Chapter 14

Gaelec

T he muffled sound of Ophelia’s voice calling my name reached me even before the main doors of the Great Hall burst open. She jerked her head left and right, looking for me.

“Gaelec!” she shouted, her voice laced with panic, when she finally spotted me.

I didn’t need a mirror to know what a mess I looked like. When I eviscerated the Sikkal, its blood sprayed all over me. As much as I felt guilty for worrying my mate, I deliberately chose to come straight to the Great Hall specifically so they could see the state I was in. Moriak set out to kill me. While I did not intend to openly make that accusation, an image spoke volumes. I wanted there to be no question that I had seriously been put in harm’s way under his watch, while the other three males who should have supported me returned without so much as a speck of blood on them.

“I’m fine, my mate,” I said in a reassuring tone as Ophelia ran towards me.

She stopped straight in front of me and immediately began pawing at my arms and chest, looking for any sign of injury.

I chuckled, my heart melting to see how much she cared about me.

“I’m fine, my Ophelia. Most of this is not my blood. I only got a superficial cut on the back of my calf,” I said softly.

“Then whose blood is this? Why so much of it? What happened? And where are the others?” she asked, stretching her neck to look over my shoulders before glancing back at me, worry and confusion still audible in her voice.

“Slow down! One question at a time,” I said, amused before sobering.

A small crowd was gathering around us, including the Matriarchs, Oluina, and Ylis.

“What happened? Where are the others?” Rozel asked, echoing Ophelia’s words.

This time, all warmth faded from me as I stared coldly at the Matriarch. “They’re coming. They are bringing back my two kills.”

“ Your two kills?” she repeated in a dubious tone.

“Yes, mine !” I retorted, bearing my teeth. “Your Alpha and his companions lured the beasts to me then watched as I fought them on my own.”

“WHAT?!” Ophelia shouted.

My eyes still locked with the Matriarch, I gently caressed my mate’s hair in a soothing fashion.

“Apparently, he felt I needed to be tested again after a twelve-year absence.”

A strange glimmer fleeted through Rozel’s eyes. I couldn’t say if she was troubled by Moriak’s actions, disappointed I’d prevailed, or feeling guilty that she might have condoned any of it. The lack of shock she displayed upon hearing my words confirmed she’d either been aware of his intentions or highly suspected them. Either way, to me, it made her an accomplice.

“It’s fair for the Pride’s Alpha to evaluate the fitness level of the males who join us,” Rozel said in a non-committal fashion.

“By luring two wild beasts on a single male to fight on his own?!” Ophelia exclaimed, outraged.

“It’s okay, my mate. He wanted to prove a point, and I proved mine,” I said, staring at the Matriarch as I spoke those words to make my underlying meaning clear. Then I turned to my mate, my face softening as I smiled at her. “All that matters is that I came back home to you unscathed.”

A powerful emotion crossed her delicate features, and she threw herself into my arms, hugging me with near desperation, seemingly unbothered by all the blood covering me. I returned her embrace and kissed the top of her head.

“Let’s go home, my mate. I need to wash.”

She nodded, her face still pressed against my chest. Giving me one last squeeze, Ophelia reluctantly let go.

I wrapped my arms around her shoulders, and she slipped hers around my waist. Before heading back to our house, I glanced at Oluina with a mocking expression.

“By the way, there’s no need for you and the other females to go hunting today… or the next few days for that matter. My kills will suffice to feed the entire village for the week, with leftovers.”

She scrunched her face as if she’d bitten into something foul, while a few of the other huntresses that had followed her out of the Great Hall—including Ylis—bit the insides of their cheeks not to laugh. But I also didn’t miss the speculative way in which they observed me.

I had no time for the power games they wanted to play.

Without another word, I led my mate back to our dwelling. She remained oddly quiet the whole way there. A part of me wondered if it was to keep any discussion safe from prying ears, or if she needed some time to process what she just heard.

As soon as we entered, Ophelia boldly took the lead, all but dragging me to the hygiene room. To my shock, after she helped me remove my loincloth—or rather did it herself, even slapping my hand aside when I tried to unbuckle my belt—my mate quickly stripped out of her own clothes so that we could shower together.

Despite the instant arousal I felt at seeing her naked, I behaved, allowing her to take charge. On instinct, I understood she needed to get some sense of control in this entire situation as she undoubtedly felt she had none since her arrival here. Whatever effort she made to influence her future within the Pride, in the end, her fate mostly rested in other people’s hands.

She turned the water on and pushed me underneath it for a first quick rinse.

“Was it a murder attempt?” she asked at last.

“Yes,” I replied without hesitation, raising my arms to give her better access as she continued to rinse the blood off me with the retractable shower head. “Or at the very least, he wanted to maim me and demonstrate that I was useless enough to be banned.”

“Will he try again?” Ophelia asked, putting the shower head back on its hook and then reaching for the soap.

I shook my head. “Although not impossible, I highly doubt it. Moriak seriously hurt his cause today.”

“How so?” she asked with genuine curiosity while working up a lather and then rubbing her soapy hands all over me.

An approving moan rumbled in my throat at the delicious sensation of her hands on me, the soap making each motion feel like an even silkier caress. Ophelia chuckled smugly which had me playfully glare at her before becoming serious again.

“Moriak elevated me today. However they feel about him, Latsa and Olmar won’t lie about what they witnessed. In truth, I wouldn’t be surprised if they start pushing for him to step down,” I mused aloud.

“Seriously?!” she exclaimed, stunned and slightly confused. “Why? Because he tried to get you killed?”

I shook my head. “The fact that they stood back and observed without interfering proves that they didn’t truly have a problem with him testing me. I can’t say to what extent they were distraught by how bad it got, or if they even considered intervening with him stopping them. I was far too busy trying to stay alive to pay attention to their interactions with each other. But they saw my performance, and the fact that there were hidden traps he had not warned me of. That went a little too far into slimy territory.”

“Trying to get you killed is okay, but hiding the existence of the traps that would help him achieve that is not?” Ophelia challenged with disbelief.

I snorted and turned around so that she could wash my back. “Correct, because there is no honor in such underhanded practices. He wouldn’t have won by being stronger and smarter, but essentially by cheating. That he used such questionable tactics, even using some sort of pheromones, which I believed further enraged the creatures, screamed of desperation. And the fact that I prevailed under those conditions, with two beasts against me and nothing but a spear, earned their respect and admiration. Now, they’re comparing the two of us and finding him lacking in comparison.”

“Of course, he is,” Ophelia said, her voice dripping with pride. “Anyone with eyes can see that you’re the better male. But if they do push for you to become the new Alpha, are you going to reconsider now?”

“No,” I said.

She turned me around and studied my features in an inquisitive manner, taken aback by the finality in my tone.

“Why?” she asked softly. “Do you find ruling too much?”

I shook my head. “I’m extremely confident that I could do it and even better than he ever could or would. But this entire Pride is broken. In his twisted sense of self-preservation, Moriak has been crippling our defenses for years by culling and sacrificing any male who might have threatened his position.”

I took the soap from her and began washing her in turn. She smiled and willingly yielded to my touch. I tried to ignore the way her nipples pebbled as soon as I ran my soapy hands over them.

“We have weak males,” I continued. “Our infrastructures are dated, and they won’t let me upgrade anything. And all that is due to Rozel’s bone-deep fear of change.”

Ophelia pursed her lips and slowly nodded. “I noticed that during my meeting with them right before you arrived. She understands everything that we’re saying, but she stubbornly refuses to budge. The only explanation I can come up with for such an irrational behavior is that she wants to cling to what is comfortable and familiar to her.”

“Yes and no,” I replied, turning her around to start washing her back. “It is power that Rozel is clinging to. Based on what Ylis told me, her sisters—the other two Matriarchs—have increasingly been questioning some of the decisions she’s been making over the past few years.”

“How does doubling down on things that are unpopular help her retain power?” Ophelia argued, confused.

“Because the Head Matriarch must master everything within the Pride. Any job the males perform, she must be able to perform as well or at least have a very strong functional understanding of it,” I explained. “She knows all the systems we have implemented. She would have to learn the ones I want to introduce. Unfortunately, instead of seeing this as an opportunity, she got stuck on the idea that she would technically be at my mercy during implementation, and likely for a while afterwards. How does she know I wouldn’t keep some information secret from her? What if I tried to leverage it to somewhat blackmail her into giving me more power?”

“You would never do that!” Ophelia immediately exclaimed, outrage audible in her voice and visible on her face as she turned to look at me over her shoulder.

My heart instantly melted with affection for my woman. I leaned forward and kissed her lips.

“You are correct, I wouldn’t. But she has become too paranoid. In many ways, she’s like her daughter and Moriak. They’re all past their prime, but cling to what they have to the detriment of the Pride. Oluina’s and Moriak’s behavior is not surprising. It’s merely a symptom of the trickle-down effect from Rozel’s own actions.”

Ophelia turned around to face me, her eyes brightening as if in sudden understanding.

“You’ve officially decided to leave, right?” she asked softly.

I nodded, my eyes flicking between hers to get a sense of how she felt about it. “Like I said after the feast, I was increasingly thinking that it was likely the way to go. But today sealed it. Are you okay with that?”

She snorted and made a dismissive gesture. “I told you already, wherever you go, I go. I’m always up for an adventure. And starting one with my mate sounds thrilling.”

Although delighted by her response, I continued to study her, my tone serious. “An adventure, yes. But it’s not going to be a joy ride,” I warned. “Things will be harsh at first. We won’t have all the comforts and conveniences that we have here.”

“So?” Ophelia asked, raising her eyebrow as if to dare me to continue implying she wasn’t tough enough for the challenge that awaited us.

I couldn’t help a smile, my chest warming some more for my woman. “You know, I’m really starting to like you.”

She chuckled and pressed herself against me. “You had better, because I like you lots.”

I kissed her lips again, the tender emotion that had been taking root in my heart growing further.

“Are we going to start our own Pride or just live like hermits?” Ophelia asked softly as we began to rinse each other.

“Just the two of us will be difficult,” I conceded, “unless we move to the city, which I would rather not. Some of the older males here would gladly follow me if I wanted to start my own camp.”

“Not a Pride?” Ophelia asked. “You wouldn’t want some females to tag along?”

I hesitated. “To be honest, I doubt any of them would want to come. But it’s not going to be an issue for what I have in mind.”

“All right. But where would we go?”

“There’s lots of land available,” I said with confidence. “It is open for any Pride or nomads to claim. Most people avoid certain areas because there is no infrastructure, and they do not possess the skills to develop them. I learned a lot on Molvi. And thanks to the credits Lord Amreth sheltered from Rozel’s greedy hands, I have enough of a starter fund for us to acquire the basics that we will need.”

“I have my own savings and many contacts among intergalactic charitable organizations who could help us find affordable stuff. We could build a dream Pride! Or camp, however you want to call it,” she amended sheepishly.

I smiled, a spark of hope and excitement I had not felt in a long time surging within me. “Yeah, I think we can create something amazing.”

Her eyes flicked between mine with a sliver of suspicion. “You’ve been planning this for a while, haven’t you?”

It was my turn to give her a sheepish expression. “I fantasized about it many times over the years, and even more so since my return. To me, it was just that, a wild dream that I had fun trying to sort out the details of, even knowing that it would never come true. And then you came into my life. It was the final push I needed to make the jump.”

“Me?!” she exclaimed, stunned.

I nodded. “You made me realize that I really don’t want to live in a place that tries to dictate who I can be with, how I must live, and whom I may love. I refuse to stay somewhere I’m not valued or wanted for who I am instead of just what I have to offer. You make me feel worthy of love and respect.”

“Because you are,” she said with a conviction that messed with my head.

“My beautiful mate,” I whispered before claiming her lips.

She wrapped her arms around my neck, her fingers sinking into the wet strands of my mane as lukewarm water continued to rain down on us. Her lips parted beneath mine, and my tongue immediately answered the invitation. The arousal that had abated during our conversation came back in force. My cock hardened as my hands began roaming over her again, but this time with a much different intent than when I was washing her.

Ophelia moaned against my lips and pressed her pelvis against me. But our height difference had my shaft pressing against her stomach instead. I lifted her up and she instantly wrapped her legs around my waist. To my surprise, keeping herself propped up with one arm around my neck, my woman slipped the other one between us to stroke me. I hissed against her mouth as intense pleasure immediately built in my loins. My mate quickly realized that she only had to start twisting her wrist as she stroked the spiked section of my cock to have me cresting in no time.

Refusing to let her one up me, I took a couple of steps towards the tiled shower wall and pressed her back against it for additional support. Holding her with one arm under her bum, I also snuck my fingers between us to rub her clit. Finding her already wet for me had me burning with too much impatience to settle for long preliminaries.

To my shock, Ophelia appeared to be on the same wavelength as I was. I’d barely given her little nub a few rubs before she was pushing my hand aside with the back of hers and then aligning my head with her slit. A part of me wanted to argue that she needed more preparation, but the other was more than happy to oblige.

I barely started pushing myself in before my female brutally jerked her hips down, impaling herself on my cock. We both cried out at the burn, and Ophelia buried her face in my neck and then bit me with her blunt teeth. It was hard enough to sting, but not enough to break skin.

However, it broke something else in me.

I didn’t give her the time to adjust to me. I willed more of my self-lubrication to exude to help compensate a little for the lack of proper preparation, and immediately began to move inside her. My pace quickly picked up as I thrust deeper into her. Ophelia clawed at my back, spurring me on with her moans and the throaty way she whispered my name.

In no time, I was pounding into her, my blood boiling with an insatiable passion, as she squeezed my length from all sides, electric sparks steadily firing off from each of my sensitive spikes. Feeling myself nearing the edge, I slightly shifted my angle so that my head would strike her sweet spot first on the way in, before my spikes gave it another rub both going in and out.

Moments later, Ophelia cried out. Her inner walls clamping down on my cock wrested my own climax out of me. I roared and slammed myself in deep as my seed shot out in a blissful flow. The searing heat of her tight sheath continued to contract spasmodically around my length, squeezing every last drop out of me.

Breathing heavily, I pressed my forehead against hers, as our pulses slowly settled down. Lifting my head, I kissed her lips before locking eyes with her. We smiled, the tenderness and a deeper emotion too early to give a name to shining brightly between us.

Not ready to end the deep intimacy of the moment, I buried my face in her neck, and we remained immobile for a moment with the sound of the still raining water as the baseline to our hearts beating as one. Ophelia suddenly stiffening snapped me out of my blissful daze.

“Don’t stop!” she exclaimed in a pleading voice.

I lifted my head to look at her with confusion. “Don’t stop what?”

“You were purring,” she said sheepishly. “It was beautiful.”

I gaped at her for a moment, trying to remember myself doing it. Then I smiled, my heart melting with a tender emotion.

“I don’t recall doing it, but I could see it happening for you. Sadly, as I mentioned before, it cannot be ordered. It must be earned,” I said teasingly.

Ophelia scrunched her face at me and mumbled something unintelligible that made me chuckle. She then glanced down between us before looking back up at me with a falsely disapproving look.

“We just finished washing. And now you’ve made a mess again!”

“I did,” I concurred, unrepentant. “But since we’re already in the shower, I say we get a little dirtier still and then wash it off when we’re done.”

She grinned and gently bit my bottom lip. “I like the way you think. By all means, show me how dirty you can get, especially if it ends with some more purring,” she quipped, making me instantly hard again.

And show her, I did.