Page 10 of Married to the Beast

The younger woman, who must be Faleesha—the girl he was originally supposed to Join with—tittered unkindly and gave Aleena a withering look.

Bear felt another wave of protectiveness flow over him quickly followed by a spike of irritation. Was it normal for a girl’s own family to insult her on her Joining day here?

“Aleena is what my people call an ‘Elite’,” he said stiffly. “That is—a female whom the Goddess has blessed with extra generous curves. Such females are sought after and much prized among the Kindred.”

“Is that so? How fascinating!” Sir Greggor said quickly. Clearly he wanted the conversation to be over before anyone took offense. But Faleesha obviously didn’t get her father’s hint.

“What—are you saying the Kindred actuallylikefat women?” she demanded rudely.

“We adorecurvyfemales,” Bear said, trying not to let his words come out in a growl. He hadn’t even known Aleena’s younger sister ten minutes and already he disliked her intensely. Thank the Goddess the plans had changed at the last minute and he’d been Joined to Aleena instead of this little snake!

Both the mother and the younger sister looked surprised at his words. But Bear wasn’t done—he wanted to give them even more to chew on.

“I feel blessed by the Goddess to have an Elite as my new bride,” he said to them. “Clearly she knows that I don’t care for skinny women and chose to bring Aleena into my life because of her generous curves and beautiful smile.”

“Well!” Faleesha exclaimed, her pale blue eyes flashing. She had brassy golden hair like her mother and it was coiled on topof her head in an elaborate up-do, making her skinny face look even thinner.

Bear looked down at Aleena to see how she had taken his words. He found her staring up at him, her gorgeous eyes wide and her lush mouth a little “O” of surprise. Had no one ever told her how beautiful she was? It seemed not—at least from her reaction.

“Well, it was nice chatting with you, but my new bride tells me we have to go taste the Joining Loaf. Isn’t that what you said?” he asked Aleena.

“Oh, er…yes. Yes, indeed. Thank you, Father and Stepmother for your well wishes,” she said, nodding formally to Sir Greggor and his wife. “But I must go with my new husband now and attend to his desires.”

“Of course you must, my dear. I’m just glad that he’s so happy with you,” Sir Greggor said heartily. His wife and his other daughter agreed, though not very enthusiastically. They had identical sour expressions on their faces, like they’d been eating unripebilbafruit, Bear thought, with satisfaction. Clearly his words had hit home.

He nodded again and then let Aleena lead him across the clearing to where a simple white stone pedestal covered in a white cloth was standing. On it was a large, puffy pastry coated in some kind of shiny, sticky glaze. It was twice the size of Bear’s head and he estimated that it ought to feed all the Joining guests with no problem.

A woman was standing near the enormous Joining Loaf and waving it anxiously with a folding paper fan to keep flying insects away. She seemed to have been successful since Bear didn’t see any of them near the pastry.

“Oh, the happy couple!” she exclaimed, breaking into a smile when they approached. “My goodness—I do believecongratulations are in order! And don’t you make a handsome pair!”

This was more the kind of compliment that Bear was used to. He nodded, and thanked the woman, accepting her kind words which seemed to be genuinely meant—unlike the saccharine-sweet, backhanded compliments Aleena’s stepmother had given them.

“And now you’ll be wanting to have a slice of the Joining Loaf! Just let me get the ceremonial knife.” The woman fluttered excitedly as she reached under the table covering and pulled out a long, serrated knife and a plate.

Bear took the knife but then handed it to Aleena. She held it hesitantly in one hand, looking up at him.

“Now, my dears—you must cut into it together for the best luck,” the woman told them. “Don’t be shy—guide your bride’s hand,” she added, speaking to Bear.

Since Aleena didn’t object to this order, Bear pulled her gently around until she was standing right in front of him with her back to his chest. Then he reached around her and gripped her much smaller hand in his so that they were holding the knife together. This close to her, he couldn’t help noticing her sweet, feminine scent. It seemed to do strange things to him, but he tried to ignore it and get on with the task at hand.

“Where are we supposed to cut it at?” he murmured in her ear, because he really had no idea.

“Oh—wherever we want to. What about right in the middle?” she suggested, looking up at him shyly.

“Sounds good to me.” Bear let her move the knife to where she wanted to cut and then, together, they sawed into the massive sticky pastry.

“Get yourselves a nice big slice!” the woman who had been watching over the Joining Loaf told them. “After all, my dear—this is like to be the only Joining Loaf you’ll ever have,” she added, speaking to Aleena.

Meaning, Bear supposed, that he himself might have another Joining Loaf if he decided to cast his bride aside and get himself another female, but apparently that option wasn’t open to Aleena.

The idea felt wrong to him. Kindred formed a Soul Bond with their mates that only death could break. The idea of casting aside a beloved wife to get a different one was a blasphemy in the eyes of the Goddess—not to mention an impossibility once the Soul Bond was formed. But clearly the Karpsians formed no bonds with their brides.

Once they had a large, gooey piece of the flaky pastry loaded onto a plate, Bear gave back the knife.

“Now what?” he asked Aleena. “Do we each take a bite?”

“We’re supposed to feed each other a bite, my Lord Husband,” she said, looking up at him shyly again. “If it pleases you.”

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