The Alpha's Concubine (Historical Shifter Romance) (13 page)

After he had finished he would often fall asleep with an arm around her, a hand stroking her belly as she felt his essence lingering there. She wondered how long it would take before his seed took root and she began carrying his child. It was another thought so strange to Netya that she did not yet know how to feel about it. She had assumed she would become a mother some day, but that day had existed in a distant future along with all the other mysteries of womanhood. It still did, she reminded herself. It would be many more months, perhaps years according to Fern, before the alpha succeeded in siring an heir with her. It was believed that Netya's kind bore children more readily than the females of the Moon People, but those beliefs seemed to be drawn from old tales of long-dead ancestors, or whispers passed from pack to pack until nobody could remember exactly where or when they had first been told.

Netya did not concern herself with it for the time being. There were many more things she was eager to busy herself with, and each passing day drew them a little closer to fruition.

Learning the language of the Moon People was first among her concerns. Before Fern and the others rose in the early day she made a habit of always listening to the conversations going on around her, paying attention to everything the elders and mothers who shared the morning hours with her said.

It seemed a hopeless task at first, but with Fern's help she began to add a few new words to the list of things she understood, keeping her ears open for the sounds she recognised. Before long she could understand more clearly when a topic was focused on cooking, or hunting, or a specific member of the pack. The details of each discussion were still a mystery to her, but it brought Netya a reassuring feeling of accomplishment every time she picked up on a word she had not recognised the day before.

When she was not in Khelt's bed or warming his lap by the fire she tried her best to be useful to the pack in other ways. It was difficult, especially when most of them could not understand her. She suspected the elders who woke early understood far more of her words than most, but they purposefully ignored her whenever she attempted to help them with their cooking or mending of clothes.

The only person who seemed genuinely grateful for her help was one of the men in charge of tending the few birds the pack kept. It was clear the Moon People had little to no experience in animal husbandry. Even the enclosure for the birds was nothing more than a cave with a row of poorly made wooden stakes hammered into the ground across the entrance, which the animals routinely found their way out of.

Netya showed the animal keeper how to handle his flock so that they would not be agitated by his grasp, and how to bind the wooden barrier more securely in place in a way that would leave the twine less open to being picked at by stray beaks and claws.

It was a small gesture that took no more than a morning, but the man was so thankful that Netya had learned several new words for gratitude by the time he had finished singing her praises. She went away that afternoon with a bowl full of fresh eggs, and it took her a great deal of effort to keep from smiling when she saw the elders staring enviously at her gift.

The small chores here and there helped her to feel at least a little useful in some way, but it was her duties to Khelt that filled Netya with the greatest satisfaction. She began to appreciate just how much of an honour it was to be so highly favoured by him. The wistful glances of the other females followed her every time she headed up the slope to his den, and, though she was still not treated with much warmth and good cheer, a place was always made for her when she came to eat with the others, and she was provided with food and fresh clothing without even having to ask for it.

In return, she made sure she lived to please the alpha. She had never imagined she could derive so much satisfaction from serving a person. It was a strange combination of his natural authority and presence combined with the knowledge of what he had given her, and continued to give her, that no other person ever had. As long as he desired her as his concubine, she felt that a purpose in life had finally been made clear to her.

It was with these thoughts, and in a state of great concern, that she went to speak with Fern when it finally came time for her to bleed that month. No sooner had she found a soft binding of wool to slip into place between her legs than she realised what it would mean for her role as the alpha's consort.

"Why does it worry you?" the other girl said as she wrung out her drying hair on the opposite side of the tent. "You cannot have expected to be carrying his child already."

"I know, Fern, but what will I do when he next calls me to his bed? Must I deny him until I am ready again? I will feel useless!"

"There is more than one way to please a male, you know."

Netya squinted at her. "How?"

Fern grinned, as she was apt to when preparing to tease Netya's innocence. "Can you think of nothing at all?"

"Oh, will you please just tell me?! The alpha may send for me at any moment, and I do not want to disappoint him."

"It is early in the day still, relax. You have plenty of time. Think of what the alpha does to please you and himself before you make love."

Netya sat down on the furs and tried to think, imagining what she might do if she were Fern. "He likes to touch me, and kiss my body." Her cheeks warmed. She was still unused to discussing these things as openly as the Moon People did. "Should I do the same for him?"

"You are learning!" Fern nodded and sat down with a smile. "But that is not enough to satisfy most men. They long to feel the warmth of entering you, so you must give it to him in other ways. Take him inside your body in the other places he can reach, and allow him to find his pleasure there."

"Will that work? Will he still be able to sire his heir that way?"

Fern shook her head. "There is only one way for his essence to find that place inside you. But I do not think he will mind once you offer him the alternatives."

"Are you sure? His only reason for bringing me here was that I might bear him a child."

"Oh, I am sure." Fern's grin broadened. "He may be the alpha, but he is still a man, and most men are not thinking of children when they take women to their beds. Many pack leaders keep concubines for pleasure alone."

When Netya thought about it, it made sense, and she felt foolish for assuming Khelt's interest in her lay solely in her ability to bear him a child. He clearly felt pleasure just as intense as hers during their nights together.

"Was he without the company of a female for long, before he chose me?" she asked.

Fern hesitated, almost slipping into her evasive manner again, but she had become comfortable enough with Netya over the past few weeks not to let it stifle her too much. "It has been several years, yes," she said. "When Khelt was younger he took many females to his bed. I was not yet of age then, but the older girls vied for his attention often. That was before he became alpha, when his father still lived."

"Why did he stop?"

This time Fern really did seem uncomfortable. She chewed her lip, lowering her voice, as if afraid that someone might have their ear to the tent wall outside. "You must never speak to him of this. The alpha is better than most men at keeping his temper, but there is one thing that angers him greatly. He will not ever speak of it to the pack."

"What is it?" Netya pried, her curiosity prickling along with a mounting sense of unease. "I would not want to bring such a matter up unintentionally."

"He stopped when he learned he was to be mated to a female from a rival pack. They said she was young, but wise beyond her years, and greatly gifted in the ways of the spirits. She was to be our den mother, and it has long been tradition for the alpha and den mother to mate."

Netya recalled the night Erech and Nathar had fought, and a chill went through her. "She was Adel?"

"Yes," Fern whispered. "Her pack had fought ours for many years, but they started to grow weak, losing many of their warriors in battle with your people. They offered Adel to us as the greatest gift they could give, hoping to bond our packs together as allies rather than enemies. She and Khelt would have been mated, but she refused to submit to him as her superior. Something happened between them. I do not know what, but it was a disagreement that left three of our brothers and sisters dead after a confrontation with your people. From that day on, the two have hated one another."

"I remember," Netya said, fascinated. She recalled that day, too, but from quite a different perspective. It must have been almost eight years past, when she was still a girl. The men had returned home boasting of three new skulls to line their wall, the most they had ever taken, and the entire village had celebrated the victory for several days thereafter. It had been a further two years before anyone caught a glimpse of the Moon People again. Netya now felt ashamed that she had cheered for the victorious warriors along with the other girls, happy in the knowledge that more of the monsters had been slain.

"Had the alpha taken a different mate at that point it would have gone against all of our traditions," Fern continued. "He would have greatly shamed Adel and her pack, and called his own authority into question. So instead he refused to claim any female, and he has not taken another woman to his bed ever since."

Netya nodded slowly. "And this is why he chose me, because he has no obligation to make me his mate?"

"I think so, yes. Even a consort from our own pack would cause upset. He would be seen to favour someone else over the den mother. But as an outsider, you are not in competition with any of the other females. In truth, I think his choice to take you was very wise. None of our customs account for what the alpha has done, and so there is no offence to be taken. He will have his heir without making enemies of Adel's old pack again in the process."

"I would not be so sure of that," Netya said. "Adel has not looked kindly on me once since I arrived."

"It is strange." Fern frowned. "She cares as little for the alpha as he does for her. I would not have thought she would be offended by him choosing someone else."

"I will try my best to stay out of her way, all the same. And thank you for telling me of this, Fern. I think I understand the alpha a little better now."

Fern smiled. "It is often wise for those of our rank to stay out of the affairs of those in power. We have our place, as do they."

Netya brightened up, glad to leave such complicated matters where they belonged. "Now explain to me again," she said. "What are these other ways in which I might please the alpha?"

—
11—

Khelt

In the days following his decision to take Netya from her village, Khelt had feared he'd made a grave mistake. Caspian's counsel left him feeling a blind fool, as it so often did, and the two days he had spent anxiously patrolling the edge of the Sun People's territory for any sign of pursuit had left him ragged and exhausted. Only after fearing he might collapse from exertion had he returned to his pack. Taking such matters upon himself and driving his body to the brink of endurance always had a way of calming the alpha. He often thought that, should he one day die in battle, he would gladly accept such a fate if only he could meet it knowing he had fought until his last shred of energy left him.

It was in the moments of doubt that he felt truly uncomfortable. Doubt was not prey that could be hunted down and trapped, nor a foe that could be slain through speed and strength. It threatened everything he had to be to his pack. He was their leader, their guide, their monolith who would weather every storm and bear the weight of a hundred burdens on their behalf. Through him they were strong, and if he were to falter, so would they.

He missed the simple pleasures of life. The days of his youth when he would run for miles trying to reach the mountains in the distance, always getting close, but never managing to climb them for himself. The nights when he would seek out a pretty girl and feel her writhe beneath him in the furs as he slaked his desire.

The days of my youth,
he thought with a snort of amusement as he leaned back against his throne, cracking another nut between his fingers and dropping the shell back into the bowl. He was in his prime. Older men than he had yet to even find mates and settle into their roles within the pack. He was not a man to lament his position. The pack came before all else, and their strength and happiness was his own.

At first he had been concerned, fearing the Sun People might finally brave the open plains to reclaim their lost daughter. Their tracking skills were poor, and they could not follow scents like wolves, but they were resourceful in other ways.

Still, as the days passed his worries diminished. The Sun People had never come before, and they would not come this time. He regretted the brashness of his decision, but it seemed he had not been punished for it this time.

Perhaps he had even done the girl Netya a kindness. Her outburst the night he returned had been worrying, but since then she seemed to have taken to pack life readily. It was possible her life among her own people had been unhappy, or perhaps she was simply still infatuated with him, as young females were apt to be with the first man to claim their womanhood.

He was fond of her. Netya's keen spirit and honesty were admirable traits in a female, and he wondered whether she might have the makings of more than just a simple concubine as she grew older. Besides which, she was pretty and eager, and he took great pleasure in claiming her long and hard to ease the tensions of the day. Like a lost keepsake found again after many years, he had not realised how much he missed having the company of a female until he had taken one to his bed again.