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Gently, I shake Ari’s shoulder and nuzzle the top of her head. “Sweetheart? We’ve arrived in your territory, and it appears that we have a welcoming party.” I smile as the words escape my lips.
“I’m home?” she whispers as she wipes the sleep from her eyes. Quickly, she climbs over my lap, acting as if I am not there. “My brothers were forbidden to come out to greet us. Dad wants to wait till the ball for the formal introductions to be made.” Ari sits back down in her seat. The faint glow in her eyes tells me she’s still speaking to her parent’s. “Mom says the pool house is ready for us and that she expects us for dinner.” A wicked smile crosses her lips. “My brothers will be permitted at dinner, but no touching allowed.”
Giggling, I act like I fear the little Air Wolf sitting next to me. “You got it, boss!” I say in a joking tone as I give her a mock salute. Ari pouts as she shakes her head at my behavior.
The car pulls into the circle directly in front of the waiting king and queen. Both are smiling and seem excited about our arrival. It’s my first time being allowed off pack lands, so naturally I’m a little nervous. Ari barely waits for the car to stop before she’s opening the door and bolting straight to her mother. The queen is in a beautiful long white fitted gown with her long ash-blond hair in a braid down her back. Her pale blue eyes watch the car waiting for me to exit.
Drawing in a fortifying breath, I steel myself and exit the car. Quickly, I put my gloves on and cover my exposed skin, just in case any of the single males reach for my hands. Confidently, I stride toward Ari’s parents. I keep my head held high and shoulders back like my mother taught me. “Greeting King Coro and Queen Lani, thank you for your generosity and allowing me to stay with you here.” Per protocol I drop into a curtsy and keep my eyes downcast.
“Please rise Belladonna, you’re practically family,” Queen Lani says. Her tone is soft, sweet, and gentle. Her smile broadens as I stand up and finally look her in her eyes. “I’ve always been jealous of your eyes Bella, so beautiful and haunting. Their unique quality makes you unforgettable.” The queen leans in to kiss me on both cheeks. Slightly shocked, I stand there accepting the queens’ affections. Gently, I kiss her cheeks in return and smile shyly at her. At home, most are afraid to come close to me. This is a refreshing change.
Ari is quick to wrap her arms around my waist as we turn to face her father when he clears his throat. “Belladonna, I hear our Ari has been teaching you our archery rituals?” he asks gently. His tone suggests he hopes the rumors are true. He’s a kindly looking man, his golden blond beard frames his angular jaw perfectly. His eyes are a rich royal blue. It reminds me of the pictures of the deep water in the ocean. A rogue blond tendril falls in front of his eyes, which he quickly brushes away.
“Ari has been most gracious in teaching me your customs. I would be honored if you would allow me to demonstrate it. Your guidance and critique would be much appreciated.” Bowing at the waist, the king offers me a soft chuckle.
“Never in all my years has a Shadow Wolf ever wanted to learn our customs. I’d be honored to teach you. And even more honored if Gaia blesses you with one of my heirs,” he says with a smile as the driver brings me the tube that holds my long bow. King Coro chuckles again. “Prepared and willing to be taught are wonderful qualities for a mate to have. You will make someone a wonderful mate, Bella.” The king beams with pride.
Internally, I cringe at the thought of some poor male being my mate. Anxiety grips my heart like a vice and squeezes as we make our way to the archery field. One of the king’s attendants comes running over with his bow and hands it to him. The small bag I brought with me contains the robe I’m supposed to wear when I shoot and the head wrap to keep my long obsidian tresses out of the way. Once I am properly dressed in the appropriate traditional garb, I go about the ceremony of stringing the long bow. The threads of the string are checked and waxed from loop to loop. I offer several moments of prayer to the Goddess over the string and the wood of the bow before I string it. Putting the string on is almost a dance in itself. The loop is hooked to the bottom first and I step through with one leg before bending and twisting to loop the opposite end. I offer, per the tradition, the bow to the host family for inspection.
King Coro takes his time inspecting every inch of the wooden bow that I hand carved myself. His lithe fingers trace the symbols that I carved into the wood by hand. He follows the cut and pattern of the wood from end to end. I made the grip and rest on the bow from the finest leather from one of my kills. To my surprise, he reaches into his robe and pulls out his royal seal. He presses the seal into the soft leather marking it approved by the royal house. A single tear rolls freely down my cheek. I am beyond honored that the king himself assessed my bow. “Who crafted this bow, Bella?” the king asks softly.
“I did, King Coro. Ari told me in great detail what needed to be done. I only wished to be found worthy and not bring shame to my family.” I try my best not to fidget with the edge of the sleeves of my robe.
“In no way could this bow ever bring shame to your family. It’s better constructed than the bow that I use.” King Coro offers my bow back to me; his smile meets his eyes and dare I say they shine with pride. “Let’s see how well this piece of art shoots, shall we?”
Nodding slowly, I grip my bow and grab my peacock fletched arrows from my quiver. The light and spirited dance that proceeds shooting is just as fun as it is important to get right. Nocking the arrow on the final spin, I draw back and release the arrow, aiming at the target down field. I turn my back to the target, not wanting to see where the arrow hits. The telltalethunkof the arrow’s impact echoes in the silence. My eyes scan the woods near the archery field, and I see two men with blond hair, one with pale blue eyes, the other with cyan. They quickly shift into their pale colored wolves and take off deep into the woods.
Turning back to face the target, I see my arrow hit the bullseye. My eyes lift and meet the kings and queens. King Coro steps forward and grips my hands firmly. “If either of my sons is your mate, you have our blessing.” Again, my heart wants to stop beating in my chest. My worst fear is coming to pass. I am worthy. I dip my head slightly and bow. “Thank you, sire.” I say softly before walking away toward the target.
Ari joins me and breaks me out of the bubble I’m in. “Never in the recent history has a female gained dad’s approval so quickly.” Ari raises her eyebrows, looking at me, and laughs. “No worries sis, I’ll help you find your mating gown and pick out flowers,” she says laughing, barely escaping my reach.
“Not cool!” I say, half joking. “You know how I feel about all of this. No one should be burdened with me.” Gently, I pull my arrow free from the target and drop it back into my quiver. We walk in silence back to the thirty-yard line and I nock another arrow. This time I draw back without the fancy dance and let it fly. Bullseye yet again. Archery has become my zen, my way of blocking the rest of the world out and just being. I empty my quiver of all twelve arrows, and they are all touching in a space the size of a half dollar coin.
“Casually look over your left shoulder Bella, both of my brothers and three of their friends are watching,” Ari says excitedly as she tries to whisper the information in my ear.
Rolling my eyes, I sweep her up in a hug and spin us slowly so I can casually get a look at my audience. “Hmm, so it was your brothers in the woods earlier watching me. Interesting. Still not interested…” I whisper in her ear before setting her back on her feet. “I need to shoot another few rounds before I’m ready to face everyone at dinner.” My eyes glow a little brighter as my wolf prowls just under the surface. Unfortunately for me, I’m what’s called a dominant. It’s rare for females to be born like me, but when it happens, it's rare that they can ever take a mate.
Ari understands the hell that I’m in. We’ve had long talks about my problems over the years. Ari’s problem is she’s a submissive, and she’s afraid of a mate taking advantage of her giving nature. I guess our fears of taking a mate is what’s forged our bond as strong as it is. I keep shooting. Round after round, we talk more about what it’s like for each of us in society.
I laugh almost hysterically. “As long as there’s a shadow somewhere in the room I can vanish, disappear… Poof!” I make an exaggerated explosion motion with my hands as I place the last arrow back in my quiver.
“I know, but you’re still lucky!” Ari says as she sighs, looking back up toward the castle. Her mother is on the back deck, sending all the males back into the castle. “Looks like it’s dinnertime.” Ari raises an eyebrow, looking at me. “Race ya!” Ari shifts to her small, cream-colored wolf and takes off running toward the castle.
I rest my bow against the shooting station and shift. My massive obsidian wolf bursts into existence and tears off after Ari. Playfully, I snap my jaws at her heels as I give chase. Next thing I know, I get blasted in the side by another wolf. Several rolls later, I get to my paws and start growling at the intruder. Shadows form around me as I stare the male down. No sooner than I am about to attack, Ari’s human form jumps in front of me, stopping me in my tracks.
“Bella! It’s Derrick, Kaedyn’s beta!” She whirls on the male and yells at him as well. “Stand down. She’s here for the betrothal ball and potentially your alpha’s mate, you giant idiot!” The male wolf’s hackles slowly lower and he adopts a more relaxed stance. I still don’t trust him and let a low growl escape my muzzle. Locking eyes with the male, I raise my head much higher than his. Staring down at him, I push every ounce of my dominance over him. His legs shake under him till eventually he can’t resist any longer. He lowers his head and tucks his tail between his legs.
Clapping starts on the balcony, and I turn an eye and see Ari’s brother Kaedyn and her other brother Amun, along with her father. “Now that’s what I call a female worthy to be an alpha’s mate!” King Coro says, beaming with pride.
Crap on a cracker… I think they just tested me… son of a donut, I fell for it hook, line and sinker…
I shake my fur out and shift back to my human form. I slightly bow to everyone on the porch and stare at the male wolf with his tail still between his legs. “No hard feelings man, sorry for the…” I motion to his current state of submission before linking arms with Ari, allowing her to lead me to the stairs that will take me to dinner. At the top of the staircase, both of her brothers and two of their friends stay on the balcony. It’s now that I become self-conscious about my eyes.
“That was an intense stare off down there.” The male I can only assume is Kaedyn, says to me. He’s cute, his hair is almost white as snow and his eyes are what I would call ice blue. So pale they almost look white. He’s the stocky brother and slightly shorter than the other one.
“It honestly wasn’t that bad,” I say as I make eye contact with him.
He takes several steps forward and stops himself looking rather confused by his actions. “Do your eyes always glow like that? Or is your wolf that close to breaking loose?” he asks with concern as he looks between his brother and his father, then back to me again.
