The female wolf who held a small infant boy had the same chiding expression on her face. “You need to rest, Aims. C’mon. Let’s put these pups to bed and Bride can ride herd on you for a few hours.” She handed the infant in her arms to Aimee, then took the girl from Fang. “I’ll be back in a few to gear up for battle.”
Fang kissed her cheek. “Thank you, Lia.”
Seraphina froze as the small group drew near her. The voluptuous, auburn-haired human offered her a kind smile. “I’m Bride Kattalakis. Fang’s sister-in-law and mate to his brother Vane, the dark-haired cutie next to him.” She brushed her hand over the head of the sleeping eldest boy. “This is our son, Trace, and the girl is our daughter, Trinity.”
Seraphina inclined her head to her. “Nice meeting you.”
“You, too.”
The female wolf had a strange hair color that was white-blond at the roots and slowly darkened to black at the ends. Her brown eyes were every bit as friendly. “I’m their brother Fury’s mate, Angelia. Call me, Lia, though, everyone does… The two younger boys are ours. Asher is the older, blond one, and the dark-haired baby is Ryan.”
She must have had a peculiar expression on her face because the next second, Lia laughed. “Yes, I know. Fury and Fang are Katagaria. Vane and I are both Arcadian Sentinels. And all the children are Arcadian… so far. But since both Vane and Fury changed their base forms during puberty, we’re waiting to see if the kids remain Arcadian or switch in a few years.”
Her eyes widened. “They can do that?”
Aimee laughed. “Yes. We can when we have mixed parentage. I started out as a cub and switched myself.”
Now that was something Seraphina had never known about or considered. Could that have happened to one of her children? Edena had been acting very peculiar and secretive. Seraphina had foolishly thought it might stem from a crush on a male she didn’t care for. But that might explain some of her daughter’s more irrational behavior…
Could Edena have switched from Arcadian to Katagari and been too afraid to tell her about it?
She wasn’t sure what upset her more. The fact it could have happened or that her daughter wouldn’t trust her with the truth. That Edena would be afraid of her own mother judging her for something the child couldn’t help.
As the women drifted away, Fury, who had white-blond hair similar to Blaise, came forward. He shifted Trace in his arms. “Don’t worry. You’ll learn our names quick enough. And I’m easiest to remember as I’m the one most likely to say or do something really stupid or offensive. But don’t be offended. I’m socially awkward and mentally stunted.” He wrinkled his nose in a very wolflike gesture. “Once they learned I wasn’t Arcadian anymore, I was harshly ejected from my Arcadian pack before I got fully mannered up. Lia and Bride keep trying to school me on how humans behave, but I’m learning it’s really hard to teach an old wolf new social skills. So don’t let me hurt your feelings. I don’t mean nothing by it.”
She smiled at him. “Same here. I don’t really understand this time period or… how all of you do things.”
He ran his gaze over her wardrobe. “Fourth century BC? Steppe tribe?”
“Amazon. Not sure what you mean by fourth century BC.”
He stroked the sleeping baby’s back in a very human, fatherly fashion. “What emperor or warlord got on your nerves the most?”
“Philip of Macedon, and his son Alexander.”
He let out a low whistle. “Yeah, you’re ancient. You pro-Rome, or hate their guts?”
“Not my favorite group.”
“Fair warning, then. There are two of them in this city, Roman and Valerius. They’re on our side. Try not to kill them. Especially Val. Once you get past his assholishness, he’s actually a decent enough guy. And his wife’s one of Bride’s best friends. She’d be real put out if you killed him, which would upset Vane and, well… you know, shit rolls downhill.”
Seraphina laughed. Yes, yes, it did. “Thanks for the warning.”
He inclined his head. “Let me go tuck my nephew in with my sons and I’ll be right back.”
Isolated again, she returned to listen to the small group continue to discuss the best way to attempt a rescue for her children and not get eaten by gallu in the process.
For the first time, Seraphina understood how Maxis must have felt when he’d found himself thrust into her tribe after their mating. How completely alienated he’d been, and how foreign the surroundings and customs and faces. Because she’d been born among the Amazons, she’d always known their traditions. Known their language and felt a part of them. How they fought and went to war.
Yes, she’d been orphaned after the attack on her village, but she hadn’t been the only survivor that night. Her aunt’s Amazon tribe had welcomed them in with open arms and great compassion. Each of them had been given adoptive families and treated as natural-born daughters.
From the moment of Maxis’s arrival in her village, they’d received him as an outsider and had never allowed him to forget the fact that he wasn’t one of them, and would never be fully accepted among her race.
When Maxis had first seen the number of Drakaina tents, he’d slowed his horse and worn a look of feral reservation in his eyes.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid.”
“Not afraid. Only disquieted.” His gaze had gone to the collection of cloaks and shields her tribeswomen displayed outside their tents that were made of the tanned scales and skeletons of past dragon kills they proudly flaunted as war trophies. “What is the penalty for killing an Amazon in combat?”