There was a burning rage inside of Jet or he would have given her a smirk. His heritage was special and no one knocked his heritage. Just like he wouldn’t knock who came from what tribe. No one spoke badly about his mother.

After the fight Jet gave Iona a tender smile, “Maybe if you are good I’ll let you keep the next one.” His face went to her face as they kissed. Jet tilted his head as he hugged her and wondered what the hug was for but snuggled in anyways. She smelled good to him even after the few days of bad travel.

“Again, this reminds me why they say happy wife, happy life. I would really hate for you to put me in a hole,” he pointed at himself. “I like to believe I’ve been a very, very good husband.” Jet greeted her father easily enough. He figured there wouldn’t be any more trouble after that little show.

“Should.. I thank the gods for your parents not getting along?” He tilted his head. “I wouldn’t have you otherwise. I don’t think…” He thought about it. “I was busy. I never noticed anyone. Getting married was just another task I was given… but I am glad. Because of that task, I have you and I’m not so tunnel-visioned anymore.” They sounded harsh but he was goal-oriented and Iona was sure to have heard that around the Lunar Sun.

“Come on… I need to get you plump. God forbid Ma gets anymore pushy about grandchildren,” Jet joked as he poked her belly. “I keep telling her it will happen when it happens. She keeps threatening she’ll make it happen. Woman loves her grandchildren that’s for sure.” Jet got her some food and even pushed one of the smaller males, who tried to take food that Jet had his eyes on for Iona, out of the way. “Women should always eat first.” His eyes bore into the small warrior before giving the plate to Iona. “Eat up.” Jet had gone hunting every day of travel and always made sure Iona ate first. It was how Trygve had raised him. Honor your woman and she'll take care of you maybe even forgive you when you fuck up.

"Honestly it would be weird if they got along." Iona confessed, "They're not just like night and day. They're like…. my father's like a little rabbit and my mother is the hawk. Their very natures go against each other." 

She didn't mind his goal-oriented behavior. At first it would have been confusing but as she got to know him more she began to understand the way he thinks and the meaning behind his words. Besides, she felt the same way about the marriage at first. For her it was an opportunity to escape other suitors and a chance to help her tribe at the same time. Her motives were originally selfish and in way still were. She loves him now and will stay with him forever but she cannot deny that the original plan had more material gain than anything pure. 

"Ah! Over half of our tribe is clamoring for grandchildren." She laughed, "You'd think we had enough people around!"

She dug into the food like a hungry lioness. Her greatest weakness and the easiest way to her heart was her stomach. If she ever took the time to think about it, she would have realized Jet's clever strategy of using food to keep her happy and in nagging moments when she needed to be distracted. After she was done, she gave back the plates and cleaned up her face. She had dropped cleanly eating months ago, unless she was in the company of somebody uptight. Suddenly, two of her old friends came to greet her and also ask for her help. 

"Your old items from the tent are still there." Her first friend admitted. 

"Didn't I tell father to sell it?' She asked before shaking her head, "Nostalgic old father." 

Iona then noticed her father was coming over. She greeted him then realized he was wanting to talk with Jet about politics. If she didn't escape now, she would be dragged into the political discussion. The conversation topic wasn't the problem. It was the fact her father was a terrible conversationalist and very dull in his phrases. She gave Jet a kiss on the forehead and an apologetic look. 

"I'd better sort out the tent. It seems father would like to speak to you so I'll let you both be." Iona said quickly. 

Then she escaped towards her tent with her two friends by her side while her father sat down next to Jet and struck up a conversation on local tribes and enemies and anything else about politics. Iona made her way to her old tent and motioned for her friends to go back to whatever they were doing before. The old tent was still filled with her old books, a few toys, a mirror, and her old mat. Things that she never cared to take with her and never found any value in. 

Meanwhile her father had just began the fascinating topic of which prey is best for political dinners when a midnight black raven swooped down and landed on his arm. The chief widened his eyes in horror as the bird opened its mouth to speak. 

"WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT IONA GETTING MARRIED YOU IDIOT?!!!" A feminine voice shouted from the open beak, "BY THE GODS ABOVE I CAN'T BELIEVED I EVER MARRIED A COCKLESS PATHETIC PIECE OF SHIT LIKE YOU! I'M GOING TO COME RIGHT DOWN THERE AND HAVE A TALK WITH MY DAUGHTER! AND IF I GET A GLIMPS OF YOUR UGLY FACE I WILL FEED YOU TO SNAPPING TURTLES IN ONNEN!"

The message ended and the raven closed its mouth then flew off. The chief was sweating and had a panicked expression as he realized how much he fucked up. He didn't even speak as he ran from his seat and dashed up the hill. The sky above was stormy and thunder boomed. A small but strong tornado had circled around Iona's tent. Anyone who tried to enter would be sliced by the razor blades some insane woman put into the tornado to keep people out. But in the center was the eye of the storm, right where the tent was. To Iona, there wasn't even a storm outside. In a matter of seconds, the tornado vanished. The tent was still in its position and everything inside the tent was perfectly fine. 

But Iona was gone. 

And just like that his wife abandoned him to boring politics. Luckily, Jet was always prepared for these discussions… It didn’t mean that it didn’t suck though. Ugh. He answered to the best of his abilities so he could get back to his wife but… Then a raven appeared. His eyes got large at what he was hearing. Sure, it was his mother-in-law but STILL.

Jet took off after his father-in-law and soon saw the tornado. He knew that he couldn’t just get in but the damned kid tried anyways. His arm got shredded but he was quick to pull back. “WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!” Jet picked up the man and put his to a tent. His blood was going all over the chief. “If she refuses to return Iona to me there will be fucking hell to pay. Do you understand what I am saying?” There were the red eyes again.

“MOTHER,” Jet screamed. Angela stepped out of a nearby tree and took his arm.

“Are you dumb? You could have died,” Angela was calm as she started to heal it.

“I don’t even care if I lose it right now. Where is she?” He was growling and Angela slapped him good.

“Don’t growl at me.” Angela pointed a finger at him. “Let me heal you then we will find her. It’s her mother for crying out loud. I don’t sense ill intent towards her.”

“Sorry,” Jet looked away angry still but much calmer than he had been. Once his arm was all bandaged up he looked at Angela. “Can you find her now? Please?”

“First time for everything~” Angela sighed. “You’ve never been this reckless before but I understand. I suppose.”

“Ma… Please,” Jet looked at her with pleading eyes at this point.

“FINE!” Angela threw her hands up. A portal opened and she dragged Jet by his collar. “Iona, sweetheart.” She saw Iona sitting with her mother chatting. “I think this rabid dog belongs to you.” Angela pulled her son by his collar. His shirt was wrecked, his arm was bandaged, and there was blood all over his tunic. “He fought your father, threatened to kill him, eight warriors, ten other tribesmen, three suitors, and almost beat your brother’s ass.”

“It was just her father,” Jet made a face.

“But if I hadn’t of stopped you… It would have been her father, eight warriors, ten other tribesmen, three suitors, and her brother too. Also, this dumbass tried to go into the tornado your mother put up and wrecked his arm trying to get to you. I healed it but also not really… It’s in bandages for now since he wanted to not think before he leaped.” Angela pointed at Jet. “He also almost got on his hands and knees for me to find you.”

Jet blushed and looked away, “Ma you can go away now.”

“…I haven’t gotten to the good part yet.”

“…Lovely.”

“Why haven’t you put any pups in her yet? You two have been fucking up a stor–”

“MA, later please!” Jet’s face was bright red. “We’ll get to the pups when we get to the pups. Do you push all of us like this?”

“Yeah, it’s what I’m known for,” Angela gave a wave kissed Jet on the top of his head, and left leaving Jet sitting on the floor by Iona.

“I tried to fight a tornado for you,” Jet tried to make a joke but he knew he was going to get his ass roasted by Iona this time. Jet still had the handprint across his face from Angela as well. "And I growled at Ma because she took her sweet time finding you."

"It wasn't my fault!" The chief protested, "We knew she would be upset by an arranged marriage! So we didn't tell her!"

The storm lycanthrope. That is what Iona's mother was. Her powers, wolf form, and everything else was deeply connected with the storm. And she had a distinct overly protective nature of her daughter, especially when it came to the topic of marriage. The chief knew if she had found out earlier, she would have done everything in her power to prevent such an arrangement. But right now, he was more terrified of Jet at the moment. If he approached Ryne again, he knew she would follow through on her promise. But if he didn't do something immediately then it would have been Jet who would torment him. The warrior was reckless, angry, and worst of all desperate. 

Meanwhile, Iona was still getting her bearings after the transportation. Yet she didn't have the slightest bit of fear in her eyes. The magic was familiar, almost like a warm blanket covering her before sleep. To anyone else the wind magic would have been harsh but her mother had always been soft and sweet to her. The room she was in was a living room and there on the couch was her mother, drinking a cocktail with crossed legs. 

"Hi mommy." Iona said with a smile and wrapped her arms around her mother. 

"Hello my little pumpkin." Rayne said putting down her drink and returning the hug, "I'm sorry I wasn't hear sooner. Your damned father didn't tell me anything. But you don't have to go through with this arranged marriage. I know you want to protect the tribe but they are asking too much of you this time." 

The tall woman picked up her cocktail drink once more after Iona stood up.

"Actually…." She began then showed her mother the marriage mark on her back. 

The little cocktail glass shattered in Rayne's fist. The mother looked down at her hand, almost as if she just noticed it, and waved her hand. In a matter of seconds the mess was cleaned up entirely by magic. 

"Your father has crossed the line this time." She said, "I can understand selling your brother off into marriage. But between all three of my family you are the only one with more than one brain cell. So who is this man anyway? And do I need to get rid of him for you? Or do you just want to do a court divorce?" 

Iona sighed and sat next to her mother with a gentle smile. 

"I love him mom. He's a wonderful person and… not even just that." She admitted, "I've never felt like I could be myself around father or brother. But with him, I can be myself. And he seems to love it."

"Ah." Rayne sighed, "Well I can't really deny you that. So no murder, no divorce or any of that? Alright. Then let me see this man of yours. I want to see if he's fit for my daughter. I still won't do anything to him since you love him so much. But I want to make sure I don't need to point out any red flags or dangerous behaviors." 

Just as they were about to continue on their conversation, a portal opened up and Angela was dragging Jet through by his collar. Iona's eyes widened in surprise as she rushed over to him, scooping him up in her arms. Rayne raised her eyebrows but didn't say anything more. Meanwhile Iona was completely occupied by Jet, her lovable moron. Then Angela made a comment about pups and Iona knew that Rayne would start up with THE TALK later unless she got this conversation to keep going. He joked about fighting a tornado. This time Iona didn't even look mad or angry.

"Ah my accident prone tornado boy." She said giving him a little kiss on the cheek, "What am I going to do with you?"

"I'd suggest by bringing the poor boy to sit on an actual chair instead of the ground." Her mother suggested with a smirk, "I may be a storm lycanthrope but even I'm not that inhospitable." 

Iona used a little bit of wind magic and Jet's body floated gracefully off the ground and was set gently on one of the couches next to Iona. Rayne was across from them scanning Jet from his head to his toe. 

"I must say. You're father is an idiot but he has excellent pickings for men. Its a wonder he's not married to one." Her mother said, "Sorry about the tornado my dear but if I went there normally then her father or some other members would have wasted my time with excuses. I was not aware Iona had a husband already. Otherwise I would have picked you up with her." 

"Mom you really need to stop picking people up. Nowadays its called kidnapping." Iona mentioned. 

"It doesn't count if I'm your mother." Iona protested before looking at Jet, "Now first I need to know if you have any history with alcoholism, drug addictions, connection to gang members, murder counts, assassinations, and are you familiar with po-"

"MOM!" 

"What?! I'm just covering my basics. Then again those don't usually spell out red flags on their own. But its still good to know." Rayne explained. 

Jet offered up a lovable smirk when he got called accident-prone tornado boy, “Only for you and clearly baby me because I need it.” His eyes wandered over to Iona’s mother and he nodded to her, “Ma’am. Also, I think I made your father piss himself. He thinks I’m going to snap his neck if he doesn’t find you soon.” And Angela hadn’t really told him that she had taken Jet away to her.

Jet relaxed his head into Iona’s lap and close his eyes. His body would heal naturally but he did throw himself into a tornado to get to Iona. “Excuses, he has plenty. Should have heard him when I demanded Iona back or else.” Jet took a look at her mother and smirked a bit, “I was just caught off guard by it. My instincts took over to protect my mate and now it makes sense why Hana goes into rage mode when someone even touches Wesley’s hair wrong.”

Not one to lie he shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t do any of that but I got family that does. However, the Rosenite Rose family is as vast as a continent. My aunt Toya is an alcoholic… but functional. No drug addictions but I’m pretty sure there are people who invented drugs in the Black Court cousins of mine. Cassia, an older sister, who is disowned has gangs in Jayou. My sister Furtuna is the sky Pirate queen that terrifies most of the continent though she’s been quiet lately. There are lots of us. Uncle Blaine was an assassin before he settled down with Aunt Toya. They got a brood of seven now. Takes all kinds of people my ma says.”

He held up his hands, “I don’t suffer from any of that. I suffer from my twin sister. Iona thought she was marrying her.” There was a laugh from Jet as he tried to hold it in. “However, things got mixed up who was who. Ma says I need to be angry more… while Hana needs to control her temper.” Realizing that he had yet to introduce himself Jet tried to get up but Iona stopped him. “It’s rude you know,” he looked at Iona with a smirk. “I’m Jet Thurgood. I’m the future beta and second-best warrior of the people in my age. The first being my sister. At least Iona got engaged to me and not to that thick-headed future alpha of ours… He’s still pining over Hana and that’s never gonna happen. She almost tore his spine out the last time he tried to make it happen.”

"Father's always been like that. I'll let my brother deal with it." Iona said as she moved to Jet and began petting Jet's head, "Why did you ever marry my father?"

Rayne gave her daughter a shrug and smiled.

"He was handsome and had a lot of money. What can I say?"

"You're not supposed to say that out loud mom." Iona sighed.

Rayne listened as Jet shared more information about the Rosenite Rose family and himself. Iona's mother never disliked drugs or alcohol but she had run into too many men who had let it take over their lives and cause devastation. Whether his family did it was not her concern. As long as none of the extended family laid a hand on Iona, that was all that mattered in the end. When Jet tried to move, Iona held him for a moment since she didn't want to let her cuddle hubby go. But he moved anyway and gave a proper introduction.

"Well you certainly have more of a will than her father and you're handsome enough. We'll have to put together a ceremony back at the tribe. Iona, were you also thinking of a heart-piercing ceremony?" Rayne asked.

"…I was thinking about it. But we can't pressure him into it," Iona said quickly.

"At least explain what it is so he doesn't think we stick metal pieces into people's hearts." Rayne chuckled.

Iona knew her mother was right and beckoned Jet to come to sit next to her again.

"A heart-piercing is a ceremony that uses magic to make two lovers remember each other forever. Even if their memories fade away or they are reincarnated or anything else, they will have some recollection of their lover. However, if two lovers decide to break up the process will become extremely difficult. That is why the ceremony is only for lovers who are determined to stay together forever. I was thinking of asking but….I wanted to give you time to get used to my family and my tribe before you make that decision."

"She was probably scared you'd say no." Rayne bluntly told Jet.

"Mom!" Iona exclaimed.

"In our tribe, when a girl asks a boy to do a heart-piercing ceremony it's considered the most intimate question you can ask someone. Even more so than sleeping with a person." Rayne explained, "It's the truest form of devotion and love if someone asks you to perform it."

Iona's full attention was on Jet, trying to see what his reaction would be. Her mother's words were truer than many expected. Marriage, love, and even sleeping with a person were all intimate but a heart-piercing ceremony meant so much more. It was the one thing she would be nervous about asking. She had been fairly straight forwards about everything else yet this was the thing she seemed to get all shy about.

"So…what do you think?" She asked.