The Tairneach thought they were imagining it at first. They could hear singing echoing though the woods. It was beautiful, almost like a church choir echoing through a cathedral, and a number of them stopped to listen without realizing it. Jenna thought she may be losing her mind when the lights started to dance about the woods. They were too far off to make out. But there were definitely lights.
Maon caught up with her. “Does that look like someone with a flashlight,” he whispered and pulled her back behind a tree.
Jenna shook her head. “Don’t be a fool. Why would any of the people here tonight need a flashlight,” she growled. But she stared into the trees ahead, looking for someone with a light, just the same. She couldn’t think of any other reason for it.
Between the singing and the lights the woods were taking on an eerie appearance. The Tairneach suddenly had the strong feeling that they were being watched and were not welcome.
***
Cullen looked around at all the smiling faces and grabbed Aislinn around the waist, pulling her against himself. He breathed her in and growled as he stared intensely into her eyes.
Something about the way he was looking at her made her blush. “It’s time isn’t it?”
“Well, we’re all here,” he said. Then he leaned in and nuzzled her face. Aislinn giggled and kissed him.
The gathered lycans growled and howled their approval at the beginning of the ceremony. The moon was shining through the canopy and people were still feeling the enchantment that the song and the faeries had caused. Affectionate cuddling broke out all around the clearing. They would wait for Cullen and Aislinn to begin before they went any farther, but people were pairing off in anticipation. Some of them howled eagerly, encouraging Cullen to get going.
Aislinn broke their kiss and looked around at all the eyes focused on them. Cullen felt her shell of confidence starting to crack. He put his hand on her cheek and drew her eyes back to his. “Look at me, not them.”
Aislinn could see how much he loved and wanted her in his eyes. He continued to hold her gaze as he kissed her again. His hands found the catch at the back of her neck to release the halter top on the dress she was wearing. He couldn’t help the heated growl that issued from his chest as the top of the halter fell away, exposing Aislinn’s breasts. She had to force herself to watch Cullen and ignore the growling calls from beyond the stones. Cullen’s arms slid around her waist and he pulled her against himself for another kiss.
Cullen’s lips pressed feverish kisses along her jaw and down her neck. He nibbled at her collar and she groaned with the little pricks of pain as his teeth scraped skin. She twined her fingers into his hair as he kissed down her chest and her breast to draw one nipple into his mouth. His hands on her back supported her as she arched toward him. Aislinn’s needy moan told Cullen that she was finally relaxing. “Take my clothes off,” he growled at her.
Aislinn’s eyes swirled with amber. She began pulling at the buttons on his shirt. She laughed and struggled to push him away from her so that she could get to the rest of his buttons. Cullen growled in impatience with her method and pulled the front of the shirt apart, ripping the last couple buttons off. Aislinn pushed the shirt and jacket off his shoulders and she pressed against his chest and kissed him. She loved the way it felt when her naked breasts brushed against his bare chest.
Cullen pushed her dress off her hips and left her standing in only a black thong and the jewelry he’d given her. The diamonds sparkled magically in the night around them. Cullen stepped away from her and let the crowd get a look at the woman who belonged to him. He howled loudly into the night and it was echoed by the others as they watched him drop his pants to the ground and approach Aislinn again.
With a vicious yank he ripped the thong off of her body. Cullen paced around her, trailing a hand along her hip and she watched him walk impatiently behind her. The proof of his intent standing hard in front of him. His eyes were molten swirling amber. Cullen reached out and drew a clawed hand down her back. He stepped up to her as the men and women in the clearing began shedding their own clothing.
Aislinn felt his hard cock jab against her lower back as he pulled her against him and mauled her breasts. His lip pressed firey kisses and bites along her shoulder.
***
Jenna heard the howling and looked around at her bewildered men. The charge had almost been stopped by the singing and strange lights. She looked at Maon. “It had to have been the druids. Regroup and start the attack. The mating has begun,” she growled.
***
Aislinn felt the energy from the circle surge. “No. Not now,” she growled angrily.
Cullen was confused at first. He hoped she wasn’t telling him ‘no’. When she dropped to her knees and put her hands to her head he knew that it had nothing to do with him. He felt her mind drift and he watched her try to fight it. All around them there was uncertainty amongst the alphas.
Aislinn finally gave in. They wanted to tell her something now and she wasn’t going to get out of. She relaxed into the vision and it was as if she was flying haphazardly up and out of her body, above the stone circle. She looked down briefly to see Cullen kneeling next to her and trying to bring her back to him. She could hear his voice in her mind, but the fates were letting her respond to it this time. Suddenly she was torn away from the stones and through the trees. She didn’t have to go far. She felt as though she was being yanked from one lycan to another. The beasts that she was seeing were more frightening than she could have imagined. One after another. Aislinn’s heart was caught in her throat. Then she seemed to be put down in front of Jenna. She stared at the angry woman. Jenna was fiddling with a ruby ring on a chain about her neck.
Aislinn was snapped back to herself. Her eyes opened and she found herself staring into Cullen’s concerned face. “She has some kind of ring,” Aislinn said. The image still fresh in her mind. It was important for some reason.
Cullen nodded. He didn’t understand what that had to do with anything. “It was her father’s. Brennus wore it ’til the day he died. Are you alright?”
Aislinn nodded. “They’re just north of here. In the trees. They’re huge.” Cullen looked into her frightened eyes. “And there are so many,” she whispered.
Cullen stood up and looked around at the alphas. They were watching with an uneasy anticipation. Anyone less than alpha didn’t have any idea what was going on. But the alphas saw it on his face before Cullen even called out the warning. “We’re under attack. They come from the north,” he said in a deadly growl. Then he shifted to his hybrid form and howled the warning to the rest of the Arnauk. The other alpha’s joined their voices with his and the entire reservation seemed to reverberate with the sound.
***
Jenna heard the howls that told her she had been spotted. They weren’t as close as she had wanted to be. But they were near enough to get her to the circle. She looked around to assess the situation. Her men were all uneasy and disorganized. The strange singing and then the lights had more of an effect on the Tairneach than Jenna was willing to concede.
“Muin! They know we’re here. Attack,” she screamed into the wood before shifting and howling her advance. The Tairneach charged through the trees toward the cabin, the stone circle, and the packs gathered for the celebration.
***
Mack and Celia were inside the cabin squabbling. Celia was self-conscious. She had started gaining weight and didn’t want to go out to the main gathering. The doctor said that it was at least three and she was already picturing herself as being a whale. Mack was ecstatic, but no matter how many times he told her that she was pregnant, not fat. It didn’t seem to since in. Mack was in the process of telling her that they owed it to Aislinn to be present for this. But the unsettling howl from outside stopped everyone cold.
“Muin! Can’t we have just one ceremony go normally around here,” Celia swore angrily. She started to shift and Mack grabbed her by the arm.
“You’re not going out there,” he growled at her as he shifted.
Technically we’re not mated yet. You can’t tell me what to do. And yes I am!
Technically we are mated. But more than that you’re pregnant. I’m not going to lose you again, he said to her with a tone that had her pausing. Not like this.
She sighed. Don’t get hurt. Celia let her hybrid form slide off of her and leaned in and kissed him on his muzzle.
Mack jumped and headed for the door, leaving Celia to direct the confused people inside the cabin and let everyone know what the howl had meant and why the Arnauk had all shifted and charged out of the cabin without warning.
There was a short period of uncertainty and outrage while the strangers who hadn’t been given warning that this might happen computed the situation. They couldn’t believe that any pack would have the audacity to interrupt a mating ceremony. Let alone a ceremony that was being sanctioned by the Pack Council. Then a second wave of hybrids charged out of the cabin to join their new allies in the fight. There wasn’t a point in history when so many different packs had come together to fight.