Chapter 31: The Bird and the Wolf

CAIN

Cain didn’t have the patience to be slow or gentle with Freya now. Not today. He sat her on the edge of their bed and pulled up the layers of tulle skirts around her legs. He needed to feel her body.

She pulled him inside of her. He gripped her hips and rode her.

All that mattered to them now was being connected as one physically and revel in their newly realized feelings for one another.

The Bird and the Wolf.

No one had seen this coming. Lifelong enemies finding fulfillment in each other’s embrace. And although it was quick, there was much their bodies said that took the place of the words they couldn’t find. All they needed was their pleasure of one another and this unbridled joy for what the future held.

He released into her, then kissed her face. “Do you want more?”

She shook her head. “Later.”

He smiled at the thought of what he could do with her later.

“Little Bird, you look like you are going to fall asleep.” His petite woman was nearly asleep against his chest.

Freya fluttered her eyelashes briefly before squinting her blue eyes shut once more.

“We need to make an effort. The Adaryn will want to see us together.”

“We’re supposed to sit at the head of the table and be seen rejoicing in a successful union. The Blue Winter Moon lasts all night, and the celebration should endure throughout the night as well. For them, it’s tradition,” she said. But she didn’t get up and go see the rest of her people. Freya wriggled closer to Cain.

He placed a tender kiss atop her head. “Your father is here. I think you should speak to him before we leave for the mountains. We don’t know when you’ll see him next.”

At that, Freya lifted her head and laid her chin on Cain’s chest to look at him.

“Why ever should I do that? He tossed me away so easily. All it took was a fancy new house and he was washing his hands of the filth he took me for.”

“Can you be so sure that’s how he saw it? You never spoke on the subject to him.”

“I don’t need to. They value their society and opinions on what each other thinks too much. I know how everyone looked at me. Surely, getting rid of his disgrace was like a dream coming true. And he got a title, and I told you how nice his new house is,” Freya grumbled against Cain’s chest.

He stroked the feathers at her shoulder. “Family is important. It would ease my mind to have you speak to your father before we go. I bet if we leave the tent he’ll still be out there, waiting for you.”

“I’m not sure if I can face him, Cain,” Freya whimpered, gripping the blankets in her fist.

“You know if we go out there, I’ll be by your side the entire time.”

“I know.”

As happy and warm as he was to have her in the bed with him, Cain knew he had to get her to make an appearance. Being the wolf-mother’s heir, he had to take responsibility for the path he would be paving for peace once it was his turn to lead.

Just ensuring the alliance with a marriage and continuing to search for Ivar wouldn’t be enough. There had to be a mutual understanding and reciprocated work put in on both sides. Generations of bloodshed didn’t wash away with one union.

“Little bird, we’re going to go out there. I’d appreciate if you talk to your father when we do,” Cain had a tone that suggested his word was law.

Freya sat up. “I know we need to. I just don’t want to. You don’t understand what it’s like to have your family betray you.”

“I don’t understand?” He thought of his uncle, betraying his mother and everyone else. He could see this was turning into a fight, and he had to stop it. Cain bolted upright and swept Freya in his arms.

Freya squealed excitedly as Cain lifted her and carried her to the stool by the low brazier.

He sat her down gently and began to unravel the braid in her hair that had become messed up. Freya sighed happily as his fingers brushed through her hair and over her scalp. He thought of how not so long ago she had tended to Cain’s wounds in this very spot.

That awkward beginning between them had washed away. Even though it had only started as a small spark, it had grown into more. Their feelings had progressed as quickly as a shooting star, blazing a fiery path across the sky.

Cain ran his fingers through Freya’s hair, loosening the braids into long platinum waves. He ran his fingers down her neck and bare back to feel the soft feathers on her skin. He didn’t need her to have wings. She was already extraordinary.

It pained him to know her wings had been severed when she was an infant, but if it hadn’t been done, she might not have survived. And what the birds saw as a flaw was the defining factor that ensured she was the one he’d be bound to in this alliance. Cain was disgusted to think that their council of birds had plotted behind Freya’s back to take advantage of her.

Perhaps one day they would see the error of their ways when Freya was ruling at his side.

“It’s cold out,” she said.

“Here, we can cover up and fight the cold.” Cain helped Freya to straighten out the skirts of her dress he’d bunched up in his rush to have her. When his hands raked over her hips, Freya let slip a pleasant hum. He looked up to see a wicked smile on her lips. When she bit her lower lip, all he wanted was to take her right back to bed.

“Little bird, you have to stop looking at me in such a way. It’s hard for me to resist you.” His voice was a low growl. “We have responsibilities to attend to.”

Freya’s eyes went wide, and her mouth opened in mock shock as though she had no idea Cain was talking about. Cain knew there was a wicked side to her. A side he’d make sure no one but him ever saw. At that moment he bent over and took Freya’s lips in a passionate kiss.

She was losing her breath as Cain devoured her mouth with his own. She felt warm all over. A furious blush took over her face, and by the time Cain pulled away from her, she was completely breathless and looked thoroughly dazed.

“Don’t ever try to resist me, Cain. If you do, I’ll have to make an enemy of you once again,” Freya said, giggling.

He grabbed a thick cloak lined with pale fur and wrapped it securely around his mate, with a content smile on his face.

Freya reached up and rubbed her hand along Cain’s cheek and down to the short beard along his chin. She scratched the scruff for a moment before meeting his dark red eyes with her light blue ones. They stood still for a moment, just looking into each other’s eyes and enjoying their comfort.

“Come on, little bird, let’s make an appearance and then we can come right back here. After I’ve had enough of you, we need to prepare for going home,” Cain said, throwing a black coat with white and gray fur over his own shoulders before heading to the tent entrance.

“I surely hope you never will have enough of me,” Freya giggled.

Cain wrapped one muscled arm around her waist and pulled her tight against his side. “Wouldn’t dream of it, my love.” After he placed a gentle kiss atop her head, Cain ushered them both out into the cold of the night and the light of the Blue Winter Moon.

Freya scrunched her face as they left the tent, showing she was disgruntled and unhappy with the cold assaulting them. Cain had told her it could become even colder in the mountains, and snow fell often throughout winter. She’d have to adjust to living in this weather.

At her side, Cain was perfectly adapted to the chill as they walked to the feasting wedding party. He wrapped his arm lightly around Freya’s waist.

The light of the blue moon cast a luminous glow around the camp and the surrounding forest. A herd of dark clouds lurked in the distance. They held the promise of the coming storm.

The new anointed couple was met with cheers and howls. The Vargar crowd thumped their mugs in rhythm on the long wooden tables. Cain looked happily down at Freya who was blushing. But the deep smile on her face and joy in her light eyes spread into him.

Cain pulled Freya closer into his side and with his opposite hand he gently caressed her cheek. Freya leaned into his warm hand on her face and sighed contentedly.