Revelation

Vishous

Fuck it was hard to leave the love of my existence and my best friend behind to face the likely unmovable will of the Scribe Virgin. I left my home without really having the slightest clue how this would play out. The cop was worried sick, my last image of him was a sad sight, hazel eyes stormy with unspoken fear and pity that made my skin crawl beneath the thick leather of my jacket. I had to pat myself on the back for not telling leelan I was leaving to see mommy dearest. I would not add to her already palpable fear over our young and our future. 

The cop and I both knew that I had a lost cause here but what else was there to do? Everyone knew that I was the worst possible example of a worthy male and she had to know that making me Primale would be a fucking big mistake. However, she was giving me no choice. What did she think I was going to do? After I mated my shellan, the one and only true love of my life, that I would give it all up to be her stallion? I shook my head to dispel the unpleasant thoughts from my mind. I would not do that no matter what. God damn it, I was a bonded male and as long as my shellan lived I would not be commanded away from her. I didn’t give in when my bitch of a mother tried to take me away from my female before and I still lived in endless debt to Phury for throwing himself on the metaphorical grenade of being Primale. That thought stopped me cold. Phury. Why did the Virgin want me when Phury stood as Primale of the Chosen? Last I’d heard, the females that had left the Far Side were adjusting well to their new lives at Rehv’s compound. I flexed my gloved hand, leather creaking around a clenching fist. There was fuckery afoot here, I could feel it. 

Rage carried me as I stalked out of the mansion, steeling myself for whatever would come of this meeting. My mind was working a million miles an hour trying to cover each and every scenario that could possibly come up in this not so happy reunion. The freezing wind of the Caldwell winter cut right through my leathers, the bone-deep chill serving to clear my head and sharpen my focus as diamond eyes scanned the shadows that lurked in the fringes of the expansive grounds surrounding the living headquarters of the brotherhood. My stomach churned at the idea of never seeing this again… never seeing my shellan or our young… I gritted my teeth at this new and unwelcome emotion, finally admitting to myself what it was. Fear. Before Jodi, it was an abstract thing, a deep-seated “fuck all” attitude clamping down on anything more than the vague worry that one of my brothers wouldn’t come back from patrol. With a pregnant shellan in my bed and the future so uncertain, I was fucking terrified. 

I shook my head to dismiss thoughts that could choke me up or worse, make me do something stupid. Right now I needed to be on top of my game. Taking a deep breath I dematerialized, my molecules scattering and reorganizing in the glaring white courtyard of the Far Side. The eerie calm that settled over me when I came here always gave me the scratch, its strained serenity leading me to think of the quiet promise of death. Peaceful and never ending. For me? It was a prison of alabaster temples and forced duty, shackling me with the silken robes of the Chosen I was to breed with. Unless the sick goddess had something up her sleeve I didn’t know of. My musings were cut short when a petite female walked through the filmy curtain that covered the entrance of the Chosen’s quarters. Her long, wavy red hair swirled around her frame as she padded silently towards me with a pleasant smile plastered on her face. The gleam in her downcast eyes and her graceful motion making it obvious that she was well contented with her role here, still clinging to the old ways and remaining behind to serve the Scribe Virgin and the warriors that might yet call upon her talents.   

“Sire.” she bowed deeply, the cascade of her hair covering her frame in a wave of tumbling flames. I rolled my eyes and tightened my jaw, trying my damned hardest not to bite her head off. This wasn’t her doing and even if I was no male of worth, I wouldn’t unleash my anger on someone so undeserving. “How may I serve you?” She looked up at me still with that pleasant smile. ‘Where is she?’ Taken aback by the growled question, she stood to her full height, nervously stammering her reply. “My lady is… indisposed.” Indisposed my ass. Playing the one card I never wanted to, I met the Chosen with an icy stare, lips peeled back from gleaming fangs to spit snarled words. ‘Tell ‘your lady’ that her son seeks an audience.’ Her eyes widened and took a step back, nodding like her head was on a spring. “She…she is not to be disturbed.” My tolerance for the rigid formalities snapped and I took the loping step that closed the distance between us, towering menacingly over her tiny form. ‘Disturb her.  Now.’ 

Giving a started yelp, she spun on her heel and hurried toward the temple on the far side of the fountain, her robes fluttering in the wake of her quickened steps. While we passed the pristine walls of a smaller building, shitkickers pounding on the marbled path, I shoved my hands in my pockets as I once again went over my game plan. Get to the Far Side? Check. Go to the SV? Check. Figure out her game, tell her where to stick her medallion and get out of here alive? We would see about that. Lost in the rambling thoughts I almost crash against the Chosen when she stopped close to the door that closed off the Virgin’s chambers from the courtyard. She turned around and blushed deeply at my proximity; a rosy show of innocence that I found annoying as fuck on anyone but my leelan. “Please, sire, if you would but wait here I would inquire of my lady if it pleases her to see you.” I took a step back and nodded. I looked away to the small clearing as I waited for mommy dearest. 

I felt her presence even before she spoke, the power that resonated in her voice ran through my every nerve making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. “Warrior. I’ve been expecting you.” Slowly I turned to look at her, her midnight cloak covered her small frame, the gauzy light that I bore in my cursed hand shone through the small openings where her face and hands would be. I was well beyond pleasantries as I found my voice. “I will not be your Primale.” It was probably my imagination, but I could have sworn an expression of annoyed amusement was all over her face, maybe it was the way her glowing aura brightened for a moment. Could a being without a face be chagrined? “A decision that is not yours to make. And warrior, I would advise you tread carefully with your next words. There have been too many transgressions on your part for me to forgive your insolence further.” Now didn’t that just brighten up our little conversation, cursing and kicking myself mentally a million times over I bowed my head in a show of respect I didn’t really feel before continuing. “I have come to discuss the position of Primale”. Clearly she was in no mood, her voice fired back with icy precision “I have spared you the job that was your destiny, I shall not grant the same favor of your young”. 

My blood froze in my veins.. WHAT? She spared me… and my young…? My brows drew together as her words sunk in, diamond eyes flaring wide.  My head snapped up to look at her, the waves of power rolled off her almost challenging me to argue but that was no match for the raw fury I was struggling to contain. Did she really think I was going to give her my young? Who the fuck did she… oh right, the creator of our race, the mother to all of us… and grandmahmen to the child in my shellan’s womb. That made me wince inwardly. No matter what I was thinking, my body showed nothing, cold and unnaturally calm. 

“I will not let you take my young. I don’t give a fuck what you think you’ll gain but you will not manipulate your power to control his destiny as you did mine.” Every word dripped with the hatred that had been fueled by years of not knowing why fate had dealt me such a cruel hand, the why of my existence only threw kerosene on an already raging inferno of fury. Her tone wavered, vague amusement giving way to building outrage. “Let us not forget who you are talking to, Vishous Son of the Bloodletter. Your brother Phury serves the Chosen well on the other side but, not all are so quick to accept this shift in the old ways. Those who serve me here still wait to carry on the race as they have been groomed to do since birth. I will have your offspring to fulfill the role you failed to assume in the claiming of your…female” The word fell from her lips with disdain… thanks for the vote of confidence mommy. “Though you have sired a son, the brotherhood’s numbers are dwindling. More warriors are needed if we are to survive the onslaught of the Lessening Society.” 

I had to admit her words held some merit, as brothers we were holding ourselves rather well, but the need for new warriors was absolutely vital if we were to overcome a growing force of lessers that seemed to gain members daily.  That was the reason why the kids were now constantly on rotation, new inductees being put on patrol as soon as they’d completed their training and the newly transitioned were being put through classes at a breakneck pace to reinforce our guard. Either way, it was my son we were talking about. 

“I don’t fucking care about that, or your need to have your stallion to repopulate the brothers. This is MY son!” I squared my shoulders, ready for the fight that was sure to ensue. “I will not have him be sperm donor to your fanatics, born into a warrior farm? Like hell!” The glowing beneath the cloak turned to a blinding light that showed the irritation you could not see on her face, her words amped with the power she possessed but did not show “Enough! It is done. You shall deliver your son to me when the time is right. I will hear no more of your ire. Now return to your brothers and I will see you next when the young is presented to me.”  I was about to raise hell about that but as soon as my mouth opened with a smartass comeback… my lips parted but no sound came out, my vocal cords squeezed brutally by an invisible hand and I was left voiceless. Confusion tinged my expression, quickly replaced by anger that was now tenfold. The bitch didn’t even let me say my peace. Her arm rose, her cloak falling back off a delicate hand that was shining so brightly you could barely see it… and that moment my eyes rolled back. A shooting pain arced through my chest making my body torque almost to an unnatural angle, arms outstretched as I screamed in silence at the pain I was submitted to. When her hand dropped once again to her side, the energy that had speared through my body left just as quickly as it had manifested. 

My legs buckled under my weight and I fell to my knees, holding myself off the granite steps with shaking arms. Her voice drifted through the air with icy calm that sent shivers down my back. “Next time you WILL address me properly and wait until I have need of your presence.” With that she disappeared back through the drapes that covered the entrance of the building. 

After God fucking knows how long, I finally had the strength to stand and gather enough energy to dematerialize back to the Pit. Almost collapsing on the floor when my feet finally touch familiar marble, I took a ragged breath and dragged myself to the couch. My throat was on fire though I was finally able to draw air into my lungs, draping an arm over my eyes I went through what little conversation I’d had with the Scribe Virgin. So I wasn’t the stallion she had in mind and she was not about to take no for an answer. A million questions sprung up, foremost being… how in the hell was I going to save my son from eventually being stud to her breed mares? Fucking… hell.

Jodi
*jerking awake with a cry, I struggle to shake off the nightmare that had torn me from sleep, hazy images of robed figures reaching out to pull my young from my arms fading grudgingly as I reached over and found empty space. Brows drawn I sat up in a rustle of silk sheets, blinking in the muted light filtering in through the shutters. Unable to shake the uneasy feeling I slid out of bed, grabbing a corner of the sheet and pulling it off the bed to wrap it around me, fist bunching the makeshift cover closed around my swollen stomach as I padded noiselessly out into the hall, searching the darkened rooms for my hellren. Following a muffled groan I rounded the corner into the living room, peering over the foosball table to see a scuffed shitkicker hanging off of the sofa. Sighing in relief to find my male home, I crossed the room to where he lay* Vishous? *Frowning I studied the lines of his face, brows drawn in restless sleep, gloved hand balled at the center of his chest as he sometimes did when he was lost in thought. He didn’t stir at my voice and I was loathe to be away from him as flashes of my nightmare returned, gently lifting his arm and climbing onto the sofa and wedging myself against his side. Unfurling the sheet to drape it over us both and tucking my head under his goateed chin, I took a deep breath, letting the scent of leather and his skin calm me as I drifted back to sleep in his arms*