The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

Driveal began enjoying his meal as he explained, “It has been almost ten years since the last Master reached the age of maturity and selected his first matrons. This meant that over four years, five matrons were selected, and it will be another eight years before such an opportunity presents itself. However, you appear and immediately, you will be selecting four to six matrons, depending on which rumor you listen to, and likely have far more to come. Most masters, myself included, desire matrons our age or younger, however we aren’t even sure how old you are. You appear to be at least five hundred years of age, which means that you could potentially select any number of maidens who have already given up on the privilege of bearing children as your matrons.”

That made sense to me. The rekindling of hope was a powerful thing.

“So, four to six?” I noted, latching onto that detail.

Driveal finished a sip of the drink, and nodded. “Sources of both numbers insist that they have reliable information.”

I let that simmer in my head.

“I think when the Elders initially reached out, they were expecting up to twenty maidens to apply, and having most recently chosen a new matron I have had the opportunity to get to know some few maidens who likely will be presenting themselves, but from what I hear, you may have well over one hundred maidens casting the dice for a chance to bear your children.” Driveal continued.

I snapped up, “A hundred?”

“At least. From what I hear.” Driveal confirmed.

“Oh, God…. how am I supposed to choose?” I moaned, dropping my face into my hands. I fucking hated dating and this was sounding like freaking speed dating with marriage at the end of the event… to multiple women.

Driveal laughed, “Well, in some ways, you are lucky. I would hardly say there is a ‘wrong’ choice when it comes to matrons.”

I looked at him in confusion.

He took a drink and chose his words carefully.

“You are aware that males among all the elven races are… few in number, correct?” He pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s why multiple she-elves become matrons to every male.” I verified.

“Yes, well that has led to a lack of… diversity among our peoples.” Driveal explained, “Many masters must be careful to only select matrons as distantly related to them as possible. Sort of like how when breeding hunting hawks, horses or other animals, you must be careful not to inbred your animals. You have no such restrictions. You will bring great diversity to the next generations of elves.”This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.

I squirmed. I could see what he meant, but it didn’t make my job easier.

“What if the matrons don’t like each other?” I worried.

Driveal chuckled, “I have never heard of two matrons who could not settle their differences. I have once heard of a master bringing two matrons before the council, for causing discord in the master’s house, but the threat of having their matron status revoked brought them quickly in line. Most of the time, however, once the bonding is complete, any group of she-elves find enough to unify them.”

“Bonding?” I questioned.

“Do you not bond with your mates where you come from?” Driveal retorted, raising his left hand and showing me, on his ring finger, where on my world a wedding ring would reside, what appeared to be a moving, ring-like, golden tattoo residing.

“I have to get a tattoo?” I groaned. I couldn’t help but think of all the grunts at boot camp with six different girls’ names tattooed on them… then changed to try and hide them once the girl cheated on them or moved on.

Driveal cocked his head to the side, “What is a tattoo?”

I explained to him about the needles and inks. Which made his face pale.

“Oh, no! By the five heavens…. forgive me for saying it, but we would never engage in such barbaric behavior.” Driveal shuttered. “No, the process of forming this mark is purely magical, connecting the paths of positive energy of each soul. The bound energy manifests where the skin is thinnest on the Archonian meridian.”

I blinked, “I admit I didn’t understand a good chunk of that explanation but would love to learn some time.”

Driveal grinned, “However did the magical studies of your homeland progress without such basic concepts being taught to your youth?”

I sighed, explaining this was getting old. “There is no magic where I come. All we had we accomplished with science and engineering.”

Driveal’s face froze in shock, his eyes wide and mouth partially ajar, “But then… how do you… oh, and that would mean…. Oh some many QUESTIONS!?” He blurted before catching himself. “Forgive me. Again, we are not here for me to ask you questions but for me to answer your questions.”

I chuckled, “I’ll have to make visits with you a regular occurrence so you can get your questions answered and I can learn of your magic.”

Driveal was ecstatic, “You have yourself a bargain.”

And I extended my hand without thinking and he clasped it in a handshake. At least some things seemed to be the same between our two worlds.

“Being unfamiliar with magic, the nature of a bonding ceremony would be unfamiliar to you. Let me prepare you for what is entailed.” Driveal noted thoughtfully. “Come closer.”

I scooted forward, and Driveal held out his hand to show me the sigil on his finger. It was strange, a golden ink-like substance that rested on top of his skin, and would look painted on if parts of it were not moving, gliding over his skin.

“As a master, you can see a distinct line for each of my matrons. Sanmthathir’s here is more angular and gem-like, Narivna’s is this meandering line with the wave motif, Halidrear is this line that branches and merges making patterns, Abanith is this one with leaves, Zephrina is the one that flows into poetic phrases, and last but not least Jakuryn is the one that has the thorns and flowers.” I could barely pick out the separate lines as they wove together and intermingled, but each could indeed be seen. The lines seemed to rotate and dance among themselves, spinning slowly around the finger.

“Narivna, could you come here for a moment and show Thomas your bonding sigil?” Driveal called to his matron.

The pleasant matron returned from the kitchen and held out her left hand. Her mark was more simple, with a line denoting the top and bottom and a single curling and sliding, with a motif of stars and clouds.

“Each master has a unique mark his matrons bear.” He explained, “And the more matrons a master has in his care, the more ornate his mark on the sigils of his matrons. Thank you, Narivna, you may return to whatever you were doing.”

The matron happily patted the back of the child in her sling and returned to the kitchen.

“The sigils will appear automatically once the bonding is complete. The process is fairly simple, and requires only a single drop of blood from you, and each maiden becoming your matron. The blood is drawn from a pin prick on your finger, which should heal quickly enough. The blood from all participants is then raised into a single droplet, and the incarnation of binding is then changed by the officiating priestess of the Enlightened Hosts… that is the name for the household of the elven gods. Once the incantation is complete you will be bound to your matrons and they will be bound to you, and the sigils will appear on your hand and the hands of your matrons.” Driveal explained. “For maidens you select after your initial binding, blood will only be required from your new maidens and instead of supplying blood you will hold the hand with your sigil of bonding up to the droplet formed by the blood of your new maidens.”

It seemed a little strange, but I guess if that was how the magic worked, who was I to question it?

“Once bound, you have several advantages. You can open your emotions to those bound to you, so that you may feel the emotions of your matrons and that they may feel your emotions. You can also concentrate on any of your matrons and determine what direction they are from you and roughly how far away they are. That will probably be far more useful for you than it is for me.” Driveal explained, “You will be able to feel each bond and just as their mark in your bond will feel unique.”

“So that’s everything to know about the bonding?” I verified and Driveal nodded. “So, most matrons can make it work and get along, and I haven’t had a chance to get to know the maidens, so how am I supposed to pick my matrons?”

Driveal sighed, “It is regrettable that you haven’t had time to get to know the maidens, that is the greatest way to learn about the different maidens, so while it may be shallow, for this first round, the only real option you have at this point is to choose the maidens most pleasing to your eyes.”

Simple, choose the hottest or cutest maidens, I could do that.

“Anything else I should know?” I asked Master Driveal.

He sat back, “Well, I do not know how it is with the females where you come from, but beware, the first time you… make love… to your matrons, it will be a painful experience for them. There will be bliss as well, but the pain is real.”