not triumphant or contemptuous. It was a sound of surprised pleasure, of astonished delight.

"You want me, Beauty?" The deep male voice was strong and unwavering, but she heard a note of wistfulness, as if he could not believe her words.

And no wonder, Thena thought ruefully. The last time I offered myself to him, I threatened to kill him.

"Yes, my Lord," she answered, and added in a low tone, "That is why I could not kill you after all, when I had you helpless, at my mercy."

"Helpless..." Lujal drew her close again, his tanned, muscular arms embracing her firmly, his dark eyes gazing into hers, and an amused smile curving his lips. "Yes, I was helpless, Beauty. But I did not mind it. The pleasure you gave me was worth ten thousand deaths." He gave a quick, sharp whistle, and in response, his steed appeared through the shadowy trees.

Thena felt his hands gently placing a soft woven garment around her, before lifting her onto the creature's back, as easily as a child lifts a kitten. He sprang up behind her, and she shivered with uncontrollable desire to feel the pressure of his hardened manhood on her buttocks, the protective curve of his arm around her waist, and his sweet, warm breath against her neck, her ears, her hair. He nuzzled and kissed her back and shoulders, and then shook his head like a wolf just out of a lake, as if to dispel his desire for a time. "We will go home now, Thena," he whispered, calling her by her true name for the first time. "When you are bathed, and rested, and have quenched your thirst and hunger, we shall make each other helpless, with desire."

She leaned gratefully back against his broad, muscled chest and allowed her eyes to close, in the perfect knowledge that no harm which Lujal's mortal powers could protect her against would ever threaten her again. As they rode, she mused, So this is Love between a male and female. I think I shall like it...very well! Had she been able to read Lujal's mind, she would have known that his thoughts were exactly the same.

Kneeling at the edge of the great silver Lake, as she had once before knelt at the mountain pool, Arel looked at her own reflection. At first, the image seemed unchanged, her huge amber eyes flecked with gold, her tawny hair billowing about her shoulders. But when she rose and touched her own breasts, they were swollen, and her belly was taut and rounded. In three cycles of the Night-Light. Arel watched a darting songbird flash across its surface and alight on a bush at the lake's edge. It began its song, trilling and warbling in a kind of ecstasy, and the young girl smiled. "No, of course not, Darek," she declared, brushing her soft lips against his cheek. "But sometimes I am afraid...I don't know of what...perhaps that some evil will truly come on our people from the Taboo, because Thena and I broke the Bond."

For a moment, tears glistened in her eyes, but Darek embraced her, and as she rested her head against his broad chest, the young Male moved his hand gently over her radiant hair. "There is no more Taboo, Arel. You know that Rajan commanded our Elders to meet with your Elderesses and create a new Bond between our people." His eyes glowed, and his voice was vibrant. "Now men and women can live together, as I think the Father of Mountains intended they should."

"And the Mother of the Grasslands as well," Arel reminded him gently. "This is a beautiful place for a village," she added, gazing at the expanse of waving grass, the towering trees, and in the distance, the Black Cliffs, which no longer seemed foreboding to her, but rose in fantastic, gleaming shapes that spoke of sanctuary, and of power used to protect.

It had not been easy for the Women of the Open Lands and the Men of the Mountains to reach agreement. But Rajan had been firm. The old ways would no longer answer, he had said in his deep stern voice, clad in the black garments he had worn to bind Arel to Darek, his sword at his side, and his wolves at his heels. And they had listened. Thena had spoken eloquently as well, and as the daughter of an Elderess who had been highly honored in her lifetime, she too was heeded.

And so, the women had come to live at the Lake, a place of lush grass and sheltering trees. Now, Males lived here too, with their mates, while some Females had gone to the mountain Fortress.

But of their own free wills had the women left the grassland. That was the greatest difference...

"Look!" Arel whispered. "It is Tellia, from our village. We gather herbs together. And the Male with her, he is your friend, Ralek."
Darek followed her gaze to a distant grove of trees. The two she had named seemed unaware that anyone else existed in this world of dappled light, shimmering water, and trembling breezes. As Darek and Arel watched, they saw Ralek reach up into a flowering tree where Tellia would have needed to climb, and bring down a small branch of fragrant blossoms. Even from where they stood, Darek and Arel could see that Tellia smiled and inhaled the scent of the blossoms. Ralek took her hand in his and brought it gently to his lips, and then the two lovers walked into the grove and were caught up in its welcoming shadows.

"That is the new way," Darek smiled. "He must persuade her to become his Bond-Mate. And in the Ceremony of Joining, each will place one golden bond on the wrist of the other, to signify that they are joined equally. I wish that I had been allowed to win you with flowers and kisses, my Love..." The young Male sighed ruefully, and Arel felt her heart leap in the ecstasy of her love for him.

"It does not matter," she said firmly, clasping her arms around him. "You were gentle, and I loved you from the first time..." Arel felt herself blushing and turned away.

"Shall we go home, Kitten?" His voice was low and urgent. Arel nodded wordlessly. Hand in hand, they walked to the sturdy building of branches and grass that Darek had built in the style of the Women's Village. Inside was a soft mat, where Arel reclined, beckoning Darek to her.

The young Male lay beside his Bond-Mate, and ran his hand slowly over her abdomen, which swelled in a gentle curve from the growing baby within her. "How beautiful you are, Arel," he said softly. "Your body swells like a ripe fruit in the autumn..." She closed her eyes as Darek's lips touched her body and left a sensation of tingling in each spot where they rested.

How could I have loved him so? Arel wondered silently, while his hands moved to her breasts and clasped them urgently. Darek's warm mouth fastened over first one nipple and then the other, teasing them into hardness, while the girl's hips began to writhe in passionate expectation. He stole me away from my home, took my body against my will...and yet I loved him from the time of our first joining.

Now she was moaning and pulling him down to kiss her mouth, seeking the wet firmness of his tongue, lifting her hips and spreading her thighs apart to welcome him. "Love me..." she whispered..."Please, Darek..." And then he entered her, gently, because of the baby, moving in rhythmic strokes until her limbs were on fire and she writhed under him in an agony of delight.

Darek...my Love...deeper, deeper inside me...until you're lost in me...

And when the delight of joining rushed over her like the wind-waves on the Lake's breast, Arel moaned aloud, gasping and holding tightly to her Lover, until he too made the wordless cries of joy, closing his eyes and plunging himself inside her body.

How little I knew, she mused, when they were both quiet, satiated with desire. I thought that his cries were those of pain when first he took me. The powerful young Male, her Bond-Mate, lay beside her, his muscular arms around her tightly, his lips warm against hers. There was nothing more to wish for, except a baby who would be strong and healthy. And the greatest joy for Arel was that neither she, nor any of her sisters, would have to part with their babies or their Bond-Mates. "If our child is a Female, she can still know her father," she murmured, gazing at Darek's face. "And the same will be true of all the children now..."

"Yes, Kitten," Darek answered her in a drowsy voice. "But I would never have sent you away, even under the old Bond. Never..."

Encircled by her Bond-Mate's arms, Arel fell asleep. The exciting scent of his body, the hardened strength of his thighs and shoulders, the faint roughness on his chin, and the hair that grew on his body, especially his broad chest, had once been strange and frightening to her. Now it was as familiar and as precious as the Grassland itself, the sturdy trees, and the fragrant wind. Soon that part of Darek which grew within her would come into this peaceful world, a miraculous joining of their souls. As she dreamed, Arel had only one last thing to hope for.

May my dearest sister Thena be as happy as I am...may Rajan be as good to her as my Love is to me...

Thena walked steadily through the darkness of the mountains. She could no longer run with the swiftness of the Kalamin Deer, because her lithe body was swollen, in breast and belly. Lujal's seed grew inside her where he had placed it that first night. The night when he had brought her, bound and gagged, to his chamber, and raped her again and again...

She was dressed in a light garment of woven cloth, dyed a soft blue, because it was the False Summer, the time in Autumn when the land grew heated, as if the Great Mother fought the approach of the icy rains and snows with all the fiery will in her breast.

And she was hunted. Hunted and tracked like the deer, and by a Wolf. He followed her even now, loping in relentless speed along some rocky trail. A night wind came up to cool the earth's fever, and Thena paused to listen. Was that the snap of a branch? Did she hear the sound of panting breaths, like a stalking beast?
"Lujal!" She turned to face him, as the tall Male strode out of the darkness. "How did you find me?"

"By your fragrance, Beauty." The curve of his lips, the shine of his teeth were menacing. His sinewy body moved closer to hers, and before she could react, Lujal had seized her wrists and drawn her to him.

"No! Leave me!" she screamed, but the sound was cut off by his hand, clamped tightly over her mouth. And yet, the Wolf was gentle as he held her, and the girl did not struggle violently. I must not harm the baby, she cried inwardly. Nothing must harm it.

"I'll bring you to my lair," Lujal laughed. His black hair glistened in the Night-Star's light, and his large dark eyes had the glitter of a predator's glare. "But I can't carry you over my shoulder as I did that first night, She-Cat." His voice became low and tender for a moment, and she felt his hand touch her swollen belly. "You're heavy with child. My child," he added, and she could detect the pride in his deep voice.

Her lips were opened to scream again, but Lujal thrust a gag of soft hide into her mouth and knotted it tightly at the back of her head. His firm hands bound her wrists behind her, and in a moment, she was cradled in his sturdy arms.

This time, Lujal brought his captive home by a different way, a secret tunnel that took them into the cavernous chamber. Thena heard the Wolf laugh as he laid her down on that same bed of furs where he had raped her, three changes of the Night-Star before.

"Now, Beauty," he murmured, unfastening his tunic and leather pants, and exposing his swollen maleness. "I'm going to have you, but gently, because of this..." His bronzed hand was clasped over her belly, and she moaned through the tight gag.

Now he had spread her legs, clasped her thighs, and was licking her sex hungrily, his tongue prodding at the soft flesh, even thrusting inside her. Thena's heart began to pound, and she felt her hips writhing, lifting her hips in ecstasy to meet his mouth.

"Yes, my Love, I understand..." Lujal's voice was suddenly so gentle. She felt him untie her hands so that she could clasp his back, feel the powerful muscles swelling under her touch. Then his hardened manhood entered her warm, wet sex, moving in and out, while her body convulsed in response.

A stifled moan from her lips, and Lujal removed her gag. But before she could cry out, his mouth was over hers, his tongue was cutting off any cries, and his hands were on her swollen breasts.

Lujal, Lujal! Please...take me...

The words flashed in her mind as brightly as the lines of radiance that shot from Sky to Earth in times of storm. Then the storm broke over her, lifting her to the clouds and hurling her back again, while she clung to Lujal's body, and let him swallow her screams.

"Are you happy, Beauty?" There was tender concern in his voice and in the touch of his hand. Thena lay in her lover's strong embrace, lost in the warmth and strength of his body, and she nodded quietly.

"I cannot explain why, Lujal..." The girl hesitated, and then forced herself to continue. "When you take me this way, I love you more for it. And yet when it was real, when I was your captive, I wanted to be free, and I despised you."

"I enjoy our games, Beauty." Lujal's fiercely handsome features betrayed his desire, as he gazed down at his prize. "But I'm glad they're only games. I could never lose you now... And yet I like to play with you, to pursue you in the mountains, carry you off." His voice husky with passion, he added, "All I really have to do is look at you, Thena, and I want you..."

Thena met his lips with her own. When they played this game, when Lujal pursued and caught her, gagged and bound her, and brought her back to their home to be lovingly raped, it aroused an incredible desire within her. She did not know why, but that did not matter.

"I love you, Lujal," she murmured, when he freed her lips for a moment. "Beyond reason, despite the hatred I felt for you once...I love you."

"And I adore you, Beauty..." Lujal's savage dark eyes had a gentle light, and his deep, commanding voice was low and tender. "Sometimes I carry you off, but even when you're my captive, I'm really in your thrall. And you know that, as well as I..."

Words crept into her mind, although she did not speak them: Each other's prisoners, we are finally free... Thena nestled against her Lover's chest and drifted into a long, contented sleep.

The End