Children of the Moon 04 - Dragon's Moon

him. But it would give his people claim to the gifts of another powerful Chrechte to rely on for their well-being.
    Yes, even without the insistent cravings of his beasts, Eirik would have had to consider taking Ciara as his mate.
    The fact his alternate natures were so enthralled by her only made the probability that their mating would be a true one more tantalizing and real.
    Ciara came down to the beach finally, a frown settled on her sweet features, clearly agitated by something. She greeted Mairi and Lais, but was distracted.
    He glared at Artair, taking it as his due when the Balmoral soldier flinched and lost his color. “What did you say to Ciara?”
    “Me?” Artair asked with a squeak.
    Suddenly Gart was there, standing between him and Artair. While Eirik appreciated the loyalty, the other warrior would not stop Eirik from finding out what had upset his mate.
    “Stand aside. Artair will answer me.”
    The slightly smaller soldier pushed his friend to the sideand met Eirik’s gaze, his own speculative. “She is not well pleased with God’s plans for her future, I think.”
    “She told you she is a seer?” Eirik demanded, suddenly understanding Ciara’s fury when they had first arrived and she’d discovered the Balmoral soldiers knew of his dragon.
    “What? No.” Artair’s expression turned thoughtful. “Mayhap that explains some of her concern about taking a mate though.”
    Outrage swelled inside Eirik and he felt the partial change taking over his hands again. “You talked to my faolán about mating her?” The dragon was too close to the surface for Eirik’s voice to come out with anything but a growl.
    “You want to mate the Sinclair femwolf?” Gart demanded, apparently oblivious to the threat of Eirik’s dragon, his attention fixed entirely on Artair, and his own tone laced with fury.
    “You have both gone mad to even ask me that,” Artair said with a growl of his own. He scowled, flinching only slightly at the sight of Eirik’s hands, but his gaze quickly locked hostilely with Eirik’s. “If you want to know why she’s frowning, ask her.”
    Then Artair turned to his fellow soldier, no diminishment in his anger whatsoever. “As for you, get this through your thick head. I am not going to mate your sister. Ever.”
    Gart stumbled back a step. “But we were to be brothers.”
    “I don’t want to be your brother.” The pain and fury in Artair’s voice was difficult to hear.
    However, Gart’s hurt at the other warrior’s words was so great and so obvious, Eirik could not help pitying him as well. And finally, Eirik thought he understood what Artair and Ciara had been talking about in the hut.
    The two men were sacred mates, but clearly Gart had blinded himself to this truth, and he could not understand why his best friend would refuse to be his brother.
    Eirik had had enough of this ridiculousness and he’d only been witness to it for a short time. No doubt their laird and Artair himself were heartily sick of the Chrechte soldier’s willful refusal to see the truth.
    Eirik gave Gart a good clout on the back of the head,knocking the Balmoral guard to his knees. “A Chrechte cannot mate his brother, you idiot.”
    “Mate?” Gart shook his head, though Eirik doubted his blow had knocked the man’s brain loose.
    ’Twas more likely that single word he was trying to dislodge. Gart looked up at Artair, who was staring at him with an expression Eirik was determined to see on his little femwolf’s features in the very near future.
    “You want to be my mate?” Gart asked.
    “I don’t know.” Artair did not appear to be teasing; he seemed to have some serious doubts on the topic. “Stupidity is not an attractive feature in a mate, but you seem to have more than your fair share.”
    Gart surged to his feet and grabbed Artair by his upper arms, shaking him. “Do not get on your high horse right now. Just answer my question.”
    “Yes.” Though Artair wasn’t looking all that pleased by the prospect.
    “But you’re my brother.”
    This time when Artair flinched, Eirik did not enjoy seeing it quite so much. “I am not.”
    “You are my best friend.”
    “Yes.”
    “And have been for the whole of our lives.”
    Artair nodded. “What better person to take as a mate?”
    “I dreamed of children.”
    This time there was no flinch, just the scent of sadness. “I cannot give them to you.”
    “I know.” Gart dropped his hands from the other soldier and stepped back,