Aveoth Read online

  “Black?” Jill glanced between them.

  “Black hides blood splatters so much better.” Renna winked. “So we picked cream dresses, since red doesn’t clash with it. Families tend to wear the same colors to events. At least the women and children do. It will help you identify who is related.”

  “Auntie,” Gali begged. “Don’t scare poor Jill. It will be fine. No one knows.” She held Jill’s gaze. “Do they? Have you told anyone else what your father is?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “Good. I expect the council will posture and make noises but the four of them can’t do anything. They wanted my son to mate that horrible Winalin. I can’t stand her.”

  “She is pretty,” Jill had to admit.

  “She’s a pretty piece of trash,” Renna growled. “She’s the only pure-blooded female Gargoyle in the clan who isn’t mated, and she’s been chasing after our Aveoth since she was old enough to walk. Like it’s her birthright to become lady to the clan. She treats me like I’m a servant, and she actually ordered Gali to tell her son to mate her. As if she has any right to tell us what to do. She reminds me of a flower that grew near our village. It was beautiful, but it gave you a bellyache and a case of the runs if you ate it.”

  Gali chuckled. “My son never considered mating her, Jill. She annoys him to no end.”

  “She’s pretty unpleasant,” Jill agreed.

  Renna stared at her with a questioning gaze.

  “She paid a visit to Aveoth and decided to get naked in front of him, thinking he’d go all sex fiend on her. I was there. She was…disappointed.”

  Renna snarled. “Trash. Pure trash. I would have slashed her across the face with my claws.”

  Jill held up her hand. “I don’t have any.”

  “A shame, because marring her a bit would do her some good.”

  “Winalin might cause a scene today. Ignore her. That’s what I do when she comes at me. There’s a lot to be said for refusing to engage.” Gali walked to the bed and leaned against the post. “Take off the dress and we’ll make the adjustments. Do you sew, Jill?”

  She began wiggling out of the gown. “Not really. I can learn.”

  “I have this.” Renna took the gown and walked to a table set up to the side. “You two talk.”

  Gali offered Jill a silky white robe, which she put on. “Thanks.”

  “I wanted to give you a history lesson. It’s important.”

  Jill took a seat on the bed. “Okay.”

  “Abotorus founded this clan. He talked his close friends and some scouts from his old clan into fleeing to Alaska. Their lord had forbidden his clan to breed. They were higher in numbers than he wanted, and Gargoyles live a very long time. Abotorus talked those members into coming by offering to allow them to find mates and have children. It was a dream many of them had given up hope of ever having. The closest people to settle near this territory were the Lycans, who’d survived a war with Vampires.”

  “They gave birth to VampLycans,” Renna added from across the room, where she was working on the dress. “Some of those nasty Vampires had controlled the Lycans’ minds, and had gotten them pregnant.”

  “Yes,” Gali sighed. “Abotorus was under pressure to make good on his promises. The Lycan pack had a lot of unmated women who hadn’t been victims of the Vampires. A scout wished to mate with one he’d met. There weren’t a lot of human women in the area, and most of them were already married or had children. Abotorus reluctantly agreed. He admitted to me years later that he didn’t think Lycans were breed-worthy, and was sure a child between Lycans and Gargoyles wouldn’t be physically possible. He was wrong. The Lycan conceived right away.

  “Other clan members saw it as an opportunity, and they demanded to take Lycan mates as well. They were more mentally stable than humans, according to what they saw from that first couple. Abotorus felt pressured again into agreeing. But as more couples had children, all boys, there were grumblings amongst the clan members. My mate didn’t hide his distaste for GarLycans well enough. He felt the children were weak and not worthy of being part of his clan. His men didn’t agree. To save himself from a possible uprising, Abotorus demanded to mate me. My mother was Lycan and had birthed the first girl to this clan. I wasn’t happy when I learned of my fate. The great Lord Abotorus was cold, looked at me as if I was beneath him, and I dreaded each year as adulthood approached.”

  Jill frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “I was betrothed to Lord Abotorus when I was a year old. It appeased his clan but it gave him years before he actually had to claim me. Eighteen is considered mating age. I wanted to run away so many times but there was nowhere to go.”

  “You should have come to my pack,” Renna whispered.

  Gali glanced at her aunt, then back to Jill. “Abotorus would have sent an army to destroy any clan or pack who tried to harbor me. It would have meant the slaughter of every living soul there, just to punish them. I belonged to him, and felt doomed to my fate. Each birthday I grew more wary, terrified of the future I’d face with him.”

  “He was a nightmare,” Renna growled. “Cold. Cruel.”

  “All true,” Gali agreed. She took a deep breath. “I snuck out two days before the mating ceremony, and I wanted to fly away. But I wouldn’t have survived on my own for long, and I knew I couldn’t seek safety from anyone without causing their deaths. Abotorus was spiteful. I flew over a nearby valley and saw a man hunting.” She paused. “You must never repeat any of this, Jill. Give me your word.”

  Jill nodded.

  “He was a VampLycan. He shifted into his animal form, took down an elk, and then a hungry pack of wolves arrived at his kill. I landed on a hill to watch what he’d do. He shifted to skin and just laughed, then backed away to allow them to feast on his kill. He talked to the wolves, and the wind was just right so I could pick up his words. The pack was starving, it showed in their thin bodies, so he told them they needed it more.” Tears filled her eyes. “It was so kind. I hadn’t experienced that often growing up, except for the way my mother treated me. My father was Gargoyle, and he would have murdered every wolf for daring to try to take what he’d hunted.”

  “Are you sure you want to tell her all of this story?” Renna left the dress and approached. “It’s dangerous.”

  Jill glanced between the two women as they studied each other.

  Gali nodded. “She’s my son’s mate. She needs to know the truth.”

  “Fair enough.” Renna took a seat near Jill. “Your mate’s very life is in your hands, Jill. This is a very dangerous secret she is sharing. That’s what my niece won’t say. Go on, Gali.”

  Gali cleared her throat. “I followed this VampLycan to a cabin near a stream and watched him wash the blood from his skin. He was so handsome. It was the first time I’d ever seen a man bare. I kept thinking about how he’d given up his meal for those wolves and how my future mate would never do that. It made me sad, and I wished someone like him could be my mate instead. I crept closer, curious. I know now he must have heard me, but he didn’t let on. He finished washing and walked inside the cabin. I got even closer, hoping he’d come back outside. He did…but I didn’t know it until he’d grabbed me from behind.”

  “The sneaky VampLycan had an emergency escape hatch out the back of his cabin and had circled around her,” Renna chuckled. “He grabbed her, turned her in his arms, careful of her wings, and told her she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.”

  Gali’s eyes teared up. “He offered to let me come inside to get warm by his fire. He was incredibly kind. He didn’t attack me the way I’d been told a man would do if I was ever captured. His words were sweet, and he was so worried about frightening me. He took me inside, made me a meal, and offered me his bed. He thought I was on my own and probably sensed my sadness. I was offered safety and shelter by him. I was attracted to him in a way I’ve never been before…and it got me thinking. I didn’t want my first time with a man to include me chained t