/p>

Breeze nods his understanding, "I've never met him. I thought Fjord was the only guardian Water had left. But I can smell he's not. So who's her second mate? Anyone I know?"

"My son Cougar is her second," answers Wildcat.

"Your son," says Breeze surprised. "That's unusual."

Wildcat shrugs, "Long story, but we're what she needs."

Breeze nods his understanding, "Yes, she's special. It's in her scent. While most won't recognize it because it's a subtle thing in her scent, many males will still desire a child with her. But they won't understand why they desire it so badly. So she needs extra protectors.

We're going to have a welcome home feast for my mate, Stinger, and our children. We of course want you to come and be guests of honor. It'll be in the main gathering hall. Anyone can guide you to it. Kite there can guide you if Roar doesn't leave her too worn out. Come as soon as your mate is well rested."

"Will do," confirms Wildcat with a nod.

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"My elder brother, Chief Windwalker, is looking forward to speaking with you and Roar. Join us soon," Breeze getting ready to leave the room.

"Windwalker is chief now," states Wildcat.

Breeze nods, "The elders came up with a few candidates they felt would best replace our father and the tribe voted. He's a good chief like our father."

"I'm sure he is," says Wildcat. "We'll join you as soon as Talia wakes."

An hour later, Kite leads them into the main gathering hall, a large cavern with a cold spring. A large chandelier made of deer antlers hangs in the center. Its candles giving off a warm glow adding to the glow of the mirror backed oil lamps lining the rock walls. Tribe musicians are at one end of the cavern. At the other end is a large stone chair sitting three steps up carved right out of the rock wall. On both sides of the huge stone chair are two long benches. To Talia it looks like some sort of mid-evil thrown.

Talia has one arm laced through Wildcat's right arm. Her other hand is holding Greywolf's hand. Talia releases Greywolf's hand long enough to wave at Stinger and her children sitting on one of the stone benches. Smiling, Stinger waves back as her children hop down onto the steps to talk and play with some other children sitting on the steps. Then Talia's fingers lace back through Greywolf's.

"Let's visit," says Wildcat patting the hand Talia has laced through his arm.

Talia nods her agreement cheerfully. They greet and return greetings happily. Roar gets pulled aside by Breeze. Stinger stands and hugs Talia when she, Wildcat and Greywolf reach her. Afraid they may break some rule or accidentally show disrespect, they sit at Stinger's feet instead of sitting on the bench with her.

Breeze, Roar and a third Air Tribe male that looks nearly identical to Breeze, only taller, are talking nearby. Even though it's been years since she's seen him, Talia recognizes the third male as Windwalker, Breeze's older brother and Air's chief now. Talia was fourteen when she met Breeze and Windwalker and was still only speaking when spoken to at that time. She remembers Breeze is Roar's age and Windwalker is only a couple of years older. The three men come over, climb the stone steps and stand before the big stone thrown.

Windwalker speaks to everyone, "It's been too long since we've had visitors. And these visitors were kind enough to escort my brother's mate along with my niece and nephew to him.. I am very grateful for this.. It is good to see my brother smile again. So we have honored guests. Tonight we celebrate the reuniting of my brother with his family. Everyone, have a good time."

The music restarts to play and Talia laughs at a joke one of the children tells her. At the sound of her laughter, Windwalker looks in her direction. He looks at the woman he hasn't seen in nearly two decades. Talia wasn't present for the last tribe gathering Air attended when the rock slide occurred. She's even more beautiful than he remembers. And she seems to have overcome what he believes was painful shyness, as she leans back against her mate and pats her consort's knee. He got the basics from his brother: three mates and a consort. She looks about six months pregnant and the pregnancy has her glowing.

"Enjoy yourself," Windwalker tells Roar. "We have many beautiful women that would love attention from you and your men."

"Thank you," responds Roar cheerfully. "What about that tour you suggested? Want to do that now?"

"Sure," Windwalker agreeable. "Do you think your sister and her new men would like to come along?"

"Let's find out," says Roar stepping over to Talia, Wildcat and Greywolf sitting together on the stone steps. There are little hands on Talia's belly hoping to feel the baby move. "Talia," calls Roar cheerfully. Windwalker's gonna give me a little tour, show me around down here a bit and let me in on some of Air's inner workings. You guys want to come along."

Wildcat and Greywolf let Talia answer. They'll do whatever she's inclined to do. Talia unconsciously avoids making eye contact with Windwalker, an old habit with males that are large and imposing like her father that she doesn't do with Roar because he's just her goofy older brother to her. Her answer is gracious and flattering, "Chief Windwalker has already been a kind and generous host far beyond what is required. We are honored and overjoyed at such an offer and more than glad to accompany you and Windwalker on such a fantastic opportunity as a tour of Air's home."

It's really not unusual for free people to lay on the flattery nice and thick for another tribe's chief. Especially if they don't really know much about the chief; or if they're trying to placate an angry or moody chief. Talia simply doesn't know Windwalker well at all. Greywolf and Wildcat help her to her feet. Then they follow behind Roar and Windwalker, listening intently as Windwalker talks.

"As you see," Windwalker tells Roar, "we're a much larger tribe than most believe. Maybe not quite as large as Animalistic, yet not nearly as small as Water or Dragon like many believe. But it's fine with us if they think that. It keeps them from thinking we're any kind of a threat. We may be nearly all guardians, but we desire a peaceful existence as I'm sure you do too..

I'm sure you're wondering how we exist up here in the mountains where we have snow nearly all year round. We still trade with Night Crawlers on the regular basis while other tribes prefer to avoid them which doesn't seem to bother them because they don't want any trouble with anyone else either. Plus we have three different herds of mountain goats."

Windwalker points down a tunnel, "As I'm sure you can smell, down at the end of that tunnel is the room that houses our rabbit hutches. And if you follow me down here, I'll show you our gardens."

At the end of the tunnel, Talia steps out from behind Roar into a massive cavern with plants almost as far as the eye can see. Instead of stone beneath their feet like everywhere else they've been, there's earth with a cobblestone path in it. And overhead, very high overhead, at least a hundred meters up are plant lights, not candles or torches nor oil lamps, giving the plants the light they need to thrive here in this cavern.

"You're grandfather helped us with this," Windwalker informs Talia. "Before either of us were born, even before your mother was born, he was a friend to all tribes. My father and grandfather considered him an invaluable friend.. The lights are solar and wind powered. Your father would have put lights in every room and hall we have if my grandfather would have asked. But he said it was a great blessing just to be able to grow most of what we need for ourselves and we shouldn't be greedy and take advantage of a real friend.. We have a couple of different types of fruit and nut trees, tomato plants here, strawberries there. Waste from ourselves and our animals are put into a compost room there.. The lights can be run for twenty-four hours a day for decades, and your grandfather made sure we had plenty of replacements stored, but we give the plants a twenty-four hour cycle: twelve hours of dark and twelve hours light."

Talia nods in understanding as she steps away from them to marvel at the room. She spies a ladybug on a leaf and steps closer to look at it. Then a flock of flutterbies suddenly swirls up around her. She squeals with delight like a child as she twirls around in the flock of flutterbies. None of the men, not her brother nor her mate, Wildcat, has ever seen or heard her do such a thing before, not even as a child had she ever been so delighted by anything.

"Did you see that," asks Talia excitedly as she throws her arms around Wildcat's neck. "Weren't they beautiful?"

Wildcat hugs her tightly, "Yes, Dearest, they were beautiful," and he kisses her lovingly.

Windwalker is touched by Talia's pure childlike delight and smiles as he shares, "The insects we have in here are all about keeping our plants healthy. They keep out the harmful insects and pollinate the flowers. In that room through there, we have a bee colony. They pollinate and provide us with honey."

"This is immensely impressive," compliments Roar. "You can grow what you need all year round."

"We couldn't have done it without Reynold Devonshire," replies Windwalker gratefully. He turns to Talia, "I heard of your grandparents passing, Talia. I'm sorry for your loss. And I'm sorry we didn't come pay our respects properly. It was comforting knowing that if we needed anything, we could go to him."

Talia tilts her head and tells him as if he should already know, "Now if you need something, you just come to me." She shrugs as if it was obvious. It's as simple as that for her.

"Thank you, Talia," then Windwalker leads them back to the celebration. He sits in the big stone thrown and watches. He watches Talia dance with the women, watches her dance with her mate and consort. He watches her.

"I'm so sorry my mate's not here with us," Roar tells Breeze as they're conversing amiably. "Stinger has been very generous with herself with me. I'ld share my mate Zenith with you, but she's Amazon. I didn't want to cause a panic with the Night Crawlers by bringing her through their territory."

"That was wise," Breeze informs Roar, "Night Crawlers are made very nervous by Amazons. So don't worry about it. I'm simply over joyed that you brought my mate and children to me."

"What about Talia," asks Stinger. She suggests, "She can stand in for Zenith in this situation."

"If Talia doesn't mind," responds Breeze, "because it certainly isn't necessary. They've done enough in getting you and the children here to me safely."

Roar doesn't say anything. Talia was listening politely as they talked so he waits for Talia's reaction knowing she's still not big on socializing like this. But as his sister, it would be proper for her to stand in for his mate in this situation. Talia looks at Wildcat and he nods to her. She releases a small sigh. She knew it was highly unlikely she would get through this trip without being social with any males she doesn't know, but she had hoped. Besides, everyone here has been generous and kind. She doesn't want to ruin the evening by being anti-social.

So Talia smiles at Breeze as she rises from Greywolf's lap, "Where would you like me?"

Breeze glances around, "I guess you could just lean over this table for me."

"That's fine," and Talia positions herself over the round table.

Breeze touches her gently. He pushes her hair over one shoulder and touches her name tattoo on the back of her neck and the mark of her true-mate. The tattoo below her name resembles Air's tribal tattoo and he tilts his head curios as he traces it lightly. Then his hands glide over her shoulders and around her to feel her breasts. Then his hands slide down her to her waist and he finds her tribe tattoo on her lower back. He lifts her skirt, runs a hand over her firm heart shaped tan bottom. Then he explores between her legs, finds her feminine folds and caresses her clit. After bringing her to an orgasm by stimulating her clit, Breeze slides a finger inside her to make sure she's sufficiently wet and loosen her a bit. Then he mounts her slowly, taking his time to work his cock all in her.

Windwalker didn't hear the conversation, but it's good to see his brother being social. Breeze has been sad and moody without his mate the past decade and he's been worried for his younger brother. He'ld like to try Talia himself, so he leaves his stone chair planning to mount her next.

Talia's eyes are already black and her claws are biting into the underside of the table as she holds herself steady for Breeze. Windwalker likes the sounds escaping her mouth as he approaches. He's anxious to have her beneath himself making such noises for him. Then he stops in his tracks for a moment when as Breeze pounds a powerful orgasm out of her, her eyes go white.

There are a few surprised gasps from some Air Tribe members nearby that also witness her eyes go white. Windwalker's eyebrows rise in surprise. Breeze's eyes have gone white too but that's not a surprise as Breeze pushes extra deep into Talia as he cums. Then he helps Talia right herself and straighten her clothes. And when she turns around, he sees her eyes and pauses surprised.

"What's wrong," asks Talia. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No," answers Windwalker stepping forward and gently touching Talia's cheek, "just something rare. Rare even here in Air, especially rare for a female." Then Windwalker turns to Wildcat, "I request the company of your mate for the night."

"For the night," repeats Wildcat surprised. It's an unusual request even for a chief. But Windwalker has been a kind and generous host. He doesn't want to be rude by flat out refusing.

"Yes," confirms Windwalker, "for the night please."

"Where will she be," asks Wildcat feeling like this is a bad idea.

"My room of course," answers Windwalker. "I'll show you. She'll be perfectly safe." He takes Talia's hand and leads the way anxious to be alone with her. Windwalker looks back at Wildcat and Greywolf who are right behind them.

"This is my living area," Windwalker informs them motioning into his open room. "Please, I would like her company for the night. She'll be right here with me and perfectly safe."

Wildcat doesn't like it and he can see and smell Talia doesn't like it either. But he doesn't want to be rude. He sees exactly where she'll be, so it's not like he won't know where she's at for the night. He glances at Greywolf who doesn't like it either, but Wildcat reluctantly agrees, "Very well then."

Windwalker smiles extremely pleased, "Thank you, Wildcat.. Please, Talia, right this way," showing Talia into the room ahead of himself.

Talia steps into the room slowly and cautiously and scans the area ahead of her. It's a nice sized room about the size of an extra-large master bedroom. The oil lamps that line the two outer walls are set on low. But with her white guardian eyes, the dim light is more than bright enough. It could technically be pitch black and she would still see just fine.

Towards the back of the room is Windwalker's bed. It's at least the size of a queen size bed or larger, Talia decides larger. Its headboard and base are part of the stone room itself. The headboard is stone that rises up and becomes the high stone ceiling overhead. Then back down to become the stone base of the bed rising out of the floor. The stone base of the bed has been piled high with furs to make it comfortable to sleep on. There are covers of mountain goat yarn along with rabbit fur pillows. There are four chandeliers with unlit candles hanging from the ceiling, and two large full length mirrors mounted to the stone headboard. There's a table with a plant on one side of the room. On the other side is a table with food. And by the table is a small cold water spring. At the back of the room, behind the thick stone headboard is a hot spring for showering and a water closet. Talia knows the other Air Tribe residents don't have the luxury of their own water closet. She was shown to the community water closets earlier.

It only takes Talia a few seconds to register all of what she sees and smells in the room ahead of her as she steps inside the room. She hears Windwalker step in behind her. Then she hears a disturbing sound, the sound of stone moving. She turns and sees Windwalker rolling a huge stone disc shaped stone over the doorway.

"No!!!" Talia shouts as she runs for the doorway.

"Talia!!!" Wildcat yells as he and Greywolf lunge toward the closing entryway.

But none of them are fast enough. It was an expected move and Talia finds herself cut off from Wildcat and Greywolf.

"Wildcat!!! .. Greywolf!!! .." She can barely hear them yelling her name as they pound on the other side of the huge immovable stone disk.

Talia looks her blocked exit over carefully. Part of the floor pushed away for the disk as he rolled it into place so she hadn't noticed the grove in the floor for the disc. Of course she was also busy looking at what lay in the room ahead of her, not the floor or behind her. The thick stone disc sits in two grooves; besides the groove in the floor, there's a groove in the ceiling too that runs across the front of the entry way. But it won't budge for her.

"Why have you done this," Talia demands of Windwalker. "I heard it click. Why have you locked me in here with you away from my mate and consort?"

"I asked to have you for the night and I don't want any interruptions," Windwalker answers as he fills an ewer with fresh cold water. Then he begins lowering the chandeliers and lighting the candles.

On the other side of the stone disc Wildcat orders Greywolf, "Get Roar and Breeze!"

Greywolf runs as fast as he can and returns barely a minute later with Roar and Breeze.

Roar puts his hands on the stone disc as he asks, "What is this? What's going on?"

"After he got Talia in the room, he rolled this in the way," Wildcat informs Roar, "and the blasted thing won't move."

"Breeze," Roar questions, "what's the meaning of this?"

"Please, don't be alarmed," request Breeze.

"Don't be alarmed," repeats Wildcat outraged, "My pregnant mate is in there alone with a strange man. Do you have any idea how terrified she must be? How do we get this thing open?"

"We can't," Breeze answers the second question.

"What do you mean can't," demands Wildcat who's finished being nice.

Stinger asks as she approaches, "What's going on?"

"Windwalker has locked himself in there with Talia, that's what," answers Wildcat angry and afraid for Talia.

Breeze releases a strong sigh, "It's like a.. What do you call it? .. A panic room. It can only be opened from the other side.. Please, try not to be alarmed. I assure you, she's perfectly safe. Windwalker won't harm her in anyway."

"But then why this," asks Stinger motioning to the blocked doorway. "Wildcat said he could have her company for the night, right?"

"Regrettably yes," answers Wildcat.

"Then why would he lock her in with him," asks Stinger. "Wildcat agreed. This wasn't necessary."

"He just wants privacy," Breeze explains. "He simply doesn't want any interruptions."

"Why," ask Roar afraid for his sister.

"Her eyes," says Greywolf. "There were gasps from some Air tribe people when her eyes turned white while Breeze was with her. Windwalker was surprised. And you were surprised too when you saw, Breeze, even though your eyes turned white too."

"He said something about being rare," recalls Wildcat. "A female whose eyes turn white.. What's so rare about that?"

"There are only a hand full of males in Air with this ability," shares Breeze. "If the chief generations ago had known the female he gave to Animalistic's chief carried this ability, he would have kept her for himself."

"So her eyes turned white," says Roar. "What's the significance of it? Why lock her in there with him?"

"There's something else," realizes Wildcat. "Her eyes turning white.. it's a sign of some other ability, isn't it?"

"I'm not chief," responds Breeze. "I can't share anything else with you. I can't discuss it with you."

"Would have kept her for himself," Greywolf repeats to himself softly. Then he puts his hand on Wildcat's shoulder and turns the older man toward him. He repeats to Wildcat, "He would have kept her for himself. They gave away a female that was valuable and if the chief had known how valuable she was, he would have kept her for himself." Then he looks at the stone door keeping them away from Talia.

"Oh no," says Wildcat looking at the stone door too. "Windwalker doesn't have a mate yet, does he," he asks Breeze.

Breeze shakes his head as he answers flatly, "No."

"But Talia already has three mates," states Roar, "including a true-mate. You don't really think he's going to try to attach himself to her as her mate too, do you?"

Wildcat sighs frustrated, "He can't take her from us. But he can still attach himself to her as a fourth."

Talia turns away from the giant stone disc and regards Windwalker with her white eyes. He lights the last candle on the final chandelier and raises it. He hasn't answered her question. She tries again, "Why have you done this? Wildcat agreed. I may keep you company for the night. But he has the right to check on me, make sure I'm alright. Now he, my consort and my brother will worry about me."

Talia turns back toward the stone disc as Windwalker steps over to her. He gently touches her cheek, "I'm not going to hurt you. You have no idea how truly special you are. But tonight I will show you exactly how special you are. And for that, there can be no interruptions."

Talia tries to step away from him, but he pulls her against himself. Then he tries to kiss her, something she knows he doesn't have permission for.

"No," Talia tells him trying to push him away. Except Windwalker is a big man, not quite as big as Roar, but still much taller than Richy. Mantis hadn't been that much taller than herself and she still hadn't been able to fight him off and it took her a couple of days to recover. She doesn't even want to think about how badly Windwalker could beat her as she pleads, "Don't please."

Windwalker immobilizes Talia's head by getting her by a big hand full of her hair. Then he forces his mouth down over hers. Talia whimpers helplessly as tears start to flow from her eyes. She watches as Windwalker's eyes turn white instantly.

"Bet you didn't know you could skip black and go straight to white," Windwalker tells her.

Talia shakes her head, "No.. I didn't."

"There's much you don't know," Windwalker cups her face in his large hands, "I have so much to share with you."

Except Talia doesn't want him to share anything with her. She jerks away from him angrily and runs. Only there's no place to run to, but she does manage to dodge him for a short time. Yet Windwalker manages to finally snatch her off her quick little feet and tosses her onto his bed. She tries to scamper back off the bed, but he catches her by her ankle and pulls her to him.

Windwalker ignores her pleas and protests as he rips her clothes off. Then he immobilizes her by biting into her shoulder, also marking her as his mate as he mounts her. Then Talia endures hours of Windwalker pounding himself into her. But he finally gets the result he wanted.

As he pushes Talia's body over the edge, she screams in pain as a pair of magnificent black wings explode from her back. She collapses face down on the bed, trembling. Her white eyes stare at nothing. Her untried wings stretched out to either side of her trembling.

Windwalker strokes her hair as he says softly, "There, there.. just rest for a few moments. It only hurts the first time. When I saw your white eyes, I knew you had two guardian forms. This is your second guardian form. We have kept this a secret for countless generations that some of us in Air have two guardian forms. But it's only a few of us. And there hasn't been a woman among us with a second guardian form for a few generations."

Talia's too exhausted to reply. Instead, she falls into a dead sleep. When she wakes up, she can't tell how long she's slept. There's no daylight or moonlight to give her a clue, just the dim light of the mirrored backed oil lamps on the two outer walls. The huge stone disc still sits blocking the exit. Windwalker is asleep beside her. He really is a beautiful man. But she's furious with him. His lightly tan skin, his platinum blond hair, his perfectly defined, if a little too on the bulky side for her taste, muscles, and his eyes the color of a clear blue sky when they're not white, are not softening her heart to him. He had no right to mark her as his mate when the mates she already has haven't agreed to share her with him. She's the most concerned with how Richy is going to react. He's her true-mate and more than a little possessive. Plus, he didn't want her to go on this trip in the first place. Of course, he had been worried about Night Crawlers, not anyone in Air.

Talia slowly and carefully slides out from under Windwalker's arm. She catches sight of herself in the full length mirrors mounted to the stone headboard. She quietly moves closer to her reflection. At least with her white eyes she can see her reflection even if it is a negative image. She touches her hair. There's something different about her hair. She still has retractable claws. She hasn't gotten taller like with her regular guardian form. Her ears are different, but not cattish, more elfish. And instead of her teeth being more feline or canine, they're more vampirish.

Talia spreads her wings wide. She didn't know it was possible to have more than one guardian form. She leans closer to the mirror to have a closer look at her sore, bitten shoulder. Windwalker bit her much harder and deeper than was necessary to just mark her as his mate. The bite is bruised and swollen.

"Beautiful," says Windwalker startling Talia. He gets her wrist before she can hop away from him, "Please," he implores, "Don't fight me anymore."

Talia hadn't fought him half as hard as she could have. She was too afraid of ending up like she did with Mantis or worse. She stops trying to pull away from him because she can't get away anyway. But she can't force the tenseness from her body.

"You must be parched," says Windwalker sliding off the bed. He puts fresh cool water in the ewer. Then he brings Talia a cup of water.

Talia drinks the cool soothing water straight down.

"More," asks Windwalker.

Talia nods and he refills the cup for her. She drains it again.

"Better," he asks.

Talia nods yes and hands him the cup. She doesn't take her eyes off of him. His white wings are folded against his broad back. He returns to the bed, climbing on next to her on his knees and facing the mirror with her.

"Spread them wide," request Windwalker.

Instead, Talia folds her arms and clamps her wings tightly to her back and looks away from him, "I'm not going to live here with you."

"I know," he responds sadly.

"And I'm not going to be trekking all this way to visit a mate I don't want," she informs him firmly.

Windwalker nods his understanding, "I will come to you." He gently touches the shoulder he bit, "I'm sorry I was so rough. I didn't mean to hurt you.. I've just waited a long time for a woman like you to walk into my life. I know the way I went about this is not proper. But I have to be your mate. I don't care if I have to share you with three other men or a hundred others. And I don't care that I'll have to come to you. It's a small price to pay to be mated to you."

Talia doesn't respond to him. She just stands there on her knees with her arms crossed over her swelling belly. He places a hand on her swelling belly. He hopes one day it will be swelling with his child. Then he licks the wound he inflicted on her shoulder. Talia wishes the licks weren't soothing to the bruised swollen bite, but they are. And to top it all off, he scent marked her too. She can only imagine how angry Richy is going to be when she gets home.

Windwalker's mouth moves from her wound to her neck as one of his hands cups a breast. Talia lets her arms fall to her sides and sighs defeatedly. There's no point in putting up a fight. She's not getting out of this room until he lets her out. So she lets him have his way with her. He showers with her, insisting on washing her hair for her. Then he coaches her on coming down from this guardian form.

Talia's not happy as she looks at herself in a mirror. Everything's basically back to normal, or as normal as it can get since Windwalker scent marked her and bit her to mark her as his mate. And her hair is different. There are now several platinum blond streaks in her hair. She wraps herself in a blanket because he ruined h-->>

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