Chapter 8

©2009/2010 A. Jane

“Hey, Oben, whatcha doing out here?” Weddle pinched the sleeping Lobo’s arm, his tiny brow furrowed. It wasn’t often a naked Wair ended up in this part of the Grove.

Oben swatted at the disturbance and kept on sleeping.

“Hey, Oben!” Weddle shouted into the Lobo’s ear and quickly dodged another swat. He wasn’t deterred. He didn’t think Oben would want everyone to see him sleeping naked in the Grove with that female Lobo who came to see Dewi.

He flew down and punched the Lobo. “Oben, wake up.”

Oben sat up growling. He blinked against the bright light of day as he looked around for his attacker. He was shocked to find himself outside. No, no, no. The Frenzy wasn’t for another four days. He rubbed his hands over his face certain he had to be dreaming.

“Whatcha doing out here, Oben?”

Oben turned his head and located the Fairy off to his right. “What?”

“Whacha doing here by my house?” Weddle pointed over his shoulder at a group of trees. If one looked closely, a doll-sized cottage resided in the branches of one of the trees. He was glad Widdle wasn’t there to see Oben naked. She would’ve tried touching his poker, dirty Fairy girl that she was. “And with the Lobo girl who came yesterday.”

“What…?” Oben spotted Isabee next to him and his memory of the night smashed into him like a Rhino in full temper. He jumped to his feet, but fell down; his shorts were around his ankles. He jerked them up over his hips, and then standing once more, he took several steps away from Issie. He rubbed his hands over his face again, feeling lightheaded. There was no scent of her season to be found.

What had he done?

“You should wake her up, get her dressed before the Grove stirs.” Weddle zipped between Oben and the Lobo girl. He tilted his head as he looked at her sleeping. He had never seen a naked girl before, at least not a naked biggie girl. He looked at Oben—his face was pale with panic. That wasn’t good.

“Right, wake her up.” Oben picked up Issie’s shift and then knelt at her side, shaking her awake. When she bolted upright, he held out the nightgown to her. “You better put this on.”

“What?” Isabee looked at the gown, then looked at Oben. “What’re you…”

He could relate to that. “Put the shift on, Issie, before anyone comes along.”

She snatched the nightgown and scrambled into it. “What’s going on? Why are you…? Why are we…?”

“You don’t remember what happened last night?”

Isabee blinked at him, but then her hand covered her open mouth as she gasped in horror. “I… I… Oh Dear Luna. We didn’t…”

“Oh we did.” Oben stood and held his hand out to her. “We need to get moving. We’ll head to the pub, it’s closer.”

“But my clothing is at the Inn.” She pulled herself into a tight ball, her hands and arms covering her head. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a nightmare.

“I’ll find some of Renna’s clothing for you to borrow. You’re about the same size she was. Come on, Issie. We can’t stay here all day.”

“But… Oh Dear Luna… Sweet Mother. Sir Kiren’s going to kill me.”

“If that’s the way you want it.” Having lost patience, Oben grabbed Issie’s arms and hauled her to her feet. “Change and…” Her scent filtered up to him and he groaned. “Never mind.”

“I can change and run back to the Inn.” But she couldn’t change. She tried several times, but nothing happened. “What’s wrong with me?”

“You’re pregnant, sweetie, with my pups.”

“No, no, no, no.”

“Yes, yes, yes, yes. Now we need to go.” Oben took her elbow and started walking briskly towards the pub.

“This… Sir Kiren’s going to kill me.”

“Speaking of the bastard. What supplement did he give you?”

Isabee dashed at the tears flowing down her cheeks. “I don’t know. He gave me these pills and said to take them when I got here, that it would attract Dewinar.”

Oben stopped and glared down at her. “You don’t even know what he gave you, and you just took it?”

“He said it would attract Dewinar, that I was to mate with Dewinar.”

“Are you always this trusting? Do you always do everything Kiren tells you to do?”

“He’s the alpha male. I can’t go against him or I would be thrown out of the pack.”

“That’s not the way it’s supposed to work. Mistress Moon, I hate Aristos.”

“You’re an Aristo. Sir Kiren’s mate was your mother’s sister. They were both born from the Line of Queens.”

“That maybe so, but Kiren never once recognized me as anything more than a mutt because my mother mated with my father despite Kiren’s manipulations. My father happens to be the eldest son of a Red alpha female, also born of the Line of Queens. But oh no, all Kiren sees is that my father’s a Red and not a Lobo. And don’t get me started on what he did to Renna and Sabelle. Even more important, don’t bring up to Dewi what his stepfather did unless you enjoy a pissed off Lobo. Dewi will never forgive Kiren for turning his back on Renna, especially when Renna was dying.” Oben started walking again, still pulling Isabee along.

“Oben… Oben…” Issie was forced to run to keep up. “Slow down.”

“We need to hurry. Neither of us needs to be seen like this.”

“I was so hot last night, I could hardly stand anything against my skin. Slow down. I’m not wearing a bra and my boobs are bouncing.” She had an arm crossed over her breasts trying to keep the bounce to a minimum, but it wasn’t helping much.

“A small price to pay.”

“You’re so mean.” She dashed at more tears.

Oben ignored that and kept moving at a quick pace. Despite knowing Isabee was tricked, that she had no clue what Kiren was up to, he felt no remorse for her discomfort. Had she not been so trusting, last night never would have happened. She never would have raped him in her need and he never would have succumbed to the lure of a female in heat.

“That supplement Sir Kiren gave me…”

“It caused you to come into raging season.”

“But I’m not due for another three months.”

“Doesn’t matter. Those pills forced it.” He stopped and made Issie look at him. “And you should know that Kiren only became the next alpha male because Kiren mated with Aunt Sephen. It was my mother and Aunt Sephen’s father who was the Alpha up until his death. Kiren’s not a true Alpha and so doesn’t deserve your blind obedience.”

“So why doesn’t anyone challenge him?”

“Because he’s a bastard and won’t hesitate to have his lackeys do his dirty work.”

“Then it’s best if I do obey him.”

Oben just shook his head and once more started pulling Issie along. They came into the little yard surrounding the Tree House and Oben pulled her inside through the kitchen entrance. He was pleased that the Gnomes hadn’t arrived yet, so there was no one to witness his and Isabee’s entrance. He dragged her up the stairs and into his room.

“The bathroom is through there. Take a long hot shower while I look for some of Renna’s clothing and then we’ll go downstairs and talk over eggs.” He gave her a nudge.

She turned around and looked at Oben, her arms were wrapped around herself in a nervous hug. Her face was pinched with worry and confusion. “Since Dewinar was to be my mate, does this now mean you’re going to be my mate?”

“No, poppet, I’m not going to be your mate.”

“But…”

“Go, take a shower. We’ll discuss this afterwards.”

Isabee turned away without another word and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind her.

When Oben heard the shower turn on, he quickly changed his clothing, then left his room to search for the boxes containing Renna’s clothing. Mistress Moon, what had he gotten himself into? He couldn’t have left well enough alone, he had to follow that scent. He rubbed the back of his neck as he climbed the attic stairs. Not that he had much choice last night, one whiff of that scent and…

Did Isabee have any notion what could have happened had it been someone else who found her? He, at least, would take care of her and the pups, but it could have been anyone. He just happened to be out at the right time. Or should he say the wrong time?

Of course, Isabee hadn’t listened to him when he said that Dewi had found his mate yesterday. Unless, she had called Kiren wishing to inform him of the situation. Kiren never would have believed that Dewi had a mate and would have convinced her to take the supplements anyway. Oben wouldn’t ever believe that Isabee could be so deceitful, let alone believe she could actually think of such a plan herself. Except, was it only pups and a mate she was after? It would be just like Kiren to offer some extravagant promise, one he would never have fulfilled. But once again, there was no such motivations inside her; Issie didn’t hold a single duplicitous bone in her Aristo body.

Finding the box of Renna’s clothing, he pulled out several articles and left the attic. He placed the clothes on his bed and then waited out in the hall for her to finish up. Though he was tempted to go into Dewi’s room, since Dewi was in Neak’s room, and use his shower.

“Why are you standing out in the hall?”

Oben looked at his cousin and kept from swearing. Wasn’t his luck just getting better and better? He had hoped that Isabee would be finished by now, had hoped they would already be down in the kitchen.

“Isabee’s in my shower.”

Dewi blinked, stared. “What?!”

“Isabee’s in my shower.” Oben went back to staring at his bedroom door.

“Why?”

“Because Kiren gave her some pills that forced her into season and I was the lucky Lobo who caught wind of the scent.”

“It’s way too early in the morning for this. I just came out to change my clothing, then I was going to get breakfast for Neak.”

“She’s awake?”

“Yeah, though still a bit out of it and fuzzy on the details. I may have Codin come back to check on her sooner than planned if she doesn’t improve in the next day or so.”

“She may always be a bit fuzzy; she was blasted by Virgo and nearly killed.”

“True. I may just be overly concerned.”

“You love her, of course you’re overly concerned. I can only hope that I’m so lucky to find a mate to worry over.”

“You will.” Dewi closed his eyes for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. “So, to return to why Isabee’s in your shower… My stepfather gave her something to make her come into season, and because you went out last night, you were the one caught in the trap?”

“Yep. Lucky, lucky me.”

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