Ursula shivered as desire rippled through her body. She remembered her terror the night she’d escaped from the human embassy in a futile bid for freedom. She remembered encountering the hungry oryxis and the bloody, vicious battle in which Crow had engaged to defeat it and prevent it from eating her for supper. She remembered the suffocating feeling of Bran’s mind overwhelming and opening her mind to them, forcing her to accept their claim, though their touch had not harmed her.
“Why is it necessary to go through the sequence of rites again?” she asked, the memory of dread making her reluctant to repeat the experience.
“To keep the balance,” Bran answered. With a jut of his chin toward Zul, he added, “We must claim you as a triad, together, to secure the bond between mates and ensure your fertility.”
Ursula’s upper lip lifted and she reiterated, “I am not a fucking broodmare for the empire.”
Gil’s free hand stroked her hair. Zul’s bleak gaze met hers, and he said, “If you do not wish to touch me or for me to touch you, I will not.”
Ursula looked away, feeling ashamed. She took a deep breath then forced herself to meet his gaze once more. “It’s not that I’mnotattracted to you, Zul. It’s… it’s…” Her voice trailed off as she found herself unable to express the rationale for her reluctance.
“I am not Crow,” Zul finished for her.
Her shoulders sagged and her head bowed. She sniffled. “No, you are not Crow.”
“Zul is stronger than Crow, and there is no doubt as to his honor,” Bran stated.
Gill added his proverbial two cents. “And he has given you and our son kindness. He has shown he can and will be gentle with you.”
Ursula shook her head again and sighed, knowing she had no valid objection beyond not wanting her life arranged for her again.I would have liked to have been given the privilege of choice.
Bran’s approval of Zul washed through her mind.He gives you that privilege.
Ursula’s gaze flickered to Zul who continued to stare at her, his black eyes and closed expression revealing nothing. However, he could not conceal his dismay through the mental bond they shared through Bran. Through that bond which Bran held open for her, Zul could conceal nothing.
She saw his desire for her. He admired her beauty and delighted in her affectionate manner with her son. He felt both awe and puzzlement at her mates’ trust in her to run her own business. She saw his curiosity at her love and skill for pottery. That her skill was creative rather than destructive satisfied something deep inside him and apparently proved her a feminine ideal to him.
Ursula sighed as her cheeks burned with shame. Zul was handsome and honorable, kind and surprisingly gentle. He would rather fall on his sword than harm her or Crow. He would protect her and her son with every lethal skill he commanded and be proud to die in doing so. He offered her all of himself and only hoped for her tolerance.
He will demand my obedience.
“We all demand your obedience,” Bran said aloud. Gil stroked her hair again. Bran continued, “Our lenience and generosity allow you to forget where you are.”
She snorted. “Oh, Ineverforget where I am, you big brute.”
Gil’s hand slid over her scalp again, soothing her. “No,elska’adir, you do not forget you live on Uribern now, but you do not yet truly understand our culture. Look at your First.”
She obeyed.
“See his size. Compare it to yours.” He tweaked a nipple. She gasped. “Urib females of every species are smaller than their males. Humans are smaller yet and so delicate.” He tweaked the other nipple. “We allow you privileges so we can withdraw them to protect you.”
Ursula squirmed on his lap, but the hand pressing between her thighs kept her anchored in place. “I don’t think so.” She took a stronger metaphorical grip on her thoughts and added, “Urib males believe females are less than them.”
“You are smaller and much weaker,” Bran pointed out. “You do not have the speed, strength, or skill to protect yourself.”
She raised her chin. “But that doesn’t mean I’m mentally deficient. It doesn’t mean I’m incompetent, incapable of rational thought, or unable to make good decisions.”
“Of course, not,” Gil assured her. “Females are creators of beauty and wellsprings of pleasure. All that confers civilization upon us and makes us superior to wild beasts comes from females.”
“Wecherishour females,” Bran concluded.
Unable to refute the reality of her experience as their mate, she lashed out one last time: “Your government has been trying to get you killed, so they canplace” —she gestured with airquotes, a gesture her mates had learned conveyed irony or sarcasm— “me with another triad to breed more babies! And I would have no recourse!”
“Ah,elska’adir, I understand your distress,” Bran said. “Why do you think I have searched these years for a new Third to complete our triad? Zul is not the only suitable male I have considered, but he is the only suitable maleyouwould consider.”
Ursula’s jaw dropped. “I hadn’t realized you’d been parading potential Thirds through the house.”
“Not all of them,” he clarified.
