Episode Fourteen Mirron’s Edict

M irron

"Yes, Sir."

Once again, I wonder what her life was like Up Above. She's very good at this game she plays. She's looking at me, but not. If I wasn't paying close attention, I'd think she was giving me eye contact, but she's focused on my brow, avoiding me while giving the appearance of compliance.

I shouldn't care. She's not actively disobeying. It should be good enough.

"Look into my eyes."

She makes a little sound of disagreement, as if she were going to say she already was. She's a sly one, though, because she swallows, lifts her pointed little chin, and focuses on my eyes.

It's clear what the rest of my pack sees in her. I'm not stupid. Her charms are obvious. For one, her weight is so scant on my lap it's as if she weighs no more than the lamb Luka brought home. How could a female like her do anything but make a male feel more masculine?

Her visage, at first so odd as to be alarming, is now alluring. Her unusual coloring, the snow-white hair and eyelashes, the pale skin, is so beautiful it's hard to pull my gaze from her.

"Tell me why you're here," I say, then allow my clawed fingers to play through her hair, untangling it from where it knotted while she thrashed in the furs with my mate.

I don't interrupt her for the longest time as she describes Up Above. It's a world I never could have imagined.

While she talks, I realize that as odd as her world is to me, must be as terrifying as our world is to her. I must admit, I admire how easily she's adapting, considering this must be as different as if she were transported to another planet. In a way, I guess she was.

At first, she describes the physicality of the place: the numbered Towers, the entirety of peoples' lifetimes lived indoors, the social hierarchy that has nothing to do with brawn or even cleverness but is based on inherited power as well as something called money.

It's when she describes her family unit that I squirm in my seat. She talks about her lack of power within her own home, her inability to make even the slightest decision about her life, from what she ate to what she wore. It tears at my heart to imagine having so few liberties.

When she talks about mating… No, it's not mating. There's no closeness or affection. Just the physical motion of a cock in a hole. It is when she describes this that something tightens around my heart.

Now I understand the soft expression on her face when she awoke this morning in my packmate's arms. Luka had been tender with her. She must have liked it. Just to make sure, I ask.

"Did you like Luka's touch?"

I watch her face, so well-schooled in lying, for any tells.

"Very much. He was so gentle and gave me so much pleasure."

That was truth.

"And Deklan. I ordered you to be together. How was that?" How can I ask this with a straight face? I'm asking about the lovemaking skills of my mate.

"So kind, so skilled. He gave me immense pleasure and made me feel safe when he held me in his arms after."

"Good." That comment escaped my mouth without permission.

"And me, Alliana. How will it be to share the furs with me after supper?"

Every muscle in her tiny body tightens, and her gaze flies to my cheek as she avoids my eyes.

I pause. I'm older than this little thing. I can outwait her. Finally, I order, "The truth."

Long moments later, she swallows, gives a long blink, and whispers, "You terrify me, Sir."

I don't know what affects me more, the swallow, the blink, the whisper? No, it's the word ‘sir'. She's never even uttered my name. She calls me Sir like the Senator she spoke of, or the other males her father sold her to.

I rearrange her on my lap, pressing her back against my chest. The difference in our sizes strikes me. My shoulders are at least three times as wide as hers. My claws continue to comb through her long white hair as I contemplate.

The four of us need to share the furs to ensure we stay a fully functioning pack, to guarantee there will be no fights for supremacy, no jockeying for position for her affections. No petty jealousies and squabbles. But I cannot, I will not, force myself on a female whom I terrify.

"You're an honest female," I praise. These are the first soft words I've given her. They're so surprising, her head whips around so she can inspect my face.

Gripping her chin softly, so as not to harm or frighten her, I keep her attention as I ask, "Do you agree to stay with us, to become part of our pack?"

She pauses as she worries her bottom lip with her upper teeth. This is as it should be. She should give this careful consideration.

"Yes."

"Will you give the brothers not only your body, but in due time, will you share your heart?"

This question brings a small smile to her face as she nods and says, "I already have."

A prick to my heart. No. More of a stab.

"Will you accept me as the leader of the pack and do as I say in all things?"

Her little nostril-flare is a dead giveaway. This is a harder question.

"Yes." When it's finally uttered, her word is breathy, which makes sense. She's already admitted I terrify her.

"Alliana." I say her name to ensure I have her full attention. "I will not be another in a long line of males who take what you do not wish to give."

Sliding my palm down the channel of her spine, I try to calm her.

"I want you to become part of my pack, to obey me in all things. You're expected to care for the brothers as fully as your heart allows. As long as you are part of this pack, it is your duty to allow or deny any one of us access to any part of your body. Do you understand?"

Her eyes widen, telling me she doesn't understand.

"In this pack, you can say no, Alliana. No one has a right to enter you without your permission. It's something even I as pack leader cannot override. Do you understand?"

She nods, though her eyes are still wide in surprise.

"I will not join you in the furs, not in that way, unless you ask." I pause, my gaze spearing into her until she says, "Okay."

"Good. You're safe here, Alliana. Safe."