Rite of Submission (Rite #1) Unedited

4: Luna

“You couldn’t hold your wolf in check for one damn night,” a woman’s voice shouted in the bathroom doorway. He had finished washing, leaving me under the running water at least half an hour ago. “Dimi, you promised to give her time to settle in,” she called, turning the water off and wrapping a plush robe around my shoulders.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” he grumbled from the bedroom behind us, “I only tested the waters a little bit.” He filled the doorway, towel still wrapped around his hips, “I sent for Candice, didn’t I? Speaking of, I’d like that gone before she gets here. I’d like to be able to enjoy my distraction completely.”

Removing the collar from my neck, she frowned up at me; I stood at least 6 inches taller than her. Her long hair was pulled back into a high pony tail, like a waterfall of dark chocolate. She had the same ice blue eyes as him, the same gold tan, the same full lips. Where he was built of solid muscle, she was made up of soft curves and lean muscle. “Did you at least have the decency to give her dinner before your wolf ran amuck?”

Waving his hand dismissively, he walked away, “You can take care of that.” She put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out towards him, making me smile around the gag. “I heard that,” he called back.

She checked my wrists, “You’ll be good, yes?” I nodded, and she removed the wet leather cuffs. “You might want to clean up your mess before your w***e gets here,” she smiled at me, winking as she dropped the leather on the floor. “Wouldn’t want her to know she was your second choice, again.” She led me through the suite away from him.

A short walk across the hall, we walked through the set of white doors with gold inlay that mirrored the doors to his rooms. Inside was a large sitting room with an adjoining dining room and another set of white double doors. Where everything in his rooms was dark and black, hers was decorated with white and gold. “I think we can get rid of this now,” she unbuckled the gag and gingerly removed the ball from my mouth. My jaw was sore, and it felt good to be able to move my lips together. “That’s better now isn’t it?” she smiled up at me so warmly, I couldn’t help but to smile back.

“I had a bath drawn for you, she led me through the doors into a large bedroom, the four-post bed in the center of the room with a gauzy canopy, the vanity, the chaise in front of the fireplace, was done in the same white and gold. Ushering me through another door, we made our way to a bathroom of white marble.

Her bathroom had a smaller shower to make room for the giant tub that could easily fit at least four people in it. It was filled with bubbles and smelled sweet and soothing. She busied around the room setting a towel, a fresh washcloth and a few bottles on a table beside the tub, before helping me shrug out of the robe. “You wash up and I’ll have some food brought up, ok?” I nodded, unable to find the words to answer and watched her leave.

The water was hot, but not too hot, soaking into my skin and relaxing the tension that’d built up in my muscles. The scent was intoxicating, making my thoughts cloudy and dazed. I had not even noticed her come back into the room, until she began to wash my arm with the washcloth, saying something about being worried I’d fallen asleep.

It felt like I was lost in a fever dream. She scrubbed gently over my shoulders, my back, even my legs. She combed out my hair, working a sweet smelling cream through it. After that, she blushed, “Um,” she stammered, “your, um, more delicate parts,” she squirmed nervously where she knelt beside the tub, holding the cloth out to me. Without thinking, my hand guided hers to my chest, it felt like I was watching as someone else took control of my body, enthralled by the way her hands moved over my skin, breathing in the delicious vanilla and spice scent surrounding her.

Her blush deepened, and she bit down on her bottom lip, but she moved the cloth over my breasts. She washed my stomach, pausing again at my naval. Her eyes stared at me as her hand moved agonizingly slow down the length of my legs. She blushed and pulled away, quickly. “I,” she stammered, “I think the food is here, and the effect of Dmitri’s charms have overwhelmed your senses.” She pushed herself up away from me, flustered.

It was like a slap to the face, and I suddenly had control of my body again. What just happened? I’d never been attracted to women, but I’d just sat there. Feeling confused and frustrated, I climbed out of the tub and patting myself dry with the towel she’d left for me. I hesitated with the robe; I had nothing else to wear. She was sitting on the side of her bed, next to a small silver tray with a dome lid waiting on me. She gestured to the other side of the bed, “Come sit with me? Or would you rather sit at the table in the other room?” I climbed up and sat beside her, that spicy vanilla scent filling my nose again, coaxing a purr from the back of my throat. We both blushed.

“Dimi said you’re not a shifter,” I couldn’t tell if she was asking a question or stating a fact. I shook my head, I hadn’t, it was rare for females to shift, and it didn’t always end well. Either she died from the physical trauma, or never mated because pregnancies couldn’t survive a shift. There were Alpha females, who could hold off their shifts. They were hunted or killed by warring packs trying to claim them to boost their own bloodlines. I’d never shifted before and was beyond puberty, when most wolves made their first shift.

“But,” she twisted her hands in her lap, “I can feel you scenting me from where you are.” I felt my eyes widen, and clamped my hands over my mouth and nose, horrified and trying to block the sweet aroma I was breathing in. “You must’ve inherited stronger senses, like I did. But,” she blushed, “I don’t suppose you are a lesbian too?”

My jaw went slack my hands dropped. “Are you?” the words just fell out of my mouth.

She blushed and nodded, “That’s why Dimi named me Luna,” she said bright and happy. “As long as he is Alpha, I will never have to find a male mate.”

“You and the Alpha are siblings?” How much stranger could things get in one night?

“Twins,” she agreed. “But we don’t share the same interests, well save one.” She blushed again, “But since we’re siblings, he has to find,” she fidgeted, twisting her fingers in her lap, “well, he has to find other ways to produce an heir for the pack.” She looked at me with sad eyes.

“Wait,” I held my hands up, “He thinks I’m going to have a baby with him?!?”

She frowned, “Did no one tell you about the contract between your parents and the pack?”

“What contract?” I felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. “This is some sick joke! I’m not going to just let him knock me up! I was supposed to be going to college, not become some s*x slave for twisted siblings,” I hissed harsher than I’d intended.

She flinched like I’d hit her, and then smiled sadly, “It will be easier on you if you just accepted things as they are,” she sighed, “we can’t change the agreement our parents made. But, for as long as you are considered my surrogate, I’ll do my best to make your life here as comfortable as possible. I’d like us to be friends, maybe even like sisters in time.” Her eyes searched my face, as it afraid of what I’d say next.

“So this is my life now? I get to be r***d repeatedly and pop out babies?” I could feel the weight of it all crashing in on me, trying to squash the last bit of rebellious fire I had left.

She flinched again, and frowned, “I’d never allow that,” she almost whispered. “I may not have been able to break the deal your parents made mine,” she stared down at the silver dome between us, “I could only add terms. You have to willingly accept his, umm,” she made a face as she struggled to explain, “his seed, and after an heir is born, male or female, he has to consider the contract fulfilled.” I could only stare at her. “He can’t force himself on you,” she continued to explain awkwardly, “But he can try to persuade you. You have to agree to consummate things.”

“What if I never agree?” I blurted.

She sighed, “then you’ll never get to leave I guess.” Timidly, she took my hand in hers. “I know that Dimi has a dark side, and odd tastes. I promise I won’t let you suffer the same way our mother did.”

That got my attention. “What do you mean?”

“I forget you didn’t learn our pack’s history and lore.” She pulled her legs up on the bed and turned to face me. “Alpha’s in our pack don’t find mates, at least, not in the traditional sense. There’s a long story, something about a curse from a jilted goddess.” She rolled her eyes. “They take their Luna by force. But that hasn’t happened much in recent generations. Now it’s more like our case,” she gestured between us, “our parents arranged for your pairing with Dmitri.”

“Hold up? My parents arranged for me to be Luna?” I interrupted her.

“K-kind of,” she stammered, “but Dimi and I found a way to alter that agreement. He would name me Luna, in return he’d set you free after one heir, male or female. Otherwise you’d be locked into being his mate until one of you died. In a way, we are both half Luna. Our father is probably rolling over in his grave right now,” she laughed. “Since you and I are two halves of the same role, you won’t just be locked away in room with him until you give in. Half of your time will be spent with me, maybe you’ll even learn you like it here and stay.”

A headache started to pulse, “Half and half… How did this happen to me? Why didn’t my parents tell me any of this?” The idea that my parents agreed to hand me over to be some kind of brood mare when I was two was too much.

She shrugged, “We don’t know all the details, just what’s in the written records and what your parents would tell us when we approached them to change the terms a few years ago. They didn’t seem particularly eager to talk about the circumstances of the original contract. I would’ve thought that they’d prepped you before the deadline though.”

“What about your parents? Your mom surely knows something…”

Sadness filled her eyes, “She killed herself when we were ten,” she sighed quietly. “Our father was not what you would call, a ‘loving mate’ in any sense of the word. Our mother would say that we were the only joy she knew in life.”

“I didn’t know, I just assumed that… I’m so sorry…”

“It’s not your fault,” she lifted the silver dome to present the tray of snack foods beneath, “you should eat, I didn’t know what you like so I got a little bit of everything.” There was an array of salty, sweet and savory foods on the tray. I wasn’t really hungry, but I didn’t know what else to do.

“Why me though?” I grabbed a cluster of grapes and chewed on one nervously.

She leaned back on the pile of pillows behind her, seeming to be more at ease as I nibbled on a bit of food. “I don’t know exactly,” she shrugged, “I imagine it’s because you were close to the same age and coming from another pack, you would breathe new life into the pack, making any heir born stronger for it.”

“How old are you?”

“Just turned 21 a few months ago,” she smiled.

“I’m barely 18,” I shrugged, trying not to think of the fact that 18 was the normal age to pledge yourself to a pack or seek your mate in others if you hadn’t found them yet. I didn’t want to think about mates anymore, not after learning my parents had decided for me before I could talk. It was easier to mindlessly pick at the foods set before me while I listened to her talk about how excited she was to get to know me better.

After a while I settle back into the pillows, my eyelids growing heavy as I listened to her talk.