“It won't change anything between us. I won't let it,” she promised, putting her hands on both sides of her sister’s face to force her to look into her eyes as she spoke.
“Marigold never sees her sister anymore. She told me she can't even remember what she looks like,” Mali said, blushing as soon as she spoke of it.
“You know that's different,” she said sternly. Mali should have known better than to speak of Marigold’s sister. She and her mate had been the victims of each young person’s greatest fear in their tribe.
“How is it different? She got married off and now she is gone,” she said stubbornly.
“Her mating was challenged by one of the Shamanas. They carried her off. There is no coming back after that. They made her one of them after the challenger killed her mate,” she said bluntly.
It was something that was rarely spoken of in their tribe after it happened. In times gone by, their rival tribe had been primarily male. To find mates, they came and stole women from them, which led to battles and skirmishes to retrieve them. Soon, the elders decided it was a futile and a waste of life. They met with the elders of the Shamanas tribe and struck a deal. If the Shamanas warriors wished to have one of their women, he would need only to challenge her mate for her. If he won, then the tribe would not seek retaliation for her loss. Her mate could concede her to the rival or fight to the death to keep her.
She would be considered a Shamana if she was lost and would belong to the warrior who won her. It saved the lives of many a warrior, but the women of the tribe lived in fear they would be taken by the rival brutes.
“What if that happens to you? You heard mama. You are the perfect mate. They could challenge your mate for you. Then I will never see you again,” she sobbed, throwing herself back down on the bed.
“Now darling, you've lived with me your whole life, haven't you?” she said, trying to stay calm and not let her own fears show through.
“That is a silly question,” Mali said, staring at her sister as if she were sure she had gone mad.
“Well, can you think of anyone wanting to live with me so badly that they would risk killing or being killed to do it?” she asked with a laugh.
“I suppose you are right,” Mali giggled.
“Now go off and pick some of the yallan flowers from near the creek. We will need them to dye the thread to embroider my robe,” she said, shooing her sister from their room. The rare flower was something that she would need to complete her robe. Keeping Mali busy was likely the best way to keep her from her sadness and also to begin her training to assist their mother after Kalia’s mating. The smile on the girl’s face told her that she had thought correctly.
“You want me to help?” Mali said in surprise. She jumped off the bed and looked as though she was very excited to be a part of it. Though it was usually a mother-daughter activity, Kalia wanted Mali to be a part of as much of the preparations as possible.
“Yes, of course. I will always need my sister,” she said, hugging her sister close before sending her from the room.
She needed a moment alone to process the thoughts tumbling around in her head. In all of her earlier fears, her mating being challenged had not even crossed her mind. Now, it struck cold in her heart to even think of it.
Kalia sat on the bed and tried to wrap her mind around all of the changes that had occurred in just one afternoon. She needed to prepare herself for many more changes to come and she needed to be strong for her mother, her sister, and her brothers, and she needed to be the kind of mate that any warrior would be proud to call his own.
*
Kalia stood in the middle of the sacred lodge and tried to keep herself calm. To keep her mind occupied, she studied the details of the lodge’s interior. Though many of her friends had mated already, speaking of what happened within the lodge was strictly forbidden. She had been surprised by how luxurious the space was. There were candles, large and small, on every surface. They sputtered and glowed, making the interior of the lodge feel otherworldly. The most surprising thing to her was the fact that the ceiling of the lodge was open to the night sky. Above her, the moon glowed bright, bathing the entire room in its light. It made her feel almost as though she was standing outside in the night, despite the walls that surrounded her.
When the oldest female elder led her to the lodge, she explained to her that she would have an hour in the space by herself to calm her nerves before her mate entered, and she was glad for it; the days leading up to that night had been absolute madness. She had done all that she could to prepare their home for her absence.
In addition to that, she had to pack all of her belongings and sew her marriage wardrobe. All of the work had made it much easier for her to keep from facing the sadness at leaving her home and her family. Her mother made it very clear to her that her bags needed to be prepared before the elders came for her, so that they could be collected in the morning and moved to her new home.
She still had trouble believing that she had spent her last night in her mother’s house. Her mother had not cried when she left, but she had been exerting all of her will to keep from it. Kalia had followed her lead as she said farewell. Mali wasn’t able to keep her own tears in check but she had already begun to stitch new curtains for the room, now that it belonged to her alone, so Kalia worried less about her being alone. The boys, for their part, were too young to understand what was happening, but they hugged her close and let her hold them for quite a while without fussing.
Now, she stood alone in this sacred place. Though it was beautiful, the power of it was a bit overwhelming to her.
That must be why the elders gave the females
time to calm themselves,
she thought
. In the center of the room there was a mattress on the floor, covered in luxurious fabrics and furs. There were pillows strewn around, making the room look like the tent of the sultans she had heard about in the fables her mother told her when she was young.
There was a small mirror in the corner of the room that she used to study her face. She thought she was doing a fair job of hiding her nerves. Her mother and sister had spent over an hour twisting her long, thick brown hair into a braid. They had woven dozens of flowers into her dark locks. She looked, she thought, more like a woodland nymph than her real self. There were a variety of colors, making her look as though she was a part of the nature that surrounded them every day. Because so much of their existence was tied to their own connection to the wild, it made her feel a bit more confident than usual.
They had just finished her ritual robe that morning. Because it was to be reflective of whom she was, she had a bit of trouble settling on a design. Finally, she realized that it should be reflective of her home and what she loved. That way, it would give her the confidence to go boldly forward while carrying her past and her home with her.
She dyed the satin fabric the deep blue color of the stream that ran near their family cabin. She was even more grateful for her choice, now that she knew she would be bathed in moonlight. The color looked quite favorable in those conditions.
She worked with her mother and sister to embroider the robe with the many flowers that lined the stream. It had been an ambitious goal, but in the end it had worked out quite well. She ran her fingers nervously over the embroidered flowers and tried to keep her confidence up.
When her mother and sister finished with her hair and helped her into the robe, she looked in the mirror that she had looked in every day of her life and didn’t recognize herself. Where before she had seen a scrawny girl, a woman now looked back at her. Even her sister was shocked by the change in her appearance. Her mother just smiled at them both as they stared at the change in her. Her lean body looked womanly and the curve of her breasts and hips was amazing, even to her.
She had been nervous that she would not appeal to her mate physically, but her mother assured her that would not be a problem, and she knew in that moment that she was correct. The ceremonial robe revealed her legs, long and lean, yet strong. Her arms, tanned from hours of work outdoors, looked exotic when juxtaposed with the deep blue color. It brought out her eyes, making them look like pools of deep water. Her mother said men could drown in such eyes and be grateful for the privilege, which only made Mali laugh and Kalia blush.
She stared in the small mirror of the sacred lodge and tried to see any trace of herself in there when she heard footsteps approaching. The deer pelts that were hanging from the ceiling to create a door opened to reveal someone that she had never expected to see; Luke – the son of the chief.
He stopped when he saw her, saying nothing. His eyes were locked on her and she could not seem to move. Her mother had made it very clear to her that she should not speak unless spoken to when her mate entered because he should take the lead in the moment, so she stood silently and took in the sight of him.
He was a very handsome man. His body was strong and lean. His muscles rippled in the moonlight. His sandy brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. From his right ear, an earring dangled. He wore no shirt, revealing his ceremonial tattoos. On his chest, an eagle soared. On his left arm, a serpent wound its way around his bicep.
He was the epitome of what any girl could want in a mate. In addition to his physical appeal, his connection to the chief gave him and his mate an elevated status in the tribe. He was revered on his own as a brave and skilled warrior and he was seen as a leader among the tribe. However, she could not bring herself to be relieved that he was her mate. He was a dour man. She could not remember a time when she had seen him smile or laugh. Even now, standing before her, he wore a serious expression on his face. He was only five years older than her but she could not remember a moment where they had spoken to each other. She could not even recall a stolen glance between them. In all the hours she had spent imagining whom her mate would be, he had never even crossed her mind. In truth, she never thought of him much at all.
As her mind raced, she became more and more uncomfortable with the way that he was looking at her. His eyes were fixed on her, but he was not smiling and he did not make any effort to speak to her. For a horrifying moment, she thought that her worst fear was coming true. She thought that he was disappointed in her as his mate.
Still, she would not cower before him. She was the daughter of a proud warrior and her mother trained her well to be the mate of a man’s dreams. She stood boldly before him, not blinking. She met his gaze and held it. It was then she realized it was not disappointment that he was experiencing. There was a hunger in his eyes that thrilled her. She knew then that he was simply trying to process things as she was.
It relaxed her a bit to know he desired her. The expression on his face proved that. Still, he did not move towards her. Though she did not know it, he was frozen by her beauty. Standing there in the light of the candles and the moon, she looked more like a dream than reality.
Luke was afraid if he moved to touch her, she would vanish entirely. To him, she looked fearless as she stared back at him. There in the silence, it felt as though they had both fallen out of time and space. They existed only in a world of their own, together.
The feelings of desire that came over Kalia were like nothing she had ever experienced before. She knew the lodge was sacred, but she wondered if it was magical. The passion growing in her was irrational and wonderful. The heat began to bubble in her and she was suddenly craving his hands upon her.
When he still did not more towards her, she thought she might go mad with want. His eyes had the light of passion in them and it only fueled her want. His muscles tensed and his nostrils flared, letting her know he could sense her own desire growing. She felt herself blush, the heat creeping across her cheeks and yet she did not look away from him.
It was then that he moved, like the predator that he was. He crossed the space between them in a fraction of a second. His lips crashed down upon hers. Thought he must have known she had little experience, he was not gentle with her. His lips were demanding and she found it quite thrilling. She kissed him back eagerly; unsure of what had gotten in to her.
Her thoughts drifted to what he must think, his virginal mate kissing him so desperately but he did not hesitate in his efforts so she was fairly sure he did not mind. He looped his arm around her waist, pulling her body tight against his. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck for balance, but he took it as encouragement, deepening their kiss.
His hands roamed her body, traveling every inch of her skin. She knew she should be embarrassed, but she was thrilled by his touch. He must surely think her immoral for her wanton reaction to his touch. She couldn’t seem to make herself care, though. It was exhilarating. She had never even let a boy kiss her before. She had done everything as a young werebear female should. She kept herself pure. She never even touched a male that was not of her family before that night. The physical intimacy she knew was coming had been one of the main reasons that she was so apprehensive about the mating process. Now, she understood why the newly mated girls were always smiling.
His lips traveled down her neck, sending goosebumps across her skin. Her hands wove through his hair, pulling it loose from the tie at the back of this neck. She savored the feeling of it against her hands. He moaned in approval and ran his hands over the silk of her robe. When he slipped his hand beneath it, her heart fluttered. She thought he would remove it immediately, but he seemed to be enjoying taking his time with her.