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Apparently, I’ve hit the nail on the head. His head jerks up and eye widen. “You and Kaedyn must exchange bows before the ceremony.” Coro looks behind him and Amun enters, holding Kaedyn’s bow.
“Sorry Bella… It’s tradition…” Amun looks sheepish as he holds Kaedyn’s bow out to me at arm’s length.
Huffing out a laugh, I shake my head as I turn to retrieve my bow to give to Amun. Before I hand my bow over, I stand both unstrung bows side by side. There is only a quarter of an inch difference in the limbs. Smirking, I hand the bow over and laugh. “Let me guess Flint wanted the bows exchanged before the last shoot?”
Amun laughs as he takes mine and nods his head. “He wants one of his sons to be first mate so bad he’s pulling every stunt possible.” Amun studies my bow, then looks over at his brothers. “He didn’t count on your draw lengths being so close.”
I laugh as I string Kaedyn’s bow and bring it to full draw. “We’re close in poundage as well. I don’t foresee a problem.” I remove the bow string and wrap it around the riser like I do my own.
“Flint is going to be fit to be tied. I’m going to record the entire thing, so you and Kaedyn don’t miss a thing,” Amun says before leaving my room. Ari and Lani share a look then bust out laughing.
I’m honestly not sure what they are laughing about, but I laugh right along with them. “Flint is going to bust a gasket,” Lani says as she puts the final touches on my hair.
“Won’t he be shocked that I’m going after his sons next?” I say, smirking as I look over at Kaedyn’s bow.
“That’s not my brother’s original bow. He carved that one after dad showed him yours. He didn’t want you to be embarrassed by his.” Ari says as her fingertips caressed the wood of the riser.
Moving closer, I look at the bow, then raise it to my nose, sniffing it. “It’s dragon’s blood wood.” I say more to myself in observation.
Lani moves to my left side and touches the nock on the end of the limb. “After Kaedyn saw your bow, he knew he had to upgrade his. He honestly thought he would end up with an arranged marriage like I did.” Shrugging her shoulders, she moves around the table to take a seat on the other side and face me. Forcing a smile, Lani looks up at me. “Don’t get me wrong, Coro is good to me. I loved someone else before him.” Lani appears deep in thought for several moments. “Enough about me. Let’s get you downstairs and ready to make Flint cry.”
We make it through the castle without being stopped, which at this point is a miracle. I’m a huge growling mess and I don’t want to be messed with. Out in the courtyard, I can see two targets set up. Kaedyn is pacing, and I see Derrick with him, trying to calm him down. Tapping the music icon on my smart watch, the song Cry Little sister by Gerard McMann starts, and the initial hit of the drum beat stops Kaedyn in his tracks. The beaming smile he offers me makes my pulse race. The lyrics of the song don’t help matters.
I stop the song and cue up Thunderstruck by AC/DC, ready to start our last dance as single wolves. “Ladies and gentlemen!” King Coro projects his greeting and we bow to him in response. “It brings me great pride to announce my son and his potential mate have made it to the final tradition.” Cheers erupt around us and we bow yet again. “The show is all yours kids… Begin when you’re ready.”
Kaedyn and I nod at each other and pace off the distance we need to be to hit the points correctly. Just before we start, we raise our bows and I hit play. We wait till the initial hit of the drums to leap into action. Each hit a new jump, spin, or landing. Thankfully, the music keeps us in time with each other. At several points, we have to stop and shoot the same targets. The first time the singer says you’ve been thunderstruck; we end up back-to-back at full draw. I wait for Kaedyn’s count and when he says three; we fire at the same time. Our arrows land on top of each other like we had planned.
After shooting, we switch bows and continue the dance, keeping time with the music hitting all of our marks. We end up back-to-back again, this time aiming to shoot through a flaming ring to hit the target on the other side. The trick is to set our fletching’s on fire, then hit the target. This time I count it off and we release on three. Both arrows ghost over the flames, igniting themselves before setting the ornate target behind it on fire.
Panting hard, we drop our bows and hug each other. We remove the earbuds and drop them in Ari’s pocket when she collides with us. “You did it!!” Ari screams as we hug her to us and slowly spin. As predicted, Flint is losing his ever-loving shit up on the balcony and Amun seems to be living his best life recording it.
“We should meet up with your parents and my mom,” I whisper against Kaedyn’s lips, watching his pupils dilate.
“Do we have to? I mean, we could start things off now?” He leans forward and nips my bottom lip.
“Eww guys! I’m right the fuck here!! Get a room!” Ari says with her tongue sticking out, looking like she’s going to be sick.
Kaedyn and I laugh hysterically as he takes hold of my hand and we rejoin the rest of the families waiting for us. The trip across the field was much shorter than I would have liked it. “Congratulations, Son!” King Coro booms as he reaches out and pulls his son in for a hug. “You too, Daughter!” Coro snatches me up before I can escape.
Laughing, I hug Coro back. A girl could get used to having a loving father. Not like the emotionless iceberg I was raised by. “What’s next on the to do list?” I already know that I’m supposed to sniff the boxes and pick our next pack to visit. To be honest, I’m hoping that my future father-in-law skips the box part of the ceremony.
“We head to the main meeting hall and you walk around the table and tell us what scents appeal to you.” Coro pulls me in tight to his side as we walk back to the castle. I look over my shoulder and see Kaedyn and Derrick chatting it up, carrying our bows with them. We enter the castle, and the feel is different, it is as if the air weighs a thousand pounds. Every step weighted and almost as if gravity is attempting to root me to the spot. My wolf is fighting me. She doesn’t want us to think about a second mate till the first is claimed.
My blessing and curse is to be a hybrid of the two most feared species. Top it off with being a dominant female, a primal as it is called. More beast than a woman at times, more instinct than logic. It’s kept me alive and safe all these years, and now it wants me to focus on our much smaller mate. I stare at Kaedyn as his father positions me at the head of the table.
My heart aches looking at Kaedyn. I know for a fact that the Earth and Fire Packs will have larger and more dominant males. My instincts yell. (They will challenge him for his position as first mate.) Reluctantly, I move to stand before the boxes and motion for Lani to lower the lights. Soon as the shadows creep across the room, my eyes glow brighter. Manipulating the shadows, the box tops are lifted off and set aside.
Stepping around the table, I look down at the boxes presented to me. Drawing in a fortifying breath, I walk to the first set of two boxes. The scents of vanilla and jasmine drift up to me, making me pause. Curiously, I tilt my head to the side and reach into the first box, pulling out the tee shirt within. King Mateo tenses as I hold the shirt in front of me. The strong sent of jasmine reaches me and I bury my face in the cloth. My wolf approves of this scent. I flip the box upside down and sit the shirt on top of it, indicating my choice.
I move to the next set of three boxes of smoke, cedar and lavender drifting up. All three scents are interesting, so I pick up each item to sniff it. Flint tenses, so I know it is his sons. I sneeze as the thick scent of smoke fills my nostrils, making me want to run from the fire. I drop the shirt back in the box as if it had burned me. The second scent is lavender, and it smells far too feminine to be attracted to. I drop the second shirt back in the box as well, uninterested in it. Flint looks panicked as I look at the last box. The last shirt reminds me of the woods near my home, the swamp cedars of the dark forest. I bury my nose in the shirt’s cotton and smile. Yes, this scent reminds me of home. I flip the last box over, resting the shirt on the top of it.
The last three boxes only one calls to me. Draws me to it like a moth to a flame. The rich, full-bodied scent of patchouli calls to me and makes my blood stir. The attraction is instant and powerful, and I cannot resist grabbing the shirt out and holding it to me. “Kaedyn, we are going to wherever this male is next.”
King Idris bows deeply to me and smiles. He reminds me of the English actor of the same name. His flawless mocha skin and regal features remind me of some of the paintings of the Egyptian kings. It’s his pale golden hazel eyes that trap my gaze. “You honor me, Belladonna. We shall leave at once to prepare for your arrival.” King Idris breaks protocol and rushes over and hugs me before taking off with his mate to head home.
Chapter11
Kaedyn
