44. The Cave

Sona hit her back against the door and slid down it, hand covering her face; she swore her palm burned with the blush heating her cheeks. She felt like an idiot, being teased—brazenly and uncalled-for—by someone several years younger than her.
“Get ahold of yourself, Sona,” she hissed at herself, rising to her feet and pushing flyaways out of her face. “You’re not some shy, sex-addled adolescent succumbing to some big, sauntering male. You’re not drawn to him just because he flaunts himself in front of you as bait to get what he wants. You’re not going to give into your own sexual—”
She halted in the center of the room and closed her eyes, gritting her teeth. “I’m going to stop there.”
“No,” said a familiar voice, “please, continue. You’re spot-on.”
Sona whirled around. “Taos.”
Said big, sauntering male was indeed stalking toward her. She hadn’t heard him come in. He was shirtless, wearing few bone adornments, though his wicked grin felt like a piece of jewelry that he wore proudly. “I’m glad we’ve become more familiar to use birth names.”
“What are you doing here?” she asked, redirecting the conversation that could get very suggestive very fast. 
“Coming to retrieve you, of course. Now, what did my devious sister say to make you so flustered?”
Sona narrowed her eyes. “Why do I feel like you already know?”
Taos winked and offered his arm. “Because I do. Shall we?” 
“What’s for dinner?” she asked, reluctantly hooking her arm through his. 
“Oh, we’re not going to dinner.”
A trill went through her—what caused it, she didn’t want to elaborate. “But I’m hungry,” she said in a weak attempt at resistance. “You don’t want me to faint again.”
“A feast is waiting *after*. Trust me.”
“I don’t yet.”
“There’s that lovely *yet* word.” Taos sniffed dramatically. “It gives me so much hope.”
Sona rolled her eyes, fighting a smile as they exited the shop and started down the street. She could feel his gaze on her like it was tangible; she tried to frown. “Stop watching me.”
“It’s hard not to.”
“Where are you taking me?”
“You’ll see when we get there. Down here,” he instructed, guiding her between two buildings. “So. Are you ready for Moon Run next week?”
Her breath caught. Next week was not just Moon Run, not just the week Arden would make love to Cerise Redbone and join her harem, renouncing his birthright, not just her former mate’s wedding to the killer of the Alpha and Luna, but…but her own wedding. And that night, she would consummate it. 
She would have to make love to Taos Redbone. And then she would be a Luna.
“No,” she said, looking straight ahead. 
Evening was passing and they left the lonely town behind into its outskirts, a field of low grasses cut through by the wide dirt path that they followed until they entered the forest on the other side. Sona heard a stream in the distance, nocturnal creatures humming and chirping and crunching leaves and sticks. But the path wound on until a wall of rock rose above them. A little to the left, a wall of hanging vines that looked too staged to be natural.
Taos unlinked his arm and pulled the vines aside like a curtain, gesturing inside a dark cave mouth. “After you, trinket.”
“You want me to walk blindly underground.”
“Yes.”
“You’re making it hard to earn my trust.”
“How you respond to this surprise will gain my trust in you.”
The cryptic implication made Sona wary and oddly curious. Trust between them would be crucial in all things from now on. 
She sighed. “Alright.”
Sona padded into the void slowly. Who knew what waited for her in the darkness. She heard and sensed Taos following close behind, his heartbeat steady—truthful. He even caught her hand when she slipped on the smooth, damp ground as it sloped down. Were they heading *underground*?
It wasn’t long before she saw a spot of flickering torchlight; the end of a tunnel. Stepping out of it, what yawned ahead took her breath away.
“Moon goddess above,” she whispered.
The torchlight wasn’t needed to light the underground cavern. The near-black rock ceiling soared high above, stalactites spearing down, some long enough to reach the still water that was as blue as a turquoise jewel. It normally wouldn’t be that color if not for the thousands and thousands of glowing blue orbs all around them.
Taos’ arm looped around her hips, watching her gaze in wonder at the phenomenon. “Glowworms.”
The little lights shimmered like odd little stars. In all of her years of gathering plants, Sona had come across plenty of insects and even used a few to treat certain ailments. But never ones that glowed in the dark.
“They give off their own…?” She didn’t finish her sentence because Taos left and came back; in his hand was one of the stars. She peered closely at it—a wriggling bug whose back end was indeed giving off its own faint blue-white glow. “Yes, they do.”
Taos set it on the ground where it hurriedly skittered away. “This is where the trust comes in,” he said quietly, as if afraid to disrupt the silence. The only sounds were echoes of dripping water and occasional click-clack of falling stones. “This is a place known only to the ruling Redbone pairs.”
Sona was so awestruck that she didn’t have a filter for her words. “Not too well hidden.”
He snorted a laugh. “Hidden just enough. Every Alpha brings his to-be Luna here as a test and a gift. This cave is sacred. If it’s discovered by another wolf, even if they’re Redbone, it is considered a violation of trust, faith, and”—he cleared his throat as if embarrassed—“love because that wolf’s presence means that the Luna broke the vow and betrayed her mate. The greatest kind of pain.”
Sona knew exactly what the pain of betrayal felt like.
She turned to him, tilting her chin up, watching the reflection of the water dance on his face, glinting in his dark eyes. He looked ethereal. Her throat went dry. Trust was a weighty word. What it truly asked of someone…immeasurable. 
“This is new for you,” she said softly.
Taos’ lips quirked. “Asking and receiving trust is rare in Redbone, yes.”
“Earning it is even harder.”
He nodded once. “For me to trust an outsider and you…”
“To trust the heir of a pack known only for violence,” she finished.
“I think we can work it out, don’t you?”
A weighty sentence. Sona looked down at the hand he outstretched for her to take. She hesitated for only a moment because it both ask and received trust. She felt the little scars and nicks but they didn’t bother her. 
Taos led her to the edge of the pool, where they sat beside each other, folding their pantlegs high enough to not get wet. Sona dipped her toes in the water; it was lukewarm. She couldn’t help the smile that made her feel like a pup discovering something new and sweet.
“So,” Sona wondered, swinging her feet to create ripples, “does this place have a name?”
Completely serious, he said, “Glowworm cave.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I doubt that.”
“Your instincts are admirable, trinket.” Taos looked around at the marvel of light and shadow, and for the first time, Sona saw a different side of the coy bastard. This one was contemplative, unguarded. She should sense its genuinity, but also knew it could be an act to disarm her. “You would think my ancestors would come up with a name that suited our lifestyle and culture, something sinister, but no.” He sighed heavily. “It’s just the cave.”
“Not ‘Cave of Trust’ or ‘Cave of Promises’?” Sona asked. “Not even ‘Don’t Betray Me Cave’?”
Taos through his head back and laughed—silently. He really did care about this place. “Humor suits you, trinket.” Then, without warning, he slipped into the water without barely a splash. His head emerging, he lightly splashed her. “Come in, Mistress Mai.”
*We’re still wearing clothes, so what was the harm*? Sona thought hesitantly. She slipped in up to her shoulders, treading the calm water, ignoring the fact that she didn’t know how deep the pool was or what lurked in its depths. “Alright, we’re in a bath, now—”
Sona clapped her hand over her mouth to stop her yelp of surprise when Taos scooped her up by her ass with his arms and she had no choice but to lock her legs around his waist.
“Now,” the Alpha growled, “I plan to make *you* a promise.”