The Broken Ember Tribe had been traveling for the past days to the highlands from the Mo'Mey Steppes that they had settled in during the summer. The Mo'Mey Steppes had bountiful amounts of prey for her tribe and cooler weather than many other places. It was a tradition for them to stay there during the summer and go elsewhere during the other seasons. This time, a small group had diverted from the rest of the tribe for an arranged marriage. Her arraigned marriage. They traveled in their wolf forms for the majority of the way then shifted to their more human forms at the last half. Broken Ember was famous for its successful hunters as well as their plentiful numbers. They had to fight fiercely to feed everybody and were adapt at hunting in multiple environments. Even in the barren of deserts, they were determined to find food. It was this survival instinct that allowed them to survive. 

However, they needed warriors on their side. Warriors who didn't rely just on numbers and allies who were reliable. That is the reason her father arranged a marriage with the Lunar Sun's tyrant. Two of her childhood friends helped pin up her curly hair. Two pins were jabbed into her hair to keep the white veil from falling out for the rest of the journey. Meanwhile a few tribesmen set up a circular bed-like platform that was to be carried by four tribesmen. After putting two more earrings in, she carefully sat down in the center of the platform, trying to keep her expression cool. 

The marriage hadn't been her idea but she wasn't completely against it. However she wasn't one to just let things happen to her. Before the marriage was even officially decided on, she scoured her tribe and others for any information on this man. He was a tyrant who scared even the fiercest warriors of the tribe. A man who would destroy all in his path without mercy. A man who was reckless and wild. The beast of Lunar Sun. To prepare herself for such a person, she had gathered all the books and scrolls that described on how to deal with anger management and how to deal with the anger in others. She couldn't fix him or change him, she wasn't that foolish. Her hopes were to at least be able to tolerate her new husband and focus on getting important shit done. Iona wasn't the type to waste time. 

Her father would have married her off anyway. She'd rather have somebody with a nice pack of abs and some muscle power than a fat old man with an empty brain. Even if he was a raging lunatic, she could learn how to handle that and reap the benefits of that fine muscular body he surely had. The cherry on top was the added bonus of being married to a famous man in a powerful tribe. It wasn't ideal nor was it perfect but it was what she was going to get. She carefully balanced herself as the circular platform was lifted onto the shoulders of four strong men. They walked until they found the endless tents and barrage of noise coming from the tribespeople. Her father, the chief, a fit man with black curly hair wearing loose red summer furs stood in front of the group as they entered the tribe camp.  

Jet had always feared the day his time would come. His usefulness to the tribe was limitless and he strived to make sure he brought honor to the role he would hold. His hair housed a few more war braids than normal as his father made sure he was presentable. “Who knows what they have heard.”

Jet made a face at the man. He stood at the same height as the lead warrior. Six foot four. The only difference was how they were built. The way his father’s face was much older. Thanks to his mother’s blood he looked pretty no matter how many war braids were in his hair. He had sea-blue eyes like his father but his mother's fiery locks. “Who knows. I hope the chief knows what he is doing…”

Chief Backe and his son were nearby. They had recommended Jet since the tribe was looking for warriors. Their lead warrior as the partner for their offering. This was purely political and Jet was agonizing over it but his mother had given her blessing. Whatever the hell that meant.

The four men headed into the large red tent that would be their meeting place. Jet heard the commotion and he looked that way. “I hate this…” The words left his lips and his father slapped his shoulder hard.

“Just be glad Hana isn’t home.”

“Thank fuck for that,” Jet rolled his eyes and went inside the tent. There was a small feast laid out in front of them as they sat down on comfortable floor mats.

Once the Broken Ember leaders were inside they all stood and bowed before all but the chief sat. “We welcome you to our home. We hope that this union will be fruitful for both of us. From us: we offer the future lead warrior Jet.” He motioned to the redhead who nodded but his blue eyes were on the woman. “His father is next to him. He is Trygve. His mother is a saint and gave birth to Jet as good tidings. You will not find her in our tribe.”

Jet could feel anxiety welling up inside of him as he nervously kept watching the door.

“Steady your nerves boy,” Trygve looked at his son. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

“…You know better than to say things like that.” Jet mumbled.

The chief let Trygve calm his son down. "Jet is among the best of our warriors in his age group. He is exceptional and loyal. You will find him to be level-headed as well."

They finally arrived at the tent and her father gave them the usual greetings before entering. With some help from her attending friends, she managed to step off the carried platform and enter the tent as well, taking a seat directly next to her father and chief. Her eyes immediately scanned the room for her future husband, expecting some sort of giant man with an already furious face.

But she found none. Instead the chief motioned to the redhead with blue eyes. Iona focused to hide her slightly confused look and tried to look as calm as possible. She wasn't expecting somebody so….attractive. Horrible scars, giant height, muscles, and maybe even a lost hand. Yet she couldn't allow herself to think of him positively just yet. He was still a wild beast and a tyrant. A rose looked beautiful until you prick your finger on its thorns. 

"Thank you for such a grand welcome." Chief Magnar responded politely before gesturing to Iona, "The Broken Ember tribes offer Iona Ravin. An accomplished sorceress, hunter, and tactician. And my daughter. Next to her is her brother Kylan Ravin." 

Iona bit down on her tongue to prevent herself from criticizing her father's dramatic presentation. Her green eyes glanced over to the man once more, trying to get a read on him. What was his disposition? He mumbled something too low for her to hear and seemed…. worried? That was the best she could get from his expression. At the very most he seemed somewhat irritated. 

"So you're the beast then?" Kylan blurted out. 

"Kylan watch your tongue." Iona harshly said to him in a low voice.

"What? We're all wondering about it." Her brother said gesturing to the rest of the tribe, "We all want to see this famous tyrant." 

Iona wished she was allowed to shove one of the fruits down his throat to shut him up. The Chief didn't say anything, likely to indirectly confirm these rumors without looking foolish himself. Sometimes she wondered if she was the only one in her family with any tact. 

Every man from the Lunar Sun started to choke immediately when the beast was brought up. “Him? The beast?” The chief’s son spoke up as he pointed at Jet. “I’m sor–”

There was a commotion outside as Wesley ran in he was out of breath. “I tried to stop her but she’s mad. She ran all the way here when she found out. She’s on the outskirts of the tribe right no–” There was screaming as a blonde wolf came in and shifted to the short woman.

“JET,” the screech left her lips as she threw one of the guards. Trygve got up and tried to restrain her but effortlessly Hana threw him on top of the ground. “YOU SON OF A BITCH.”

“Hana! HANA WAIT,” Jet was trying to stumble to get up. His eyes went to his fiance. This was bad. He was going to look bad. “Hana let’s think rationa–”

“FUCK YOU,” Hana roared as the naked half lycanthrope tackled her brother down and started to land a barrage of punches to his face. Every time Jet tried to get the upper hand Hana was able to subdue him.

“HEY BITCH WHISPERER COME GET YOUR BITCH OFF OF ME!” Jet yelled as he stopped struggling and focused on defending his face. If there was one thing he learned from Hana was picking his fights.

“…That’s the beast.” The chief’s son said lowly from the safe side of the room. “The number one warrior in the Lunar Sun.”

Wesley looked at Jet pitifully as another hit slammed into Jet's face. But he then called Hana a bitch. He simply leaned against one of the chairs and watched as his beautiful girlfriend beat the shit out of Jet. He didn't mind being called a bitch whisperer but he did mind when Jet called her a bitch directly. Besides, Hana was in a super angry mode. Wesley knew that taking off his shirt wouldn't pull her out of a rage that quickly. 

Meanwhile Iona's jaw dropped as she saw the half naked woman throw one of the guards and beat the shit out of her fiancé. She had no idea why this woman had ran into the tent and started beating the shit out of him. Was she his ex or a scorned lover? That was the only reason she could think of why a half naked woman would do this. If so, good on her. The rest of the tribe had backed into a safe corner away from the girl and Jet, clearly terrified. The chief's son lowly told them that this was the number one warrior in the Lunar Sun. Iona believed it too. From the corner of her eye she saw her father start to stand up to protest to this beating but Iona quickly shoved him down into his seat. 

"If she's not afraid to attack him then she'll certainly have no fear attacking you." Iona whispered to him. 

Her foolish brother Kylan stood up with a cocky smile on his face and strode over to Hana and Jet. 

"Would you two stop with your lover's quarrel already?" He said with a confident voice, "Jet is going to marry my sister. Not you miss… Its sad but true." 

Iona didn't know the situation any better than Kylan but she knew going up and saying that to an angry woman was a death sentence. 

"Sorry father." She said with a slight smirk, "It seems I'll be an only child soon." 

It was the first thing she didn't say in a half whisper. The pressing need to seem proper and self-controlled fell away the minute the powerful woman stepped into the room. 

“Huh?” Hana stopped mid punch as her bi-colored eyes moved to Kylan. “Want to run that by me again?”


She got up and started to crack her knuckles. “HANA, think of the tribe! Surely, you can forgive Kylan for his words,” the chief tried to calm her down.

“If a man can open his fucking mouth then a man can take a god damn beating,” Hana said it lowly. “But I guess since he is going to be my brother-in-law I’ll spare him today.”

Trygve let out a sigh of relief as he got up, “So you calmed down.”

“Fuck no,” Hana roared but Wesley was quick to put a light dress over his tiny girlfriend. “…” She looked up at Wesley. “You are lucky you are cute.”

“Allow me to introduce Jet’s twin sister Hana,” the chief waved his hand to Hana who put her hands on her hips proudly. “This is Hana’s mate Wesley.”

“Fuck Hana…” Jet seemed a bit stunned from the blows from Hana gave him her hand and pulled him up.

“You’ve taken worse. If you are gonna cry like a bitch I could always call Ma.”

“No, I’m fine,” Jet was now relaxing his muscles and already the bruises from Hana were healing. “Did you have to hit so fucking hard?”

“Yeah, a lesson.”

“Lesson?” Jet quirked an eyebrow.

“Why is it everyone knows about this but me?” She looked at Wesley. “YOU DIDN’T KNOW DID YOU?!”

“No, he didn’t. Figured you would break him if we told him,” Jet replied coolly.

“Ma should have swallowed you,” Hana pointed at Jet.

“Again. We are twins. If she swallowed me she would have swallowed you.”

“AGAIN, I am the sparkle of Pa’s eye.”

“Can we not discuss the private affair of your mother and I?”

“Why not you fucked in front of everyone,” Hana glared in her pa’s direction and Trygve shrunk back a bit.

“Okay, okay. Can we get back to the political merriment?” The chief’s son asked before Hana punched him in the face.

“Fuck you and your political merriment. The last time you said the words political merriment you dropped ‘Hana we’re getting married’ and I had to kick your ass from here to Mo’Mey Steppes.” Hana came over to the table and fell on an extra pillow. “We can sit and discuss my brother now.”

“Hana…” Jet was embarrassed.

“What? Too much of a pussy to do it in front of me?”

“Not that. Did you run all the way from Sularia to here?”

Her father looked over, “Hana that’s dangerous.”

“I ain’t gonna die from no pussy ass desert. I’m fine.” Fine, she said as she drank down a few glasses of water now that she was relaxed. “So, you a virgin?” She looked at Iona.

“HANA,” Jet yelled. “CAN YOU AT LEAST RESPECT HER IF YOU AREN’T GOING TO RESPECT ME?”

“I don’t respect anyone,” Hana cleaned her ear. “Maybe Wesley.”

“MOTHER,” Jet yelled.

Angela came in with a puff of magic. Her hair was in a bun, her lab coat was on, and she was reading a report. “How can I help my gorgeous son to– Hana?” The woman’s green eyes met Hana’s bicolored eyes. “I don’t want to be a part of this.”

“Make her leave.”

“Listen, I am a worker of miracles but that is one miracle I can’t do. What happened to your face?” Angela came over and applied some magic. “Can you stop hitting your brother in his face? I told you below the neck.”

“Whatever.”

“Hana, leave your brother’s marriage to your brother.”

“How do I know he has the balls to be a husband?”

“If you let him have balls he would actually use them,” Angela commented. “Anyways, this is a circus and I am a busy person.”

“You should have swallowed Je–” Angela smacked Hana upside the head with her notes giving a loud smack.

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR,” Hana roared up.

“How you ever got such a nice boy like Wesley is beyond me. Shut up. Behave. Or I will make you shut up and behave.” Angela threat made Hana purse her lips and fold her arms like a spoiled child.

“Thank you Angela,” Trygve finally let out a held back sigh.

“Finally…” Jet collapsed back on his seat. “I’m so… sorry Iona,”

Hana went to open her mouth.

“AH,” Angela warned as she smacked Hana upside the head again. Hana pouted harder this time. “Okay, I’m watching but I have to leave I have a meeting with some doctors from Mamlak. Which means I’m very, very close.” The voice was enough to make Hana shrink down.

“Thanks, Ma,” Jet gave her a kiss as she leaned down and Angela disappeared. “Can we please get on with this?” Hana was mocking him silently from her seat. "Hana comes home once in a blue moon and when we have tribal wars." He made sure they knew that his wayward sister wasn't much trouble. Hana's face was actually turning red as she tried to withold her smart-ass comments.

Her brother Kylan realized the danger when Hana turned her eyes to him. The fact that he was a future brother-in-law was the only thing that saved him. He quickly retreated to his chair and kept his mouth shut. Wesley appeared to be the only one safe from the woman's wrath. The chief finally introduced Hana and her mate, which would make gossip back at the Broken Ember camp much easier to spread. Iona smiled lightly at the thought of her friends telling the story to everybody she knew once everything had been settled. She looked over to Jet, partially relieved that permanent damage wasn't done. That would be her future husband's face after all. There was no need to damage it. Hana blurted out about how her parents fucked in front of everyone then punched the chief's son. 

Iona was partially relieved that Hana was a girl and had a mate, else she may have been arranged to marry that temper. After drinking some water, Hana turned her attention to the bride to be and asked if she was a virgin. Iona's eyes were wide with surprise and she was half-tempted to answer Hana, if Jet hadn't shouted she may have made a joke about it. She did appreciate his words about respect, even if she already knew the plead wouldn't do much. Jet summoned his mother. A gorgeous woman came in with a puff of magic and realized what was going on when she saw Hana. 

By the time Angela finished handling the situation, it felt like the contract was years behind them. The outbursts, explicit information, and everyone's reaction made it clear this was Hana's normal activities. At the very least it was entertaining for Iona who had dreaded the dull discussion between chiefs over marriage contracts. She could follow along and understand everything perfectly fine but it did get dull when her father did all the talking for her. 

Her father was still unable to speak after all of the commotion. She knew that he'd have to have a little bit of time to regain his composure. 

"It is wonderful to meet you miss Hana." Iona responded taking control of the conversation away from her father, "As for the marriage contract, we have devised a small list of requirements for everyone to sign. It will ensure both persons' safety during the marriage." 

Her words on the subject were to the point and highly political as if she had been a chieftan in some other life. The contract itself held the standard requirements of a marriage, simply of two people being married together. But there were a few small additions. 

-Neither party could verbally or physically abuse one another.
-If the either parties desires a second lover, they must first as the spouse's permission and consent for it. 
-Contraception will not be allowed unless both parties have verbally consented to it.

These three requirements were usually honor bound and usually not spoken aloud. It was expected but usually not put into writing. Iona had agreed to an arranged marriage as long as these three rules were implemented for both parties in the marriage. She knew that a marriage was inevitable in her situation so she was determined that it would be safe for both herself and whomever she married. This was her true minimum requirements for a husband. 

"Yes." Her father said, finally regaining his wits, "And we can discuss the alliance related to the marriage soon. We simply need to know if the contract is acceptable with the additional conditions." 

Jet was going to take the marriage contract to look it over when Hana stole it. It didn’t look like she behaved for very long when their mother was out of the picture. “Uh huh. Yeah. Yup,” Hana pushed it forward and Jet snatched it.

“Give me that.”

“Jet will be a fine husband for these rules. He’s too much of a pussy to be abusive physical or otherwise-”

“HANA.”

“He’s not got enough balls or brains to handle two women so you’ll be the only one-”

“HANA STOP.”

“AND,” she looked at her brother. “like he could prevent pregnancy if he wanted to. Ma, after all, loves grandchildren. He wouldn’t want to soil her name as the Mother… Would he?”

“You know Ma doesn’t care.”

Hana huffed a bit and laughed, “Yeah, she says that but you know how nosy she is.” Jet grumbled a bit.

“ANYWAYS, the contract is fair and I’m fine with it.” Jet had a blush lightly and looked away from Hana.

“I don’t know she is too pretty for you,” Hana wiggled a bit. “I think you need an orcish wife.”

“Hana,” Jet slapped her upside her head.

“OI, DO YOU LOOK LIKE MA?” Hana rubbed her head and pouted. “Fine! I YIELD!” She threw her hands up. “So when do we party?”

“…” Jet sighed a bit and nodded up to his father and the chief.

“Welcome party when? Need to leave Jet to getting to know his little lover bunny,” Hana was making a kissy face at Jet.

“Be respectful please… You weren’t raised as an animal.”

“Oh no, but I was trained alongside Auntie Toya and you know how wild she is…” Hana grinned.

“Yeah, a one-woman army that most men piss themselves being near… How could I forget.” Jet rolled his eyes. “I can show you around the camp if you want.” Jet looked towards Iona. “Unlike this one, I am responsible and trustworthy.”

“OI, I’m trustworthy. DO I NOT GO INTO BATTLE WITH YOU?!”

“About the only reliability you have~” Jet took a pot shot at his sister. “The rest of the time you are either fucking, drunk, or trying to pick fights.”

“I would be mad but this is fairly accurate,” Hana shrugged.

Hana quickly took up the marriage contract and scanned it as if she was Jet's lawyer. Only in this case, she was sending out reassurances at the expense of Jet's pride. It was a wonder if Jet had any pride left over after growing up with his sister. Iona wondered if she would ever end up meeting this mysterious aunt Toya, who apparently was the cause of Jet's unique sister. Her fiancé offered to show her around camp, claiming to be more responsible than his sister. Hana had issue with that statement and another argument between them broke out. Iona had a feeling if she didn't stop this now then she would have to sit through more arguments. 

"Alright." She said bringing herself to her feet, "So far I've only had the chance to meet your powerful sister. Please, impress me." 

Iona first looked over to her father and handed him some notes she made for him previously as a reference for political arrangements between the tribes. Giving him a pat on the back, she turned and saw her brother Kylan. She placed her hands on his shoulder and gave him a pretty little smile. 

"My dear brother. I know this will be difficult," Iona said in a sweet voice, "But pretend you have a brain and keep yourself out of trouble. And if you die, try to do it where you wont inconvenience anyone." 

Kylan opened his mouth to protest her words but she had already turned away from him. Now that her family had been dealt with, she could have that tour. Iona was relatively eager to see the camp but she was more interested in Jet. He wasn't the beast, so what kind of person was he? His interactions with his sister only revealed how he behaved with her. When they were out of the tent, she tilted her head back and felt the light wind on her face. 

"So, do you have any secret lovers?" She asked, "Or were you truly single for this arrangement?"

It was important to find out about them now rather than later. Iona was prepared for any dramatic reveal of a bastard child or a secret engagement or anything that would come as a surprise for anyone else. Then again, reality was very different from those dramatic stories she heard from her aunt. 

"I'll do my best but I suppose it will be a surprise when I find out how much it will take to impress you." Jet said it smoothly and with a cheeky smile but his sister was making gagging noises. "Shut up Short Stack."

Hana made a face but a vine came up and smacked her upside her head. "OI!" Hana started to cross her arms and mutter to herself. "Stupid ma and her stupid eyes in the back of her fuckin–" The vine smacked her again. "OI, I AM ALLOWED TO BITCH!" Hana yelled it at seemingly nothing but it was clear Angela was watching.

Jet walked out with Iona and watched as Hana dragged poor Wes off for who knew what. Once she asked her question he choked at first as he had been caught off guard. "No secret lovers. I had a fairly overwhelming childhood and teenage years… Watching Hana, learning the courts of Sularia, the education my ma had us learn, and the training with Pa. I had a crush on a childhood friend but the law is the law. She wasn't lycanthrope so…" He shrugged it off. "She's happy that's good enough for me. I also used to help watch my siblings. My mother has a lot and they are almost every bit of a handful as Hana is but for different reasons." He smirked a bit. "You'll meet them all I suppose. They will get curious and want us to travel north to Sularia."

He looked around a bit before taking her on a tour. "You have our medical tents, our war tents, and our common area. The big tent over there is where they make all the food. The smoke you see off in that direction is Gareth, he makes all our weapons and such. The medical section is small but that's only because of the blessing Ma put on the tribe. Consider us like a contract between her and my pa. Though if you ask me." There was a mischievous glimmer in her eyes.

"I think Pa broke the law and covered it up by asking Ma for a blessing. There wasn't any way a tribe would refuse what she was offering. A child and they get protection. I heard they met in a tavern and so their story never really added up. They are really good friends now but Pa won't get married so…. I put two and two together that it has to do with her. He's content anyways but she's always reminding him to do stuff. They've always been that way since we were kids." He figured opening up was the best way to go about things with Iona. "Ma does what she wants though. She couldn't be confined to one lover but recently she got married to my ex step father, they had a fall out, and now I got a new one. She's wild kind of like nature itself if that makes sense."

Once he was done reminiscing he looked around a bit, "You'll find a fight pit up there. Hana goes there a lot to de-stress as she calls it. The common grounds where the living quarters are is divided up by color and tent size. We will have a reasonable sized tent, orange in color. Kinda like the sun in an eclipse."

"Anything that catches your interests or questions? This place is pretty bare compared to Sularia. When we go there I can show you everything. Sularia is overwhelming the first time… Both because of the city itself and her people. I think you might like the lavender fields. They are relaxing."