Roughly eighteen hours after the carriage containing Aela, Farkas and Vilkas had left Whiterun, on the other side of the mountain where Ivarstead was situated, Sotek’s head broke through the surface of the river. After making sure Rikke was nowhere to be seen, he climbed out on the bank then quickly entered the old bear cave which he and Aela had cleared out for Temba, the wood miller some weeks before. As he had hoped, Sotek’s old camping gear was still there on an old ledge so he quickly went about setting it up while he waited for his ‘guest’.
A few hours later the Whiterun carriage arrived just outside Ivarstead. Bjorlam pulled the reins, brining his horse ‘Chestnut’ to a stop so Aela, Farkas and Vilkas could climb off the back of the wagon. Aela gloomily looked round for the wood miller. She found her at the mill easily enough but Temba was a bit surprised to see all three Companions. The Huntress’s gruff tone and attitude did little to help the frail nerves of the lumberjill.
“You have a bear problem but I don’t see no bears nor do I smell them”.
“Ermm sorry no; ermm yes. I ermm, oh”.
Aela slumped her shoulders then spoke to her comrades.
“I’m so not in the mood for this”.
She stepped towards the miller who looked confused but more so scared. Desperately she pointed across the bridge at the bear cave.
“Ermm bears in the usual place?”
Aela stood there with one hip sticking out and her hands fastened to her hips. All her weight was on one leg while the other just kept her balance. She started tapping her foot at Temba then she growled at the whole situation which was grating on her nerves.
“Fine! Whatever”.
Leaving the other’s standing there watching her back as she walked off, she turned to the cave where she had cleared the bears before.
“It’s probably one bear so I’ll meet you morons at the inn”. Then she walked across the bridge complaining bitterly to herself.
Temba breathed a sigh of relief as Aela went off, then she spoke to the two other Companions.
“That girl has a temper. I would guess she will be a while so don’t wait up for her”.
Farkas looked hard at her while Vilkas took hold of her shoulder, forcing her to look at him.
“Why? What’s going on?”
She shrugged back at him and calmly removed his hand.
“I don’t know but Sotek told me to say there were bears again”.
Both Farkas and Vilkas looked shocked. They exchanged glances with one another as they tried to work out what was going on.
“Sotek was here?”
“Yes, like I said he told me to say there were bears in the usual place”.
“Where?” Vilkas enquired.
“The bear cave over there”. She pointed to the cave which Aela was just about to enter.
Farkas laughed as everything made sense. He shoved his brother in the side and started to walk towards the inn.
“The crafty bastard, come on; booze time. She’ll be there all night”.
Legate Rikke was by now feeling extremely angry so much so that when the two Companions entered the inn, she didn’t realize they were there; at least not until they started speaking. She spun around and shouted; laying down the law at their feet.
“What the hell are you both doing here?”
Vilkas looked sternly at her and exploded in sarcasm.
“We are ordering a drink! Why? Is there some Imperial law saying we can’t?”
“No, but why here?” Rikke demanded. She left her chair and briskly walked over towards them while she tried to figure out what had actually happened. Drawing to an all too obvious conclusion, she ranted at them both. “He sent a message to her, didn’t he? Don’t bother denying it”.
Farkas looked on blankly while Vilkas snapped back at the Imperial woman.
“What? Who did? Damn it, we want a drink not bloody questions”.
Legate Rikke slammed her hand down on the table with an almighty bang. Vilkas turned away from her and stared hatefully into his flagon. Farkas however glanced across at Rikke with a look of disgust plastered upon him. His eyes lit up as he recognized Sotek’s axes and bow.
“What are you doing with them?”
“Sotek told me to keep hold of them so he wouldn’t go off”. Rikke stated forcefully, giving Vilkas reason to look back at her.
Vilkas prodded his brother and winked. He saw an opportunity to wind up the Imperial officer and he wasn’t prepared to let it pass by or be squandered. He falsely laughed as he pointed to Rikke’s feet, or rather the space on the floor beside her.
“And so where is he?”
“He went off”. The wind was ripped from her sails and she slumped down in an empty chair beside Vilkas. “What idiot goes off without his weapons?”
Farkas laughed at her hard and he gave her a reminder of who the Argonian was.
“Sotek doesn’t need weapons, not with what he’s hiding beneath those scales. If he needs weapons then he’ll summon them; swords, a bow, his familiar and as for that fire hound of his. ‘Aela’ he calls it. Now there’s a match. Aela and Aela both equal in ferocity. He certainly named that hound right. He’s killed a dragon you know; Scarface has killed dragons by himself”.
“Bullshit”. Rikke replied. She didn’t mean to say it but it slipped out before she could stop it.
Now it was Farkas’s turn to lash out. He slammed his hand down on the table so hard the flasks jumped up from the impact. He shouted straight at Rikke; inadvertently causing the other patrons to jump where they sat.
“Don’t call me a liar! You have no idea of the problems you and this bloody war have caused us but when Aela gets hold of you, you will”.
He was going to say more but the steady hand of Vilkas upon his arm quenched his temper. He sat in silence while Vilkas flagged down the innkeeper and ordered more drinks.
“Sorry about the disturbance; she’s leaving. Can we have two flasks of ale and two meals please”. He then placed several septims on the table top.
“Certainly, but you have a prepaid tab you know”. Wilhelm stated.
Farkas suddenly felt a lot happier although there was one burning question which he just had to ask.
“Really? How much?”
“Why three hundred”.
Farkas and Vilkas both grinned at each other before Vilkas leaned over to the innkeeper.
“How come?”
The innkeeper shrugged as he headed back to the counter where he pulled two flagons off a shelf. He began filling them from a barrel as he answered the Companion’s question.
“Sotek put a tab on the bar”.
Farkas burst out laughing and rapidly amended their order.
“In that case then we’ll have two hot meals, ten flasks and two of your maids over there by the fire”.
Legate Rikke gawped in disbelief at them then she hurriedly exited the inn to make her way back to camp. As the two Companions sat down and were joined by the maids, Vilkas looked over to Farkas and smirked.
“You know what that means don’t you?”
Farkas grinned as his expectations of that night dramatically climbed to new heights.
“Yes; we’re in for a good time and we’re going to get drunk”. As he spoke he fed the maid who was sitting on his lap a few grapes. “Very drunk, all four of us”.
Vilkas laughed as a maid pulled his face around so she could kiss him. When she broke away for breath, he nodded back at his brother.
“Well yes, but also Aela’s not coming out the cave until the morning”.
Farkas stopped kissing the maid and looked back at the doorway.
“Damn it your right! Innkeeper, how many rooms do you have spare?”
The innkeeper groaned as he looked at the state of the inn. It was all too plain to see the maids wouldn’t be helping that night so he set himself to work by clearing the tables.
“None; Sotek booked them both for you two”.
Both Vilkas and Farkas raised a flagon then Farkas gave Sotek a toast.
“To Sotek, the man. Ermm the lizard! May Aela not kill him instantly, but give him a good time”.
Vilkas laughed at the toast and slammed his flagon into the other Companion’s own tankard.
“Here, here”.
Meanwhile Aela entered the cave which she and Sotek had previously cleared from bears some weeks before. The moment she stepped inside she could smell something but it was no bear, instead it was the scent of someone she knew and was missing badly. She gasped lustfully as a gentle scaly hand reached out from the shadows and covered her eyes. Her heart was throbbing when she heard Sotek speak in a soft and loving whisper.
“Guess who?”
Aela turned around and threw her arms around him, gripping Sotek tightly in a vice. Mixed emotions coursed through her like wild rivers roaring along previously dry riverbeds.
“Hold me, just hold me”. Her eyes started watering from her emotions which she held for far too long.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been able to send word but Temba was my only chance…” His words fell to the wayside as the intoxicating scent of the She-wolf filled his nostrils. Everything from her smell, her hair which was rough and thrown about like long grass caught in a storm down to her dirt ridden skin. The three lines on her face started peeling where it had been so long from when she applied the paint. Everything about her screamed of a wild wolf; a wolf howling out to be tamed; to be dominated.
With a growl he pushed her down on one of the bedrolls. Aela fell to her hands and knees but she didn’t say anything; instead she growled at her mate and pulled at his waist, forcing him to join her where she lay. Between the two of them a game ensued; a game of supremacy as each one fought for dominance over the other mate. She forced him on his back and laid forceful kisses on his lips then he threw her off and grabbed an arm, making her lay on her front. He pushed his hips against her backside while he pulled back her hair, lifting her head up so he could kiss her while she tried everything to shake him off.
Over the next ten minutes the two Companions fought; each gaining an advantage to lose it moments later. The bedrolls were kicked about along with dust and equipment while they wrestled.
The ‘game’ came to an abrupt end when Aela finally faced defeat. Sotek was underneath her and he had forced her down on top of him with her back on his chest. Her breasts were held tightly in both his hands and he squeezed them, making her shriek while he bit at her neck. She tried everything to break free but he refused to let go. Even his legs were wrapped around hers, forcing them apart while his tail probed her crotch. She howled out as a wave of pleasure tore through her body.
Facing defeat and falling prey to him wasn’t an option. She wanted him to have his way with her but it had to be under her terms; at least on this occasion. Once she had regained an ounce of control from her own emotions, she grabbed him by the groin, calling the roughhousing to an abrupt stop.
The ‘puppy’ released her and moved albeit slowly on his knees, not daring to move unless he was specifically told to. She kissed him lovingly on the lips while she fixed a better grip on ‘Mr. Wolf’. Now Aela was the ‘alpha’ of the two, she lay down on her back and panted heavily like a bitch in heat. She let him go, releasing the Argonian’s groin but not before commanding him to lie beside her.
Both mates rested in each other’s arms as they caught their breath. Aela’s heart was pounding as was Sotek’s. Such a thing made her tingle all over and she craved for more.
“Oh by Hircine I love it when we’re like this. It’s so…”
“Wild?” Sotek said between breaths.
Aela nodded back and grinned.
“Yes. We haven’t even had sex yet…” She burst out laughing and clung on to Sotek’s torso.
After five minutes or so she relaxed her grip then managed to put some words together.
“Why didn’t you send word? You know I worry, why the hell didn’t you let me know how you were?”
Sotek sighed then he sat up and crossed his legs. He silently cursed, thinking such a conversation would kill the moment and dampen the sexual energy between them.
“Can we talk about this later? No… I guess not. The fact of the matter is this; I wasn’t allowed to in case the messages were intercepted. Rikke’s pushing to finish the rebellion; soon it will be over. Any message saying where we were or where we were going could be fatal; even the mention of moral would have dire consequences. What I was able to do though was to get the miller, Temba, to send a job request about bears to the Harbinger”.
Aela abruptly sat up. She seemed annoyed and agitated; giving Sotek more reason to believe he was right in thinking they were done for the night.
“Why? What does that do?”
The Argonian gave up on the night of wild uninhibited sex but he certainly wasn’t going to lose the time they had arguing. He gave a chuckle and kissed Aela on the forehead while he lovingly hugged her.
“Who deals with bear problems?”
“I do, you know that!!” Aela snapped. She initially looked angry but then she stopped as the words played in her head. Realism dawned on her, giving the Huntress a reason to grin. “I do, you know that! You knew the Harbinger would send me!!”
“And here we are”. As Sotek said it he gave her a tight squeeze.
“Farkas and Vilkas are here though. They are at the inn”. Aela cried out. She stared at the entrance of the cave, half expecting the two brothers to appear at any moment. “They will come here”.
“No they won’t”. Sotek stated. He caused Aela’s eye brows to rise up from the confidence in which he had. “I expected the Harbinger to send one of them with you. Ok, both are a bit of a surprise but no matter; they won’t come here my She-wolf”.
“How can you be so sure?”
“I set up a tab. They have three hundred gold to go through and two maids”.
Aela laughed for the first time in a week. She pushed Sotek down on his back then lay beside him. Gazing at the fire, she rested there in his arms.
“I’ve been a right bitch to that lot this last week. Don’t go off again, please don’t”.
“Ok, I promise. Now, what have you been doing?”
Aela told him all about her week and that she and the others went hunting as werewolves. She told him that they couldn’t feed or rather they wouldn’t which seemed to anger her. She told him about her temper and the faces the others pulled when she snapped at them. They both laughed loudly when she even told him about the guard she had pushed in the water.
“Then I had a go at her for swimming”. She said as she smiled.
Upon hearing this, Sotek laughed even louder.
“And she stayed in the barracks? Oh Aela what am I going to do with you?”
“Hopefully you would do what you haven’t done all week”. She purred as she wickedly grinned back at him.
“And what is that?” As Sotek asked he had a big dirty smirk on his face.
“What do you think?” Aela whispered as she rolled on her back. Her legs began wrapping around his waist as she pulled him on top of her.
Comments
As for noise complaints....