Iron Heart

Chapter 2 - Cersy,

    Tien was definitely an interesting character, a blend of feminine and masculine traits it made sense why they were devoted to Agdis. I noticed that they were unmarked, which was a little bit of a surprise, they looked older than Andre, and from the adventurous styles, they wore you’d think they’d have met plenty of other wolves.

    “So, you’ll be taking me shopping?” I asked cautiously, following Tien as they went back to working in the kitchen, the aroma of herbs and spices filled the kitchen and smelled wonderful.

    They were lathering chicken thighs as they spoke, “Yes, you okay with going after dinner? I think it’ll be fun, even though it’s a lil'late for it. Maybe we can stop at a club or something if I can persuade Andy to let me.”

    I noticed there were multiple ovens in use already, and these looked like more human technology, as I didn’t see any fire anywhere. It was something I would have to get accustomed to. Though I did have to note that these ovens were uglier than the cast iron in my family's home in Ironfang.

    That sent a pang of homesickness through me, sure I was used to being away from home, and it certainly wasn’t as...cozy as the packhouse here. But my family was a large one, and I was leaving my siblings without their teacher, they would have to find a new one. But they wouldn’t know them as I did.

    “You okay?” Tien broke me out of my thoughts, they looked rather concerned.

    “Oh, yeah just a little dose of homesickness.” Tien nodded at my words, we both felt the awkward tension at that moment I was sure. To them, Ironfang must seem like nothing to really miss. “Why don’t you help me, here,”  she handed me one of the other brushes, “Just make sure you lather it on thick on all of them and get all the cracks. Then just put this on afterward...”

    Tien and I, as well as the other wolves in the kitchen eventually made enough chicken to feed an army. I also got to help make rice, and cook the vegetables, they were already done being peeled by the time I had gotten here.

    “Why do you folks make so much?” I had to ask, in Ironfang we didn’t hold great buffets very often only for special events. Most of the time the families fended for themselves, allowing for the strong to prevail the longest.

    “Andy will tell you he just enjoys the connection it forges with the pack, but it’s also a chance for families to bring their children to eat a steady meal. One meal a day versus none can make a huge difference for them. We have multiple great dining halls for that reason so that all that needs to be fed can be. And if we have extra, we save many meals to hand out in the morning as well.” Tien smiled at the food that was made, and at the other wolves in the kitchen, “And look at all the extra jobs it gives the pack, having such a large kitchen and staff helps keep the pack nice an’full and healthy.”

    In that moment all I could really feel was warmth and pride, how lucky I was to have such a kind and compassionate mate. Though I could only imagine the cost this must put on the pack, how could all of this be afforded?

    I didn’t ask though, instead, I helped the staff that poured into the kitchen to bring out the food, just an extra set of hands here or there seemed to help more than I thought. It did let me get to know the layout of the first floor a little bit better.

   There were five great halls all put together, one was reserved for the Alpha, ranked members, and their families. As well as whomever they invited, but it was relatively private. The rest was meant for the rest of the pack, plates were set out in every spot but food would wait until families arrived. As the number of families that showed up wasn’t always consistent.

    “Wow does that smell good,” I heard Andre say from behind me, his arms snaking around me, which felt rather comforting. 

    “You can thank Tien and the staff for that, I just did what I was told.” He let go of me, and I already missed his hug. Was I getting soft this fast?

    “ Oh I certainly will, but first I think we should sit down.” He led me to wear what he usually sat, for some reason I was expecting a king's chair or something a little bit more sophisticated than the rest. But there was no difference, I don’t even know why the thought went through my mind. Though he was at the head of the table, I got the feeling it was so he could look at everyone’s face. I sat to his right.

    Dinner went splendidly, the food tasted wonderful, and it seemed Zoe was the only one who really had an issue with me before. Because all I received was a kind welcome from the pack members I hadn’t met yet.

    Eren’s mate Addina was beautiful, as vibrant and fiery as her namesake Addis Goddess of the Sun. I hadn’t met many wolves to name in honor of the sun, but Addina certainly did the name proud.

   Though she was on the smaller side, 5’2 I would guess, her energy made her seem to be 6’5. Her hair was bright orange and red, probably died to add more red I would guess but I didn’t really know, I hadn’t met many redheads.

    Fallen also had a mate, a tall solemn-looking man, though his blue eyes sparkled when he looked at Fallen; most of the time they looked dead as could be on his stoic features. It made me wanna see how he fought, looked like Drakai material to me, I liked that. What was strange was his hair was short, meaning his honor had been tampered with somehow, it put a knot in my stomach. But the fact he was sitting at this table showed it hadn’t been anyone here.

    I was introduced to the Delta a she-wolf I immediately liked, Delta Alira had the namesake of success, and she definitely looked like that carried into every part of her life. Mid-range in height, but more muscular than most of the wolves I’ve met in this pack, though it was relatively normal for Ironfang she-wolves. She had long auburn hair that leaned more towards brown, having it braided into a bun on her head it looked heavy. But I was always one for loose hair with individual braids.

    She was mated to a she-wolf named Omira, her namesake being for loyalty, I had met quite a few Omira’s in Ironfang. I was a little confused about her though, only because Omira looked to be pregnant, but Alira did seem to claim the pup regardless of the issues with that. Laying a hand on Omira’s stomach often, and looking hopelessly in love with the soft woman.

    The two Sentinel pairs seemed to be here as well, but I wasn’t formally introduced to them, Hawks was here as the Healer of the pack I now knew. I suppose my earlier assessment had been wrong, Hawks had also brought Breny with him. Neither of them had mates but seemed content as they were if I had to be honest. Breny looked to be soaking up as much information as Hawks would give him.

    I was surprised that the Gamma seemed to be skipped, I knew that Delta’s were interchangeable with the Gamma position but it usually helped the pack's defenses to have both. I would have to discuss that with Andre at some point once I was officially the pack’s Luna. Right now I’m just sitting in her seat.

    At the end of dinner, Tien dragged me away to their room to get ready to go, much to Andre’s surprise. Once we were safely inside their room, I now knew why they had brought me here; they pulled out a trunk from under their bed. Labeled ‘SPARE CLOTHES’ in pink sparkly lettering.

    “So, I have some clothing you can pick from before we leave to see if you like, let me sort out a stack in your size…” The trunk had an amazing variety of sizes of styles, I could tell the food was not the only thing Tien helped families with.

    I looked through the clothing and found a pair of pants that actually fit me, jeans I think Tien said, and a top that clung to me but it wasn’t uncomfortable in my shoulders so I knew it wasn’t too small for me just designed to cling. I also found a black jacket I liked, “Oh I knew you were a leather girl,” Tien grinned and started packing the clothing away, “Now that we actually have an outfit that fits on you we can go out and get you a wardrobe.”

    I nodded, honestly just happy to be wearing clean clothes that fit, and the jacket was very nice. Even though Tien swatted my hands away from zipping it up, apparently it looked better unzipped.

    When we left Tien’s room to leave, I could feel Andre’s hot gaze on my back, Tien laughed as they turned to see him. When I did it looked like he was devouring me already, the bastard, these were just plain clothes but he was making me feel like I was buck naked. “You can come with us if you’d like, Andy.” Tien teased, but Andre shook himself out of it.

    “No, I still have business to take care of, just don’t come home too late okay? Cersy needs to help Eren in the morning.” Tien did give Andre a mock salute when he was done.

    “Yes, boss!” Tien grabbed my hand and dragged me out the door, this rambunctious ball of energy was going to kill me I swear. Not that I didn’t have stamina, but Tien was just… a lot, definitely in a good way but still.

    They dragged me outside to where what Tien called a ‘car’ sat, I could only guess it was some kind of horseless carriage. In Ironfang we just walked or ran everywhere, but I guess humans had influenced Paleclaw quite a bit.

    Tien slid into the drivers' side and I got into the one next to her, what proceeded was hours of walking through buildings called ‘malls’ and the stores within them. I was startled at the sheer prices of some of the items, but Tien waved me off flashing a golden card in her hand.

    It must have been what Andre had been talking about before, how he was going to pay for everything.

    We were now walking through ailes of dresses, these ones much more..elegant than the ones Tien had thrown into our shopping carts before. And yes, plural carts.  “What do you think of this one?” She was holding out a white and blue ball gown, blue wasn’t usually my style at all, I tended to lean more towards orange or red.

    “I’m not much of a blue girl..” I said unconsciously scratching my head, Tien frowned.

    “The thing is that the Luna ceremony usually uses colors associated with the moon; white, silver, and blue.”

    “The Luna ceremony?” I looked at them incredulously, I hadn’t even thought about that yet. Just this morning I was still a prisoner.

    Tien sighed, rolling their eyes, “Well yes, it’s customary to have the Luna ceremony as soon after the mate bond is completed as possible. So you can start taking on your new responsibilities, like helping Andy with that boring office work that kept him from coming with us.”

    Now I was confused, “I thought the Luna is more of a personal connection handler for the pack, dealing with those kinds of issues.” Not that I wanted that to be my only role, I’d love to hold Andre with administrative duties.

    “Most of the time, yes, but since Andy is already so involved with everything; he decided a long time ago that he would prefer to keep managing those issues as much as possible. It’s more likely you’ll be splitting up your duties between each other. Now, dress.”  They were holding up a different dress, this one just having white and silver. I couldn’t but look behind it, to a black dress with an ombre of gold, pinks, and oranges, I couldn’t help thinking of a lunar eclipse when I saw it.

    “Are you sure I can’t go for an eclipse vibe?” I ask, holding the dress in my hands, it looked a lot like a ball gown in how the top looked like it would hug, and the bottom puffed out in layers where the colors were.

    I could almost hear Tien whining, but I saw her calming herself, “Whatever you desire Luna, but the dress colors don’t match tradition.”

    I shrugged in sympathy, “Sorry, but I think this is the one I can see myself walking down in.”

    I tried on the dress in the dressing room, I had to get help from a staff member with that back. There was a surprising amount of you human girls trying on dresses here, twirling in the large mirrors on the outside of the rooms.

    “Beautiful,” My assistant with the back marveled, apparently they especially liked the long sleeves that draped off my arms, in a sheer see-through fabric. To be completely honest I hadn’t felt materials like these before.

    I got the matching shoes, and ‘train’ as it was called that would be put on my head when I went to the ceremony. The staff member went on about how they loved ‘alternative’ wedding dress, whatever human thing weddings were. I assumed they must be closely related to our mating ceremonies and smiled, telling her that I wasn’t much a fan of white. The lady laughed, I liked her.

    When we left, bags of clothing stacked into the backseat, the Luna dress protected in its own special case. We went to an ‘everything’ store, and Tien guided me through buying hygienic supplies, I was quite grateful. Tien also got me a ‘phone’ as they called it, a communication device humans made that Paleclaw had made great use of.

    I had to admit I was amazed by the technology, Tien got me one of the newest phones, assuring me I would be able to learn how to use it. And it was better to have a phone that was capable rather than one that I would need to replace soon. I didn’t really understand,  but was grateful when Tien added; Andre, themselves labeled as T, Eren, Alira, Fallen, and Hawks. They showed me how the contacts menu worked while doing this, so I could change the names or notes as I saw fit. I left it, for now, I asked if I could get a second for someone else.

    We did, while Tien laughed saying I was catching on, whatever that means. It was for Maven, I added the phone I planned on giving her into my contacts. Maven was the highest-ranking officer in my division besides myself of course. So if I wanted to check in I could just ask her.

    After that we headed home, after all, Tien complaining they were tired and that they were getting old. I promised I would take them and Maven ‘clubbing’ at some point soon. Tien said they were looking forward to it.