Ever Cynical

Chapter 42- Mossy Rocks

Kieran POV

There was so much going on right in front of me. Don't ask me how I knew what Anais was trying to do inside her head, I just did. Perks of the mate bond, I guess. I also knew that Lady Hijikata was hoping Anais could get through to her daughter, for several reasons. Though nothing formal had been decided, it was clear that all of Anais' allies had already accepted my pack as their allies as well. Probably even friends. I'm not sure anyone else caught it, but Ekezeic was ready to cut a b***h if Ritsu didn't get herself straightened out. I could almost see him holding back his serpent form as his skin rippled.

Nobody insulted his daughter like that. I would not be shocked if Mirgadok somehow managed to grace us with his presence too.

More curiously, I wondered how they all knew to just... show up... and where to go to find Anais. We had reached out to Ekezeic, so perhaps he had told them, but I didn't get the sense that he really shared much with anyone outside of Mirgadok. I blushed and stifled a giggle. Ekezeic looked at me and cracked a grin. I swear that guy is psychic or something. You know, it's just kind of hard to wrap your brain around such powerful beings not being mated to someone more... delicate. But what do I know anyway? I guess it was their business, not mine.

I refocused my attention on my mate and Geoff's facing off. I could tell that Ritsu had made a serious error in allowing my Luna to challenge her. The poor girl was in for a world of hurt. Anais had barely begun to display what she was capable of. I'd watched her train a few times, and even I hated sparring with her, because it was always a close match. I suspected she let me win at the last second just to preserve my pride as alpha. And that folks, was before she got her wolf. Ekezeic sidled over to me, throwing an arm over my shoulder. I tried to pretend like he didn't make me nervous, but dammit he did.

And he absolutely knew it.

"Soooo." He said in a low, casual tone. "How do you feel about multiple mates?" I stiffened immediately, wondering where this conversation was going.

"Um... What?" I wasn't sure what he was referring to. In general, or like, how I felt about potentially having more?

"Well, the thing is, I know certain things that I'm sworn to secrecy on, buuuuut I can tell you that Anais has a high probability of having one or more additional mates. She's not just the Immortals' queen, you know? And when her rule involves other races, you start getting mates from other races." He said reasonably. Logically, I supposed that sounded equitable, but at least as far as I knew, no Immortal had ever mated with other races. To be fair, our records were spotty at best and missing a s**t ton of data.

"But it has never happened before." I said curiously.

"Has it not?" He grinned. "Pretty sure most of your historical documents were destroyed right? How do you know for sure?" He had me there. I had no answer to that, really.

"You're right, I guess, but why are you telling me about it?" If she was meant to have additional mates, wouldn't it just... happen? We'd just add them to the equation and do our best for our pack like always. I knew my pack members would always accept any goddess-gifted combination, so long as all mates involved consented to the mating.

"The thing is, Anais being Anais, she's going to do that thing again where she feels all guilty and puts up barriers. Frankly, with the amount of babies it looks like she's going to be having, not just this time but also in the future, you, my friend, my son, are going to need help to support her anyway." He said saucily. "Besides, they won't just be her mate. They will also be yours." I blushed. It was so unlike me, but lately it felt like it was happening all too often.

"Aww look how cute you are. Don't worry, it will make sense when and if it happens, just... encourage her to be open and not dive headfirst into her signature cynicism, okay?" I nodded as he patted my shoulder, walking over to stand with Vidar. More mates, hmm? You'd think I would not want to share her, but at the same time, a mate was a mate. If the moon goddess gave you more than one, you simply did not deny them. While I had always considered myself straight, I also didn't really care about gender. My mate could be a mossy rock and I'd be all about it. I'd make that s**t work.

"Oh hey baby, I just discovered something cool." Anais called out as she was circling Ritsu, bringing my attention back to the battle at hand. "Wanna see?" She waggled her eyebrows, while Ritsu growled. Suddenly she had teleported right in front of me, kissed me quickly, and teleported back. "Neat, huh?" She giggled, as my mouth hung open in shock before a wave of arousal hit me. Damn, my body was starting to respond the same way hers did. I shifted uncomfortably. Vidar and Ekezeic both winked at me and smirked, clearly aware of my... situation.

"Yeah, mo chridhe, but I think your opponent is wanting your attention." I called back, ready for this to be over so we could get back to the truly important tasks at hand. If this girl wasn't potentially our Beta female... goddess that was uncomfortable to say while watching her attack the woman that was to be her Luna... I would have simply banished her, sister fo my best friend or not. One of the biggest mistakes people make is keeping people around that don't truly repent.

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink, as they say.

"Oh, right." Her tone was flippant, as if Ritsu was merely an afterthought. "But guess what else I figured out?" She grinned, then spun a finger as Ritsu rose in the air as if pulled up by hands around her throat, flailing. It was clear Anais was not choking her hard, just enough to feel light pressure.

"Damn, mo bhanríon, teleportation and telekinesis? You can fight without getting too close, that's awesome." I praised as everyone else just stood there staring. To say such things were uncommon would be an understatement. The white nine-tailed kitsune, all two of them, could do it, and some beings had one of these abilities, but both in any sort of wolf was pretty rare. Not so much that it had never been seen before, but rare enough to be momentarily astounding.

"Can... you... put,,, me down... and fight... with f*****g honor?" Ritsu ground out, gasping as the pressure on her neck increased. Anais dropped her with no care for the fact that she'd been a good fifteen feet in the air. I could feel my mate's patience ebbing away. My Ana was a kind person underneath that tough exterior, and I knew this whole situation was paining her, even if it was necessary.

"You dare speak of honor to me, little girl?" Anais growled as Claire came forward. Oh boy. Claire was a sweetheart, just like her human counterpart, but it was clear she didn't tolerate bullshit or disrespect. Ritsu rubbed her neck, glaring. Couldn't she tell our Queen had been toying with her this entire time? "Fine. It's time to end this battle. I was hoping you'd come to your senses, but I guess we were wrong. Just know at the end of this you'll be banished and have lost your mate. Come on, give me something that's at least half a challenge, unlike the pathetic mewling you've done so far, petit bébé."

Is it bad that I found Claire's accent as she spoke through Ana... just so f*****g sexy? Her bold aggression was turning me on like crazy. I could see Ekezeic shake his head slightly out of the corner of my eye. Ugh.

Ritsu screamed and ran forward, no help from her kitsune, of course. Anais pummeled her with fists, elbows, legs, and when the girl could not stand up any longer, barely able to defend a single blow, Anais leaned down to her. There was blood everywhere. Riyoko and the others were all stoic. Anais simply tsked, then picked her up, suspended in the air, dangling by her hair, walking off towards the border. I knew the walking was in the hopes that this girl would finally change her tune. She hadn't wanted to hurt her. I could feel how upset she was through the bond.

Geoff was the first to follow them, then me and Riyoko, with the rest trailing after.

"Mother! You can't let them do this to me!" Ritsu screamed desperately, but Riyoko held firm.

"You have done this to yourself, Ritsu. I have taught you better than this. Your brother will be so disappointed." Riyoko just shook her head, ignoring her daughter's scream of fury. After much struggling, Ritsu finally looked to Geoff. My fists clenched at the f*****g audacity. How dare she treat a man so honorable like he was only important if he was useful to her in the moment?

"You're my mate right, how dare you let this woman do this to me!" Her voice was loud and strident. Geoff just laughed. I had to give him credit for tolerating all of this. It had to be tearing him apart.

"Let this woman? Are you actually a supernatural? You don't seem to understand how any of this works." He asked and she shrieked in rage. "This woman is my Luna and queen. I will never forsake her for a mate, nor would I ever forsake any mate of my alpha. They are more important than you. To many people, around the world. Don't you get it? The world is not about you. The world does not care about you. Why? Because you have no care for it or the people in it besides yourself. It's why you now find yourself abandoned, even by your own family. And let me tell you, even if you are sent to the Werebears, they will care even less about you." He ranted. I felt bad for him. We could all feel that Ritsu was redeemable, but she had to take the first step.

Anais said nothing, just kept walking slowly and steadily.

And then... Ritsu began to cry. Heaving, ugly sobs from the depths of her soul. Her struggles ceased as she wailed. I was with Anais. I wasn't sure our pack could house such a drama-monger. I was not about to call her the queen of anything. We had been so blissfully drama free, other than my mother's "feelings," for decades. Geoff just crossed his arms and Riyoko was stone-faced. I had to give these two props for being able to dole out some tough love.

And then it happened.

"Please, Luna Queen. Please forgive me, I was wrong." Ritsu begged.