Aislinn heard the sounds of others around them. Cullen had been right. They were definitely being watched. Aislinn turned her head and saw several couples who had come out of hiding. Aislinn’s eyes met those of a woman who was on all fours as a large grey wolf pounded into her from behind. The woman smiled at Aislinn then closed her eyes and her head fell forward allowing the wolf to bite her neck. Her arms collapsed beneath her as an orgasm shook her body.
Aislinn felt her own building. When she looked back to Cullen she found that he had been watching her watch the others. He smiled knowingly and Aislinn blushed but smiled back. As she stared into Cullen’s amber swirling eyes she felt her body begin to tremble. It built down low in her stomach and flowed in waves through her. Aislinn stared into Cullen’s eyes as her breath caught in her chest and her pussy spasmed around his cock. Cullen gritted his teeth and growled when he felt her walls clamping down on him he couldn’t hold back any longer. He came into her as they stared into each other’s eyes.
Tá grá agam duit, Cullen, she thought in lieu of breath to say it out loud.
He pulled her close to himself and hugged her tightly, rolling them over so that he was on the bottom. He kissed her passionately. Tá grá agam duit, Aislinn.
The pyres burned high into the night sky. All around the reservation wolves raised their faces to the heavens and howled their mournful song into the night. There were only a few Arnauk not present. Too many lives had been lost for there to be a single person unaffected by the deaths. The only ones who weren’t there were those that had to run the Madadh-Allaidh Saobhaidh and the Taigh-Oèsda. But those were minimal. It was mostly being run by the human hires tonight.
Aislinn stared at the pyres. The yellow and orange flames licked the sky and sent shadows dancing about the trees. It was a sharp contrast to the howls of pleasure and the bodies dancing amongst the trees the night before. There was very little talking. That morning they had found two suicides. It was expected. With so many mated losses it wasn’t unusual for the one left behind, especially if there were no children, to take his or her own life.
The day had been long and hard. Aislinn had seen very little of Cullen and it was getting harder and harder on both of them. He had spent the entire day being diplomatic and sympathetic to all the families that arrived to attend the funeral. Aislinn had spent the day trailing after Sarah and taking on odd duties that Sarah suggested. Mostly it was to show the rest of the pack that Aislinn was taking orders from them and not the other way around. Sarah hadn’t assigned her anything difficult. She would bring a message to one person or another. She helped with bringing things in when more important people arrived. She smiled and spoke when spoken too. She answered a lot of questions about herself. In the end she was mentally exhausted.
Aislinn watched Brinah’s body burn and tears slid down her cheeks. Knowing that her grandmother’s soul existed but was tied to this place was little comfort. She had questions. Aislinn looked over at Cullen. It was the first time the two of them had managed to be standing next to each other all day. He knew what she wanted and she knew that he was uncomfortable with the idea.
“I’ll be fine,” she said. “It scared me the first time because I didn’t understand what was happening or why. But I need to talk to her.”
Cullen shook his head. “People will notice if you go missing right now.”
“We’re leaving for the Madadh-Allaidh Saobhaidh in the morning. I won’t have another chance.”
Cullen growled. “Aislinn I don’t like it.”
“I know. I’m sorry. But I have to.” She kissed him on the cheek and then headed for the stone circle. He watched her walk into the woods, knowing he couldn’t stop her.
Aislinn could feel him nearby. He wouldn’t stray far from the stones. There wasn’t anything he’d be able to do. But he didn’t care about that. He’d try if something went wrong. Though neither of them knew what the possible consequences of her actions could be.
Aislinn stepped through the perimeter of the stone circle with the firm intention of finding Brinah there and to her surprise it worked. Everything went still. No breeze, no sounds, just black and the stones and there in the middle of the Circle stood the ghostly figure of her grandmother.
Brinah was smiling with pride, her blue eyes sparkled and unworldly glow. “You have no idea how difficult what you just did should have been. It took a great deal of energy for me to bring you here that first time. You plane walk as though you were born to it.” Brinah walked over to her granddaughter. “I never dreamed I would regret having kept you from the Circle. But I can’t help wondering if I’ve held you back.”
“Why did you leave them? Did they do something to you or something wrong? I know you said you wanted to marry grandpa, but did that require leaving?”