He is Ghost

Awkward

"Hold still," Lana snapped, "or it will come out uneven."

Neira frowned. "Lana, it's fine." She tried to swat her hand away but the woman's grip was like iron.

"Nonsense. I'll fix it."

Mostly she was just uncomfortable. The scent of what Shade and her had done coated Lana's bedroom and if that wasn't enough, the guilt that had washed over her after was almost painful. It made her angry. He wasn't even here and it wasn't like they were even together but the shame she felt now was... Well it wasn't something she enjoyed feeling. It grated against her forehead, filled her throat with an emotion that she wasn't sure she deserved. 

Thankfully Lana hadn't said anything about the scent of wolf hormones all over her bedroom.

Neira pouted at Lana in the mirror, her arms crossed tightly over her towel covered chest. Shade had stepped out to use the other bathroom right after River had finished screaming about his eyes bleeding. She guessed that was fair considering his normal preferences being dick and all. 

And Neira had been spread out like a lady buffet. 

"So," Lana said, not so convincingly, "who are these wolves that came with you?"

Neira sighed through her nose. "River and Shade."

"And is one of them your chosen mate?" Lana's implication wasn't missed. Lana and Victor knew who Neira was, who her mother truly was and they knew that Neira, like her mother, would have a true mate. Not just a partner selected by one another, but a gift. That's what Lana was looking for, dirt. 

The true mate was supposed to be the best choice possible in order to carry on a royal blood line to its highest potential. It was normally epic. She'd grown up on stories of it, kings and queens and their consorts and all the splendour. It was only stories through. Neira has grown up on canned food and frost bite instead of magic and castles. 

"Lana," Neira warned, catching her gaze in the mirror. This was a stupid conversation to be having with Lana anyways. She was the one who suggested that Neira might not have a true mate at all when she disappeared all those years ago. Neira should have been born with white snowy hair and pale northern skin considering that the royal bloodline had never not shown those traits. The only thing of the north that Neira had were her eyes and they just looked creepy with the darker skin and hair. 

Lana had suggested that the goddess was changing our paths, pulling away from the old rule. If she didn't look like the north queen why would she receive the same gifts as her. 

Neira still couldn't deny that. 

The shewolf rolled her eyes. "Fine. But where are they from? The dark skinned male has a heavy accent I'm not familiar with."

It made sense that Lana's attention would snag on River. His rich colouring was something different among the wolves on this side of the world. He was beautiful, and strong and everything a female could possible want. And Neira knew exactly what Lana was fishing for. 

"River is not into females," Neira said with a small wicked smile. She knew Lana intended to fine a suitable and strong male for her daughter, May. She wasn't a submissive by any means. Her blood line was a strong one, she couldn't just settle for anyone. Females were already rare and Neira knew Lana would find the best she could. Even more so considering that Lana's father have served in her mothers council. He, like his father before, had been some of the many assassinated in those years. Her own mother was only a decade into her life when things started to fall apart. 

Lana went bright red. "That's-"

Neira cut her off with a wave of her hand. "I know exactly what you are up to," she said, that smile still on her face. "But Shade's pack has another wolf that might interest you. Maybe two."

Lana scrunched up her face. "You're too smart for your own good you know."

Neira rolled her eyes. "No, you are just predictable."

"What about the other wolf?" Lana asked, beginning to trim a new section of hair.

"Shade?" Neira asked. "What about him?"

"Where is he from?"

"What is this 20 questions?" Neira said, trying to sound like she was playing around and not avoiding the truth.

She was saved by River anyways. "Loca," he said, popping his head around the corner. "There is food." His dark eye brows wiggled, the scar on his face making the movement jerky. 

She squirmed under Lana's grip.

"Hold still," she snapped. "I'm almost finished!"

Neira waited not very patiently, River hovering while he waited and as soon as Lana released her, she was gone. River beat her out the door but Neira tripped him at the corner in order to take the lead. He cursed at her.

Just as she dove out the front door, River's arms went under her legs and lifted her over his shoulder. She let out a noise that only made herself laugh harder. "You are too slow, loca." His accent made the words sound devilish. 

"Put me down!" She laughed. He did, right into a chair around a fire. He took the chair beside her to the left. "No man handling." She poked a finger at him. That was when she noticed the blazing barbeque and pasta salad on a table. Her stomach growled. 

"You know," River started bending to put his elbows on his knees. "Your hair does look way better. If only your attitude would improve that easily." 

Neira roller her eyes, ready to snap back a retort when across the camp Shade stepped out of the main cabin following on Lana's heels. They were in some kind of light hearted conversation when his gave collided with her own. For a second that feeling in her throat of guilt vanished and when it was back she tore her eyes from his own. 

"The couch pulls out," May said shrugging. She hovered in the doorway, her blonde hair up in a high pony. She stayed away from Shade and River, the hulking males lingering at Neira's back. 

"Its perfect, May," Neira said, pressing her cheek to the other females and with that and a muttered 'goodbye' May left and closed the door behind her. 

The three of them looked around for a moment. "I'll take the couch," River said, with a sigh as he began to pull out the bed that was the couch. 

Neira glanced at Shade. "I can sleep on the smaller couch," she said, and Shades face scrunched up. 

"No," he said, "you take the bed. I'm going to sleep in wolf anyways." 

A thread of awkward stitched between them. River was already naked and climbing under a lone blanket that was his sofa couch. With the weeks they had been together in the woods traveling, Neira had become accustomed to River's frequent nudity. Seeing his junk while eating breakfast stopped startling her a lone time ago. 

Shade and herself were not on the same level. Neither one of the males had seen her naked, well maybe Shade now. She was always careful, her back like a brand. They both would be able to read it in an instant. She had yet to decide if she cared. 

She also made it her mission to keep her eyes off Shade. Water always filled her mouth at the sight of his honey coloured skin. That alone made her scared enough to keep her eyeballs off of him. 

Neira gabbed for River's discarded shirt and slipped it on behind the little privacy screen to change. It hung off her like a dress. She was used to it at this point. She pulled back the sheets and crawled under the covers before pulling them up to her chin. 

Shade was already standing on four legs, his massive head shaking out his fur. He moved wearily in the small cabin, like her knew his size didn't work well with the furniture. Slowly he made his way over to the bed as River began to snore, taking one quick leap up onto the bed and curling up on the end. His body warmed her feet. 

"Good night," she said into the darkness. His only answer was laying his head down onto her ankle.