William let his shoulders slump as he jerked his head toward the ceiling in exasperation. “I wasn’t planning on doing anything except go to bed.” He jerked his head toward the doorway, “She’s the one who had all the plans.”
Aceso folded her arms across her chest, partially obscuring her patch of white fur, “That’s not what I saw.” Aceso’s eyes bore into his. “I have no problem with you taking Keva as your mate. I would hope that you have enough respect for me as your Alpha to ask first. And understand that if you do take her as your own, there is no going back and you will be held accountable for your actions under city law.”
William looked at her sideways. “What do you mean, Aceso?”
Aceso looked at him coldly. “Regardless of the casualness that you human born have made of the act of mating, we wolf born don’t share in it. The Elders long ago made laws and harsh punishment for those of us who can’t recognize those precepts.” Aceso walked up to her Enforcer. “You are part of my pack, and therefore your mate is subject to my approval according to city law and wolf culture, do you understand?”
William was completely unbalanced by what he had just heard. He knew that wolves mated for life but this was completely new. He sat down heavily on his bed. “I don't even know where to begin.”
Aceso looked down at him, her voice taking on a softer tone, “It is possible and acceptable for humans to mate randomly and without thought; but our kind, you and I, have much more responsibility than that.” Aceso shook her head toward his door. “Would you take her as your mate for the rest of your life, or would this have just been a momentary pleasurable meeting?” Her eyes took on an intense look, “Would you take responsibility for the fruits of your mating? Would she? Would the child that you two bore be raised by loving mates and taught what he or she needed to know to survive in this world?” Aceso stood in the middle of William's room looking down at him with the question's hanging in the air between them.
William glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, “I hadn't thought that far.”
Aceso nodded and replied simply, “I know.” She heaved a heavy sigh. “What I need for you to understand is that because of who and what you are, your child will be under constant scrutiny, and not only by us.” William glanced at her but she was completely serious. “The act of mating is for the purpose of bearing offspring. Your child would not be allowed to live in this place.”
William looked over at her, “Why not?”
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Aceso shook her head, “A person who is not a shape shifter can't live in the city. It's for our own protection and for the well-being of our kind. This is not a prison, Will. A child born by you will be sent away to one of our influenced orphanages, this is fact. That child will grow up alone, far away from you and this place. This is for our’s, and the city's protection. What would happen if a young child, your son or daughter, was found by the Vampires. What if she, or he, knew where this place was? Do you think those like Kenneth would hesitate even for a moment to use that child to get to us?” Aceso looked down at him, “Our children are very precious, but it is because of who they might be, or who would use them, that this is the way things have to be.”
William covered a yawn and asked, “Is this your abstinence speech?”
Aceso shook her head with an angry look, her tone mirrored her glance, “I told you I have no problem with you taking Keva as your mate. But know that if you do, you will be held responsible for your family and for her. You will be forbidden, under penalty of death or expulsion, to mate with anyone other than her. Do you care enough about her to devote your whole life to her? Does she care enough about you, for you to devote your whole life to her?” Aceso turned around and walked to the doorway. She glanced over her shoulder at him, “In your world, sex is just sex. Here, sex is a solemn oath to share your life with that person and no one else.” She took another step but instead of leaving she placed her claw on the inside of the open doorway and looked back at him. “Are you ready to lay down that kind of devotion to another?” With those final words Aceso disappeared through the doorway.
William looked at the doorway for a long time. The word 'devotion' kept ringing in his head and images of a life shared with another person, danced through his tired mind. Since coming to the city he had not thought about the idea of sharing a life with someone else. With all the training and knowing what he had to deal with and fight, the idea of domestic bliss was just not something that he had indulged himself in. Now, however, with Aceso's words ringing through his head and the thought of soft pleasure with Keva, those ideas returned to him.
He had often thought about spending his life with someone else when he was alone in his forest. He had noticed animals sharing in each other company and he had faced hunger and cold with no one to know, and he had thought he might die out there with no one there, even to bury his body. But now, the idea of living with one person, sharing all there is to know about him, living with all the fear and danger of this place and their enemies together with someone else who understood what it was to be who and what he was, was a little more than attractive.
Keva's green eyes shone in his mind as he undressed himself and laid back on his soft warm fur covered bed. The idea of her body pressing into him and comforting him was a pleasant thought. But for some reason brown eyes swam into his mental vision. Deep brown eyes that penetrated his mind and he was laid naked before them. The unsettling discomfort he felt when he looked into those brown eyes racked his body, and yet he didn't want to look away. He drifted off to an exhaustion induced sleep with those infinitely deep brown eyes looking at him.