Page 75 of Stray
Ella watched as the males filed out, but she was far from comfortable in Emily’s company. She turned back toward the others, waiting expectantly for whatever it was that Natalia didn’t feel comfortable sharing in front of the men.
“If that’s your choice, then there are a few things we need to discuss,” Natalia said, only slightly more at ease than she’d been earlier. “Namely, whom you’ll be taking as consorts to tend to your heat.”
Ella’s cheeks grew red hot once more. “I’m allowed to choose?”
“Of course,” said Tessa, slipping a small package from the pocket of her robes. “Before we had implants, it was standard for a queen entering her first heat to choose two to four males to help her through the heat, and then choose one or more of them as her mates. She would typically bond with each of them, and from that point on, they would be considered mated.”
Ella’s eyes widened as the priestess spoke. Emily gave a derisive scoff, making it clear what she thought of the antiquated practice.
“Pride law has changed since then,” Tessa said, ignoring her. “Given the nature of the marking process, it was deemed more responsible to have a queen choose her mate or mates first, prior to mating. That’s why we have the implant in the first place.”
She cast another seething glance in Emily’s direction, which the other queen pretended not to see.
“Be that as it may, the current circumstances warrant an exception,” Natalia said gently. “No one expects you to choose your life mate right now, and following tradition isn’t worth rushing into something with such dire consequences. However, the old ways provide something of a template to go off of.”
Tessa opened the small package in her hand, and inside of it were three silver rings. The bands were too thick to be for a woman, and there were engravings on the surface that looked like runes. She handed the rings to Ella, and the featherlight pieces of metal felt like massive stones in her palms.
“The practice is to give each of these to a male you choose to be intimate with,” said Tessa.
“But these look like… Engagement rings,” Ella blurted out.
The priestess chuckled. “In a sense, they are. At least, that’s what they used to mean. In your case, it isn’t the binding agreement it once was, as long as you don’t choose to bond with any of them.”
“And I have to choose three?” Ella asked, doubting that she could find three males in school willing to have a conversation with her, let alone wear one of those rings.
“Not at all,” Tessa answered. “Technically, you could choose one if you liked, but it’s rare for that to be enough to end a first heat.”
Ella gulped. This was all so new, so much information to take in. Here she was, never even having had a boyfriend, or anything resembling a real relationship, and she was expected to do something like this.
“I know it’s overwhelming,” Natalia said sympathetically. “It’s alright if you have questions.”
She did. Plenty of them, but most weren’t anything she felt comfortable voicing out loud. Certainly not in front of Emily.
“What if he doesn’t accept it?” she finally asked. It was the foremost question on her mind, the one that seemed like it would have the most devastating of an impact.
Not only was it humiliating enough to have to ask something like this of a male she barely knew, but there was no guarantee he would even want to participate.
How was she supposed to attend class every day with someone who had seen her in such a vulnerable, compromising position?
It didn’t help that her mind immediately sprang up with three promising candidates. At least by her inner cat’s standards. For two things that were so integral to the life of a feline shifter, instinct and custom always seemed to be in direct opposition to each other.
“Don’t be absurd,” Emily snapped. It seemed she was too flustered to hold onto her veneer of motherly kindness any longer. “The obvious choice is Axel. It’s only a matter of time before they’re mated anyway.”
Ella was surprised to hear her speaking so candidly. This was certainly the first time Emily had even hinted that she would support such a union, and Ella knew for a fact that she would’ve been adamantly opposed to it before, even if by some wild turn of events Axel had taken an interest in her back then.
She figured it had at least crossed the Matriarch’s mind, considering how differently she had treated Ella since finding out she was the future Empress, but to hear her say it out loud was bizarre.
Ella had spent so long pining for Axel that she had never really given any thought to how strange it would be if things were ever to blossom into romance between them. After all, they had known each other nearly their entire lives. They had shared a home, even though their worlds were as far apart as two people’s could be.
In fact, Emily’s suggestion was so decisive that Ella couldn’t help but wonder if she and Axel had discussed it in advance. Considering that she was his mother, the flippant nature with which she broached the subject was more unnerving than anything.
Natalia gave her a disgusted look, but Tessa was the first to respond.
“My, that’s a change of tune,” she remarked. “Especially considering that you told me you would never consider allowing a stray to be your precious son’s second, let alone his mate.”
Ella stared at both women in disbelief. It took a moment to process what Tessa had just said, and she thought back to that night at dinner. It was one of the most awkward nights of her life, but there had been so many moments since then that it was hard to keep track. Emily looked like she had seen a ghost, which suggested the priestess’s words were true.
And why would Tessa have any reason to lie?
