Lost Bloodline 3 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Waking up in a bed was still a new experience in this world for Koda. Given how much he’d been on the move in the last few days, it was certainly a change from what he had grown used to believing to be ‘normal.’

He’d honestly gotten used to the thin padding of the bedrolls and sleeping in a pile with Sienna and then later Arthene. Calandra was something he was still getting used to, but was sure that he’d acclimate to her presence quickly given how hard the dwarven woman was working to coexist with him and the girls.

I wonder if it really just because we treat her like she’s capable and she got tired of dealing with people looking down on her in Amberpost? Koda thought as the early morning light leaked through the windows to illuminate his room. The light glimmered off his lovers’ hair and smooth skin alternately as they lay in a pile with limbs scattered around at random.

“Why is it that she always sleeps like that?” Sienna asked quietly in his ear, alerting Koda that she was awake and breaking him away from his thoughts.

“Hmm? I mean Arthene likes to cuddle,” Koda said in a lightly teasing voice, rolling his eyes to where the big woman lay on his right with an arm draped over them both and drooling lightly on the pillow only inches from Koda’s face as she slept hard.

He’d put Arthene through her paces the night before while the other two watched in amusement while he ‘balanced the scales’ of affection with his lovers before carefully washing all three of them in the spring. Afterwards, the effects of the spring had healed their injuries; something that was still astonishing to Calandra as she’d watched it happen and had to dig out Koda’s stitches from healthy skin before sending him back in.

Sienna growled playfully in his ear, nipping his lobe before snuggling into her spot again. She’d captured his left arm and was wrapped around it, tucking her head into his shoulder. Koda felt the soft tips of her pointed ears flicking against his cheek as she got settled in.

“You know I was meaning Cal,” Sienna grumbled and darted her eyes down to indicate the dwarven woman.

“Of course I did, but if I stopped teasing you then you’d think I didn’t love you as much, Sienna,” Koda replied before kissing his love on forehead and getting a happy coo from her, before following her gaze down to Calandra.

The only reason he could see her was because the bedding had been thrown back in the night due to excessive body heat. Arthene was like a furnace and, despite sleeping nude, didn’t really need the blankets and neither would anyone within about five feet of her.

Calandra had taken after Arthene in that she slept nude, the curvy dwarf completely comfortable in her own skin. Her mass of brown hair free from its trio of braids acted as a dense cape to cover her muscled back and thick bottom, but Koda could still feel her breasts pressed into the inside of his right thigh as she hugged his leg in her sleep. She was using his upper thigh as a pillow, and currently had her head wedged into his bare hip, facing towards Arthene’s tummy thankfully.

If she wasn’t, then little Koda would be even more alert than he normally is in the mornings, Koda thought wryly. He could feel Calandra’s breath gusting over his thigh and knew that having it on his crotch instead would be all that he needed to be reminded of their previous intimacies.

“Seriously though, why does she sleep like that?” Sienna asked, running her fingers over Koda’s bare chest before arching her back and snuggling in closer to him.

“Warm maybe?” Koda said and Sienna snorted derisively.

“I’m not even next to the hotbox of our mate and I don’t really need the blanket for more than the first bit of the night,” Sienna shot back.

“Maybe she feels left out not getting to cuddle an arm?” Koda said, turning his left arm in Sienna’s grip and tickling her tummy and the top of her thighs with his fingertips, making the wolf woman wriggle and her tail begin to beat against the bed.

“It’s so you can’t sneak off to have fun without me,” Calandra murmured sleepily, rolling over onto her back and stretching all four limbs out in different directions with a yawn.

This had the added effect of putting her lush body on display fully, and Koda couldn’t help but appreciate the woman’s curves where they rose up from her body. While Arthene and Sienna were both fit and muscled with the strength to live in the wild, Calandra had some muscle from her training as a guard but was softer around the middle and across her thighs and bottom from an easier life in town. It provided a wonderful contrast in Koda’s mind.

“We’d never do that, Cal,” Sienna chastised with a smile, unwrapping one hand from Koda’s arm to finger-comb through the dwarf’s thick locks.

“You might not, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the big one tries to kidnap him for a bit of fun on occasion,” Calandra said sleepily and groaned contentedly while Sienna stroked through her thick hair.

“You might be surprised,” Koda said with a quiet chuckle.

“Might be, but I’d rather get my turn in, lover. You are an attentive one and I find I can’t quite get enough of you.”

Calandra finished her roll, moving carefully to not dislodge Sienna’s hand. Her olive eyes glimmered and she gave him a sleepy smile in the dim morning light as she came face-to-crotch with his morning wood. Being surrounded by three beautiful and naked women had that effect on Koda regardless of the situation.

“Hmm… speaking of my turn,” Calandra sighed happily and began to lightly kiss up his thigh. “I’ll take care of this for you. Sienna, will you help get my braids set later now that my hair is dry?”

“Sure, Cal. I’d be happy to help with both your morning tasks,” Sienna replied, her tone throaty as well.

As Calandra bent forward and fastened her lips around him, Sienna used her hand in the smaller woman’s hair to pull her down to take him deeper into her throat. Koda didn’t know what quirk it was of dwarven biology that allowed his lover to deepthroat him so easily, but he wouldn’t question it.

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It was far closer to noon than it was dawn by the time Koda finally made his way down from the large main bedroom. Calandra had taken him part way there with her mouth before riding him to completion. Sienna had taken a turn next, being far more energetic than the dwarven woman and finally waking up Arthene, who’d managed to sleep through their fun that far.

Arthene had been grumpy for all of four seconds before she realized what they’d been doing to wake her, and then the big woman had demanded her own turn with her mate.

“Just grateful that Cal made a run to the well for water. But if all I have to complain about here is a lack of plumbing then it’s worth it,” Koda muttered while straightening his tunic.

A savory and sweet smell combined with the faint scent of woodsmoke drew him into the dining area of the ground floor, where a sanded plank table sat with eight chairs around it. He fought back a yawn while following his nose.

“Plumbing? I assume that is something from your time before?” Kris’ question was unexpected and made Koda jump as he’d not seen her sitting at one of the chairs with a steaming mug in front of her.

“Ah, Headwoman. Yeah, it was something common back where I was from. They had rigged up supplies of fresh, clean water to come into your home so it was easier to get it to everyone who needed it. It was a service you paid for, as the city made sure the water was clean, but it was a very reasonable cost,” Koda answered, straightening his clothes again while trying to be subtle about it.

The aged feline beastfolk just smiled up at him, taking a long sip from her mug before speaking.

“Don’t worry, Aegisclaw. I was young with a lover once too, so I know what it is like. Though you do seem to be blessed by the goddess. Or cursed depending on how you look at the number of women who wish to share your bed.”

“Given that I can hear at least two people in the kitchen and at least one of them has good hearing, I’m going to call it a blessing. My hips might argue, but they’ll either toughen up or break rather than give up,” Koda answered as smoothly as he could.

His words were followed by laughter coming from the open door to the kitchen and Sienna stuck her head out a moment later.

“Smart move, love. But you know if we are being too hard on you, just tell us? I’d hate to be the one to hurt you,” she said, blowing him a kiss.

“Fuck that! I’d be proud as hell if I managed to crack that bastard’s pelvis given what he does to me,” Calandra shouted from inside the kitchen, which made Sienna blush and Kris laugh heartily.

“Have a seat at the table, Koda. I’ll bring some breakfast out to you. All we have on hand is the long-lasting stuff like grains and dried food. I’ll be stocking the pantry up today with some of the coin we brought back.”

Koda nodded in understanding but strode over to his lover first for a kiss, which turned into two or three before Calandra interrupted for her own attention. The dwarven woman had her hair back in a dense ponytail for now, though Koda saw her brushes on the counter waiting for when Sienna could help her tame it back down into the braids she normally wore.

Taking a seat at the head of the table where Sienna pointed him, Koda had barely settled into the chair before Calandra bustled back with a steaming mug of something for him. She claimed another kiss by dragging him down to her height before hurrying back into the kitchen once more.

“You seem to engender affection in everyone around you,” Kris teased him, the older woman’s cat ears twitching in amusement.

“Is that your way of asking for a morning kiss too?” Koda replied sardonically, making the gray-haired woman snort into her tea.

“Not me, but maybe my granddaughter. Hannah could use a strong hand to support her when the time comes for me to pass over my position to her. She’s a bit prickly, but you would know that from traveling with her,” Kris answered once she’d wiped the tea off her face.

Koda played for time by taking a sip of his own tea. It was a herbal blend of peppermint and something else he didn’t recognize, but it was hot and helped center him.

Given all three of my women wanted to ride me to the finish line this morning, I’m not surprised that I’m fully awake already, Koda thought sardonically as he savored the drink.

“I won’t reject anyone out of hand if they can coexist with my other… Wives? Mates? Whatever the hell our happy little family is. But I’m not one for arranged marriages. If Hannah is interested, she’ll need to be the one to approach us,” Koda said after another moment of thought.

Kris smiled so wide her eyes crinkled up and her wrinkles deepened. Clearly, his answer had pleased the older woman.

“Understood, Champion. I’ll relay your words to my Hannah. I don’t know if this is the direction her heart is guiding her or not, but I’d be a fool to not broach the subject at least and put it in your head, what with how fast your family is expanding.”

“Did she just call us fat? I swear she called us fat.” Koda heard Calandra ask Sienna from the other room and snorted in amusement. Rather than let that hang in the air, Koda decided to change subjects.

“So, what brings you to visit, Headwoman? I’d be happy to help you with anything that is needed,” Koda said earnestly and got a warm smile from the older woman.

“I just wanted to hear from you, in a calmer setting, the specifics of what happened while you were out. While I’m glad that the Crooked are gone, we need to be aware of the direction the wind is blowing so we can plan.”

Before Koda could begin his story, a loud clumping of footsteps preceded Arthene’s appearance. He was reminded of the first time he’d seen the large bear-featured woman. It’d been in this house even, and she’d been hiding out of sight to give Thera time to introduce her.

But she was wearing more clothes back then, Koda thought with a sigh as Arthene appeared at the bottom of the stairs with only her skirt on. Each step sent a delightful ripple through her full breasts, and she paused only for a moment to sniff the air and turn to angle towards the table. Koda saw that she had her top in one hand, but made no attempt to cover herself up.

“Good morning to you, Headwoman. Don’t mind me,” Arthene rumbled, skirting the table to claim a kiss from Koda that ended up with his head sandwiched between her soft mountains in a fashion that he really couldn’t complain about in the slightest.

Only when she’d finished soundly kissing Koda and released him from the plush prison of her bosom did she begin wrapping her top around herself and finish dressing.

“No problems, Lady Deepclaw,” Kris said with a polite nod, pointedly ignoring the other woman’s blatantly sexual actions with the ease of someone used to oddness.

Or maybe it’s the fact that Arthene is basically a goddess to them, Koda thought as the big woman slumped into a chair next to him and kept fiddling with her top, making her breasts shake. I’ve never really seen her as that though, just as Arthene. I respect her, but I don’t revere her. I wonder if she prefers one way or the other?

As if she could hear his internal monologue, Arthene glanced up and caught his eye on her. She smiled and pointedly smooshed her boobs together in his direction playfully.

Yeah, I think she prefers me as I am, Koda thought with a grin.

Calandra and Sienna came out of the kitchen with a large copper pot full of a thick oatmeal that smelled of fruit and honey along with a stack of wooden bowls. Sienna was quick to dole out food to everyone present, even the headwoman.

Once they were seated with food and hot tea, Koda began to relate to Kris everything that had happened since they left the village over a week previously. At her urging, he included all the items that were discussed in passing the previous night as well. How they had gone out into the plains, found the small camp that was maintaining the portal and wrecked it. Pursuing the reinforcements and cutting them down. Aiding Amberpost in breaking the siege and invasion. Helping the outlying farmers. Evacuating the captives. And the final climactic battle with the Crooked warleader and the group of his champions that had cut them off. Koda included a brief overview of them hiding using Sienna’s magic to avoid being seen by the baron’s men and then the quick race back to town. The only part he didn’t mention was the different conversations they had with Calandra as the dwarven woman made her interest clear and burrowed her way into their relationship.

“Quite the list of achievements. If it was anyone else, I would expect you to be able to say your adventures were finished and you could settle down to raise a posse of children,” Kris said at the end, her expression pensive. She’d ate while they talked, complementing Sienna on the food and her thoughtful attention as a hostess.

“Yeah, that isn’t going to happen,” Koda said with a laugh. He’d been able to eat while the girls took turns adding their information to the story, so now he just sipped at his tea which was still flavorful despite being cold.

Gonna miss coffee, but it’s like the running water indoors. If that is what I have to sacrifice to have a loving family, then I’ll accept it, Koda thought wistfully before focusing back on their conversation.

“What makes you say that?” Calandra asked from her seat beside Arthene. The dwarven woman was working her way through another serving of breakfast with a contented look on her face. It was clear to Koda that, despite only having come ‘home’ here the previous day, Calandra was already settling in and finding herself comfortable.

“Yes, my mate. What makes you say that?” Arthene rumbled, hiking one eyebrow at him thoughtfully.

“Oh, don’t tease him you two,” Sienna interjected before he could speak. “We all know that there is no way that he’ll be able to simply rest easily. Our Koda is too driven, and you know that the Beast Queen will have more tasks for him.”

“If I didn’t take a cue like that, I’d be a failure,” chuckled a familiar voice from behind Koda. He didn’t react, having felt the attention of the goddess growing from the place within him where his totemic equipment resided.

Thera stepped around Koda, melting out of his shadow to stand at his right side between him and Kris. The headwoman’s eyes widened and she quickly fought to rise and bow at the same time, only stopping when Thera held out a hand to halt her.

“Be at peace, my child. While I appreciate your deference, I cannot dwell here long. My power grows slowly, but steadily thanks to my champion’s efforts.” Thera rested her left hand on Koda’s shoulder and he felt a jolt as her bare skin touched him.

The sensation wasn’t the sharp shock of static electricity, more like a steady thrum of touching a drum skin when you couldn’t hear it sounding. A resonating echo that reached deep into him and rebounded inside those shadowed recesses of his being.

“My Lady, how are you doing?” Arthene asked respectfully.

The only time she’s deferential is to Thera, Koda thought wryly as he studied his normally gregarious mate.

“I am recovering, but it will take either a great deal of time or effort to restore me to what I once was, daughter.”

“Any clues on what I can do to help?” Koda asked, studying the goddess’ profile as she stood beside him.

He didn’t want to move too much, as the sensation of her hand on his shoulder was both comforting and oddly reassuring to him. Like someone had combined the loving feeling he got when his mates cuddled up with him with the sensation of a parent’s hug.

Thera’s long, curly black mane bounced as she turned her glimmering silver eyes onto Koda. The faint silhouette of pointed fox ears flicked above her mane before shifting and fading into rounded bear ears like Arthene bore. A fluffy tail flicked behind her back as she smiled down at him.

“You already are doing much for me, Koda Aegisclaw. I have to thank you for your hard work and reassurances.” The way Thera said ‘reassurances’ sent a thrill down Koda’s spine. He remembered days before, just after his first time with Calandra, he’d dreamed of comforting the worrying goddess inside an ethereal realm as she fretted over whether a close friend of hers would forgive Thera for letting the worlds believe her dead.

“All part of the service,” Koda replied flippantly, appreciating her thanks but not wanting to delve into it to spare the goddess any potential damage to her reputation. Something that he saw she appreciated from how her eyes shone wetly for a moment and her hand tightened on his shoulder.

“I have to second my mate’s question, Pack Lady,” Sienna interjected and drew Koda’s attention to the rest of the table. He immediately had to smother a laugh.

Calandra was staring at Thera with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open. The dwarven woman’s spoon hung halfway to her mouth and was dripping the oatmeal on it back into her bowl as she stared in awe at the manifested goddess in front of her.

Sienna continued though, either not noticing the other woman’s surprise or just ignoring it.

“What can we do to help you further? I know that any of the Ivory Spear would ask the same. You have done everything you could to help us, sent us Koda in our time of need. Now, with his help, we can begin restoring your strength. What do you need from us?”

Sienna’s earnest tone clearly reached Thera and the goddess’ smile softened further. That or the happy bouncing of Sienna’s tail behind her did, Koda wasn’t sure.

“Continue as you have. Live and follow your hearts. Your instincts guide you and the more of my people that allow themselves to be true in that fashion, the stronger I will become. The more sites of power that my champion can claim will help me as well,” Thera answered after a moment of thought and Sienna nodded rapidly, her tail speeding up until it was a veritable blur behind her.

“That we can do.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Koda said quietly and then glanced up when he felt the goddess’ eyes turn to him. The sensation was as if someone had just opened a window and the warm light of the sun had just fallen on him. “Not trying to sound ungrateful or anything, but is there any chance I can get something protective?” Koda held up his right hand and with a flex of his soul, the totemic gauntlet slid into place over his limb. “These are rather… close range weapons and I got the shit kicked out of me by that warleader the other day.”

“I saw that,” Thera said with a wicked smile that lent her an air of savage beauty. “I approve. Every time you end another of the Crooked’s champions or their empowered kind, you claw back another hunk of power they stole from me.”

“Really? A claw pun?” Koda groaned and Thera’s grin deepened while her sleek eyebrows rose in innocence.

Apparently, his irreverence was enough to finally shock Calandra out of her stupor and the dwarven woman threw her spoon down into her bowl with a clatter before pointing at Thera.

“You?! Wha? Who…” The rest of Calandra’s sentence trailed off into a series of statements shouted in dwarven that Koda assumed was profanity. Calandra’s face began to turn red as she slowly ran out of air during her rant.

Thera’s grip on his shoulder tightened and Koda acted without thinking. He dismissed the gauntlet on his right arm and instead wrapped the limb around Thera’s hips from behind to give her a comforting hug.

That action got a wide-eyed stare from three of the four other occupants of the table and Calandra abruptly went silent. Thera leaned into his touch but didn’t say anything for a long moment.

“I wish to apologize to you, daughter of the mountains and howling winds,” Thera said quietly. “I know words fail to convey how much I wish I could have reached out to your progenitor, but at the time I had no idea who I could trust and was afraid. And that fear grew into resignation as years passed by.”

“But?” Calandra asked when Thera paused and the silence drew out. The tone of the dwarven woman’s voice was that of a lost child, hoping for an adult to help them and it tugged at Koda’s heart. Thankfully, his Arthene acted for him and wrapped one arm around the dwarven woman to comfort her as well.

“But that will change. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but I will reach out to my sister once more. I know she mourns, but I have to be able to protect my people from those who would take advantage of my weakened state. The fewer mouths that could speak my secret, the better. For now,” Thera answered and her words seemed to reassure the stunned and lost dwarven woman.

“Then I need to get cracking on finding and claiming some more sites then,” Koda asserted. “The sooner you can get back in touch with Chandra, the better for both you and my mate.” He gave the goddess another half-hug about the waist before releasing her, finally realizing just how familiar he was acting with a divine being.

Thera frowned at him for a moment and he wasn’t entirely sure why. Before he could ask about it, Arthene spoke up from her spot giving a slightly teary Calandra cuddles as the dwarven woman smiled at him in thanks for his commitment.

“My Lady, we reclaimed the majority of my previous skeleton and I wanted to ask if you could use some of it to help bless my mate? I was also concerned with his lack of protection during the fights.” Arthene’s words brought them back onto Koda’s previous request before Calandra had snapped.

“That would make things easier. I was hoping to grant you something soon, my champion. Using the bones would allow me to fashion something far sooner. Which did you want to offer to me, daughter?”

“The skull specifically,” Arthene said with a smile to the goddess before dropping her gaze down to Koda. “It’s the strongest of my bones, and my mate bore it with ease on the walk up here. It would only be too proper to give him head. My head specifically.”

“Wait, was that why you asked me to carry it?” Koda demanded, his brow wrinkling in annoyance for a moment before Arthene’s giggle scattered any irritation. It was hard to hang onto his anger with how joyful the noise was.

“To prove you were strong enough to handle the weight with ease and to forge a connection between an ancient artifact of power that my lady could exploit to protect you?” Arthene asked after she got her giggles under control. She tried the same regal eyebrow-raise that Thera had done but failed catastrophically as her giggles kept leaking out.

Koda opened his mouth to protest and then just sighed, letting his lips flap in the gesture and making a rude noise that got him a glare from Calandra and a smothered giggle from Sienna.

“Give me a few days to craft it,” Thera said decisively with a nod. “But that is not why I am here.”

Koda felt her hand tighten on his shoulder once more and he felt another pulse of energy pass from the goddess into him. He turned his attention to Thera and waited.

“You were wise to avoid being seen by the baron’s local forces. Goldheart’s champions and an inquisitor ride with them, and they will be coming this way in the next few days.”