CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR（Untitled）Wranth

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Wranth

Holding my moon bound close throughout the entire night is a gift. One I savor, waking often to ensure she’s really in my arms, that I’m not dreaming. The fragrance of her sleep-warmed body carries both our scents, the combination soothing the restlessness that usually plagues my soul.

I wake again at dawn, my body instinctively knowing the hour even though there’s no hint in the pitch-black cave. We lie on our sides, my front curled around her back, my legs tucked against the back of hers. My bride’s glorious ass presses back into me, and my cock stirs, hungry again even after yesterday’s loving. It longs to knot Naomi and bind her to me more fully, to show her such pleasure she will never want to leave.

Knotting, however, takes hours, and needs to wait until I get her to a safe place where we can be alone.

Because we certainly aren’t alone here.

The softest whisper of air through fur is all the warning I get. A little body lands on my hip. Tiny paws clamber up my side to stand on my shoulder. Then one pats my cheek, all soft pads with no claws. “Got you!”

“Indeed, you did,” I whisper.

But not quietly enough, because my bride stirs. “Wranth?”

“No, it’s me!” The kit’s voice is full of mischief and glee. “It’s Wisp!”

“Wisp!” Naomi says. “Can you see when it’s this dark?”

“No, but I can smell real good and listen, listen, listen, like you’re supposed to when you hunt.” Her back feet shift weight from one to the other a few times, and she jumps.

Naomi lets out a little exhale of surprise, then chuckles.

“I’m lighting the glow stone,” I say, then strike it to spark its magic. The small cave comes into view, with Naomi curled in front of me with the kit held close.

Green eyes blink rapidly for a few seconds. “Aww, that’s cheating.”

“Sorry, kiddo.” Naomi scratches under the kit’s chin. “Humans don’t have cat super senses like you.”

“Yes, I’m super!” Wisp wiggles in my moon bound’s arms, too full of energy to sit still.

“You sure are.”

“Another story!” The rest of the kits bound into the room. “Yes!” “More!”

My bride beams, delighted to be asked. Goddess, how I love that look on her face!

“Go ahead,” I say. “I’ll gather everything here and follow.”

“Are you sure?” She hesitates out of politeness, everything in her pulling her toward the delight she gets in telling stories.

“Very sure.” I would deny her nothing. Naomi is already the most amazing person I’ve ever met. Her ability to tell entertaining tales only adds to my admiration.

My bride came alive the night before as she told the story, her voice taking on the aspect of each character. She knew exactly when to pause to make the audience lean forward, craving more, transforming a youngling’s tale into something that held adults transfixed.

As she follows the kits out into the dawn-lightened tunnel, I hurry to gather my sleeping furs. I do not want to miss the story either. Yet I pause for a moment, pressing the soft fur to my face and inhaling deeply, pulling the combined scent of me and my bride deep into my lungs.

Mine .

The word feels truer than ever, after our loving yesterday. I simply need to woo her so fully it will remain so.

While I cook breakfast over a small fire, Naomi tells a story of a vain emperor fooled into going naked.

The kits love it, laughing so hard they roll on their backs, little legs kicking the air.

“It seems this biped nudity thing is really going to be an issue,” Shadow says. “How alarming. I look fabulous naked.”

“You can be naked in front of someone else, cat,” I growl, handing my bride a bowl of hot porridge.

He grins his too-wide grin. “Perhaps that’s exactly what I’ll do once the doors of Faerie open. I’ll find myself a human to play with.”

My lips pull back from my tusks. How dare he imply anything I do with Naomi is play? She is the most important thing in my life.

The kits get called to their own breakfast, so we eat in relative peace.

Normally, I’m a quick eater, shoveling in my food with good appetite. Yet this morning, I drag things out. As soon as breakfast is done, we need to try to teleport to Moon Blade Village. Yet as much as I want her safely in the village, where she can get one of the red crystals to prevent magical burnout, I selfishly also don’t want to end this time of having her to myself.

From the corner of my eyes, I watch her as she eats. She’s let her hair down, and the curls sway in the gentle breeze in a way that’s fascinating. Each time, she dips only the end of the spoon into the hot cereal, bringing tiny bites to her mouth. Perhaps I’m not the only one drawing out this interlude.

Yet, eventually, we finish, and I wash all the cooking implements with the cleaning cloth before packing everything away.

Moonlight emerges from the den. “This tether you speak of. Would you like help determining what it is?”

“Yes!” Naomi says quickly.

“Besides the shadow roads, I walk another path.” The older feline fae sits regally, her tail curled around her front paws. “I can walk the path of a person’s magic.”

“Wait.” I scowl at Shadow. “Cat sith have additional powers? Why didn’t anyone know that?”

“Oh, orc. I could fill a book with what you don’t know.” Shadow’s purring laugh fills the area. “Why ever would a cat give up all their secrets?”

I growl, one corner of my lips lifting in a snarl. As glad as I am for his assistance yesterday, his constant taunts try my patience.

“You should count yourself fortunate that I have given you my secret.” Moonlight’s tone goes regal and commanding, pulling all of our attention back to her. “Now, do you want my help or not?”

“Yes, please!” Naomi says, shooting me and Shadow a look to behave.

“Very well.” The elder’s green eyes grow impossibly larger as magic tingles through the air with the feel of lightning right before it strikes.

Midnight’s magic wraps around me stealthily, like the faintest brush of paw against the ground, a patient hunter on the stalk. It slides along my skin with the soft brush of fur. It’s almost hard to tell she’s even doing anything at first, because it feels so comfortable.

Her eyes start to glow, and I can’t look away. A ratcheting purr fills my ears, wonderfully soothing, even as the press of her power continues to grow.

Naomi leans forward, her expression fascinated. I love this about her. Magic is completely new to her, yet she embraces it with such passion and excitement.

Faster and faster, the magic spins, until it feels like the two of us sit in the cone of a tornado. A twang fills my chest with sensation, like the deep reverberation of a plucked string. Then a harder clang tugs on me, and Naomi tips toward me.

I move lightning fast, my arm whipping around her to catch her to my side.

The magic subsides, like a cat’s purr slowly fading into silence as it falls asleep. We sit for several seconds, still caught in the spell. Then I grunt and shake my head, working away the last of the haze.

“I sense two bonds between you.” Moonlight’s paw dances through the air, weaving between us. “One is strong and deep and permanent. It flows like a river, able to bend and adapt, and it’s all the more powerful for it.” The sinuous movement stops, and she jabs her paw straight in between us. “The other bond is rigid, like a bar of metal. It holds great strength, but its inflexibility means it can be broken. It feels more temporary.”

“The tether is the temporary one,” I say.

“How do you know?” Naomi asks.

I feel it within my very soul, yet I offer the more obvious reason. “Because the goddess binds moon bound mates for life.”

“I agree.” Moonlight tips her head. “It is the tether that will break.”

“When?” Naomi asks, sounding far too eager for my ears.

“I can’t give you an exact time. I think it’s instead tied to a specific action or task.”

“Opening the doors of Faerie.” Naomi snaps her fingers. “It’s got to be that.”

I grunt, knowing she’s right yet dreading it at the same time, since breaking the tether means she can leave me.

“Thank you, Moonlight.” Naomi rubs her hands on her thighs and stands. “We should get going to Moon Blade Village.”

“How does your magic feel?” I ask. “I don’t want you to use too much, too soon.”

“I’m not sure.” She grips her crystal in one hand, and her nose scrunches. “I’m not feeling any burn, and I want to try. Besides, if this works, you said there are crystals there that will keep me from burnout. It’s worth the risk.”

“No! You can’t leave!” Wisp gallops over to my bride, flickering in and out of sight as she comes. “Who will tell us stories?”

“No!” “Don’t go!” “Stay!” The other kits come tumbling after.

Naomi crouches down and throws her arms wide, gathering them all to her. “I’ll come back.” She scratches one tiny head after another. “I promise.”

One by one, they accept a last pat, then jump down to race off after new mischief. Soon, only Wisp remains. Her needle claws cling to the front of Naomi’s shirt. “Take me with you! I want an adventure!”

“I’m not sure I can. I don’t know if I can take anyone with me but Wranth.” She taps her finger lightly on the kit’s nose. “And you’re way too freaking cute to experiment on.”

“But I’m not?” Shadow says, tone sardonic.

“You’re a big guy.” Naomi grins at him. “You can take care of yourself.”

“Still, I think I’ll pass on being part of your experiment.” His eyes glitter with amusement as he looks at Zephyr. “After all, unlike some, I can get to the village quickly all by myself.”

“Humph,” she snorts and tosses her head, making the grooves on her horn flash in the morning sun. “You and your shadow roads. See if I ever heal you.”

“I hope to never need it,” the feline fae says.

I walk over to Zephyr and lay a hand on her neck. “You don’t have to do this. I can take the saddle and bags with me.” Or at least I hope I can, but even if they don’t make the trip, there’s nothing in them that can’t be replaced. I can’t say the same for my friend. “You could make your own way to the village. Unburdened, it wouldn’t take you more than a handful of days.”

“As if I can leave you alone for that long.” She lips the hair at my temple, snuffling as she takes in my familiar scent. “Goddess knows what trouble you’ll get into without my help.”

“Me, trouble?”

“Hah! There’s no point in playing the innocent.” She bats my shoulder with her horn. “That temper of yours is worse than most orcs’.”

I grunt, but she has a point.

Naomi sets down the kit and spins to face Moonlight, who sits in front of the den. “Thanks so much for having us.”

“I wish you luck on your endeavors,” the elder says. “Long have the cat sith dreamed of walking the shadow roads to any destination we choose, as our ancestors did of old.” She spears us with a sharp gaze that holds none of the normal feline mischief. “Make it happen.”

“I will,” Naomi says brightly.

Shadow lets out a melodramatic sigh and presses against her thigh, silently asking for a head scratch. “I suppose this means clothes are in my future.”

“Poor thing.” Naomi grins down at him as she rubs around his ears.

“Poor everyone else, you mean.” His green eyes laugh up at her. “For they will be denied a glimpse of my magnificence.”

Her rich, throaty chuckle makes me smile. For all my annoyance at the cat’s cockiness, I cannot discount the joy he brings my bride.

Naomi walks over to us. “Ready to do this?”

“We’re not the ones actually doing anything.” Zephyr taps Naomi with her horn. “So the real question is: are you ready to do this?”

“Yes!” My bride’s expression brightens with excitement.

Conflicting emotions battle within me. I long for her to explore her magic, to become all that she can be.

Yet my deepest purpose is to keep her safe. An overwhelming desire to protect fills me as she grips her necklace. I hold my breath and wish my muscles to readiness. I do not like this gambling with the unknown.