Vulcan's Woman by Jennifer LaRose

scrambled to her feet,
she’d nearly missed it.
    “You’ll not speak of rutting my daughter in my presence.”
    Additional blood dribbled from Sledge’s nose and clung to
the hair above his lip. He wiped it off with his hand then swiped his palm
along the chest of his fur frock.
    “You disgust me,” Wisteria seethed.
    Her father stepped forward within inches of her body. She
tilted her chin defiantly and tried inhaling a calming breath but every part of
her trembled. She’d never been punished by her father. She’d never given him a
reason to even raise a hand but she’d witnessed him beat Boar until her poor
brother was bloody and barely breathing.
    “Who is this man?” her father demanded but before she could
respond he grabbed a handful of her hair and tugged her head back so far she
faced the sky. “Who?” he repeated, yanking her tresses.
    Wisteria slammed her teeth together to ward off the pain.
Despite her fear, father or not, she’d not bow down to him. “A friend,” she
fumed, blinking back tears. “And a man Sledge will never be.”
    Sledge lunged forward but stopped short of reaching over her
dad’s shoulder to hit her. The anger glowering from his eyes contorted his
expression into one of a madman.
    “What’s going on here?” Nodda hollered.
    From the corner of Wisteria’s eye she saw her mom running
toward them with Ivy trotting closely at her side. When Nodda saw Wisteria
trapped, she charged forward, grabbed the club and tossed it aside. “Let go of
my baby,” she ordered, slapping Wisteria’s father’s arm repeatedly. “You’ve no reason
to hurt her.”
    “She’s been caught kissing a male not from our clan,” he
responded to his wife, despite his eyes boring into Wisteria’s.
    Nodda gasped. “Is that true, Wisteria?”
    Wisteria could lie to her father but not to her mom. Even if
she tried, her mother would know and Wisteria couldn’t risk losing her trust.
She gazed at the bright, round moon and slowly closed her eyes, dreading the
fact she was about to disappoint the most important woman in her life. “Yes,”
she whispered.
    Her dad released her with a growl and shoved her over the
boulder. She fell to her knees, her hair splaying over her face. “Tie her to
the trees. She’ll be whipped for her treachery.”
    “No, Daddy,” Ivy shouted, dropping beside Wisteria. She
cradled Wisteria’s head to her breast. “Her sins are not worthy of a lashing.”
    “Shhh, Ivy,” Wisteria uttered. “You’ll endanger yourself.”
    “She deserves twenty stones. No more, no less,” Ivy said
desperately. “That’s the punishment for deception.”
    Her dad kicked pebbles and loose dirt at Wisteria then
turned and stomped off. “I choose the punishment,” he yelled over his shoulder.
“Sledge, whip her.”
    “You cannot,” Nodda screamed, chasing Wisteria’s father, but
for every step he’d taken she was forced to take two, causing her to lag
behind.
    Sledge and another clansman tried separating Ivy from
Wisteria but Ivy clung to Wisteria so desperately it was nearly impossible to
pull them apart. Sledge punched Ivy in the side of the head. Her neck jerked
and body slackened. He grabbed her beneath the arms and hauled her aside,
leaving her in a heap on the ground.
    “You foul animal,” Wisteria shouted. She’d never wanted to
hurt someone so badly in her entire life. She lunged at him, kicking his shins
and gouging his face with her nails.
    Two clansmen charged forward to intervene but she refused to
stop the assault on Sledge. His smirk indicated she wasn’t hurting him as he
failed to deflect her fists. She needed revenge for her sister. Ivy had done no
wrong. He had no reason to hit her.
    One man yanked Wisteria backward and the other punched her
in the stomach, deflating her within seconds. The air blew from her lungs and
she collapsed, holding her tummy. While fighting to breathe, the men hefted her
by the arms and dragged her between the trees that were used for