10

Serik

"I hear congratulations are in order. Welcome to the clan," Sydney announces while hugging my bewildered mate at the bottom of their stairs.

Sergei and Sydney's central home is as massive as the male who owns it. Stairs carved in icy rock bring us down the first twenty feet to a large meeting room. A long hallway with weapons, drying herbs, and flashlights on the walls leads to private rooms further beneath the permafrost. The opposite end of the hallway is an extra wide crevice. A wooden matrix puzzle secures the opening like the ones we use on our outer doors. This is the door Kaitlyn would love to have in our home.

Kaitlyn stands frozen as a snowdrift with apple-sized eyes. She's quiet this morning, which never bodes well for me. My mate stews….no, boils. Her thoughts boil until they overflow out of her mouth. Does she know she bottles her emotions? Who taught her to do this? I have a million questions about her upbringing, but I don't want to hear about her family. If she misses someone, I don't want the guilt of taking her from them. Yeah, I'm a Svoloch, but I own it.

Kaitlyn knows it too. In fact, everyone gathered in Sergei's dyla weturanya would agree. Patricika bounces Gustav on her knee with a glower on her lips. Adam stands over her possessively. Vera waits to hug Kaitlyn next but shoots me anxious looks over her shoulder. Even my newfound friendship with Artyom doesn't protect me from the whispers he exchanges with Sergei. The gentle giant doesn't believe a word Artyom says about me… Why don't I feel guilty for putting Artyom in the middle?

Because seeking clan approval is for Kaitlyn, and I would do anything for her.

"This is wonderful news. I'm happy for you, Serik," Sergei bellows to quiet the whispers. While everyone thought Kiril would be Timor's successor, I've always put my hazelnuts on Sergei. As the biggest, scariest Chuchunya, he commands respect on sight. However, his unyielding commitment to fairness and equality makes him a much better leader than Timor. Sergei, being mated to a human female, is progressive, demonstrating his openness to changes in clan law for the good of the group.

I hope they follow his lead in welcoming Kaitlyn.

"Thanks, everyone," I say, pretending the entire group was as warm as our hosts. "Kaitlyn isn't familiar with the Tundra and has lots of questions. I hope the females will help her—"

"You know we won't hold back, Serik. When you return, she will know everything about the Chuchunya," Patricika shouts as she bounces her baby faster. Why does that sound like a threat? Does she think I haven't told Kaitlyn of our disastrous seasons together?

"I'd like a word with Kaitlyn too—" Adam stops mid-step in his approach as a growl rumbles from my chest.

I don't mean to growl at him…but he can't poison my dushevnayasvyaz against me. Our bond is fragile and new—like the crocus I gave her. She's my one chance at family, true love, and the end to a life of loneliness. I wasn't exaggerating when I told Kaitlyn of the horrors of a zima season alone on the northern grounds. It's why I didn't migrate with the clan this year. I put our species in danger of discovery because I knew I wouldn't survive on my own.

"Let's get the chores finished first," Sergei declares, diffusing the tension between Adam and me. "Artyom suggested we fix Serik's inner chamber door. There was an incident with Serik's new mate—"

"Don't say it! I can't believe you told him!" Kaitlyn's screams rekindle the fire in my belly. My growl accompanies her accusations. "My first time meeting everyone and they know I got stuck in a rock crevice! How embarrassing!"

Pride quiets my growl as Kaitlyn rushes into my arms. She hides her pink face in my fur and allows my arms to wrap around her. Patricika and Adam wear matching expressions of shock. Good. Let them see who she runs to when threatened. Me.

"Oh Kaitlyn, no one judges you. As Serik said, you don't know about the tundra. We want to help," Vera says to diffuse the issue caused by her mate's glotat.

"Honestly, I'm impressed," Sydney adds with a rub to her pregnant belly. "Getting stuck in those rock openings is my worst nightmare. I'd lose my shit and collapse Serik's front room with my screaming if your ordeal happened to me. The fact you traveled through his door since the incident is bold as brass."

Kaitlyn lifts her flaming face from my embrace. This is why she needs the human females of the clan. What was embarrassing and possibly traumatizing for Kaitlyn is now an act of bravery. They understand her position more than I ever could. I want to provide everything Kaitlyn needs to be happy, so I must play nice with the males—except maybe Adam. He could throw an avalanche of doubt and fear into my relationship. What if he took her?

"Which is why I agree with Artyom. Come and look at my inner doorway lock. We will make one for Serik after widening his rock crevice," Sergei declares. Kiril, Gleb, Artyom, and the rest of the Chuchunya males follow Sergei further under the permafrost. Adam waits for me to leave Kaitlyn's side with a scowl twisting his lips.

"Will you be alright?" I ask Kaitlyn without breaking eye contact with Adam. I kiss the crown of her head. His eyes flare with anger. Watching your lesser clan leader submit to a male you thought was beneath you must be difficult or he wouldn't be riled up. Power bubbles in my heart and floats to my brain like summer dandelion wine.

"I want time with Vera and Sydney," Kaitlyn answers, releasing me. "Like you said, I have a million questions for the women. She steps from my embrace toward Vera but stops abruptly when she notices Adam didn't join the rest of the males. Her hair fans over her shoulders as she looks back and forth between us.

"If you are waiting to talk to me, you're an idiot. You're the last person on Earth I want to talk to right now. I'm not over you selling Holly like a blowup doll. Stay away from me until I can resist the urge to rip your face off," Kaitlyn shouts with her finger stabbing Adam with each word like a dagger.

"Kaitlyn, I said I was sorry," Adam pleads, turning down the hallway.

"I know and I decided that's not good enough," she snaps.

"Serik, I love your mate," Patricika says with a vicious smile. "Sweetheart, join the males and fix Serik's door. Kaitlyn will appreciate the gesture more than your hot air. I'm sure Serik's dushevnayasvyaz provides enough of that."

"Every night," I sneer. Patricika's hot air comment could be the heat my body gives off in response to finding my mate, or she's calling me an egotistical liar. Both are true, but I choose the biological definition. To my delight, Kaitlyn doesn't argue with me. She lets them think we are ‘making love.' Is it solidarity or another reason?

"We're ready," Kiril announces, emerging from the hallway. "It's a simple matrix with a four-lever, horizontal design."

I have no idea what that means, but I nod because Adam does. Sergei and Artyom sweep their mates off the ground to kiss them senselessly. Adam blows a raspberry on his son's cheek before kissing Patricika. Kaitlyn rocks on her feet with awkward anxiety. She doesn't want me to kiss her, does she? We've never kissed. It'd be weird if we didn't after I said we share furs, but what will a kiss do to our relationship? Will I lose her trust, or will she understand? My hands shake. Sweat gathers at the base of my spine.

"Follow them. I'll be fine," Kaitlyn says, leaning against me. She raises onto her tiptoes while I'm rooted in shock. The brush of her lips against mine is a whisper of contact. Like the gentle flutter of butterfly wings, she kisses me. She's gone a heartbeat later, patting my chest from arm's length away.

I'm dismissed and partially hypnotized. I'm more dedicated than ever to making her happy. My feet bound up the stairs two at a time. I burst into the early niibin sunshine with a spring in my step. My door will please my mate, but better, my mate won't see it as an escape from a monster. In time, she will see me as a male worth loving…I felt the dedication in her tiny kiss. My mate is brave, bold, and strong enough to kiss me first…in public…after dressing down Adam like a hellcat.

"Another breeding pair is cause for celebration," Sergei declares, bending to pick up a stick the width of my arm. "Timor will want a mating chase as soon as he arrives in the central grounds. His family stayed north to watch a group of human tourists. They approach the coastal islands which aren't stable once the weather warms. Well, we weakened a few ice spots, and he's verifying they check the ice before proceeding with their heavy vehicles."

"Why would you weaken the ice?" I ask in shock. The generation before ours died due to a northern dyla weturanya cave-in during a clan meeting. Only Timor and Polina survived because they were with the kits in the central grounds. Our parents drowned in one night because of thinning ice.

"Disposal of threats to the clan," Adam says, huffing and puffing behind me. He might not use a cane anymore, but he walks with the gait of a newborn reindeer. Inferior legs, slow progress, and loud movements mean Adam will always be the worst hunter. The human male doesn't even have dushevnayasvyaz symptoms to heat his home. He's completely dependent on Sergei's hospitality in the northern and central grounds.

What's so special about him? What does he have that I don't?

"What threats?" I ask instead because Kaitlyn wants her door.

"Dr. Barbahall made another attempt at Vera," Artyom says in his gruff tone.

"I'm happy she's okay," I reply to appease my closest ally.

"My tiny Ryluk killed her. I wish I saw her in action, but I was with you," Artyom says with a fangy smile. He waves a stick like a spear.

"We are fortunate to have fierce females," Sergei replies with a sigh.

The rest of the males nod and grunt in agreement—whether they are mated or not. I wait for jealousy to flare in my chest, but I find the humor in Kaitlyn calling the younger males ‘keeners' instead. Her adorable eyeroll always accompanies the word. It took me forever to understand it meant someone who agrees with everything liked by their idol. The name is quite nasty, but honest. My mate is just as fierce as Sergei's Sydney, despite her fear of blood and hunting. She's formidable with her words…and dependent on me for the rest.

Dushevnayasvyazalways knows what mates complete one another.

I swallow the purr in my chest, so the males won't tease me. As I open the outer lock, I must also dampen the instinct to chase the males from my den while my mate is unclaimed. It doesn't matter that Kaitlyn isn't inside. I still want to piss on the walls to mark my territory like a wild animal. I blow my selfish aggression out my nose. Each male carries sticks to build the wooden matrix. They are supporting Kaitlyn and my union. This is what I've always wanted, but years of betrayal and belittling comments can't be reversed by a new door. They festered during the long zima months and float around my mind like ghosts.

How long will I be able to hold myself together? Will I lose Kaitlyn if I lose my shit?

"I worry about my Ryluk when she's out of my sight, too. They will take care of one another," Artyom says, clasping my shoulder. "I wish I could tell you it gets easier. But until you claim her in a mating chase, suspicion, jealousy, and aggression are parts of you—like your arms and legs. The other mated males understand your pain. The unmated ones don't matter."

"I appreciate the comfort," I reply, locking the door behind us. Artyom doesn't like conversations. He likes to tell stories about adventures or silence. His words mean more because he doesn't give them away freely.

However, he's wrong. According to Vera and Artyom, they mated within hours of meeting. To this day, they can't keep their hands off one another. She's always petting him, riding on his back, or kissing his cheeks. When they kiss, it isn't a whisper like Kaitlyn's kiss. Vera's tongue wipes the back of Artyom's throat, no matter who is watching. Sergei and Sydney are more reserved, but she's pregnant less than a sun cycle after their initial meeting.

I want to confide in Artyom about my struggles with Kaitlyn. Would he understand? Would he weave it into a story to entertain the other males at our expense, like he embarrassed Kaitlyn with her incident? Yes, today the clan builds us a new doorway, but at what cost? Is their help winning Kaitlyn's heart worth the humiliation of starring in another unflattering story?

I hope Kaitlyn learns what she needs from the females because my hands are locked in a wooden matrix of toxic male dynamics.