Blake considered her father’s words and took a deep breath before speaking. “I know I would have done that, but that doesn’t mean we should expect it from someone else. I’m sorry, father, but what if you’re reading too much into this? What if Jonathan is trying to track down Woodtail as we speak?”
Roman sighed. “Let’s hope you’re right. Nevertheless, we have to be prepared for whatever might come out of this mess. My brother in Canada is probably cheering Woodtail’s alliance with the rogue wolves.”
“Yeah,” admitted Blake. “I’m sure he’d offer him shelter if he found him before the Council.”
“God forbid!” Roman waved his hands as if trying to chase away the possibility. “Sebastian, Julian and Charles called to tell me they would be stopping by with their Yakos later this afternoon, so we have to decide on a position towards this matter and stick with it.” He moved his purple eyes from Seth to Blake, then to Amelia. “This is what we’re going to tell them: we believe Jason Woodtail is a traitor and we will not stand by his side. What happened at Alma Venus Boarding School is an isolated incident, an incident caused by some serious family drama fox-shifters have nothing to do with. Woodtail’s choice was strictly personal and it doesn’t reflect the fox-shifters’ position towards the peace treaty, neither does it have anything to do with the silly, old problems between foxes and wolves. Do we all agree?”
“Yes, father.”
“Yes,” said Seth.
“Yes,” whispered Amelia. She was dying to find out more about the battle and the Blackmanes, but Roman only seemed to be interested in Jason Woodtail and his two earths. She’d have to catch up with Seth later and make him tell her everything. She knew it wouldn’t be too hard.
“Good. Good.” Roman made a long pause. After staring into space for a couple of minutes, leaving Seth, Amelia, and Blake with their own thoughts, his tired gaze fell on his supposed son and his daughter-in-law. “I think it’s time to have the mating ritual. What do you say, children?”
Amelia’s pulse quickened. She turned to Blake, her eyes filled with uncertainty. She knew this moment would come, but that didn’t mean she was ready.
Seth swallowed down hard and struggled to keep his composure. The mating ritual… This sacred ceremony which was meant to bind two souls, two bodies, two mates. Oh, how he wished he’d have that with Amelia.
Blake looked at Amelia, then at Seth. It broke her heart to see these two people she loved so much separated by her and her father’s social and political game. They were doomed to consume their love in secret simply because Blake and Clan Sylfur were more important than them, more important than their right to be happy, get married, and maybe have children. She sighed and turned to her father: “Yes, we should get it over with.”
“Next week?” suggested Roman.
“Next week is fine,” was Blake’s answer.
CHAPTER TWO
The Mating Ritual
The week went in a blur. Amelia didn’t have much to do in preparation for the mating ritual, except go shopping with Elena to choose her dress and shoes. They were both white, of course, not only because the ritual was as close to a wedding as it could get, but also because the werefoxes of Clan Sylfur were all as white as snow. It was her way of showing her complete devotion to her new family. While Blake was locked up in her room most of the time and Roman was holding meeting after meeting with his brothers in his own room, Amelia did get to talk to Seth about the battle at Alma Venus and the Blackmanes. She let out a breath of relief when he told her Avelyn Blackmane was fine, but she couldn’t hold in a gasp when she found out her ex-colleague was pregnant. As much as she tried, Amelia couldn’t picture Avelyn having a baby. Selfish, self-centered Avelyn… She laughed out loud at the thought, and Seth asked her what was wrong. She waved him off and asked him to tell her more about this Viggo of Clan Drekinn guy and why he believed he helped the Blackmanes defeat the rogue wolves and foxes. Seth could only speculate…
Two days before the ritual, Amelia finally got to meet Damon Sylfur, the youngest of the Sylfur brothers. He came all the way from Canada with his earth to meet the bride, congratulate Blake, and attend the party. At first, Amelia was reluctant, but she soon realized it was impossible to resist Damon’s charm. He was clearly older than Seth and Blake, but he still had those boyish features which could melt any woman’s heart. She understood why he could have such a powerful influence on his older brothers, except for Roman, of course. Roman was too experienced to fall for Damon’s charm, he had seen too much to allow a smile and a wink to make him change his mind. Amelia tried to keep a cool head, but Damon’s light jokes and contagious laughter often made her forget why she shouldn’t trust him. His dark purple eyes, long blond hair and sharp features reminded her of the classic definition of Prince Charming. She quickly shook that image off when Seth told her Damon Sylfur was already at his fifth human bride, while he also kept a steady fox-shifter bride.
“That’s awful!”
“It’s actually how things work in the fox-shifters’ society,” explained Seth. “I’m not saying it’s right, but it isn’t considered wrong either, and the peace treaty allows shape-shifters to take as many brides as they want during their long lives. Unfortunately, Damon’s ex-brides didn’t exactly die of old age…”
“What do you mean?” A shiver ran up Amelia’s spine.
“His first wife died at birth. At that time, medicine wasn’t very evolved, so there was nothing the midwife could do to save her. The second one got very ill after giving birth to her second son, and I’m not sure what happened to the next two. I do remember one of them went through a long period of depression. He took his current shifter-bride pretty recently, two or three years ago, I think.”
“But he didn’t bring her with him,” she noted. The woman who always stood by Damon’s side was a tall, blonde vixen.
Seth smiled bitterly. “It pains me to say this, but except for Roman, all Sylfur Inaris, Yakos, Ninkos, and members of the clan who choose to take shifter brides don’t think much of them. They see them as expendable. Their only job is to provide heirs, and God forbid one of them is not as fertile as her husband expects.”
Amelia swallowed hard. “What happens then? It’s not like it’s something these poor women can control…”
“Well, let’s just say they don’t have an easy life, and leave it at that.”
The conversation turned Amelia’s stomach upside down. She tried to comfort herself with the thought that she was really lucky to have been bou
ght by Seth for Blake and ended up on Roman Sylfur’s side, but it didn’t help much. All the shifter brides who greeted her on the street and at the docks, cradling their children or watching them play… how many of them were actually living a nightmare at home? They were only putting on a mask. They had been raised and educated to be shifter brides, so they were doing their best. Maybe some of them were even grateful for the life they had if they happened to come from a background similar to Amelia’s.
When the day of the mating ritual came, both Amelia and Blake just wanted it to be over. Even though Blake had started to come out of her room more often during the day, she still didn’t feel very confident around her people. Of course, it had nothing to do with her social skills, which were practically intact, but with the constant fear that a fox-shifter might catch a scent of what she really was. Not a male fox, but very much a vixen. Blake kept Amelia close and everything was fine. Traditionally, one of the Sylfur brothers should have walked Amelia down the shoreline to where Roman was waiting to offer the new couple his blessing, but Blake insisted she wanted her bride by her side at all times. Sebastian, Julian, Charles and Damon laughed and made some dirty jokes about how Blake was already so possessive and Amelia wouldn’t probably get much rest at night until she gave Blake an heir. Blake smiled indulgently and Amelia even managed to blush. Seth was somewhere behind the crowd gathered by the river to celebrate the union, rolling his eyes. Naturally, he should have been at the front, standing by Roman’s side, but he didn’t want to hear Blake’s and Amelia’s vows. It wasn’t jealousy, as he knew their words would be empty, but he would have loved to be in Blake’s place so much that it hurt.
Their vows were simple. Love, loyalty… Amelia wasn’t even aware of what she was saying as Blake held her hands. She had written the whole thing on a piece of paper, then learned it by heard. Blake seemed to have done the same. There was nothing poetic, nothing even remotely hinting to the fact that they were madly in love with each other. It was a good thing none of the Sylfur brothers had ever married for love, otherwise they would have surely felt there was something wrong about the whole ritual. Blake finished with “in sickness and in health ‘til death do us part” and offered Amelia a sweet smile. Amelia smiled back and thought how not everything they had just vowed to each other was necessarily untrue. Yes, she was ready to stay by Blake’s side no matter what, help her achieve her goals and rule over Clan Sylfur as she and Roman saw fit. They were friends, after all. Maybe Blake would soon become what all the girls at Alma Venus called a best friend. Amelia’s heart fluttered at the thought. She wouldn’t mind finally having a best friend forever, not at all. She and Blake already shared so much that there was no question about it; they would watch each other’s back ‘til death did them part.
“May your union be blessed, my children. May you love and cherish each other for the rest of your long, beautiful life.” Roman’s kind gaze fell upon them. If anyone present had looked closely, they would have noticed the sadness and regret in his eyes. This was not what he would have wanted for Blake, his only child. He would have loved to bless her union with a partner she truly loved, but alas, it wasn’t possible. Blake understood and had forgiven him a long time ago for putting the fate of the clan way above her love and happiness, but Roman knew he would never forgive himself. He had grown to like Amelia a lot since she had come to live in his house, so now he felt even guiltier for having ruined two people’s lives. Two people he cared about. He sighed imperceptibly and decided to get it over with. “Blake, my son, you may now kiss your lovely bride.”