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Three days. For three long days they were trapped inside while the storm howled and raged outside the cave. The leather bound over the entrance often flapped or pulled taut with a sudden violent gust. It did little to keep out the cold, and snow found its way into the first few feet of the cave. Arie clung to the fire like a lifeline, moving only to relieve herself in the giant rounded skull of a spotted megacat set up further back to the rear of the cave. Judging by the size of that skull, she was in no hurry to ever run into the creature. It was far more massive than even lore had accounted for.
Arie had loathed to use it at first, embarrassed to leave her waste out where it would be seen, but Kyx insisted that it was kept in the cavern for just such emergencies since snowstorms were common in this part of the mountains. It apparently wasn’t the first time the males had gotten stuck in this cave. Even so, the stress of being cooped up together in such a small space was starting to show.
Tempers were fraying, and the males growled and snapped as they intruded into each other’s space. Unfortunately, that happened quite often. There was barely enough room in the main part of the cave for the three of them to comfortably lie around the fire during the day. Warol seemed to suffer the most from the confinement, snarling at every perceived slight until Rager got sick of it enough to issue what she imagined was a threat with his resonant growl.
Warol was back to pacing in a narrow space in front of the entrance, his fur standing on end with agitation. The wind had died down in the earlier hours of the morning, but the snow was still coming down too strongly for any of them to risk going outside. He bristled at a comment Kyx called out to him from where he was crouched behind her. Rager, likely sensing an imminent fight, intervened with a bellow that effectively silenced the other two males. Warol went back to a more sedate pace, and Kyx huffed and leaned into her.
To her surprise, the Ragoru took turns sitting with her. Although she had a thick fur wrapped around her to keep her warm, she inevitably ended up with one of them crouched behind her, sharing his body heat as they partitioned out their dwindling supply of meat. At the end of the day, however, it was Rager who slid in behind her while the other two males pushed in at either side, forming a solid barrier of warmth as the temperature outside plummeted.
No one ever instigated anything further than that. As far as Arie saw it, she was certain that everyone would have preferred to pretend that first night hadn’t happened at all, except it kept happening again and again. The biggest difference was that she no longer dreamed of a dashing Captain Reynolds. In his place, the Ragoru explored her in naughty ways that she would have been too embarrassed to ever admit.
All her sexual knowledge was from what had been printed in the pages of that book, and from her mother as she spoke to Arie of what went on between joined couples in the most medically precise language possible. Although her mother had provided a number of useful facts, the books, however, gave her a glimpse of the passion that she yearned for. Which was all fine and good in her dreams, but it didn’t stop her imagination from conjuring up things that made her blush furiously when she thought back on it in the light of day. Nor did it really prepare her for the way she felt when every night she woke painfully aroused with Rager’s primary cock nestled between her thighs and all three males growling in the fervor of their own arousal. No one spoke of it, or even acted like it had ever happened but it was heavy in the air between them during the day even when they didn’t do more than casually touch each other or her in the most platonic of ways. It was as if the night shrouded them away from reality and allowed them to enjoy small pleasures the only way they could.
Arie sighed as she pressed into Kyx’s hard chest. Of the three, he seemed the most inclined to touch her regularly and she was grateful for it. She hadn’t realized how much she needed to just be held and touched by someone for no reason other than the fact that they wanted to. Perhaps he needed the contact of another just as much as she did.
“When is the snow going to let up? I don’t know how much longer we are going to last in here before tempers snap,” she pointed out.
Kyx chuckled at her observation.
“Not too much longer. I wouldn’t be surprised if the snow died by nightfall. It is already slowing.”
“That’s good” She sighed and snuggled into his fur. “I don’t think Warol is taking captivity too well.”
He snorted. “Warol has never liked confined spaces. I suspect that is why our den is four times larger than the one I grew up in, and there were six of us rogs.”
“You didn’t grow up together? I thought you were brothers.”
“Not in the literal sense,” he said with a chuffing chuckle. The sound was warm, though raspier than that of a human. Ragoru vocalizations were at once both strange and oddly beautiful to her. It had taken a couple days for her to be aware of their laughter for what it was just because it sounded so different from anything produced by a human. But now… she not only liked it but decided that she preferred it.
“Ragoru bond into triad groups of unrelated males, probably a good thing since we share a mate and sharing is a bit harder for siblings,” he admitted with a wry upturn of his mouth. “Not that there aren’t exceptions, and you will find brothers in a triad, but it is rare.”
“Hmm. I confess I am having a difficult time wrapping my mind around that one. Humans pair bond, with one male to one female. Or at least we used to. Now most men take two or three wives, though there are places in the west where they have many more wives.”
Kyx drew back and looked at her with an expression she figured was somewhere between dismay and horror. “But why? Who hunts and protects the den while the young are being raised?”
Now it was Arie’s turn to stare. “I beg your pardon?”
“The lead always devotes himself to protecting the family. He is the one who is most immediately present to protect the female and offspring. The rest of the triad helps rear the young, but we spend much more time providing for the family. We hunt for our den and patrol our territory.”
“Humans definitely don’t do that,” she said slowly. “We all have duties in the community that we carry out in exchange for provisions. Sometimes one will only stay home with children when they are very young, but even then, some women will carry their small children with them as they attend to their tasks, especially if they lost their mate.”
He gaped at her in shock. “One male with multiple females? A female ought to be cared for by a full triad so that everyone’s needs are met, and the family is happy. How could one male keep all of his females adequately satisfied?”
She laughed a little at that. It was a fair question. “I don’t know how he manages. Some women apparently feel that their husbands do well enough. I know that in the citadel and in the west especially, there are allowances to provide for their valuable males so that they have the time and energy to see to their wives. A male can choose to stay at home in leisure without the expectation of caring for their young so that he is content enough to breed his wives to the satisfaction of the council.”
“That is…disturbing,” he said with such a look of distaste that Arie couldn’t suppress a laugh as Rager snorted his agreement from where he sat at the other side of the fire.
Given that humans pegged Ragoru as monsters, it was interesting to see the matter from the other perspective. She supposed that, coming from a family unit with three fathers, human joining would seem a bit lacking or even unnatural to them. She had little doubt that the men of her village would have the same feelings about sharing a woman with two other men in the manner that Ragoru mated.
“The skies are clear,” Warol reported as he returned to the fireside and sank down beside Rager. “We should be able to make our way out of here in the morning without any problem.”
“Arie won’t be able to walk through all that snow. One of us will have to carry her again, at least until we come out of the mountains and the ground clears,” Kyx pointed out.
Rager turned his ears toward the male and flicked his tail in silent acknowledgment as he passed around more of the dried meat. Arie watched their interaction silently as she chewed on her piece of meat. She was gradually becoming used to their subtle body language. They didn’t often smile unless they found something truly amusing, although their brows often shifted to show signs of pleasure or happiness. Despite that, she was painfully aware that much of their emotion was relayed through body language that was still quite elusive to her.
“I will carry her as before,” Rager said in a hushed voice.
“It will be hard going before we reach the end of the valley,” Warol protested. “It would be more logical if we take turns.”
