The Wolf's Mate Book 7: Lindy & The Wulfen (13 page)

His dad rubbed his stubble with two fingers.  “It’s not been done that way in decades, son.  It would be good for the glen to see such a union.  When would you like to do it?”

“We only have four more days here before we go back to spend a week in her realm.  I’d like to have her as my wife before we go back to the Mortal Realm.”

His dad’s brows rose.  “That’s pretty quick.  And your mother will have to come home early from her spa trip.”  With a thoughtful look, he called Laud and Juli into the kitchen, and they returned quickly.  Clapping Crimson on the shoulder, he said, “My son is going to mate his bride according to the old ways during sunset in two days.  Gather servants from the guild and make sure every available hand is working to make this the most memorable mating our glen has ever seen.”

“Mom will like that,” Crimson said as the two servants hurried away to begin preparations.

“Yes, she will like the spectacle of the thing, but it’s not really about her or me.  It’s about you respecting your bride enough to vow yourself to her according to the old ways.  With blood and iron and fire.”

Nodding, Crimson felt the sting of tears but fought them back.  Then he asked the question that had been on his mind since he had spoken to his commander.  “Dad, will you be disappointed if I step down from the infantry?”

The shock on his dad’s face told him that the question was completely unexpected.  “Why on earth would I be disappointed?”

He fidgeted under his dad’s concerned gaze.  “Because I’m not going to live up to your name.”

“Oh good night, Crimson!  Are you serious?  I never expected you to do everything that I did.  Hell, if I could go back and do my life over, I would have stepped down from the infantry and spent more time at home.”  He pressed his hands into Crimson’s shoulders and stared straight into his eyes.  “I couldn’t be more proud of you than I am right at this moment.  You’ve had a wonderful career so far.  Finding Lindy isn’t the end of your life; it’s just the beginning.  I have no doubt that you’ll continue to impress me and everyone else.  Besides, you might find yourself living in the Mortal Realm with your sweet she-wolf, and then the military is definitely out of the picture.  You’re leading with your heart, Crimson.  A father couldn’t ask for more than that.”

“Thanks, Dad.”  Crimson spoke the words on a whisper, afraid he was going to lose it and cry.  He’d been worried that his dad would be disappointed in his choices, but he shouldn’t have.  His dad had always been his biggest supporter.

“The moment the healer put you in my arms when you were born, you became the son of my heart.  My pride for you knows no bounds.”

With a tight hug, his dad smiled at him and left him in the kitchen alone to gather his thoughts while he went out to visit with Lindy.  Crimson joined them several moments later, enjoying how easily Lindy fit into his life.  Eventually, she couldn’t hide her yawns from him, and it was time to head home.  Laud drove them, and Lindy fell asleep against Crimson’s shoulder.  After saying goodbye to Laud, he carried Lindy into his home — their home — and put her to bed.

He had a lot to do in the next two days, but the work was worth it because of Lindy.  She was worth everything to him.

Chapter 15

The following morning, Lindy and Crimson were enjoying breakfast when a woman’s voice called from outside.

“Crimson Ta’rek!  You invited me to your home to dress your bride, and you left on your protection spell.  I’m insulted!”

“Oh, hades.”  Crimson jumped up from the chair as he spoke a few words and then raced to the front door.

He bowed at the waist, his hand sweeping out in front of him in a welcoming gesture.  “Many apologies, Lafawnya.  Please, do come in.”

A short, round woman, with a pile of white-blonde curls on top of her head, harrumphed and stormed into the house.  Two young girls who looked to be teenagers followed closely behind, carrying bolts of fabric and baskets of supplies.

Lafawnya glared up at Crimson with her hands on her hips.  “You’re just lucky that you’re a distant cousin and I owe your father a debt after he stopped my parents from forcing me to mate a male I didn’t love.”

She turned her attention to Lindy and narrowed her eyes.  “You.  Go to the bedroom and strip.  I’ll be there in a moment.”  Jerking her hands at the two girls, she said, “Go with her and get things set up.  I’ll be joining you in five minutes.”

The girls squeaked in alarm and moved to Lindy.  “Quick, miss, we need to hurry!  The madam doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

Lindy looked at Crimson, who was smiling wryly.  “Sorry,
chelle
.  She’s the best in the realm.”

“Best what?”  Lindy asked as the girls hurried her down the hallway.

“Dressmaker,” one of the girls whispered.

Lindy led them into the room.  The girls whipped around her like tiny brunette tornadoes, laying out the supplies they had carried in.  One of them said, “Miss, please!  She’ll toss us out if you aren’t undressed when she gets back here.”

“Toss you out?  Of the house?”  She began to undo her top.

“No, we’re apprentices.  Madam is the best dressmaker in all the realm. Her family has been making gowns for the royal family and other high-born fae for generations.  It’s an honor to be chosen as an apprentice, but if she’s displeased, she’ll toss us out on our ears, and we’ll never become dressmakers.”

Lindy stripped and folded her clothes on the dresser.  She was used to nudity because of the full moon shifts and had no problem being naked around others.  Lafawnya stormed into the room and looked at Lindy, who was picking at her fingernails and watching the girls spread fabric out on the bed.

“You, girl.  Stand here,” Lafawnya said, pointing to a spot in front of her.

Lindy put her hand on her chest. “Me?”

“Anyone else naked and waiting for a dress?  Yes, you.  Don’t dawdle, my time is very precious.”

Lindy snorted to herself but moved to the spot.  “My name is Lindy.”

“What’s your real name?”  Lafawnya’s eyes narrowed.

“Melinda.”

Nodding, she grabbed Lindy’s wrists and straightened her arms out to the side.  One of the girls handed her a measuring tape.  “That’s a much prettier name.”

Lafawnya spoke softly and the tape measure floated from her hand and moved through the air, lengthening along Lindy’s arm.  Lindy’s eyes widened.  “What the hell?”

One of the teens whispered, “It’s a bespelled measuring tool.  All of Madam’s tools are magic.”

Lafawnya called out measurements and one of the girls wrote them down in a small notebook.  The tape measure floated back into her hand, and she closed her fingers around it.  Leaning forward, she said, “Bend down so I can see your eyes.”

She did as instructed, and the fae dressmaker peered into her eyes.  She leaned back and Lindy straightened, and Lafawnya’s eyes roved up and down Lindy’s body for a long moment, and then she said, “Bring me the
talanic
fabric.”

The teens both inhaled sharply, and Lindy looked over her shoulder at them.  They seemed surprised.

Lafawnya said, “Your mate is going to vow himself to you in the
old ways
, Melinda.  Did he explain it to you?”

“Not really.”

“I’ll leave it to him, then, but know that what he’s going to do for you at sunset tomorrow is going to change things in this realm, in his life, and yours, forever.”

That sounded ominous.  “Is it dangerous?”

“Anything worth doing usually is in some way or another.”

“I respect traditions, Lafawnya.  My people honor our ancestors in many ways, including our mating and joining ceremonies.  Crimson wants to do this because it’s important to him, and that makes it important to me.”

Lafawnya nodded, respect shining in her eyes.  The teens brought Lafawnya a bolt of fabric that was pearl white.  Lindy didn’t think she had the skin tone to pull off a white dress, but she had a feeling if she opened her mouth that Lafawnya would use some kind of magic item to gag her.  Crimson wouldn’t have sent someone to help her if the woman didn’t know what she was doing.

More words that Lindy didn’t know were spoken, melodious and soft.  The fabric lifted from her hands and began to unwind, draping itself around Lindy.  When she saw what looked like two pairs of shears flying toward her, Lindy simply closed her eyes and tried very hard not to move.

For what felt like an eternity, all she could hear was the soft murmuring of the dressmaker and teens, the cutting sounds from the shears, and rustling fabric.  She wondered what Lafawnya meant when she’d said that the ceremony would change the realm as well as their own lives.  She knew she and Crimson were going to be married by fae standards the following night at sunset.  She wished her mother and friends could join her, but the mating ceremony was strictly for the Fae Realm.

“Lovely,” Lafawnya said.

Lindy opened her eyes and stared into a full-length mirror the teens were holding.  She gasped in surprise.  The dress was a gorgeous ball gown, a shade of blue that matched her eyes perfectly.  The drape at the back of the dress made it appear as if she had wings folded against her back, and the pinched waist and low-cut bodice made her look like a pinup.

One of the teens handed Lindy a pair of satin sandals that matched the dress perfectly and were studded with what looked like diamonds.  “The dress is beautiful, Lafawnya, thank you.”

She bowed and then smiled.  “It was my pleasure to dress the bride of our glen’s only
wulfen
.”  She slipped a dark purple ring on Lindy’s right index finger.  “May you have a sweet life, Melinda, wolf from the Mortal Realm, and find much happiness with your mate.”

Lindy thanked the dressmaker and the two teens after they helped her disrobe and hung the dress in the closet.  She dressed in her regular clothes and walked them out to the front room, where Crimson said goodbye and held the door open for them.

“How was it, sweetheart?”

“She had scissors that came flying at me!”

He laughed.  “Tools of the dressmakers’ trade.  She used to use brownies, but they don’t live on this side of the mountain anymore.”

“Brownies?”

“They’re about the size of a gnome and have brown skin and hair.  They are very helpful and like to make things.”

“Why did they move to the other side of the mountain?  What’s on the other side?”

“The other side of the mountain is very dangerous.  The Fae Realm is home not only to fae, but also to other creatures.  Strange beasts, fae that have been rejected from our glens because of their criminal behavior, and other undesirable creatures.  The closer you get to the top of the mountain, the colder it is. We weren’t twenty feet up the face of the mountain, not even one-tenth of the way.  The top of the mountain is covered in snow and ice and a layer of thick clouds.  The side of the mountain facing our part of the realm is lush and green while the other side is void of anything but stone and dirt.  There aren’t glens in the traditional sense, but territories protected by the different groups.”

“Why would the brownies live there if it’s dangerous?”

“Some time ago, brownies decided they didn’t want to work in servitude to fae any longer, so they moved to the other side of the mountain.  They have magic that can make them and their homes invisible, so they live where they can do their own work and not have others telling them what to do.”

“Well, I guess I won’t ever meet a brownie, but they sound neat.”

He cast the protection spell over the house and closed the door, turning with a low growl and snatching her against him.  “You were gone quite a while,
chelle
.  I missed you.”

She sank against him, reveling in the feel of his lips when he kissed her and the way her body fit his so perfectly.

* * * * * *

“Crimson Ta’rek!”  A shrill voice screeched from outside their home while Lindy was reading a book about the mating ceremony and Crimson was working in the bedroom on his own outfit.  “You slippery
wollbeast
!”

Lindy stood, setting the book on the low table in front of the couch.

Crimson came out of the bedroom.  “Oh, hex.”

“Who is that?”  Lindy asked as the woman continued to screech Crimson’s name and call him creatures that sounded very unpleasant.

“It’s Giwyn.”

“Ah.  The one you found naked on the bed when you got out of the shower?”  She smiled at him, and he snapped his teeth at her.

“I didn’t ask for her to be there,” he said indignantly.

“You sure you’re really a wolf?  I don’t know any unmated males who would turn down pussy like that.”  She tapped her fingernail to her chin.

“You would have preferred that I ravaged her?” he snarled, and she laughed.

“Of course not, but it’s kind of funny.”

“It is not.”

“Yeah, it is.”

He grabbed her by the back of the neck and kissed her hard.  “Is.  Not.”

Still snarling, he stormed through the front room and threw open the door.  He appeared utterly calm when he leaned against the doorjamb and said, “You bellowed?”

Lindy moved to stand next to Crimson, and he took her hand and squeezed it.  Giwyn was thin and willowy, with flame-red hair that looked anything but natural.  She might have been pretty, if her face hadn’t been screwed up into a haughty sneer.

“Your mother promised you to me, Crimson Ta’rek,” she said angrily.  “You kicked me out of your bed, and for what?”  She looked at Lindy, and her lip curled up in disgust.  “So you could rut like a beast with a commoner from the Mortal Realm?  You know our ways, Crimson.  She will never be accepted, no matter what ceremony you plan for yourselves, and you’ll shame your family name and destroy your mother.”

Crimson straightened from his casual stance and angled himself slightly in front of Lindy.  “My mother will be fine, but I’ll be sure to let her know you care.  And as for my bride,” his voice began to change from smooth and controlled to rough and deep, “there is nothing
common
about her or our mating.  She’s already been accepted by those who matter to me, and since you
don’t
, I suggest you take the short road to Hades and get off my property.”

Lifting one hand, he snapped his fingers and flames burst from the ground in front of Giwyn; she shrieked and fell back as a wall of fire built up between her and the house.  She screamed in fright as Crimson lifted his hand and the flames grew higher and brighter.  Lindy shielded her eyes from the intensity as Giwyn ran down the path and climbed hurriedly into a white carriage led by an orange horse that dashed away down the street as Crimson let the flames die.

Fanning herself to cool down, Lindy said, “Is she right?”

Crimson snorted.  “She’s never been right about anything to do with me.”

“But your parents?  Will our mating cause problems for them?”

“Of course not.”  He turned and pulled her inside the front room, shutting the door.  He sat on the couch and pulled her onto his lap.  Cradling her face in his hands, he kissed her sweetly and thoroughly and then said, “The only people who would find fault with our mating are those who don’t believe in truemate spells or feel as if mating with those outside our realm is taboo.  Those kinds of closed-minded people don’t matter to me in the least, or to my father or my friends.”  He leaned back against the couch and hugged her close.  “I don’t know what my mother will think.  She’s probably home now, and I’m rather surprised she hasn’t shown up to demand an explanation.  One day,
chelle
, she’ll realize that I’m happy with you, and she’ll want to share in our joy.  But if that day never comes, then that’s okay, too.  Because I wouldn’t want my mother’s approval if it meant I couldn’t have you.”

She leaned back far enough to look into his beautiful green eyes.  Her heart swelled, and she opened her mouth to tell him that she loved him but decided it was too soon.  She would tell him on the night of their mating, when they vowed themselves to each other in the
old ways
.

“Thank you for standing up for me.  For us.”

“It’s what mates do.”

* * * * *