Page 63 of Rabid
His eyes are patient and molten, and I can feel tenderness and excitement filter through him. “And what might that be?”
“Shower sex,” I announce shamelessly with a mischievous smirk.
“You’re insatiable,” he groans, but he’s already picking me up—carefully, so as not to jostle where we’re still connected—and carrying me into the bathroom. “I suppose a mate’s gotta do what a mate’s gotta do.” I laugh until he turns on the shower and plunges us both beneath the freezing water.
* * *
Ido my best to ignore the stirring apprehension in my chest as I follow Britton through the trees to the sacred grounds they showed me yesterday. The smell of familiar herbs in the air causes anxiety to pool in my gut, flashbacks flickering through my mind of what happened during my Flux. I try to shake the trepidation away, but my wolf is pacing inside of me as though we’re expecting the worst.
“You okay?” Britton asks as he surveys me from the side.
“Yeah, I’m good. I’ll feel better when I see Tyran and my brain can stop convincing my body that we’re reliving something fucked up,” I confess, probably a little too candidly, but I don’t think Britton is going to look at me like I’m a lesser wolf because of it. He nods, his eyes kind and filled with empathy, which only confirms his character.
The trees thin out, and I can smell and hear the pack just ahead as we get closer to the sacred circle set to the side of Ruin Falls territory. My wolf whines, as though she’s trying to comfort me while fighting her own restless unease. I do what I can to reassure her that everything is going to be fine, just as Britton and I step out of the woods. I look around at the large round piece of land currently containing what looks to be at least half the pack.
A small group still in their human form is split apart, making way for the pack’s Second in command and me. I spot Tyran off to the side doing something at the long table made up of boulders. Bowls of herbs are set on the flat top of the rock formation, smoke rising out of them and producing the smoke I’m used to smelling at this ceremony. There’s no massive bonfire anywhere, and instead, there’s a large cast iron bowl—one that oddly resembles an oversized wok—containing a small fire within its black edges.
Britton moves to the side, and with his large back no longer blocking my view, I see that there are shifted wolves of all sizes gathered around too. They make up shades of gray, white, brown, black, in all kinds of combinations, and they’ve formed a perfect circle, each of them facing inward.
I frown in confusion. “What are they doing?” I ask Britton before he moves too far away.
“They’re encircling the Flux participants.”
My feet skid to a stop as I take in the scene before me, and shock crashes over my body and cements me in place. Because standing in the middle of the circle are a bunch of kids.
Kids.
The youngest looks like she can’t be more than eight, and the oldest participant is maybe thirteen. It’s a mix of boys and girls, and they’re wearing the rustic wear of animal skins and linen like the rest of the pack. I look around as though I’m waiting for someone to come explain to me what the hell is going on, but no one does. Britton doesn’t even seem to realize that I’m planted, unmoving and stunned.
“What the hell, Britton?” I hiss.
He stops and turns to me, his blond brows lowering in a frown. “What?”
I stare at him incredulously but manage to swallow down the rising anger. Instead, I veer off and head straight for the boulder table where Tyran is working. When I’m two steps behind him, he says, “Why are you pissed, Vicious?”
My steps stop short, and he turns his head to look at me, tapping the bite on his shoulder. “I can feel you, remember?”
I sidle up next to him, careful to keep my voice low. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Of course, Mate.”
“Seriously, what the hell is going on?” I say, not to be thwarted by his use of my title.
He continues grinding herbs before tossing them into the cast iron fire. “You’re going to have to be more specific.”
My eyes skate over to the circle of wolves again. Each and every one of them looks like sentinels in a ring, while the children stand inside, seeming nervous beneath their still and watchful presence. “This is…” I blow out a breath and shake my head, feeling claws start to press through the tips of my fingers. Because this...this isn’tright.
In a blink, Tyran’s dropped what he’s doing and has turned me to face him fully, blocking me from the rest of the pack. “What’s wrong?” he demands.
“They’rekids, Tyran. The Flux cankillus. It can give us wolves that call to a mate. Not to mention the pain of shifting and managing the wild it unleashes, and your pack is forcing kids to go through this?” My voice cracks at the end, and I take a steadying breath. Everything Britton told me to put me at ease has gone right out the window as I think about those pups.
“First of all, it’sourpack,” Tyran says sternly.
A crooked finger comes up to lift my chin, and I look at him with a sheen of red over my eyes. “Our pups are not in danger, Seneca,” he says with a hint of impatience, like I’m just overreacting.
“Don’t,” I tell him, knocking his hand away. “Thisisdangerous. How can you expect children to handle this? It’s too soon. Way too soon. What if they get a spirit that overwhelms them, or what if the shift goes wrong, or—”
“Our pups are raised knowing that when they’re ready, they will earn their wolf spirit. Their parents, our healer, and me as their alpha watch them to ensure they’re ready.”
