Most of these states had banned heat control, and therefore had many she-wolves who could go into something called heat at any time.
Heat was the most confusing concept of all. Apparently, she-wolves had no spontaneous desire or inclination to perform reproductive acts until they were one day flooded with pheromones that compelled them to mate. When male wolves scented these pheromones, they often went “crazy” and would feel similarly compelled to mate. And if a male did copulate with a she-wolf in heat, they would mate for however long it took for the she-wolf to become pregnant. Anywhere from mere hours to several days.
Eos had been very, very confused.
“Will I become crazy, too?” he’d asked his father. “Even though I’m only half wolf?”
“I hope not,” Blue Father answered. “We drakkon are not nearly so indiscriminate in any case. It is rare that even two drakkon are sexually compatible. So when we encounter a compatible being, we mate that being, no matter what. I felt compelled in such a way by Wolf Mother from the start, though I tried to deny it. And I suspect my superior compatibility with her was what caused her heat.”
Eos had many more questions after that. Would his male works descend as well for the right she-wolf? For any she-wolf in heat? Would it be possible for him to mate with a human as well? How was he to know the difference?
His father gave him no clear answers. Nor did he know if Eos would experience sexual need prior to mating as Wolf Mother said male wolves often did.
“In any case, this is not something you will need to worry about for another decade. Your mother wishes you to be informed, but she would also like for you to wait a standard sixteen planet rotations before you engage in sex with anyone.”
Eos had nodded in agreement, though he was left with more questions with no answers after the talk with his father.
And now after the triplet brothers’ departure, Eos had another question. “Why would the dragon king kidnap Twin Sister of Great Wolf Mother?” he asked, though he already suspected the answer.
“I imagine he has discovered that he is sexually compatible with her,” Blue Father answered. “Otherwise, he would have murdered your aunt in the showiest way by now.”
His stomach flame flared with nausea at Blue Father’s answer. “So the dragon king took her to mate. But isn’t that a terrible thing?”
Silence. Much, much silence, as Blue Father’s wings beat in opposite time to his.
Then his father said. “I hope not. In fact, if my suspicion was right, Twin Sister of Great Wolf Mother might be the only one who can save us from my cousin’s wrath.”
“Then why not tell Wolf Mother and Family of Wolf Mother this?” Eos asked.
Blue Father answered immediately this time. “Because if I am wrong, she will pay with her life. We will all pay with our lives. And that knowledge would bring Great Wolf Mother even less peace than she has now.”
Chapter Nineteen
DAMIANOS
After she releases me, I once again find myself unable to let Colby bathe her, even though he is the servant and I am the king. Thus, instead of leaving her, I tell him to bring me the same items I requested last night.
And when he knocks on the door, I palm it open, positioning my body so he cannot see past me to my naked she-wolf.
“Here are the items you requested,” he says, extending a bowl of soapy warm water, a sponge, and a large towel. He’s dressed in what the anthro male children of this millennium refer to as pajamas: flannel pants and a t-shirt emblazoned with the name of his former university. I must have woken him from slumber with my command.
It matters not. Like all the Colbys, he never appears resentful, even in the early hours of the morning.
I do not thank him for rising from his bed. Please and thank you are useless human custom words. And I already feel all too human as I take the items I will need to give my she-wolf a sponge bath.
“I will expect breakfast at the same time tomorrow morning.”
“Yes, Master.”
I frown. His usage of that word reminds me of my conversation with Ola from earlier in the evening. How upset she’d been to find out that Colby and all his fathers before him were my thralls.
I palm the door closed in his face before I can give that memory too much sway.
This is why the she-wolf is dangerous, I remind myself as I return to the bed with the water and towels. This is why I cannot give in to these instincts crackling through my flame after mating with her a second time.
Turning my thoughts from Colby, I give her a sponge bath, reveling in the sight of her bare body as I run the sponge over it.