446- Beneath the Fires of Beltane
POV Thalyndra Moonclaw:
“I’m the youngest, overly protected.” She laughed.
“Did they forbid you?” I tried to hide it, but my voice came out shrill.
“No!” She laughed even harder. “I just never saw the point of leaving my parents’ house to live alone. I mean, I don’t need privacy, you know? Any male who so much as breathes near me gets threatened with death. No wolf from our pack—or any other pack—has been willing to risk it. Besides, I like living with my parents and keeping my mother company. If one day I get tired of it and want my own house, I know they’ll support me.”
Good heavens, talking to Aurelka was completely changing the opinion I had carried for so long about having siblings. In the end, I should probably be grateful to my parents for keeping me an only child.
“Your brothers need to understand that you’re already an adult and that they can’t control your life,” I said.
I shouldn’t have gotten involved. It was a family matter, but I simply couldn’t control my tongue.
“It’s okay,” she replied, lifting her face and letting the moonlight illuminate it for a moment. “I’m waiting for my fated mate. There isn’t any other male I’m interested in besides him. That’s why I don’t see any problem with my brothers being overprotective.”
I nodded in agreement without saying anything.
Aurelka’s dreams were so different from mine. She was sweet, gentle, and kind. I hoped she would find her fated mate and be very happy by his side.
Fated mates were difficult to find. Not everyone had the honor of meeting theirs. So I hoped Aurelka would be able to fulfill that wish.
We moved deeper through the forest and entered the clearing where the celebration was being held.
I gasped, stunned.
The bonfires were blazing, their flames roaring in tall tongues that disappeared into the dark sky. People danced around them, swaying from side to side and jumping to the rhythm of the music. A band played instruments and sang songs, chanting lyrics about the Eldorias.
Others moved through the crowd serving drinks, while tables piled high with meat and snacks were arranged around the area.
The candles they had hung from the trees were lit, making the place even more beautiful.
It was completely different from anything I had ever seen. Humans weren’t so... symbolic. Aside from birthdays and a few other celebrations, they didn’t usually commemorate something as seemingly trivial as the arrival of summer. But in that moment, I understood why the Eldorias preserved this tradition. It was beautiful—simply enchanting.
The Eldorias dressed in normal clothes, just like humans. The true beauty of the event was in the small details: the songs being sung, the bonfires burning brightly, and the way bodies moved in time with the melody.
Aurelka guided me to a wooden table with long benches beside one of the bonfires. I spotted Myrion, Anton, and Lana.
Myrion was sitting in the middle of a bench with his back leaning against the table, his arms spread out on either side of him, elbows resting on the tabletop in a relaxed posture. Anton sat across from him properly, with Lana beside him.
As we approached, Aurelka crossed her arms and stared at her older brother.
“You’re not drunk, are you?” she asked.
The Eldoria lifted his blue eyes to her and flashed a fleeting smile.
Every movement he made seemed deliberately slow.
“Maybe,” Myrion replied, laughing to himself.
Aurelka huffed and shook her head in disapproval.
“Is getting drunk forbidden at these celebrations?” I asked, confused.
Myrion let out a booming laugh that echoed across the clearing. Aurelka looked at me.
“It’s only forbidden for him!” she said, pointing at her brother.
“That’s not exactly true,” Myrion protested.
The young Eldoria made a noise in her throat.
“He set fire to one of Dad’s lumber shipments the last time he got drunk, so he was expressly forbidden from getting wasted again.”
Myrion rolled his eyes.
“I was only testing the quality of his wood.” He looked at me. “See how much appreciation you get for trying to help this family?”
I opened and closed my mouth, wanting to laugh but managing to hold it in.
“Well... I set my house on fire,” I commented.
Myrion’s blue eyes widened, making the silver flecks in his irises dance.
“And she stabbed me,” Anton added. “We can’t forget that particularly violent detail.”
I clenched my teeth and slowly dragged my gaze toward him. I couldn’t believe he was telling that story in front of his siblings.
Missing his heart had cost me dearly.
Aurelka threw her arms into the air, exasperated.
“And I bet you loved it, considering how often you talk about it.”
I sputtered.
“What do you mean, ‘talk about it’?” I asked, making air quotes with my fingers as I looked at all of them.
“He’s always telling the story about how he rescued the damsel in distress, when in reality he was the one who needed to be rescued from her,” Lana said with a smile.
My lips parted as I stared at Anton, my brow furrowed, trying to decide for myself whether he was insane or simply clueless.
“Everyone already knows about that?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Aurelka nodded.
“But don’t worry. We feel that urge every day.”
“The urge?” I asked, still too shocked to think clearly.
“To stab him.”
Anton scowled, drawing his dark brows together and blinking his blue eyes.
“What have you become, little sister?” he objected.
Aurelka clasped her hands in front of her body and fluttered her eyelashes.
“I’m just your little girl, brother. How could you think such a thing about me?”
Lana burst out laughing. Myrion made a noise in his throat.
“You’re a cynic, Aurelka. Just as treacherous as our Aunt Elowen.”
Aurelka sat down beside Myrion, pushing one of his arms off the table and settling into the space.
“You two are terrible brothers. Always judging me behind my back.” She pouted. “Now all I can do is drink to forget this heartbreak I’ll carry for the rest of my days.”
She sounded sincere, but I could hear the mockery hidden beneath her tone. Cynical, just as Myrion had said. It surprised me while also leaving me completely impressed.
The young she-wolf grabbed a bottle from the center of the table and poured a shot into a glass. Then she turned and held it out to me.
“It’s țuică,” she informed me.
I wasn’t very accustomed to drinking, but I didn’t see anything more interesting to do at the moment. Alcohol helped dull the pain and silence the demons that haunted me. Maybe for one night, just a few hours, I could live in blissful amnesia about everything that had happened.
I took the glass and brought it to my lips, swallowing the entire drink in a single gulp. The alcohol burned its way down my esophagus. I clenched my teeth, suppressing the urge to cough.
I would not embarrass myself.
Not in front of Anton.