Chapter 27: The Ritual

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The alphas keep me occupied for the rest of the day and well into the evening. I get short breaks to use the latrines or get fed fruit by them, but it never lasts long.

But I don’t mind because the magic inside me is so much more restful once I have been with them.

So I stay with them, keeping up, demanding more. The night is filled with our pleasure, and once we light the herb stick on the fire pit again, we fall into another blissful, sex-filled night.

When I wake the next morning, it is to sore muscles and aches I’ve only experienced since meeting the alphas.

They keep me in a constant state of aching. Sometimes an ache of pleasure, sometimes the after-ache of too much pleasure.

But the idea of too much pleasure was still foreign. Because even waking up with the memories in my muscles of what had happened the night before, I could still have gone for more alpha.

I was about ready to wake my snoring alphas up and tell them I wasn’t finished with them when I heard a commotion outside.

Laughing and chattering. Children running past talking about a big event. I felt the hum in the air and smiled. If ever there was a time to know more about the grasslands wolves and how they lived, then a big event was sure to do it.

I scrambled from the bed and tied the tan dress with frills on the skirts and buttons down the front to my body. It was so damn freeing not to be expected to wear corsets and framework all the time. Point to the grasslands for that one.

All the dresses and clothes of everyone in the pack were looser than the others. The forest pack liked their leatherwork, pants, and chest plates, ready for combat at all times. The water pack liked their dresses, corsets, pretty clothes, and accessories.

I had to admit, I preferred the Grasslands style of free and flowing. But anything was better than the scraps I was used to, so I wasn’t going to be picky.

I left the hut, peering out the flaps of the door, following the people running toward the open grassland.

Taylin came up to me, handing me a mandarin segment from the one he was eating.

“Thanks. What’s going on?” I nodded toward the grasslands where the pack were all congregated in small groups.

They were putting up wooden poles that held strings of colored flags and setting up lanes along the grass.

Zachariah came up behind me then, wrapping an arm around my waist before stealing a segment of mandarin from Taylin. “You can’t sneak off that easily, Little Red,” he kissed my cheek, then nodded to the plains. “It’s the Great Plains Race. The winner will lead the sacred ritual tonight.”

“Sacred ritual? Is this more herb stuff?”

Zachariah smirked and nuzzled into my neck. “No. But we can do that too. The ritual is where we honor earth, air, moon, and life.”

“Sounds like more of your nutter shit,” Atticus grumbled as he walked up to us. He only wore loose pants with a pendant the same color as the braid in my hair from his territory. I think he liked the clothing here too. It meant he could show off his huge frame at all times without it being too much.

Zachariah shrugged. “Our nutter shit tonight.”

“And there is a race?” Dorian asked, walking tall as he eyed the track being laid out by rope and ribbon. It was a long race, over the large expanse of grassland.

“There is,” Zachariah confirmed, and we both knew what that meant—Dorian was going to be in compete mode.

“What are the rules?” he asked, walking with us, rolling up the cuffs of his muslin shirt.

“Race from the start line to the finish line.”

Dorian frowned. “Sabotage?”

“No, Dorian. It’s not that kind of race. The main goal is to have fun and spend the day among our lands before honoring what we have been given,” Zachariah explained.

“Zach runs with me every year,” Taylin grinned, “I’m getting faster. Another couple of years and I think I’ll be able to run the honoring ceremony.”

Dorian’s eyes looked like they were going to bug out of his head. “Wait, Zachariah, you don’t win?”

Zachariah shook his head. “Not the aim for me, Dorian.”

“But you’re the alpha?”

Zachariah smirked. “And sometimes there is more to being an alpha than winning.”

“Right. Well, while you are living that sentiment, I am going to show your pack how a true alpha wins.”

I smiled at Dorian’s pride—it might be a warning to some, but I knew it made him who he was. And I liked who he was.

I smiled up at him, and he leaned down to kiss me.

“I’ll win for both of us.”

“Or I will,” I teased, then turned to Zach. “Can I participate?”

He nodded. “Everyone can.”

Taylin ran off then to see his friends, who were all stretching, getting ready for the race. I smiled after him, then snuggled into Zach.

“I should probably mention that the race isn’t for humans, though.”

I frowned as Atticus scoffed. “Oh, I am definitely winning then,” he grinned. It took me a minute, but then I understood.

“You are racing as wolves?”

Zach nodded. “Yeah. The shifting magic is part of the ceremony.”

Well, I couldn’t compete with that. “Hmm. Well, I could watch.” I eyed my alphas, all looking damn fine in their stacked muscles, tall frames, and protective walk next to me, “Or I could do some riding.” I wiggled my eyebrows at them.

“Dibs,” Atticus called it. I laughed at that as Dorian scowled. Zachariah kissed my cheek. “She’s mine. It’s my territory, that’s the rules, remember.”

Dorian just shrugged. “I guess we’ll have to let her ride us before the race starts.”

My pussy ached at that idea, the constantly burning pit in my stomach lighting up. I licked my lips and looked up at Zach.

“Is there somewhere we can hide to do that before we race, then?”

Zachariah grinned and pulled me into a small wooden hut. It had a desk with a chair, some parchments, and some bound books.

“The accountant’s office. He is also the tavern server, so he’ll be occupied for a while before the race.” Zach kissed me as he explained where he had brought me. Atticus and Dorian came in, closing the door behind us.

Zachariah kissed me harshly, pushing me into the wooden desk before lifting me onto it.

“You have an accountant? Don’t you deal with trading yourself?” Atticus frowned, going to look at some of the parchment.

Zachariah didn’t seem bothered. “Nope.”

“Why not?” Dorian asked.

“Delegation. We’re all part of the pack; we all need responsibilities to manage it.”

“Sounds like laziness,” Dorian sneered.

Zachariah pulled at the string on my dress, then started undoing my buttons. “I don’t care what you think. You can manage your pack however you want; I will do it my way.” He kissed down my neck. “But my way means there is more time to enjoy…” He found my lips and pulled me into him, using his hands around my thighs to do it. “My Little Red.”

I grinned and kissed him back. “I am in favor of anything that makes that happen.” I turned to the other two, who were looking around the tiny wooden room. It only had a single window in the top of the back wall; the rest of the room was dark. The candles on the desk and by the door on the small table were all half melted.

“Dorian, Atticus.” I caught their attention as Zachariah pressed his lips on my throat. “I’m pretty sure I’m meant to be riding you in preparation for the big race. Or did I get that part wrong?” I smirked at them.

Both of them grinned back and came over, shedding the small amount of clothing they were wearing.

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