The Birth Of The Beta

16. TIMES ARE CHANGING

WARNING: This chapter contains scenes of a s****l nature. Please read at your own discretion.

Aoife lay on her back in her own room with Pepin tucked into her neck, while he gently snored. Absentmindedly, she stroked his hair, spiking it up. Sleep evaded her. Her enhanced hearing was fixed on the laboured breathing, and muffled groans of Cornelius. His pain had magnified over the past three days, Aoife had sat with him as often as possible. The sneering from Antonia and Magnus did little to sway her determination to be by his side. He would only eat a few mouthfuls of soup (although very reluctantly) and continued to complain of sharp prickly pains in his stomach, which became more intense at random points in the day. After many disagreements, Cornelius had insisted that Aoife and Pepin still go to the port the next day, and sent her to bed that evening to conserve her energy.

Trying to settle her mind, she studied Pepin’s face as he slept, noticing how he smiled in his slumber, how he scratched the skin on his chest and closed any gaps between them. Even when he was unconscious in the depths of dreams, he needed to be near her, to love her. Aoife had dedicated all her time recently to Cornelius. Since she mated with Pepin, she hadn’t been able to attend to their bond as well as she felt she should have. A well nurtured bond should feel like a warm, comforting, consistent glow. At the moment, their bond has more in common with a candle. It was romantic and intimate, but flickered from the distance and neglect she had enforced on them. Neve was becoming impossibly irritant again, growling dangerously in her mind, scraping her claws against Aoife’s thoughts, and whimpering through the link to Clovis, who was always soothing her with his gift of serenity. Had it not been for Pepin and Clovis, Aoife would have already put the block up on her wolf.

Despite all of these problems, Cornelius had to come first.

Pepin hadn’t grumbled about her dedication to her father-figure. Lately, she seemed to spread herself thin like butter, and he had a genuine worry that she would disintegrate with all the pressure she was putting on herself. Aoife decided that on their journey tomorrow, she would shut off from the world for a while, and enjoy her time with her mate. It was this thought that drifted her off to sleep.

After an early start, waking up cocooned in Aoife’s arms, Pepin began to load up the wagon they would be using. He had asked Winnifred to pack a hearty lunch, she had seemed a little distant when he spoke to her and he decided he would investigate this sudden change when he returned. He had also managed to persuade Caius to give him an advance on the money he would earn at the fighting at the end of the month, so he could upgrade the room of whatever tavern they stayed in. He prepared the horses and attached the reins, bribing them with an apple in hopes it would secure a smooth ride. The steady click of the crutch on the floor indicated that Cornelius was coming to bid them farewell. Lamentably, he was leaning heavily on the stick and seemed to be dragging his feet rather than being able to lift them, yet still he stared at the crutch as if it were his enemy. Pepin rushed over to him to prevent him having to move any further, since each step seemed so precarious. Cornelius passed him a large pouch, which was heavy with coins.

“You’ll need it for your tasks,” he smiled.

Aoife joined them, and he gave her a quick pat on her back before waving them both goodbye. As the gate closed behind them, Aoife was chewing her inner cheek like a ration of cured meat, worried about leaving Cornelius with the real wolves of the house: Antonia and Magnus. Soft and tender circles were drawn on to her knee as he calmed the sickly storms of stress that thundered throughout her body.

“Are you hungry?” Pepin asked, two hours into their journey.

“Always,” she joked.

He pulled the cloth off the wicker basket and laughed at her expression.

“These are all my favourite foods!” She exclaimed.

“I know, I’ve been taking notes,” he joked, while tapping his finger on his forehead in a knowledgeable gesture.

Touched by his attentive observations, she picked out a cube of cheese and walnut and presented it in front of his mouth. He leaned forward, deftly taking the food, and playfully licked her fingers. She gasped. Delighted, he felt his arousal stir as she took the same fingers and sucked them into her mouth. Watching his eyes grow darker, she smirked.

“You taste better than my favourite foods combined,” Pepin was so struck by her seductive words that he nearly halted the horses by gripping too tightly on the reins. This would be a long journey.

When they arrived at the tavern in the early evening, Pepin took the horses to the barn, taking only his change of clothes and money with him. They entered the dining area, and sat at the table, wanting to order a hot meal and some food. Eventually, after a long and unnecessary wait, a man wearing a brown tunic, dirty apron and leading by his enormous overhanging stomach waded to their table.

“What do you want?” The impolite inn keeper asked.

“We’d like a portion of stew each with some fresh bread, and a room for the night, please,” Aoife stated, ignoring his boorishness and imposing size that leant over them.

“I didn’t ask what I could get for you, I asked what you wanted? The smarmy man explained, sarcastically.

“It’s the same answer to both questions you dim-wit!” Pepin replied, annoyed by the man’s attempt to embarrass his mate.

“We don’t serve wolves, and they certainly don’t sleep under our roof, they can sleep in the barn with the dogs,”. The inn keeper snapped back.

“I have slept here many times before,” Aoife pointed out.

“You were with your master then, but not now,” he returned viciously.

“Don’t speak to her in that tone again, I won’t give a second warning,” Pepin growled lowly, with Clovis snapping at the surface of his control. Aoife gently held on to her mate’s wrist.

“No need for violence, my heart. Men like this can be defeated with far less effort,” She said to Pepin, loudly enough for the entire inn to hear.

“Thank-you, for clarifying your position, I will inform Cornelius that you have ascended past the concern of profit, and he can now offer his contract elsewhere. It is a shame. You must have heard his son is soon to be married, and a huge wine order will be needed. Maybe now we can offer it to someone who can make a better quality product by not letting their own prejudices literally sour the grapes,” Smiling, she held onto Pepin’s hand, and walked out of the tavern without giving the inn-keeper the chance to backtrack. She would have been surprised if he could say anything. After all, he had just lost a huge source of income.

Pepin was seething as he and Aoife walked back to the carriage, and Clovis was salivating within his mind as he thrashed from side to side, presumably imagining the innkeeper’s head between his jaws. Aoife took the reins and guided the horses to a wheat field where she tied them up against the misplaced trees. She couldn’t help but feel some similarities between the lonely, wooden giant and herself. The reaction of the innkeeper made her feel very lost. She climbed into the cart and stretched out, getting ready to call this her bed for the evening. She gazed up at the flickering stars in the night sky. Pepin lay next to her, but he was too fixated on her face to notice the stars. Nothing in the sky held any interest for him. While she was near him, the galaxies were dull by comparison.

“What was that about?” Pepin asked her.

“The opinion of wolves is becoming more hostile, some senators are inciting anti-wolf sentiments in order to pass through a bill called the serfdom state of wolves. At the moment, keeping slaves as wolves is optional, it isn’t a crime for Cornelius to employ wolves and pay them for their work. If the bill is passed, all wolves in any of the colonised states would have to be kept as slaves, or people like Cornelius would be committing a crime. Cornelius has been buying into the businesses of the people who could sway the vote. So far, they have rejected the bill each time it has been announced, but if the times are changing, then the next time the bill is raised, it might be that it is passed,” Aoife expanded, indicating the difficult political maze that Cornelius was twisted in.

“Why did the inn-keeper have such a bad reaction to us, if he is making money from Cornelius to support the freedom of wolves?”

“Most likely, they have heard that Cornelius is sick, and have decided to step away from supporting him if he dies. Unfortunately for them, Cornelius won’t die. He is just a little poorly, so by refusing to serve us, they have potentially bankrupted themselves by refusing Cornelius’ patronage. It was a reckless move enacted too soon”, she explained.

Pepin didn’t want to voice his concerns aloud, but Cornelius’ health had deteriorated rapidly, and in Pepin’s mind there was a real risk that he may not live many more months.

“What would happen if Cornelius did die?” He wondered.

“The bill will be passed. The only reason we have been saved so far is because Cornelius targeted certain ministers’ businesses, and financially influenced them. If Cornelius becomes too ill to work, we would all be enslaved. Every single wolf,” She sighed at the stars. It was telling that she wouldn’t even use the words die and Cornelius in the same sentence, as if the concept were some savage knife that would cut too deep.

Pepin kissed the frown on her forehead and followed the vertical path down to her eyebrows, to the tip of her nose and then lingered on her lips. His kiss was met with equal passion and the soft moan of anticipation heightened Pepin’s own need for her. He brushed his knuckles over her wet awaiting entrance, and massaged her nub with the pad of his thumb. Savouring the elicit hisses, he drew from her. He glided into her, with slow, patient purpose. This was about more than the pleasure of their bodies, but the promise to each other’s souls. Unhurried and deep, Pepin continued to thrust into her, she lifted her hips to guide him further into her. The only time their eyes disconnected from each other’s gaze was when either of them needed to frantically kiss the other in total contrast to the slow pace their bodies set. She wrapped her legs around his back until her ankles hooked each other and rested between his shoulder blades. Her grip tightened. Her hold on his d**k pulled his orgasm from him in an agonisingly slow build up. Her climatic cry was his undoing, so incredibly powerful he struggled to stop his legs from twitching as his balls ejected all of his strength from head to toe. The flickering candle was now an eruption of flames, their bond forged from the heat of their love.

“I love you. Whatever happens to you, happens to me. If you want to run away and leave, we will. If you want to stay, we will. The times can change, but my promise to you will remain steadfast,” Pepin devoted these words to her. In the back of the cart, beneath the skies, they gently made love, reassuring each other that their bond could weather any change.