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The Seduction of Seleste

from the world of the mating season

A Memory

Chapter 16

Zaldon was slouched on the fur-back throne when they brought him the news: Honiahaka's ship had been wrecked in a storm. Debris was found bearing the vessel's name, and one or two sailors - barely recognizable for their bloated corpses - had washed up at the docks. Zaldon sat horrified. He masked his horror with difficulty, and whispering that the knowledge be kept from the old chief as long as possible, he ordered that a search party be organized that very moment and sent across the sea after the young chief. God. First Talisa and Seleste, then Keme had slipped off - Zaldon was still fuming over the fact that Yuri had helped him! - and now Honiahaka might be dead.

"The chief has my sympathy," said one of the guards when the messengers had departed.

"Yes," said the other. "To lose his wife, then to lose his youngest son. His favorite son."

"His best son - and our new chief! I had looked forward to many happy years in service to young Honiahaka."

Listening wearily to their chatter, Zaldon pressed his forehead into the palm of his great paw, and he sat thus for a long time, the miserable thoughts chasing each other around his head. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to those pups! Keme, Seleste, Talisa, and Honiahaka - all gone! What was even worse, he felt directly responsible for each of them.

Keme belonged to Kel, and for that reason, Zaldon felt the overwhelming need to make sure Keme was safe - he had failed. That boy had been lost to the family for years, and as soon as it seemed there might be a happy reunion for the parents, Keme was gone. Just like that. Almost as if he'd never been. God, how long had the boy been in the sun village? Two days? Zaldon kicked himself for not realizing that Keme - just like Kel and Kilyan and Zalia and Enya and all his headstrong family - was not going to sit idly by while his friends were in danger.

Soon after Seleste was taken, word arrived from the summer village detailing the events that had taken place there and asking if the princess had been found. Learning the truth of what had happened to Seleste had made Zaldon curse himself for not forcing her to stay in the chief's hut, where he could have kept a better eye on her. She should have been here, safe, protected, and happily married to Honiahaka -

Honiahaka. Yet another charge placed under Zaldon's wing. He had known Honiahaka all his life. Honiahaka hadn't even been born when Zaldon came to the sun village to live, so Zaldon - having been made High Sorcerer - was there when Honiahaka was birthed by his kind but stolid mother, the late Chieftess Sepratima. He cared for the littlest prince when he was sick, healed his knee when he scraped it, brought him sweets from the market whenever the chief called him to court. And when he thought of Honiahaka now, he could not help but remember the tiny, stumbling lad he used to be. He was such a small boy, with large curious eyes and large feet - a sign that he would grow to be a very large male. Zaldon smiled sadly to think of him. But he naturally hadn't been able to stop Honiahaka joining the rescue party: he was chief now and Zaldon only an advisor. Honiahaka was now an adult free to make his own mistakes.

But Talisa?

Zaldon squeezed his eyes shut to think of Talisa. Adult or not, Talisa would always be in Zaldon's care. Always. He thought of Alea and Teesa and what they would say if they could see what he had allowed to happen.

That last night with Alea . . . he remembered it as if it were yesterday, as if her touch had only been yesterday. There were some things you just . . . never forgot.

"I thought I'd never see you again," Alea whispered sadly. She was speaking in moon wolf, the melodic language flowing off her tongue. She removed Zaldon's golden shackles, tossed them aside, and led him by the paw into the front room of her hut. He clung to her paw as they moved through the darkness. She was so small beside him, so skinny. He smiled to himself: she was everything he remembered, if not a little older around the eyes. They stopped near the barren fire pit, and after gazing up at Zaldon warmly for a moment, Alea squatted and began to build up a fire.

Zaldon smiled to himself: her head barely came to his shoulder. All these years, and nothing much about her had changed. He sat on a fur mat near the fire as it sprang to life from Alea's efforts. Satisfied with her work, Alea sat beside him and leaned back on her paws. She looked up at him again and her dark eyes sparkled - but she was so far from the giggly, twinkling girl he used to know. Looking down at her narrow, happy face, he realized in that moment how much he had missed her. Without pausing to think, he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek.

Alea beamed under this affection. She tried to hold back the smile that was threatening to spread on her face and instead looked at the fire. "My same sweet Zaldy," she said happily. "When I first laid eyes on you out on the meadow, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. That you had come to me . . . it seemed impossible." She looked up at him and whispered breathlessly, "Did you come to me?"

Zaldon's ears flattened. He shook his head. "No, Alea. That's not the reason I'm here."

Alea's ears flattened too. "Oh," was all she said and she looked dismally at the fire.

"So you found yourself with the mountain tribe? How!" Zaldon peered at her in amazement.

Alea looked at her lap like an abashed pup. "I . . . I missed you so much when you left us. I knew I'd never find another like you. So I went in search of you --"

"Alea!" Zaldon scolded.

Alea squeezed her eyes shut. "I know! It was stupid and dangerous, but I loved you! I would have done anything to be with you again! And I knew that when you returned to your precious Kel, he would never know you were alive. And you'd go back to being miserable and alone. Why should I let you suffer when I could make you happy?" She looked up at him again, and her brows pressed together as she touched the back of her fingers to his cheek.

Zaldon caught her fingers and kissed them. "My happiness is my responsibility, Alea. Not yours."

"Bullshit."

They laughed.

"But," Alea whispered sadly, "you were happy with me, weren't you? That's not why you left?"

Zaldon squeezed her fingers to reassure her. "Alea, you were a wonderful part of my life. A part I never forgot. A part I'll never forget. You did make me happy. I hope you know that now if you didn't before."

Contented by Zaldon's words, Alea rested her head on his shoulder. He smiled at the top of her gray mane. God, she even smelled the same. He pulled her close under his big arm, and they sat before the fire in happy silence a moment.

"If she had lived," Alea whispered after a pause, "we could have been happy. You would have stayed."

"Yes," Zaldon agreed hoarsely. "I couldn't stay there when she died. She looked like me, but there was so much of you in her. Looking at you and thinking of her . . . it was painful. And we were so young. Too young to be dealing with that kind of pain."

"And then to have you leave right after --"

"I'm s-sorry . . ."

"You were the best friend I ever had, Zaldon. I could have used your comfort during that time. I could have used your love!"

"I know. You were the best friend I ever had too." He kissed her head.

"But you still left me for him," Alea whispered miserably.

"I love him, Alea. I can't change that."

"Was that him? The black one?"

Zaldon smiled. "The very one."

"He's . . . beautiful. I think I understand now, how infatuation turned to love. It's not very different from how I feel about you."

"I know," Zaldon whispered and squeezed her tight in his arm.

"Does he know?"

"That I care?" Zaldon laughed softly. "He more than knows. We're lovers."

"Oh."

Zaldon felt a wince of guilt when Alea swallowed thickly, as if she was swallowing tears.

"But how did you wind up here, Alea? When you came walking out of the darkness, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me too."

"You said you were from the winter village, so I tried to go there. Got lost and wound up here." Alea shrugged. "I wandered the forests for days. Eventually found this little pup. He was lost too, said he missed his sister and needed to get back to her. Little Talib." Alea laughed softly. "I had just lost a child, so I was so eager to care for him. I wiped his tears and took his paw and helped him get home. Which was here. And here I still am."

"Talib . . . that wolf who took Yuri?" Zaldon glowered just thinking of it.

"Ah, that's right. You have a daughter!" Alea grinned up at him. "How did that happen? Don't tell me Kel's secretly a shemale or something."

Zaldon chuckled. "I found Yuri and raised her as my own. I'm a sorcerer now over in the sun village. Yuri will take my place as Grand Sorcerer one day."

"Sounds like you've made a good life for yourself."

"And you?" Zaldon whispered anxiously. He pinched her chin. "Tell me you have a lover. Tell me you're happy now."

"Oh, Zaldon," Alea said, gazing up at him. "I'm happy just knowing that you care!" She cupped his face a moment, and Zaldon knew she wanted to kiss him: her dark eyes hovered on his lips. But she looked away and rested her head on his shoulder again.

"I have a lover," Alea whispered in moon wolf. "Have been with her for years. Teesa, Talib's sister."

"Ah, the captain of the royal guard. She's beautiful, Alea. And so . . . cold." Zaldon shivered.

Alea laughed at his teasing. "But that seriousness is a front. Teesa is really very soft and sweet behind all that. She's the gentlest . . . just like you."

"Tell me about her."

"Hmm. Well . . ." Alea's eyes lit up as she thought of Teesa. "She's so reckless -- and wild. It's what first drew me to her. She was the strongest warrior here before I came. She must've been only fifteen or sixteen when I met her, and yet somehow, she had managed to beat out all the other warriors. She was the most promising one in the village and was already famous for it. I was the same among the moon wolves, so when I arrived with Talib, the mountain wolves welcomed me readily. Teesa became jealous and we were rivals for years."

"The best ones always start like that," Zaldon said.

"The old chief here held competitions for the position of captain of the guard each year. The last captain was a male who died in a rock slide. He had been such a great warrior that the chief was yet to find one who could replace him. When we were seventeen, Teesa and I competed against each other for the position. I wanted it more than anything. If I got the position, I could finally prove to the mountain wolves that I - an outsider - had earned my place here among them.

"Teesa and I battled it out with sparing staffs. She tripped me as I was attacking. Her staff slapped the back of my ankles, I collapsed on my back, and she was on top of me in seconds. She pressed her sparing staff to my throat, and as our breasts pressed together, as her hot breath touch me, as her wonderful smell consumed me . . . something happened to me. Something I'll never forget."

"You nearly choked to death?"

Alea laughed and slapped Zaldon's big arm. "No, Zaldon! I loved her. I fell in love with her! And realized how much she wanted the position, how important it was to her, and because I loved her . . . I let her win."

Zaldon stroked Alea's mane fondly, "And you became lovers."

"We became lovers," Alea confirmed. "I went to her house later and confessed that I had let her win. She was angry at first. She had wanted to win fairly and honorably. That was her way. But then she realized why I let her, and she kissed me. And she didn't stop kissing me. And I . . . I gave my heart to her after that. How could I do anything else?"

"You sound like me," said Zaldon, amused.

"Yes," Alea admitted. "I think meeting Teesa finally helped me understand why you had to go back to Kel. Especially when Teesa was forced to marry another . . ."

"What!"

"Because of me, Teesa never took a mating season. They let her avoid taking a mate because she was such a great warrior. But you know how it is here: with no male to speak for her, she was sent as tribute to the sun village. Talib was too young to speak for his sister then. And the mountain wolves had me. I was promoted to future captain of the guard and Talisa was sent off to the sun village." Alea's face darkened. "That's how females are treated here. We're objects to be bartered back and forth over peace treaties and alliances. She was in the sun village for six years with this male, had a daughter with him --"

"So how did she wind up coming back?"

Alea smiled sadly at Zaldon. "He let her go."

"Ah. So he loved her."

"Yes."

"But it must've been hard, leaving her daughter."

Alea nodded forlornly at her lap. "She talks about Talisa all the time, says her daughter is the best thing that ever happened to her . . . after me." Alea smiled. "She keeps talking about bringing the girl here to live. Says we could raise her. I keep hoping!" Alea squeezed her eyes shut, as if she was silently praying. "Ever since . . . well, I've missed being a mother terribly." She cradled her thin arms around the air and rocked them.

Zaldon's eyes clouded and he rubbed her shoulder. "I hope it works out for you. There's no joy," he said, thinking mistily of Yuri, "like bouncing a little one on your knee. I . . . I could look after Talisa, until she comes here. Hell, I could bring her here with my magic. Would Teesa like that? I know some wolves are suspicious of magic --"

"Oh, Zaldy!" burst Alea happily, and reminding him of the eager, emotional girl she'd been, she leapt on him and kissed him.

Zaldon laughed as he was tackled on his back. Alea lay on his chest, looking down at him happily. Her paw smoothed over his chest and up his thick neck to his cheek. Her happy eyes peered into his face, watering with tears.

Zaldon frowned. "Don't cry," he whispered and wiped away her tear.

"But I'm so happy," she answered. "I love you. You're the best friend --!"

"I love you too," Zaldon said fondly.

Alea looked at his lips again. She hesitated, then kissed him, this time slow and warm. Zaldon grunted in surprise when she straddled his lap and jerked him roughly upright. Her arm wrapped around his neck, and as she sat in his lap, she kissed him - kissed him as hard as if she'd been aching to kiss him for years. He kissed her back tenderly and his cheeks colored up when he felt her paw stroking him. Her slender fingers worked his phallus until it started to stiffen.

"Mmm - Alea!" Zaldon pulled away, breathless from the kiss. "We - we can't --"

Alea's eyes ached for him. "Why can't we?" she whispered with sad longing.

"Oh, Alea . . ." Zaldon dropped his forehead against hers.

Her small paw had not released him. He watched with growing discomfort as she worked him toward a hard-on. Everything in his mind was telling him to stop, but his body was screaming go. He slipped his fingers in her pussy. She was slobbering for him. Alea watched lustily as he tasted his fingers.

"For a male who only likes cock," she said, "you've been with me so many times. And enjoyed it."

Zaldon rubbed his nose against hers. "I don't like females, but I like you."

They gazed at each other warmly.

Alea's dark eyes watered again. "Do you ever think about . . . what it might've been like if . . . if she . . .?"

Zaldon shook his head. "No, Alea. That's behind us. I will never forget our daughter, but I refuse to live a life of regret. I don't think about what could have happened. I think about what's happening now." So saying, Zaldon kissed Alea warmly on the mouth. She was startled when he pressed her to the fur mats, and as the fire burned low, he pushed himself inside.

"Oh, Zaldy, you're just the same," Alea whispered breathlessly as he filled her. "Big and strong and handsome . . . and your body, it just always seemed to swallow me - ah! Mmm . . ." She closed her eyes and smiled as Zaldon thrusted.

Moving his hips slowly against her, Zaldon leaned down close and kissed Alea. They moved together, their bodies rolling against each other with every deep thrust. Zaldon's body was going soft, but she could still feel the hard press of his muscles as their fur brushed, creating friction with every push of Zaldon's cock. Her clit was pumping. She twisted and cried out when he reached down and began to stroke it.

"Just like I taught you," Alea teased.

Zaldon laughed. He buried his face in her neck and licked her. She hugged his thick neck tight, peering over his shoulder at his muscly back and the way it flexed as he moved inside. It suddenly seemed to her as if she had waited years just for this moment.

"I'm - I'm coming," Zaldon admitted bashfully.

"Already?" Alea teased.

"It's been a long night. You have any idea how tired I am? Oh god . . ." Zaldon moaned as Alea's juices washed over him and her pussy lengthened. He pressed himself even deeper, and as if he'd suddenly lost control, he grabbed her leg, jerked it in the air, and started driving himself faster. Alea brought his face down to her breasts, and he suckled them as he moved inside. He was so rough in his desire that her juices were splashing, his balls were slapping her. Her nails dug in his back and he whispered playfully in her ear, "Ah, you're coming too!"

"Shut up!" Alea laughed back. But she knew he was right: after so many times together, Zaldon could read her body like a map.

"Ah!" Alea cried hoarsely. "Oh, god, Zaldon - fuck yes!"

Zaldon was so breathless he could no longer speak. He jerked Alea upright in his lap and held her so tightly his big arms trembled.

"Bring me home," he whispered in her ear, "just like you used to."

Alea laughed but obliged. She hugged Zaldon's neck tight, and his helpless cries aroused her all the more as she gyrated her hips in slow, deep circles. He grabbed her ass cheeks in fistfuls to help her, and she trembled when he buried a wet kiss in her neck. She squeezed her pussy on him so hard he cried out, "Oh, god, Alea, yes! You haven't changed!" Her breasts slapped him as she started bouncing in his lap, but he shook his head and held her close and whispered, "Just the hips! Oh, yes, that's it . . ."

Her heart hammering that he was so delighted, she worked her hips in the slow, rhythmic way that had always made him crazy. He was straining not to come inside, but she whispered breathlessly for him to do it, and when his fluids filled her, she cried out and hugged him tight. She trembled as they came together. God. It was just like . . . it was just like he had never left her.

Zaldon carefully laid Alea down, and they cuddled beside the fire, their panting filling the room.

Lying in Zaldon's arms, Alea wanted to laugh. He was so tired! She glanced up at his face. His cheeks were red with pleasure and shame, and she knew that he would have to explain what had happened to Kel. But she suddenly didn't care. He was hers! Just for one night . . . he was hers.

"I still love you, Zaldy," Alea whispered. "Do you know that?"

Zaldon laughed incredulously. "How could I not after that? And I care for you too. Which is why I'm going to say this: get the hell out of this village!"

"Zaldon . . ."

"Don't Zaldon me! It's not safe for you here --" He would have protested more, but she put her slender finger to his lips and shushed him.

"As you were so quick to tell me, I'm responsible for my own happiness," she told him soothingly. "You aren't responsible for me, Zaldy. You're not my father."

"Though I'm half inclined to spank you for leaving him. How broken TayeLok must've been!"

Alea laid her head on Zaldon's chest and closed her eyes guilty. "I know. I think of him everyday."

"He would want you to be safe. He would want me to make sure you were safe!"

Present-day Zaldon held back tears. But he had failed. Alea and Teesa were murdered shortly after. He returned to the sun village and set out to locate Teesa's daughter. He then made it a point to look after Talisa everyday of her life. He had failed to save Alea and Teesa. The least he could do was protect Teesa's daughter.

"Zaldon?"

Still half in his reverie, Zaldon almost thought it was Alea's voice. But it was Aliona. He smiled. Fourteen years from the day he had married her and Kel, and was she still an hourglass beauty. The older she became, the slower she moved, as if her great breasts and buttocks were slowing her down. Her long gray mane had faded to a pale silver over the years. It still fell to the small of her back. How many times had he and Kel playfully brushed it?

Aliona approached the throne and her round face was creased with concern. The sapphire eyes peered at Zaldon anxiously. She mounted the steps to the throne with slow dignity and grace, her tail slightly curled, one paw clutching her dark shawl closed against her breasts. When she reached Zaldon, she smelled strongly of herbal medicines, but her own sweet smell still pressed through, fragrant as the fields of the summer village. She frowned anxiously and smoothed her paw over his.

"I came to see how you were doing," Aliona said. "I would have brought your lunch, but I've been so busy looking after Kel --"

"How is he?" Zaldon asked earnestly. His brows pressed together and he caught Aliona's paw in his and squeezed.

Aliona smiled at his concern. "Our husband is doing just fine. It was just a slash in the side. Kel has faced worse, believe me. All those years he spent on forest patrol . . ." Her voice trailed off as she studied Zaldon and her frown deepened. She sat on the armrest of the throne and peered down into Zaldon's tired face. "How are you?" she pressed.

Zaldon absently put his arm around her waist - and it was as natural as if he'd been doing so all their lives. "So I'm the delicate one?" he teased.

"As ever," Aliona answered playfully, but her face remained just as concerned. "I know you, Zaldon. I knew you'd be sitting in here blaming yourself for what happened to Talisa."

Zaldon sighed. He glanced up at Aliona fondly. "To think I once fought with you for Kel's affections. Now I love you as much as I love him."

Aliona laughed as Zaldon pulled her down close and kissed her head. She tweaked his chin as she said, "And now you're changing the subject. I knew you'd do that too."

Zaldon chuckled. Aliona had always been too perceptive for her own good. There were times when he thought she understood him and Kel better than they understood themselves.

"I promised her mother," Zaldon said, as if he had betrayed an oath. "I told Alea that I would look after Teesa's pup. And Alea told Teesa, I'm sure. She told her everything." He rubbed his eyes wearily. "I can't help but feel as if it's my fault."

"Zaldon!" Aliona scolded. "You are too old for this!"

"Males are never too old for anything."

They looked at each other and laughed.

"You're right, though," said Zaldon wearily. "I can't control everything around me. But I'd feel a hellova lot better if I hadn't yelled at Talisa right before she was taken. The way she looked at me the last time I saw her --"

"Oh, Zaldon! For someone who's raised a child, you seem to have forgotten what it means to fight with one. Don't you remember arguing with Yuri? I'm sure she glared and hated you all the time. That's how it is when they're young. It doesn't mean they love us any less."

"Ah, you're right. Yuri's been grown so long, I . . ." He heaved a sigh. "I just hope she gets back to me. I don't know what I'd do if Talisa died too." Thinking of the last time he saw Alea alive, Zaldon felt the tears rise.

"Oh, Zaldon . . ." Aliona turned his face to her and lovingly dabbed his tears away with the corner of her shawl. "Talisa will come home. And if she doesn't, I promise I'll be here to hold you through it all." She smiled.

Zaldon smiled up at her gratefully and wondered if she had any idea how much he and Kel had come to need her over the years. How fiercely they needed her. Her blue eyes gazed down at him warmly as she sat on the armrest and he realized that maybe she did know.

"Now," Aliona said and rose slowly to her feet. She took Zaldon's big paw and guided him down from the throne. "How about a break, hmm? Julyan misses you, and Kel has been asking for you. We'll let the sun village solve its own problems for an hour or two."

Following after as little Aliona guided him to the curtain, Zaldon chuckled. "Thank you, Aliona."

Aliona stopped at the curtain to smile up at him. "Don't thank me," she said. "This is what love is."

They smiled at each other, and she led him out by the arm.