Chapter 8: When You Want to Know

Adele sat next to a young woman who was starting to write rather well from her practice. She just had to correct a few things and had her do it over. Adele had seven here at the moment. Now that she had scheduled times, more wanted to learn. She was also only teaching Ky’s kind currently and they were very fast learners. There was one day in the week where she taught the humans in the keep. She was teaching them enough to help get another up to par that could also be proficient enough to start schooling the others to make this easier.

“Adele.” She looked up as Jackie came in and over to her. She stood up and met Jackie as she crossed the room.

“What can I help you with?” She asked her. She’d already talked with Jamis about one of the children earlier who had a slight tantrum. Now she knew what Ky had meant before. He’d gotten incredibly frustrated with himself not being able to do the math she put forth. He’d destroyed the table and had a slight shift to his features. She didn’t think this was about that, but one never knew. It wasn’t like she reprimanded the boy other than telling him that they were done for the day.

“Ky sent me to have you pack a travel bag. Mushin responded to the letter and said that he was willing to talk and offer aid. I don’t know much more about it than that. You are to go with.” Adele was surprised that it got there and back so fast. However she saw a couple of the ones that she’d heard referred to as runners. Younger werewolves that clearly had speed on their side. She was really starting to wonder how many here were human.

“Oh, alright. I wasn’t quite done here.”

“I can help. I mean at least a little and so will the others. The past few weeks have really helped. Especially those that are traveling to watch others or to our towns.” She agreed with that. She moved from the room to head to hers and pack like she’d been told.

Adele went down to the main area as that was where she was instructed to go once she was ready. She had a small bag that had just a few items in it. A change in clothes and such. She wasn’t told for how long they were going to be gone. So hopefully she’d be able to wash what she had or get clothes there if they were staying for a while. She was excited and nervous to say the least. She hoped that they had what they were looking for and that there was information to be had. Honestly she liked this feeling of being useful.

Adele moved to go out the front as she didn’t see anyone in the main area. She paused for a moment though looking at the throne area. It just looked neglected. She moved to the exit and seeing the unused area just made her feel good about where she was for some reason. It was nice to know that not all rulers spent their time sitting in a chair, but were actually doing something.

She pulled up her hood on the thick riding cloak that she had. Her hair was down around helping provide warmth as there was a bit of wind. She had changed her clothes too. What she wore looked like a skirt but it wasn’t. More like a wrapped skirt that hid the pants she had underneath that were insulated a bit. She had boots on as well seeing she was going out in the snow. Happy that these things were provided. What she’d rode here with hadn’t been taken. She approached where she saw Jamis and Ky where standing.

Next to them was what looked like a huge furry horse at first. However that was not what this was, and she had an idea of what this creature might be. It was much like a horse but different. It had dense soft fur that was similar to a lynx. It had hand like paws on the front instead of hooves but hooves in the back. There was no mane and the rest was shaped like a horse. It had copper eyes and the fur was a dense grey. She thought this might be a chimen.

“Your bag.” Ky said and she handed it to him. He took it and put it into a larger bag that he then turned and attached to one strap kind of hidden in the fur. There was no saddle or reins from what she could see. Just a strap that looked like it hooked somewhere around the front legs.

“You pack light for a human female.” Jamis said with a slight smile and she looked at him.

“It’s always smart to travel light. I will make do with what I have.” She told him as the wind blew a bit. Ky was looking up toward the towering mountains. The weather didn’t look great but was holding. She sighed and glanced about for a moment.

“Is it just us?” She asked as they were the only three she could see. Seemed a little light on the people.

“You and I are going.” Ky told her and she was surprised at that. Just her and him? Wasn’t he worried about being outnumbered? Her father never went anywhere without protection even if he was skilled with a sword. She didn’t care what he was. He was still only one man.

“Oh?” Jamis gave her a slight smile.

“We already have people watching, and posts along the way. Besides you are with Ky and a chimen. Odds are well in your favor.” She raised an eyebrow at him for a moment.

“Never traveled with such a small party before is all.” The idea of just traveling with Ky was also a bit disconcerting. She was a bit concerned about being alone with him to be honest. She was surprised a moment later when Ky turned and jumped up. He managed to swing onto the animal that was taller than either of them with nothing to grab.

“Ready?” Jamis asked her and she looked up. Ky leaned down a bit and held a hand out to her gripping more around her wrist. Jamis lifted her rather swiftly at the hips and she was up swinging her leg over sitting before Ky. She noted the strap that had a handle at the shoulders.

“No reins or anything?” She asked, this was strange. They were both on the same animal. However this chimen was huge and clearly didn’t feel the weight at all.

“No, chimen are fast and swift through snow. They are also made for the cold, but they will not tolerate harnesses and saddles. I can speak mentally with her. She knows where to go and agreed.” Ky told her as she held the loop there before her. She didn’t know if the chimen moved the same as the horse, but the fur was damn soft. No wonder people hunted them out of the area.

“Let me know if anyone comes around. I trust you and Navi to handle it. I don’t want to be out if anyone tries an attack again.” The chance was rather low at the moment. Their guard was up rather high too.

“Always, and you too. There are only three of the younger wolves watching the castle there. You will be outnumbered. We can send some of the human troops with you.” Jamis clearly didn’t like letting his alpha go alone.

“It’s fine, they don’t have strong fighters. Faced worse odds, and they don’t know what I am. It will be a short visit. Either he agrees or you come behind me and we take it.” She didn’t realize that he was going to move that fast, but if you could then you should. Less time for your enemy to prepare. Jamis gave a nod and she felt a bit of heat in her face when Ky’s arm came around her. He shifted, pulling her closer to him and grabbed the loop by her hands. Clearly he had no qualms about the lack of space between them.

“Hold tightly. She is going to run for the first hour.” He told her his face more over her right shoulder and against the hood there.

“Will she move like a horse or no?”

“Similar, but different. Lean forward.” She did and felt him pressed along her back. She again felt a tenseness from him so close. His arms around her. He felt solid and strong. His body very different from hers. A second later though her grip got very tight as the chimen took off. This was way faster than any horse she had ever ridden. She leaned a bit more and was glad for the thick hood and used one hand to pull it closer.

He was clearly well versed in riding like this, and could hold on well. The air was cold but the chimen’s ability to run through the snow and leap over obstacles or go over them was unparalleled. The fact she had hands in the front instead of hoofs added to her ability. She wasn’t sure how she managed to run for so long but then she started to slow.

They were in a rather dense snowy forested area now. She started to trot and stopped at a fast moving stream with just a bit of ice. Here they got down for just a short bit to stretch too from the position they had been in. Adele noticed how cold it was now that she was not caged in by his body.

“Pants.” He commented as he’d helped her hop down and into the fairly deep snow. “I have not seen that a standard dress for women here.”

“I didn’t see a reason to let my legs freeze. There was no way riding her that I could have rode any way but like a man.” She said taking a drink from what he offered.

“It doesn’t matter to me. What I’ve learned here is that humans have customs that they do not like broken. Especially when it comes to females.” He stepped toward her as the chimen appeared ready to continue.

“No they don’t, but I like that you don’t seem confined by these ridiculous traditions. So I felt it would be okay to wear this riding dress.” He stared at her for a moment and seemed to be thinking. He then hoisted her up so that she could get back on and he came up behind her again. This time they didn’t lean. He put an arm around her waist to hold her back to him and steady as the chimen did not move super fast. However a good near gallop that was still a good pace.

“May I ask you a few questions?” Adele felt like talking, because the silence made her uncomfortable. Especially with how close they were. He was holding her more to him with one hand lightly on the loop. Though they both had thick cloaks on so at least that was a barrier.

“Depends on the question.” He said in a short tone.

“When did you come over the mountains to here, and take the keep? How long have werewolves been in control of it?” She asked and he looked at the top of her head. She hadn’t tried to look at him, and her voice sounded slightly off. There was a nervousness in it. However he didn’t think that was due to her question. More because of how he was holding her most likely. He had no complaint at all about it. She fit very nicely and she better just get used to it. She was lucky that he wasn’t letting his hands roam or anything. He’d started to think about it now that they were moving slower.

“Around a hundred years. My father decided humans could be slaves and he wanted to put them back in their place. Since he had the largest pack at the time he waited until nightfall after several weeks of watching. Went into the keep and we killed everyone in it.” She swallowed a bit, one hundred years? How old was he? She took it as a good sign that he answered. Clearly wasn’t concerned about her doing something.

“What made you take it from your father? Like you said, your kind seems rather loyal. He must have done something pretty bad against your people I feel.” She was astute and clearly listened.

“He was a danger to us. He was going to expose us. He’d killed my mother when I was still young and unable to do anything. He was what humans fear, the wild dangerous beast. He scared most of my kind. Then he killed my younger brother in a fit of rage because he wouldn’t listen. So I killed him if you must know. I do not regret it, I just regret not doing it before he killed by brother.” She was silent for a moment thinking. Being this close to her that apple scent was strong and rather appealing he realized.

“You aren’t the only one now or then who doesn’t regret killing a parent. Some of us will never get that lucky.” She said and he raised any eyebrow but felt a darker humor.

“If you want to compare fathers, I can guarantee you that my father surpasses yours for deserving the grave. You have no idea some of the things he did.” Ky was lucky to be alive with some of the atrocities his father put him through. The torture and brutalization of not only enemies but his own kind was still scaring to those that remembered. Ky had been gravely wounded after the fight with his father. Had his people not respected him for it, and what he’d done for them. They’d have easily been able to kill him and his line for good. But they hadn’t and here they were, growing and learning the human enemy well.

“I wasn’t. I was just stating an opinion. Meeting a blood thirsty and deranged werewolf is not on the top of my list.” He felt just a bit of laughter and leaned so that his face was near her ear through the hood.

“You won’t be upset if I were to see yours dead?” She turned her head looking at him with a blue eye and a serious expression.

“No. How can I? Look what he did. Do you know what he told me and my sisters in regards to falling in love or being with a man?” She looked forward and squared her shoulders. Her father did not believe in love. Love was for fools and a useful tool. Honestly she kind of felt the same way. Guess they agreed on something.

“He said that if he ever found out or suspected that we let a man touch us, or even had the thought to do anything. He’d take us to the barracks and leave us there for all of his army to use. We’d be written out of the family and chained to a room for them. If we wanted to act like a whore, then we would be one. He told my brothers that if they couldn’t surpass the learning level of those their age he would whip them with a metal band twenty times before salt was used for each lesson they were behind. If they didn’t want the pain, then they would do what they were told.” Well that was pretty damn bad, certainly father of the year material.

“What was the final straw that got you sent to me? I’m sure he was hoping you’d be degraded and taught a lesson. Judging by what you are saying.” He wouldn’t know what it was like to be a human woman treated like a commodity. Clearly her brothers didn’t have it much better either.

“I was teaching my younger brother how to write in another language. He was behind where my father thought he should be. I took pity on him and showed him. I was not supposed to be able to write in anything but our language and only speak the others. Women should not have ideas. So that was a strike when he found out I was helping Travis. Travis was punished for thinking a woman would know more than a man to teach. The last was that I dressed as you see me now. He decided that my other sisters were going to know he meant what he said. If they wanted real husbands they needed to act like proper women and I had used up his forgiveness. Because of that I was going to be a gift to warm another's bed.” She felt the anger and rambled a bit but that was the truth of it. Such a stupid reason in her book to hand her off to Ky.

Her father had told her that she was being given to the barbaric king in the mountains. She could be his fuck toy for all he cared. This was her purpose now and she had been warned to know her place. He had other children to replace her. Still stupid, but also smart to give his blood to Ky. It would speak volumes.

“His loss, my gain. I want my people to do what they are good at. So long as they aren’t becoming a risk to us. You clearly have ability and talent. That is far more attractive in a woman than a useless pretty face.” He commented seriously. He didn’t get the mentality. Why the hell would you want someone who had nothing to offer but beauty? That wasn’t how the world worked.

“Thank you. You aren’t exactly what I was expecting either if I can be so bold.” He was looking up seeing flakes and it was starting to get darker as well. He told the Chimen to move a bit faster and she did.

“I’m sure you were thinking we’d have heads on poles and skinned bodies adoring the walls. Most think we take baths in blood, rape, torture and kill even our own people for fun.” His tone was rather dry. Whatever it kept others at bay.

“You don’t really do anything to change the image, but I didn’t quite think it that bad. Or maybe I hoped.” She said with a slight amusement. “At least I didn’t think you were a useless pretty face with low intelligence.” She half grumbled and he felt amusement this time. He liked her, he decided. She was real in a way that most weren’t. She spoke her mind a lot like he did but with a bit more censor than him. But obviously he didn’t have to watch what he said for the most part. She was lucky, if he’d truly been a human king, born and raised here this would be far different for her.

“Being Michael’s daughter never thought you were an idiot. I expected you to be smart and conniving. A plant who’d use her beautiful face and body to her advantage for her father.” She shifted slightly and he clenched his jaw for a moment. Felt this rush at how she moved against him. He really needed to pick better moments alone with this woman from now on. He’d been honest before, he saw no reason to not have her. Honestly she had grown more appealing.

“Well now you know I’d never do anything willingly for that man, or my family. They fed me to the wolves, literally I suppose.” He did give a slight chuckle at that and switched the arm that was around her just to change position. She had this soft firmness to her, he bet that her body was flawless just like how her skin looked. He didn’t doubt he’d enjoy every second of spreading her legs and using her how he wanted. The thought definitely made blood try and rush to one part of his body.

He let out a bit of air to relax at the moment. It was nice to desire someone, it had been a long time to feel that toward another for him. Everyone was just so very fake outside his keep. His wolf detested most of them and they showed nothing worth a second glance. Just a moment in time, what Adele had shown was much more than that. It was also nice to now he wasn’t going to have to do a human way with her. She was his, she’d been given to him so he could do things how his people did. Whether she liked it or not.

“You excite me.” He said suddenly before he really thought. She really did, she was more than she appeared. He felt this kind of rumble in his chest, more for impatience than anything else. He could smell the slight change to her scent at his words. The nervous air was back and she felt tense but there was also a bit of excitement as well. She didn’t comment though and he just felt a slight smile for a reason that was hard to name. He pressed his face more to the side of hers and the edge of her hood. He inhaled, holding tighter to her for a moment.

“I find it hard to believe that even with what your father said, you didn’t think about another or want to know. Someone like you would think about it. You aren’t as innocent as you appear, I think.” He saw the rocky area that was coming up, which was good. They were making very good time, and here before it was totally dark. The wind was starting to pick up just a bit. It was going to get cold, so stopping for the night was smart. Especially for her.

“I don’t think that is an appropriate conversation with a lady King Ky.” She remarked tartly and he actually laughed. It was deep and Adele could feel it move through her a bit with how close they were. Which she was super aware of right now. How his hand was below her cape and more at her hip. She had this conflicting feeling inside of her oddly. This nervous fear and then another kind of excitement at being wanted by someone. She tried to ignore that, that was a disastrous road. She would not be that woman who stupidly believed a man cared about her because he wanted her in his bed. She reminded herself that she was still property.

“So you have then. We are alone Lady Adele, again not really proper is it for you to be with me and against me as we are. Though I enjoy it, it's been quite a while since I actually enjoyed a woman’s company and for more reasons that her body is along mine.” Her face felt like it was on fire. There was a bit of a heated rush through her, because she did think a few things. However curiosity killed the cat where she was from.

“I’m not a nun.” She said tartly. “But no I didn’t seek anyone out, and my fear of my father far outweighed any curiosity I can assure you that.” She swallowed a bit when he moved his one hand to rest on her thigh and it felt like a hot brand.

“Not once you even let a man touch you or taste your mouth? I doubt it, you aren’t good at being obedient, you said so yourself.” She found it rather hard to speak for a second as his hand moved and his fingers gripped her inner thigh for a moment before sliding up. It curved more around her inner hip and leg almost touching her intimately but not quite. She reached and placed a hand putting a bit of pressure but he didn’t move it away at the subtle hint. This was not a situation she’d dealt with really. They were alone, and if he wanted to do something who was really going to stop him?

“No, I didn’t leave the house much. If I did I was hiding and quick about it. Those my father saw and worked with were disgusting prudes and nothing that was exciting in the slightest. I’d rather pour absinthe in my mouth than let one of them kiss me.” He laughed again, really amused at her. She was clearly very serious and whether a woman was tainted as some put it, really didn’t matter to him.

So what if they fancied another? Young men and woman should be curious. It was the after, for his kind if you chose to mate then there was no one else. There was always going to be that one who captured those needs in you. It was why they tended to be so promiscuous when they were younger and looking, trying to find that one that would fit. Though hearing that she wanted nothing to do with other men was rather appealing he found when it hadn’t before. Maybe it was because he was enjoying thoughts of her and what he was going to do. If she was someone that was mate worthy then yeah that would be satisfying to have her and no one else ever would. That kind of primal male satisfaction he guessed.

They stopped as the Chimen moved into what looked like a cave and out of the bit of wind and snow it already felt warmer. This was where they were going to stay for the night, and there were items in this cave that they could use. Placed by his people when they went out. Either for a mission or to just get away and be their wolf for a short while. They were just over halfway to where they needed to go.

“This is where we are for the night? You don’t want to keep going?” She asked and he moved getting down. Then took a second to get the sensation back to his legs properly. Always an odd feeling. He unhooked the bag and let it fall to the ground. He reached up and helped her to get down. Which she came right against him as he did so.

“Yes here, best in the daylight to travel with the weather.” He glanced at the chimen who moved off to lay down and rest. He hadn’t let go of Adele and she did move to step. Ky didn’t let her and she glanced up at him looking unsure. There was a lovely blush to her face that had nothing to do with the cold. He reached up and pushed the hood back from her before sinking his hands into her hair and the soft tangle. He could imagine the feel of the soft mass sliding over more of his skin then just his hands. Ky felt no reason to not indulge his impulse with this woman.

“You might not want to know what others taste like,” His grip in her hair got rather tight and pulled her head back. “But I want to know your taste.” She gave a slight sound at how he gripped her hair and he covered her mouth with his.