I stood with my arms crossed beside Azrael. Watching as the carriage that held my parents was pulled out of our courtyard. They had set up their males in a local inn so thankfully we didn't have to supply them with anything other than food. My brother on the other hand would be leaving later today with Henry and Marie.
My parents hadn't even looked at me when they left, their lips pursed together like they had just eaten an entire lemon. Azrael had kept a hand wrapped possessive around my hip, claiming me even though the scent of him was dripping out of me just like he had promised.
"They're going to tell everyone about your relation to the king," I muttered, my shoulders finally unknotting when the carriage disappeared from view.
"Most already know," Azrael replied, "I'm more worried about them telling everyone that I intend to dethrone the duke and take back my father's land."
"Is that what you want?" I asked, fear prickling at my skin. I was barely able to be a lady, being a duchess without her duke was out of the question.
Azrael clenched his jaw tightly, "Not yet. When I get back from our mission I will see if I am able to take back my family's land and title."
"Lin," Henry called, drawing my attention away from my mate, "We are going to have to head out a bit earlier than planned. Bryn wants us to come visit his school before we go home."
~~~
I stretched out my limbs, Theorn watching me with an amused smirk. The rest of my family had left a few hours ago and the clock had just struck eleven. As soon as my brothers and Marie had left my mate muttered something about needing to check the borders. Something was bothering him but whatever it was he wasn't ready to share it with me.
"Theorn," I frowned, "Do you have a list of the population of our citizens?"
"Somewhere I'm sure," He glanced over at his cupboards, pulling out one of the drawers and beginning to rifle through it. "Here, this one goes back twenty five years. Why do you need this?"
"I'm worried about how we are going to keep the estate afloat if we keep losing people." My brows dipped together as I looked over the papers in front of me, "We don't have enough females here. I only know one unmated female here and that's Eva."
Theorn tensed, his fists clenching before he forced himself to relax, "We have a few other unmated females, but you know how protective fathers get of their daughters. Most of them are hidden away in their homes. I know one of the farmers outside the walls has three daughters, all of age and all unmated."
"That's good," I frowned, three females was not going to be enough to keep our population, "We need something that will draw more females and their families here. Some kind of attraction. Our soldiers are going to be leaving to find a mate, and it's unlikely that they will come back. Why would they? Most of their families were pushed out by the counts outrageous taxes."
"You're right," Theorn replied, his normally playful demeanor had disappeared after I mentioned Eva's name. "What do you want to do about it?"
"We could offer to put no taxes on newly mated couples?" I suggested.
"That might encourage them to move here, but it won't keep the males that are already here," Theorn leaned back against his chair, arms crossed as he thought, "What about a party?"
"A party?" I snorted, rolling my eyes at the idea, "A party will magically make everyone want to live here?"
"No," Theorn smirked, "But I'm sure we have a few males here that are attractive enough to make them want to come back."
"I hope you're not talking about yourself," I sassed, enjoying how quickly his smirk disappeared into a pout. "Speaking of you... Have you thought about leaving to find a mate?"
"Of course I've thought about it," He huffed, rolling his eyes, "What male doesn't think about the female that will be the key to their sanity? I'm only twenty-five though. I won't be dashing off to find my happiness any time soon."
"Why not?" I frowned, noticing how tired he looked suddenly, like the topic was aging him.
"Aslin," Theorn rubbed at his temples, "I need to be here to help you until Azrael returns."
"I want you to be happy," I reached for his hand, grasping it in a tight grip, "We should invite every female everywhere to the Lanus celebration."
A low growl split the air and Theorn quickly tugged his hand out of my grasp. I twisted in my seat, turning to face the black eyes of my mate. His lips were pursed together, black eyes focused on his friend like he had just caught us fucking rather than holding hands. I took a moment to study this side of him. I had only seen him get jealous once before and the angry rumble emitting from his chest had me squeezing my thighs together.
Now was not the time for lust though. I wanted to plan, and my mate would be the perfect person to help us figure this out even if he will be gone when the celebration happens. Fighting the urge to drag him off into our bedchamber and remind him who my body belonged to I stepped around the chair.
"Az," I greeted excitedly, gripping his hand and dragging him forward, "Sit! You came just in time to help us plan."
"Plan what?" He growled, eyes still flicking back and forth between us suspiciously.
Deciding that this would not do, I ignored the other available chair and perched myself on his lap like it was completely normal. Black disappeared immediately, replaced by startled silver. I thanked the goddess for the many layers of my skirt to keep me from feeling the evidence of his arousal.
Thick arms wrapped around my waist, and a cold nose pressed against my neck. I looked over at Theorn and guilt scraped my insides when I recognised the emotion flashing in his eyes.
Longing.
Not longing for me, but to have someone he could be possessive over. Someone to protect and love. Longing for the calm that came with being a bonded male.
"Your female," Theorn started, "Is worried about the lack of population growth, we don't have enough unmated females here to keep any of our soldiers around. Ten years from now we could have 30 people left and that's it."
"What is our population now?" Azrael scowled, grabbing the papers that theorn was holding out. He scanned it quickly, his scowl only deepening, "134. That's it? Damn it. Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?"
Theorn ignored his comment, "Only 27 of those people are females. Aslin is right, we need something to bring more of them here otherwise every male here is going to leave to find a mate and it's doubtful they will come back."
"Fuck," Azrael muttered, his brows pulling together before he looked down at me, "So what are we going to do about this?"
My heart swelled with joy, and the gold thread that connected us grew thicker. My mate respected my opinion and not only that, he wanted it.
"I thought we could offer a year with no taxes for newly mated couples when they come to live here." I explained, "That should hopefully draw new people here. Theorn suggested a party."
"Of course he did," Azrael huffed, rolling his eyes just like I had.
"So judgy," Theorn crossed his arms, "You two are a match made by the moon goddess."
I grinned at him, "I thought we should invite as many unmated females as possible to the Lanus celebration."
Azrael tensed beneath me, his arms tightening around me, "Aslin, do you know what happens at the Lanus celebration?"
"Not really," I admitted, "I was never able to attend one."
Theorn smirked, "In the south Lanus is a celebration of the moon goddess and her pull over the earth. In the north our people celebrate her pull on us."
"What does that mean?" I frowned, glancing between the two males.
"We have a special celebration in the mountains." Azrael explains, "Only those over eighteen are allowed to participate. There is a huge clearing in the forest that we use for this event. The females get dressed in more... revealing clothes than usual and they dance under the full moon by a bonfire."
Theorn cut in with a grin, "Once the dance is over the males will go up to a female that caught his eye and if she accepts him they spend the night together till dawn. Usually they end up mated which is one of the main reasons we have this celebration. It gives females a chance to choose their own partner rather than having her father choose one for her."
"What happens if more than one male wants a female?" I asked, looking over at Theorn expectantly.
"They either fight for dominance or the female will just choose the one she prefers." Theorn replied with a shrug, "We have had a few fights break out before, but nothing that was life threatening."
"Are you expecting that to change?" I asked him with a worried frown.
"Well," Theorn shrugged with a smirk, "Your mate won't be there to protect you from any wandering hands so I suppose that will be my job."
Azrael let out another threatening growl, pulling me flush against him.
"Don't worry, Az." Theorn grinned wickedly, "I might not train with you anymore but I still know how to snap a male's neck."
"You're coming to training tomorrow you bastard," Azrael snarled, "And you will continue to train until you can defeat every male there."
Theorn opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut at the murderous look in my mate's eyes. I could understand why they would be worried. With Renir still here it wouldn't be much of a surprise if he started creeping with any of the females that attended.
"When does Lanus happen?" I asked, I would need to start writing letters to the different families in the mountains.
"For us it begins on the first snowfall," Theorn replied, "We have already begun stocking up extra firewood for the celebration, but if you are planning to invite more people than those in the estate then we will need much more than planned."
"We should triple it," Azrael said firmly, "Aslin, draft what you would like to say by tonight and I will make sure everyone in the mountains receives the news."
"Okay," I beamed up at him, watching his frown melt into a soft smile for me, "Thank you. Both of you."
~~~
I frowned down at the paper in front of me. It had been written and rewritten multiple times, but I had decided it would be best if it was simple.
Dear citizens,
My mate and I would like to invite you to celebrate Lanus with us. You may join us and our people in the temple for mass before dusk. Females will be separated from the males after mass and we will all get ready together. I hope to see you there.
Lovingly,
Lady Lobosin
My heart pounded against my ribcage, I sat there at my male's desk and reread the last two words over and over again.
Lobosin.
I was his. Azrael Markis Lobosin. He belonged to me as much as I belonged to him. Releasing a shuddering breath I wiped at my eyes that were suddenly leaking the results of my emotions. Finally I wasn't buried under the weight of my father's name.
"Aslin?" My mate stepped into the room, his eyes scanning the papers in his hands.
His head snapped up when I released a shuddering breath, my bottom lip quivering. I wiped away my tears and before I could blink he was on his knees before me. He had shifted, black eyes that felt empty compared to the bright silver. Dark veins spiderwebbed across his face, down his neck, disappearing into his shirt.
"What happened?" He asked, his deep voice more guttural than usual, "Who did this to you?"
His concern just made me cry harder as I realized how lucky I was to be with someone so caring and kind. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him as close as possible to me. My mate responded quickly, wrapping an arm behind my back and another gripped my thighs.
Az stood with me in his arms, sitting us down on the couch. He pressed me against his chest tightly, eyes scanning the room like the culprit responsible for my tears was going to appear. I laughed through my tears, wiping them away and taking deep slow breaths to calm myself.
"Talk to me, beautiful," Azrael begged, his claws digging into my sides as he fought his own emotion, "Tell me who upset you. Was it Theorn? I'll take care of him."
"It's not Theorn," I huffed, picking up the letter I had dropped and handing it to him, "It's this. I have your name. This is the first time I've seen it in writing."
"Do you not like my name?" Azrael asked, his scowl deepening, "We will get it changed. What would you like our name to be?"
"No," I giggled, relaxing against his warmth, resting my cheek against his chest, "I'm just so happy. I'm finally free of my father, and with someone that listens to me instead of telling me a female should be seen not heard."
"He told you that," My mate snarled, and I was sure that if I hadn't been on his lap he would have hunted down my father and taken out the rest of his tongue.
"When I was younger, but that isn't the point." I nuzzled into him, enjoying the scent of wet earth and pine. The scent of freedom, "I'm so glad I'm with you. Thank you for claiming me, I don't even want to think about what my life would be like without you."
Next up is Az's pov. Be prepared to learn about his plan.