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Chapter 44: Just Like Zalia

"Wynn with eyes that glow, Wynn with eyes that glow, please let Inden follow wherever you go . . ." Inden sang the words under his breath as he hovered on his wings over Wynn, who stood on the windy deck, fluttering her lashes up at him and giggling.

The breeze lifted Wynn's long black braid and suddenly tore it loose until its glossy tresses spilled out around her face. Wynn, still giggling, caught the long, thick strands and tried to tame them, but Inden shook his head and told her not to.

"Wynn is like a sea goddess," Inden whispered, "when mane is billowing on the breeze. Wynn is . . . how do you say? She is lovely!"

Wynn giggled again when Inden suddenly flipped himself upside-down on his wings, and hovering in front of her, he produced a flower from the fold of his wing, where a tiny feathery thumb had been holding it. He offered it to her with doting black eyes, and when she closed her paw around the offered favor, he did not let go. He trapped her fingers in his, and pulling her close, he kissed her. The kiss was very tender. There was no tongue involved, only this happy touch of their warm lips. It was the way a kiss was meant to be, Inden often told Wynn. Especially since they were so very young. But Wynn would insist on giving her tongue, and suddenly eager in the kiss, she opened her mouth and closed it over Inden's, ignoring his blushing alarm with her tongue pressed to his with a skill that almost made him hard.

"WYNN!" barked a furious voice.

Wynn pulled back with a jolt, and Inden was so startled he lost balance and tumbled out of the air, collapsing on the deck like a dizzy butterfly. Wynn giggled when Inden sat looking confused, his gray mane in his eyes, but the smile dropped from her lips when she saw her father approaching. Inden saw Kilyan too. He scrambled to his feet, and the two of them stood stiff, waiting for the scolding that was undeniably on the brink.

Kilyan halted in front of them, and without pause, he smacked Inden hard across the face. Wynn let out a little shriek, but Inden bore the smack well and merely stood like the warrior he'd been trained to be: stiff and straight, his black eyes gazing off into the distance. Kilyan felt a silent surge of approval for Inden's discipline, but he was no less angry.

"This is the first and only warning I will give you," Kilyan told the pair of them. "Summer wolves are very conventional, very proper. The two of you giggling and kissing in the streets would cause a scandal in seconds. I will not be shamed by your open flirting! And I will not have the two of you shamed. The next time I catch you doing such things before your first mating season, you will be whipped. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Inden answered, gazing off into the distance with the hard eye of a warrior.

Kilyan nodded his approval, then looked at Wynn. His daughter was standing with her head bowed, those silver ears back in her mane. Kilyan took her by the paw and led her some way across the deck, out of earshot of Inden.

Wynn kept her head bowed as her father stood behind her and plaited her mane back into its long black braid, careful of the ancestral bones that clanked in it. When he heard his daughter sniff, he reflected that he and Avi had borne a child very much like Zalia: Wynn was bold in her lust, in her desires, and would be hard to keep in line until it was time for her to be married. He sighed to himself. Another wild Zalia. But fortunately, he had often witnessed the methods his parents used to tame Zalia and knew just what to do with his Wynn.

When Kilyan had finished plaiting Wynn's mane, he turned her to face him and quietly commanded that she look at him. Wynn did and Kilyan chose to ignore the defiant glint in those green eyes. God, another Zalia to the core.

"Wynn, I have been very generous with you. I want you to understand that. I could have chosen to leave Inden behind, no matter that he saved our lives. There are other villages in the lands across the sea that would have taken him in and he would have been just fine. But I have allowed him to come back with us, and not only that, I have tolerated a great deal of your flirting. I have tried to handle the two of you with patience, but my patience, Wynn -- as your brothers will surely tell you -- is limited. It is limited concerning the customs and traditions of our village! You must learn to contain yourself, my daughter. Now I understand," began Kilyan more gently, "that your body is starting to change, and not just on the outside but on the inside as well. You're starting to feel things for other wolves, things you've never felt before --"

"Sexual attraction?" whispered Wynn, smiling up at her father with that smart little smirk that always seemed to hang around her lips.

Kilyan smiled. "Yes, Silver Ears. Sexual attraction." He lifted Wynn's chin and added gently, "The greatest virtue of a summer wolf maiden is the ability to harness and control these desires! Wynn, you must learn when it is okay to express yourself and when it is not."

Wynn frowned, and Kilyan could see she was confused by her father's words. "But -- but when will I know?"

Kilyan turned away. He went to the port railing, and Wynn gazed at him with large and doting eyes when the breeze caught his silky mane and lifted it back on the air. Kilyan was so handsome! And she was fascinated by her father's beauty, by the sweet gentility in his eyes, by his inner strength. Just standing next to him, she always felt safe and loved. She sadly reflected that she had felt those things when around Ryo as well.

Wynn came to her father's side, and climbing up on the railing, she leaned against it on her elbows and gazed up at her father, waiting. The wind caught up her braid and tail, streaming them out behind her.

"When your first mating season comes," was the answer at last. Kilyan didn't look at his daughter when he spoke the words but gazed instead out at the gray and faceless sea with a faraway and dreamy sort of expression that held Wynn's attention like a magnet.

"You'll be so frightened and unsure," Kilyan went on, "scrambling off into the trees to find the wolf you love. And there she'll be . . . standing so pale and perfect in the moonlight. Glowing. Beautiful. Irresistible and just as unsure as you. You won't be able to move! You won't be able to breathe. You won't be able to do anything except stand there and think to yourself that you're the luckiest wolf in the world because this beautiful thing wants you to take her, this beautiful thing wants to belong to you!"

Wynn stared at her father in amazement. Pale and perfect? Who in the world was he talking about? Wynn silently realized that her father was talking about one of his wives. He was gazing off at the ocean with a helpless sort of look and his chest was starting to heave.

"Dad?"

Kilyan blinked and came back to earth. Wynn was gazing at him with slanted, knowing eyes.

"So which one of your wives was it?" she said wisely. "Lea or Ohana? Lea is the white one, right?"

Kilyan blushed. Could it be that this child was really only ten? Sometimes she made him feel like a child!

Kilyan awkwardly cleared his throat. "Never you mind! You'll meet Lea and Ohana soon enough and they'll adore you."

Wynn giggled with girlishly twinkling eyes when her father poked her playfully on the nose.

"Now what did we learn today?"

"That I must wait for my first mating season," said Wynn in a dismal sing-song voice.

Kilyan laughed at his daughter's irritation, suddenly reminded of Zane: how many times had he had to demand that same rehearsed line from his younger son? "Very good. Now you go back to your cabin, hmm? You keep leaving your mother and I'll tie your tails together!"

Wynn rolled her eyes at this scolding but went below deck. Kilyan escorted her to the stairs and was glad when Avi met their daughter at the bottom and led her away. He could hear Avi scolding Wynn that she was supposed to stay in the cabin, and smiled to himself. Going back to the ship railing, he sighed. If only Avi could come to the summer village to stay. Then they could raise Wynn together!

Later that night, Kilyan seriously thought about proposing just that. He lay in bed with Avi, his arm around her, the moon sending in a streak of pale light that touched down through the lapping waters to reach their submerged cabin. Wynn was asleep in her own bed nearby. The winged prince had a cabin of his own across the hall.

Excited by the prospect of going home, Kilyan and Avi had not been able to sleep. Avi lay curled against Kilyan. She sighed every now and then, and he knew without having to ask what she was thinking: she would soon return to the jungle . . . alone. Ryo was no longer there to love and protect her. Wynn was coming to live with her father. He knew in that moment that Avi had probably never felt so alone, so the next time she sighed, he squeezed her tightly in his arm and kissed her head.

"It doesn't have to be this way," Kilyan whispered into the darkness.

Avi shook her head against him. "It does."

"Avi! Who did they appoint as leader while you were gone? If you simply didn't come back, that shemale would become the next queen --"

"Kilyan!" Avi warned, squeezing her eyes shut. "We been through it already!"

"I know," Kilyan said miserably. "I'm sorry. I promised not to bring it up . . ." It was his turn to sigh. "You know, if you didn't have the strength to fold me up in a knot, I'd just steal you, Avi. I'd keep you in the summer village and never let you leave."

Avi laughed softly. "Is that Kilyan plan?"

"Well," admitted Kilyan with a little shrug, "it's very tempting. Avi, I'm not too crazy about the idea of Wynn growing up without her mother! And I don't want you to feel alone --"

"Avi not alone. Remember?"

Kilyan saw her little paw rub her womb in a happy, circular motion. He placed his paw over hers with a smile and they rubbed her womb together.

"Will Kilyan wives like Avi?" the little queen wondered. Her healing wings rustled against the pillows and Kilyan reflected that she could be in the summer village for some time until they completely mended.

"If I love you, then they'll love you," Kilyan answered. "Ohana and I seem to have the same taste in females." He laughed. "But sometimes I used to worry . . . I had to claim Ohana from her village when we were very young. It was the only way to marry her. Another male wanted her, you see. So I fought him -- not to the death. But I defeated him in battle, and after that, with her father's blessing, I took my Ohana home and married her. I was worried for a little while that she and Lea might not get along. Lea is very sweet and can get along with anyone, and Ohana isn't hard to get along with either. But I was still a little nervous --"

"That they might go at each other's throats like Nontikmah and Avi."

Kilyan laughed. "Exactly. I never thought in a million years that I'd have two wives! You should have seen me when I was a teenager: so clumsy and awkward. Lea couldn't stand me."

Avi laughed and squeezed Kilyan's arm sympathetically.

"But it seems as soon as I was settled with a family, females were coming out of the woodworks," he went on, thinking with a little blush of Yuri's beautiful mother. Then had come Avi and much later, Nontikmah. "I almost wanted to take Nontikmah home with me too: she's such a sad, such a lonely female. But I knew it would never work out for several reasons . . ."

"Kilyan is already trying to steal Avi," Avi finished wisely. "And little Sylas wants our Wynn."

Kilyan nodded miserably. "Exactly," he repeated.

"Could Kilyan have managed four wives?"

"I already told Nontikmah: two wives and two sons are migraines enough. But, yes, I think I could have done it. After sixteen years with Lea and Ohana, I think I've got some experience with females and pups -- and more patience than Keeno can believe."

Avi laughed. "Avi still remember Keeno: tall and handsome tan male. Mother was so in love with him. Thought he was going to stay and marry her. Did not know he was already married."

"I'm assuming he didn't tell her," Kilyan said apologetically, for Roriana had been able to understand a great deal of their language. "There's something you have to understand about Keeno. He was known as the village playboy when we were kids. I mean, he was playing shaman with little females when we were still only seven years old! He always had a bunch of girls sighing over him. He was always off in the bushes during training sessions with some giggling female. Sex was always just sex to Keeno," Kilyan said with a shrug. "And when he was with your mother . . . it was probably just sex then too."

Avi nodded darkly. "Avi understand. Avi more than understand."

"I'm sorry, Avi," Kilyan whispered, squeezing her tightly. "I hope you're not mad at Keeno. All he wanted at the time was to get back home to his family. That's all I wanted too. My only mistake was not taking you with me."

Avi laughed softly, snuggling up close against Kilyan. "Yes. Perhaps then Wynn would not be such headstrong pup."

Kilyan shook his head in amazement. "She's only ten years old! But today I catch her kissing Inden -- it was a deep kiss and very inappropriate, and I could see how poor Inden was suffering. He's a very mature boy for his age and he's always embarrassed by Wynn's desire. As he should be. Aside from his wings, Inden will fit in just fine with the summer wolves. But Wynn? Lea, Ohana, and I are going to have our paws full whipping her."

"Whip Wynn all Kilyan like," Avi answered wearily, "she still do what Wynn wants."

They sighed in weary union, and Kilyan shook his head darkly.

"Just like Zalia!"

Avi's ears pricked forward.

"My sister," Kilyan explained. "Zalia was out of control at that age, too. She was always lifting her tail for a whipping. All the times I've seen her thrown across Dad's knees . . ." Kilyan laughed to himself, remembering. "It's funny: Wynn looks like my mother, but she acts like my sister."

"But Wynn can be sweet," Avi added, squeezing Kilyan's big paw, "just like her father."

They smiled at each other. And as the moon continued reaching down into the room, Kilyan rolled over onto his stomach and closed his eyes, grunting as Avi's thick and hot shaft entered him. She rocked in slow rhythm against him, those breasts brushing his back with their softness, and he smiled when she leaned down close and held him. Her paw fumbled to clutch his own, and as Avi gently rode Kilyan, their fingers were lovingly tangled in the sheets.

Kilyan lay under Avi and felt utterly consumed by his growing love for her. Out of all the times he had been taken under his tail, this was the first time it didn't hurt . . . in his heart.