At His Altar

Just a Scratch

Orsa

Sakina stood outside my tent waiting. Let her wait a little longer – perhaps some anger would do her some good for the task ahead. I stretched my muscles, readying myself for the pummelling to come.

“Just… don’t break anything,” I heard Kai saying outside.

I smiled to myself. He was sweet and shy, sensible man. There seemed to be something else about him, something mysteriously dark, but I saw it only in the briefest of moments. Either way, he could do better than an Osha Princess who was little more than a royal w***e. But to repay the kindness he had shown me for the past month, when many had shunned me, I would send back the Queen of Zamee and complete his family once more.

I stepped outside, more than prepared. His eyes scanned over me and I avoided his gaze. I couldn’t bear the way he looked at me. As though I were all seven wonders rolled into one. But he didn’t know me nearly well enough. Once he did, he would reject me as his mate – as he should have done from the very start.

“He’s right. Don’t break anything. I will break my own shoulder when I am nearer to Osha territory, but it is a two day ride that will turn into a week’s ride if you break it now.”

Sakina cracked her knuckles and I knew she would enjoy this. She didn’t trust me, nor did she like me. I held no ill will towards her for it. She had a warriors instinct and I had given her no reason to feel otherwise. 

“For one so beautiful, you sure do enjoy violence,” I said, smirking at her.

She replied with a punch straight to my gut, winding me immediately. This was going to be a long evening.

---

Sakina stood over me, assessing her handiwork. It had taken her just 15 minutes to give me a black eye and a pattern of cuts across my arms and stomach. She had stabbed me in my calf, deep enough for it to be hurt, but not deep enough that I limped. She was clearly an expert, I thought, though it had taken every ounce of my will not to strike her back. A small crowd had gathered in a circle around us, watching the show.

“Nicely done,” I said, feeling the bruise beginning to swell on the side of my face. My eye was slightly puffy but she’d ensured that I could still see fine.

She bowed her head slightly, acknowledging the compliment.

“Now… you’ll need to make it look as though I’ve been used.”

“Used?” she asked, startled.

I raised my eyebrow at her suggestively.

“We don’t do that here,” she said, disgusted.

I grinned.

“Well, my father doesn’t know that wolves deem themselves above rape. Bears certainly don’t. Just a scratch here and there, so I need you to just…”

“Absolutely not,” Sakina replied, cutting me off.

I pouted and turned to see Kai, his jaw clenching. He hadn’t said a word as I’d taken the beating, but watched silently. But all the words he wouldn’t say, his amber eyes spoke. He took in my state with great pain.

“Is it really necessary?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” I replied. “My father will not believe that I’ve been mistreated if there aren’t marks on the more private areas of my body.”

I winked at Kai, but his face remained like stone.

“What do you need me to do?” he asked.

My eyebrows went up in surprise. Well, well. This Prince wasn’t as sweet and shy as he seemed. I turned to the crowd of soldiers that had gathered and I curtseyed.

“I hope you enjoyed the show.”

Sakina rolled her eyes but I saw her grin as she walked away. I turned to Kai, ignoring his concerned glances at the marks on my body. He’d be adding to them very shortly.

“Follow me,” I commanded, walking back into my tent.

He followed silently, closing the tent flaps behind him. The tent was sparse, with a makeshift bed on the floor and a large trunk that held weapons.

He stood by the entrance of the tent, awaiting my next instructions. Putting my leg onto the trunk, I pulled my skirt to the side, holding it between my legs.

“I need you to bite me. Here,” I said, pointing to my inner thigh.

He strode to me, no hesitation in his gait. Dropping to his knees, he touched the spot I had pointed to and my breath caught in my chest. There it was again. That jolt of lightning when our skin touched.

“How hard?” he asked.

“Hard enough to draw blood,” I replied.

This time, I saw his hesitation. Since he had recovered from his injuries, I had kept my distance, speaking with him only when it was necessary. I had learnt small things about him, like his admiration for his eldest brother. I saw that he shared a bond especially with Lucien. I was more than shocked to learn he was a virgin. With his ruggedly beautiful face and his lean, muscular body, he wouldn’t have lasted a day in Karhu. I knew I was drawn to him in a way that I had never known. But I also knew that he deserved a mate who wasn’t broken.

His whisky coloured eyes looked up at me. I took a deep breath, readying myself. My skirt was covering my core, but as he leaned in towards my thigh, he stopped suddenly, as though distracted.

I heard him sniffing and I realised he could smell… me. I turned my face away, embarrassed despite myself. I had lost count of how many men had seen me naked and yet here I was, behaving like some sort of blushing bride.

A decent man to the very end, he said nothing of picking up my scent. He cleared his throat.

“Are you ready?”

“Just do it, Kai.”

I bit down on my lip as I felt his sharp canines pierce my skin. My eyes watered from the pain, but I didn’t make a sound. He turned his attention to my other leg and gave it the same treatment. Again, I clamped my lips tightly together, refusing to make a sound. Until he gently licked the blood from his bite. I gasped loudly at the contact from his tongue and immediately clamped my hand over my mouth. His eyes snapped up to my face again and I tried composing myself, my chest rising and falling hard.

“Why did you do that?” I whispered.

“You were hurt.”

“Kai, you… you shouldn’t have done that.”

“Orsa…”

The way he said my name… f**k. Gripping the black, leather cord he wore around his neck, I pulled him up. I attacked his mouth hungrily, my need for him greater than any other need I had ever felt. His sculpted lips felt even softer than my fantasies had allowed, and when he slipped his tongue into my mouth, it was too much. I moaned loudly, giddy at the taste of him. With one hand, he gently cupped my face while the other gripped my thigh tightly. I moaned into his mouth as he traced my jaw with his thumb. Why was he touching me this way? Why was he being so tender? I pulled him backwards and we stumbled onto the bed.

I lay back, pulling my skirt up and exposing myself to him. Grabbing his necklace again, I pulled him down to kiss me. His hands roamed my body tentatively, caressing my stomach before lightly grazing over my breasts, my n*****s hardening under my blouse. His kiss was deep, needy sounds escaping me as he licked into my mouth. He pulled away only to trail his tongue on the small cuts that had been made on my chest and I sighed with pleasure.

He came back up to suck slowly on my bruised lip, his tongue brushing mine softly as his thumbs slipped under my blouse and I thought I might faint.

“Where did you learn to kiss like that?” I gasped when he pulled away.

His smile was devastating and it did nothing to aid my ragged breathing.

“I said I was a virgin, not a priest.”

I couldn’t help the delighted laugh that escaped me. He truly was full of surprises.

He sat back on his haunches and stared down at me, drinking me in with his eyes. His hands trailed up my thighs towards my core and I arched my back, urging him to continue. I saw the familiar flashes of lust and desire in his gaze. But there was something else behind them, something I didn’t recognise. It was something raw and vulnerable and … more. It scared me. I sat up suddenly, catching him by surprise.

“I should go.”

“Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if I…”

“No. No you did everything right, Kai.”

I got to my feet hurriedly, pulling down my skirt and shaking out my hair.

“The sun has fully set and if I ride hard, I can make it in a day and a half. I have your scent all over me now, so they’ll believe that I was… well, you know.”

“Have I offended you, Princess Orsa?”

He was so contrite. I wanted to kiss him again, but to kiss him again would mean to feel something more than just lust. And to feel was to be weak. I had a mission at hand, one that I likely wouldn’t return from. There was no need to make this ‘mate bond’ any stronger. I cursed myself for my momentary weakness.

“You have not offended me,” I said, gently. “In fact, you have been nothing but kind to me since my arrival in this camp. I will never forget it.”

He stood slowly and moved towards me. I should have left there and then, but I stood rooted to the spot, inexplicably drawn to him. When he reached me, he stroked my face gently and I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch.

“I will wait for you.”

I looked up into his warm, amber eyes. His sincerity would have broken my heart, if I had one. Even still, something about him just drew me in and I allowed myself a few more seconds in his arms.

“I may not come back.”

He traced his thumb along my bottom lip. I trembled slightly as his other hand gripped my waist and pulled me tight against him. I should have pulled away, but I couldn’t.

“I will wait,” he repeated softly, his eyes filled with understanding and something else that I just didn’t recognise.

He leaned down and kissed my forehead lightly. I had been with men taller, bigger, perhaps stronger. But I had never felt as safe as I did in that moment with him. I said none of these things to him. I merely nodded and stepped away. Grabbing a dagger, I tied the leather belt to carry it around my hips.

“Princess Orsa, your horse awaits,” came a voice from outside the tent.

“Coming,” I replied.

Just as I opened the flaps to the tent, he spoke and I stilled.

“Orsa. I may not be the mate you wanted. But I’m the mate you deserve.”

---

I rode hard for a day and a half. I stopped by a stream only for the horse to rest for twenty minutes. Then I mounted her again and spurred her on. As I finally approached the mossy walls of the city of Kahru, I was every bit as beaten and exhausted as I needed them to believe I was. I had dislocated my own shoulder and was hanging onto my horse for dear life.

The thin blouse and skirt offered me no protection and if I spent any more time in the cold without shifting, I would most likely die. But I needed them to believe I was unable to shift. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around myself. I could feel myself growing weaker with every passing second. Where were the f*****g guards?

My mind strayed to Kai, his warm, honey eyes and his tender touch. I no longer had the strength to stay on my horse. I felt myself sagging to one side, my face throbbing from the now egg sized bruise that was protruding from it. Sorry, Kai. I failed my mission before I had even started. As I slipped from the horse and fell with a thump to the ground, I lay shivering in the snow. My breath formed clouds in front of my eyes as everything blurred. As the world slowly went black, at least my last thoughts were of dark, velvet skin and amber eyes.