The Hunt (Shifter Origins) Read online

  His heartbeat slowed, and a peaceful calm washed over him. Kael’s body eased, welcoming his tiger form. Something new and powerful had been released inside him—a part he’d almost forgot existed.

  And it was freeing, like the cooling rainfall after days of nothing but sweltering heat.

  Thunder boomed overhead. He should have never denied what he was. This was him. He was the tiger prince.

  Kael tilted his head back and released a loud, liberating roar.

  Cara joined him, her lips curling up over her fangs and her voice entwining with his and the raging storm. The resounding melody filled the Bilha Forest.

  Before Kael could take a step forward, Cara spun about and dashed into the woods, her silky black body momentarily disappearing in the shadows.

  The chase was on. Laughing inwardly, he leaped after her, promising himself that he would never allow anyone to hold him back again. Including himself. From now on, he’d do things his way.

  Chapter Twelve

  The forest’s soaked earth and sharp leafy scents filled Kael’s nostrils. He didn’t know where they were going, but it didn’t matter. Cara seemed to have a destination. She ran ahead of him, her sleek, black body seeming to glide across the forest’s twisted, root-covered floor. She reminded him of a spirit darting around trees and in and out of shadows. Every now and then, she would glance over her shoulder at him, her shining yellow eyes reminding him that she was very much real, not a phantom.

  The familiar fire stirred in the pit of his stomach, and his entire being buzzed with excitement. This was his chance to experience it all, everything he had missed during his twenty-two years of life. He still had his human wits. His tiger wasn’t clouding his head. He hadn’t turned into a savage beast, like his father had warned. The animal was just a part of him. And it was because of Cara, a panther and his family’s enemy, that he was able to find the lost animal in himself again.

  Since Kael had first met her, he’d begun to see things clearer. The corruption in the marketplace, Corbin, the healer, the teralau poison, the panthers’ poor way of living, his parents’ prejudice. So many things he had overlooked because of his own ignorance. Cara had opened his eyes and even—could he admit it?—his heart to everything he’d been blind to.

  When Cara swerved left, Kael pounced on a fallen tree to avoid a rain puddle and followed, pushing himself faster to catch up. He had such a need to possess her completely that his insides ached. He had a small glimpse of what it would be like before, during their kiss. If he could get her in his hands again, taste those lips again, there would be no going back. No more hesitation. He would have her coming undone simply by his touch.

  She turned again, briefly vanishing. When Kael rounded a mossy cluster of rocks, he spotted her at the base of the largest tree he’d ever seen. Smaller, branch-like vines wrapped around it like serpents, slithering up the bark from the roots. Coming to Cara’s side, he traveled his gaze up the length of the trunk. It stretched up and up until finally disappearing into a green cloud of leaves. Beneath the thick canopy, the rain fell lighter.

  Besides his own heartbeat, the pattering of rain was the only other sound. Wherever his guards were, they weren’t in this part of the woods. He and Cara were alone. Completely alone and far away from the village and Sajra. The realization made every nerve ending spark. His head swam with possibilities. Each one included Cara, body slick with perspiration and rain underneath his hands, and surrendering to his will. The prickling power of the shift gathered at the base of his spine. Back in their human forms, he could finish what he’d started behind the panther village.

  Kael’s stomach fluttered as he glanced at Cara. She was staring at him, her tail swiping the air and whiskers twitching. She nudged her head toward the tree.

  Did she mean for them to go up? To climb? He peered up again, squinting against the raindrops and through the silvery mist. It was a long way.

  Cara jumped onto the tree, claws biting into the bark. She used the vines for leverage, hoisting herself up and shimmying from one side of the trunk to another. In a matter of seconds she was far above him and the ground, a smear of black behind the rising fog.

  If she fell… His chest pinched with fear. A warning growl rumbled in his throat, but she showed no signs of descending. Instead, her figure darted behind a group of winding branches.

  Reminding him of a bridge or an extended arm, the limb hung in midair, reaching out for a neighboring tree. Kael didn’t know what she was doing, but she had wanted him to follow. He had to go after her.

  He leaped onto the tree, as Cara did, claws unsheathed. They sank into the spongy trunk, but it was too soft to hold him, and he slid down. Pulse quickening, Kael swatted for anything close by and caught one of the twisting branches. It was solid. He latched on and pulled himself up. Grabbing onto another and another, he was soon far off the ground. When he came to the bridge-like limb, he hopped onto it. What he saw next made all the breath rush out of his lungs.

  The tree’s many winding threads fanned out, forming a dip—a pocket in the bark. Covered in dead grass, fuzzy moss, and a few torn blankets, it resembled a giant nest. And Cara knelt in the center in her nude human form, her back to him.

  Kael couldn’t look away. His gaze traced the lines of her body, and when he remembered that her dress and his pants had been left behind, his heartbeat raced even faster. He found himself moving forward.

  There would be nothing keeping them from each other this time. Not even fabric.

  A tingling sensation raced up his back as the shift pushed through him. Skin replaced the striped fur. Muscles remolded as his body readjusted. Once he was on human legs again, Kael stepped into the leafy bed and dropped to his knees behind her, only inches away from her lithe, naked frame. He stiffened at their closeness, his blood heating.

  As Cara tried to turn to face him, Kael gripped her slender waist with both hands and tugged her back—hard—against his chest. The simple contact made his insides burn hot.

  To hell with the consequences and his parents’ prejudice and rules. No more holding back and second guessing. It was time to do what he wanted. And what he wanted then, more than anything in the world, was for Cara to be his.

  “I’ve wanted to do this for so long.” His warm breath spilled over her shoulder.

  Cara’s breathing hitched, and she trembled against him. He watched her throat work to swallow. She cocked her head, looking up at him. Lustful eyes locked with his. “Do what?”

  To answer, Kael fisted his hand in her long black locks and drew her head to the side, exposing the hollow of her neck. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against the creamy curve of her shoulder, then the sensitive skin behind her ear. She moaned, and the sound sent vibrations throughout his entire being.

  His fingers slid around her waist, across her rib cage and flat stomach, to the rounded curve of her hip. The falling rain should have cooled her, but she still scorched him, and he didn’t want to waste another moment. With one hand still tangled in her hair, he tugged her chin toward him and captured her mouth for a fiery kiss.

  Cara kissed him back with just as much vigor, strengthening the growing fire within him. As their tongues danced and pried, she arched her back, pressing her tight, round bottom against his groin. His manhood hardened to the point of pain.

  Kael growled against her mouth, his hands leaving her hair and running across the swoop of her right breast. His thumb traveled over the delicate skin and pinched the tiny, peaked tip. Cara groaned, and her hand shot up, too, covering his. For a second, he thought she’d draw him away again. Instead, she clasped onto him in a deadly grip.

  “Don’t you dare stop,” she said.

  Kael reveled in Cara yearning for this as much as he did. “Stopping is the furthest thing from my mind,” he said, his voice low and rumbling. He caressed her breast.

  Before Cara could take her next breath, he moved around her and pulled her onto his lap. She came without hesitation, sliding in
to place over his thighs. He glanced down. Dusky pink nipples, already puckered, waited for him to taste. He leaned in and took one into his mouth. He rolled it over his tongue, enjoying the short gasp that escaped her mouth.

  “You like it when I do that?” He chuckled and continued to suck and lick the tip. Cara moaned in response, begging for more, and ran her fingers through his hair. The feeling of her nails raking across his scalp made his vision blur with need. Her hands fell to his broad shoulders, and he switched to the other breast, letting his teeth gently scrape the sensitized skin. Goose bumps rose beneath his lips.

  A sense of power came over him knowing he was the one to give her the pleasure she so desperately wanted. And only him. As the rain continued to fall around them, Cara clutched his shoulders and tilted her head back, giving him better access. Obliging, he left searing kisses all over her chest, licking, nipping, and teasing every inch of her heated flesh.

  Then Cara rose up, the most intimate part of her brushing against the tip of his shaft. He tensed, finding that she was already wet for him.

  “You are even more beautiful when you’re on top of me.” Kael seized her mouth for another kiss. Their tongues dueled, and his fingers gripped her perfect backside. Her hips began to sway back and forth, his stone-hard member rubbing against her slick opening. The sound of their short, shaky breaths filled his ears, mixing with the roaring of his own pulse. Oh, how he wanted to be inside her.

  His next words came out in a husky whisper, “How badly do you want me?”

  “Kael…” was all she managed. But he had his answer. That was all he needed. Kael grasped her hips and lowered Cara onto him. She sucked in a sharp breath as he pushed through her tightness.

  His head fogged as her warm sheath encased him, slowly taking more and more of him. Leaving a trail of wet kisses from her neck to her collarbone, Kael used his hold to lift her up again and back down. Her hands came around his upper arms, and her nails bit into the muscle.

  Kael quickened his pace, thrusting his hips to meet hers—up and down, up and down. Cara cried out, the lustful sound almost bringing him to the edge.

  “You’re mine, Cara,” he grunted. Determined to not let this end yet, he slowed his movements and pressed his forehead against hers, gulping air into his needy lungs. “Only mine.”

  Wet hair clung to her rosy cheeks, and her yellow eyes seemed to emit their own light as they stared into his.

  But she said nothing.

  His heart plummeted at her silence. He couldn’t describe it, but he longed for her to say the words back. He wanted her to be his and only his. The animal inside craved it, but he could see the conflict lingering behind her eyes. He knew what she was thinking of—her family, their opposite lives, and the risk of it all.

  A chill began to creep into his chest, but he didn’t let it consume the warmth there. He couldn’t think about what lay ahead. If it were up to him, he’d stay like this with Cara forever, wrapped together under the protection of the forest’s canopy, thinking of nothing but her and how she made him feel.

  Desperate to hold on to this moment of bliss, Kael snatched her by the arms, his length slipping out of her briefly, and guided her onto her back. He moved to lie on top of her. With his hands poised on either side of her head, he held himself over her. His hardness pressed against her belly.

  Cara’s eyes widened as she stared up at him.

  Kael’s manhood bobbed over her entrance, and Cara lifted her hips. Her legs spread, and in the next second, he moved into place and drove inside her again. She held on to his arms, and her legs came up to wrap around his waist. With each thrust, their rain-slick bodies glided over each other, and her breasts bounced against his chest.

  Cara’s moans were hypnotic to him, drawing him closer to the edge, but he wanted her to reach it first. He pumped into her faster, but when Cara’s muscles fluttered around his length, he couldn’t hold back any longer. As her sheath clenched around him, Kael pounded into her harder. She screamed his name, her eyes shining bright and her head rolling back. She was so beautiful in her surrender. Her cries floated up to the giant tree’s canopy, and thundered boomed overhead in reply.

  Unable to hold back any longer, Kael gave in to his own release. His muscles tensed, his toes tingled, and jolts of energy shot up his spine. He gritted his teeth as his shaft pulsed inside her.

  He rolled off her, breathing hard. His entire body hummed. He reached out, needing Cara closer to him, and his arm wrapped around her waist. He pulled her back flush against his chest.

  As his heart rate slowed and they both caught their breath, Kael nuzzled the hollow of her neck. Cara held tightly to his arm around her. A whirlwind of emotions rushed through him. A panther and a tiger together like this—only days ago, it would have been unfathomable, yet here he was, holding Cara close and loving the way it felt to have her in his embrace.

  Exhaustion slipped over him, making his limbs heavy. There were so many things he wanted to say—like how he didn’t want her to worry about what they’d done or what was to come. He didn’t want to think about any of it, either; he just wanted to stay here locked in the moment, far above the ground in the protection of the tree with the storm raging on around them. Remaining quiet, Kael held her against him and inhaled her sweet, earthy scent. He closed his eyes. The rain drumming against the leaves above them was like nature’s lullaby, soothing him, and it wasn’t long before he was lost in the sweet bliss of sleep.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The twittering of a passing bird tugged Cara from her dream-filled state. Expecting to see the hut’s dying fire pit or Alina curled up on her cot, she opened her eyes. Instead of lying on her tattered blanket on the dirt floor, she was on her side with a pile of mismatched quilts and stiff grass under her cheek. She took a deep breath, and the scents of rainwater and wet earth filled her lungs. No fire. No Alina or Ryna.

  Cara’s breath seized as realization hit. She wasn’t in the hut. She was in the old nuna tree, her hiding place, her escape. But how? She would come here often as a child, to avoid her chores on hot days, or just for a moment away from her family’s crowded home, but she hadn’t been back in years. Not since her parents’ deaths.

  She glanced down to find Kael’s muscular arm draped over her naked waist. Memories of their passionate lovemaking flooded her mind—his hot breath along her neck, his hands gliding over her skin, his husky whispers in her ear. Kael had been so forceful yet loving with her. The things he’d done and said—just thinking about it all caused her cheeks to flame and her lower belly to ache.

  It had been as if, for only a moment, nothing else mattered, and the hatred between their species didn’t exist. It was just the two of them together, safe from the storm and the city’s laws, at least for a little while.

  But all her problems were very real, and now, because of her mistake with Kael, they were worse than before. How could she let this happen? She’d known what she was doing bringing him up here. The soft snores behind her, and the light pressure against her waist and back confirmed it all. Her stomach flipped. What had she done? She had escaped the royal prison by luck before. If they were caught together like this, she could be accused of seducing the prince, or of conspiracy. There was no way she could get out of prison again.

  Rafé! What would he think? He wouldn’t accept her as his mate after knowing this. In one afternoon, she had sentenced Alina and Ryna to their deaths. Cara’s chest squeezed. She needed to get away from the tiger prince, and fast. She could sneak back to the village before sunset and pretend like none of this ever happened. Kael wouldn’t—couldn’t—tell anyone about what they’d done. He’d face shame and ridicule, and could possibly lose his throne. If she never saw him again, maybe she could put this day behind her, run the Hunt with Rafé, and start her life anew, without the tigers.

  Cara looked back down at Kael’s arm resting over her middle. She just needed to shimmy herself out from his hold, creep along the branch and down the nuna’s tr
unk, then run back to find her dress. Since the storm had passed, she’d need to go by the river and wash Kael’s scent off her skin before returning home. Maybe the cool water would help cleanse her memory of him, too. Getting past the village to the river without being seen would be a challenge, but she didn’t even want to think about bumping into her grandmother, or the palace guards, or worst of all, Rafé.

  That was it. She needed to go. Holding her breath, Cara rolled onto her stomach. Kael’s enormous arm slid across her waist and flopped to his side. She froze, peering at his face, only to see his eyes still closed and his lips parted in another snore. A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

  She jumped onto her toes without making a sound. The cool air licked her still burning skin, causing a chill to snake up her spine. For a second, she actually considered crawling back into the makeshift bed with Kael to stay warm, but knowing that was the last thing she should do, she turned away from him and tiptoed across the wide nuna branch.

  “Cara?” The sound of her name pierced her heart like an arrow, halting her steps. “Where are you going?”

  She refused to look at him. She couldn’t. It would make what they’d shared too real. Lingering would only make it more painful. “Back to the village. Where I belong.”

  “Stay here for a while.” His tone was still gruff with sleep, but there was a sense of sadness attached to it, too. “With me.”

  “Kael…” Her voice faded as a heaviness captured her legs. “What happened before—”

  “I know what you’re going to say, Cara, but what we did wasn’t wrong.”

  “What we did won’t change anything,” she said. “You’re still the prince, and I—well, I’m me.” As she turned around, anger replaced her hesitation, and she held on tight to it. “You’ll go back to the palace, pick some pretty jaguar to be your regis, become rei of Sajra, and run in the Hunt. And I’ll be here with my family, nothing more than a black speck in your memory.”