The Hunt (Shifter Origins) Page 2

  Maybe there were others involved, too. If the panthers wanted to disgrace the royals and weaken them by killing Sajra’s ruler again, how long would it be before they all rose up in revolt?

  A muscle in Kael’s jaw jumped as he ground his teeth. When he became rei, he wouldn’t be as foolish and forgiving as his father.

  The hooded man was in sight now, dashing toward a cluster of wooden dwellings. Kael held out his dagger, his adrenaline fueling him forward. The Bilha Forest claimed most of the space, and he leaped over its twisted vines and the roots that crawled along the ground like bony, outstretched fingers. A thick canopy of leaves and branches cloaked the crowded panther village in chilling shade.

  He stopped as the man disappeared into a slanted house set farther back into the trees. It was identical to the others, with its tree bark walls and slumping roof of canopy leaves, but a black cloud billowed out of the top. A fire was burning inside. From the look of the small hut, there was only one way in and out. Had the assassin trapped himself, or was this part of his plan? Did he have friends waiting to attack him once he got inside? An ambush?

  Figuring the size of the miniature house could only hold about three grown men, Kael liked his odds. He would go in, slit all three of their throats, and make it back to the palace before dinner.

  A tattered and faded cloth covered the hut’s opening, and Kael grabbed a fistful and ripped it away.

  A piercing scream tore through the silence.

  Kael jumped inside and swiped his dagger through the air but made no contact. When his eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, he found a frightened child and an elderly woman sitting huddled together on a cot made of mismatched furs and skins. The woman’s hand was out, as if to stop an impending blow, while the young girl screamed again, burying her face in the woman’s shoulder.

  Confused, he looked toward the center where a small fire burned low. He had seen the man come in. Where was he?

  Then Kael saw them—two yellow eyes peering back at him from across the orange glow of the fire. The hooded man had shifted into his animal form.

  “You’ll die for what you’ve done,” Kael barked at the panther. Years of built-up anger for their species bubbled inside him. He would kill this one. Then, when he became rei, he would get rid of the rest of them. The panthers wouldn’t be able to taint Sajra anymore.

  The large black cat stepped forward into the flickering light. The fine hairs on its face shimmered iridescent, and its pink tongue flicked over its nose, exposing sharp teeth. It growled a warning.

  Kael wanted to see the face of the man who killed his father. He had to get him to change again. He glanced at the young girl and old woman, an idea forming. “Is this your family?” he asked, his lips curling up at the corners.

  The panther’s eyes shone brighter.

  He waved his dagger at them. “I’ll see to it that they are chained up for this, like the animals they are.”

  The little girl wailed again, and the woman shushed her.

  The panther’s claws reached over the flames and swatted the air near Kael’s legs. Another warning.

  “Come on, you coward.” He laughed. “Fight me like a man.”

  The panther snarled but bowed its head, accepting the challenge.

  Kael’s heartbeat quickened as he watched the change begin. A tremor shot down the panther’s spine, and the sound of bones breaking and reconnecting filled the small room. The little firelight made it difficult to see. Shadows and muscles shifted. Claws receded. The coat of black fur melted away.

  When it was over, the man stayed in the same position as he had started—on all fours with his chin down. His long, dark hair spilled over his shoulders, covering his face from Kael’s view. Even curled up, he could see that the man was smaller than expected. Thin, too, with a raised spine that curved along his arched back.

  Kael couldn’t stand the waiting anymore. He rolled the dagger’s jewel-encrusted handle in his palm. “Come on. Stand up,” he ordered.

  Slowly, the assassin stood.

  But it wasn’t a man standing before him. It was a woman. And she was naked.

  Kael’s eyes roamed over her. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing—long, toned legs, curved hips, a flat stomach, and round, full breasts. He stepped back. The orange and golden glow of the flames reflected off her smooth, coppery-brown skin. Hair, the same iridescent black as her panther form, tumbled past her shoulders and waist. When her almond-shaped eyes met his, he stepped back again. They were the color of the summer sun, a brilliant, fiery yellow, and framed with dark, sweeping lashes. She arched a dark brow at him, waiting.

  No words came to him. Not only was she a woman, she was a strikingly beautiful woman.

  “I thought you wanted to fight me like a man?” she said. Her voice was low and silky. Dangerous.

  His body went rigid. Was she mocking him, threatening him, or flirting with him? He couldn’t tell.

  She picked up a coal-gray dress draped at the end of the cot and slipped it over her head. The thin, airy fabric was tattered at the edges but fell past her knees and tied at her middle, emphasizing the dip of her small waist. When she glided over to the old woman and the child, the dress’s two high slits exposed her strong legs. She held her arms out, making a wall between him and her family.

  “I did not murder the rei.” Her tone hardened, and her gaze never left his. “I will fight you if I must—like a man or like a woman—but I will not let you take my family away.”

  Kael thought back to what he had seen on the dais that afternoon. His father had been talking to his people. There was a faint whistle and the scent of mint, and his father was on the ground the next second. Then he had seen the hooded figure with glowing yellow eyes. The eyes of a panther.

  “Why were you in the marketplace, panther?” Kael shot at her. The poisoned dart had come from where she stood. She ran. It must have been her.

  “I was trading for food,” she answered with just as much bite as him. She turned, grabbed the hooded cloak from the bed, and pulled out a wrapped bundle. Kael watched her every move with great caution. His grip on the dagger’s handle was tight and ready.

  “And I have a name.” She tossed the small package to him. He caught it with ease. It was light in his hands. “It’s Cara.”

  Kael peeled back the paper wrapping. It was just a bit of rabbit meat. “This is all?” Did she plan on feeding an elderly woman, a child, and herself on this?

  “It’s all the lynx gave me,” she replied and glared at the blade pointed at her. “It may be a surprise to you, Tiger Prince, but not many of your subjects think highly of me or my people.”

  Kael’s gaze wandered around the dingy room again. The floor was made of packed mud and grass, and there were no windows to let in any outside light. But the thing that surprised him the most was the ripped and blackened quilt tossed on the ground near the door. Blessed Mother, was that another bed? Did she sleep on that? He winced.

  “That is with good reason,” he said and tipped his head in the direction of the blanket, “Cara.”

  “Get out,” she growled, and her hands tightened into fists at her sides. “You know nothing of me, my family, or my people.”

  “Excuse me?” He wasn’t going anywhere without her. Did she think he would let her go that easily?

  She took a great step toward him, closing any distance between them. Kael looked down at her. She only reached his shoulders, but fury blazed in her eyes. “You chased me into my home, insulted me, accused me, and frightened my grandmother and sister,” she said and snatched the rabbit meat from his hand. “Now get out.”

  “Cara?” a voice called on the other side of the curtain. “What’s going on in there?”

  Kael’s attention snapped behind him to the hut’s opening. The cloth was yanked away to reveal a man, with dark hair slicked back and a narrow face, filling the doorway. The same burning yellow eyes flicked from Cara to Kael. Another panther.

  “Tiger,” he
snarled, his teeth extending and his skin rippling across his jaw, neck, and shoulders. In the next second, he reached inside, seized Kael by the arm, and wrenched him out of the hut.

  Kael stumbled into the village’s center. When he regained his balance, he whirled around, ready for a fight. But nothing was in his hands. Kael touched his belt and found the sheath empty. He cursed. His dagger—where was it? He must have dropped it inside. When Kael looked up, he saw the man already crouched low, the change making his muscles shift and quake.

  “Rafé,” Cara shouted after them. She appeared behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. “Don’t.”

  “Did he hurt you?” The words came out as an inhuman rumble. “I’ll kill him.”

  A surge of power shot down Kael’s spine, and his skin began to crawl under his clothes. His tiger rose up inside him, hungry for the thrill and the danger of the looming fight. He forced his body to relax. He didn’t need to shift. Like his father had told him since he was a child, the tigers were different. They were in control. He was a man—a prince—first and an animal second.

  Unlike them, his father’s voice whispered from his memory.

  Cara kept her hands on Rafé’s shoulders. Her touch seemed to be the only thing keeping him from changing. Was he her mate? He scolded himself for thinking of such a ridiculous question. What did it matter?

  “Don’t,” she kept telling him. “Don’t. He’s the prince.”

  Rafé jerked up to his full height at that.

  He was tall—inches taller than Kael—and made up of lean, solid muscle. He wore no shirt and only loose leather trousers that hung from his bony waist.

  “What is the tiger prince doing at the bottom of the river?” When Rafé’s gaze passed over Kael to his left and then right, goose bumps crept up Kael’s neck. His gaze whipped side to side.

  They weren’t alone, at least, not anymore. Men, women, and children surrounded them in a half circle. There were about fifty of them, all panthers, wearing similar soiled gray dresses and patchwork leather pants and vests. They didn’t move, just watched Kael with curious, gleaming eyes.

  His tiger called to him again, pushing at his control, wanting out. There were too many of them to fight on his own. He couldn’t take them all. Why had he told the guards to stay behind? If this had been their plan all along, he’d fallen for it. Maybe he was just as foolish as his father.

  Kael straightened his spine to show he held no fear. If he was going to die today, it wouldn’t be without a fight. “I have come to arrest her,” Kael began, pointing at Cara, “for the murder of the ruler of Sajra, Rei Salus.”

  Suddenly, the small girl Kael had seen huddled inside the hut pushed the curtain open. She wrapped her arms around Cara’s legs. Streaks of tears glistened on her cheeks. “No!” she shrieked. “No, Cara!”

  Cara stroked the trembling child’s head but kept her fiery stare on Kael. “I told you, I didn’t kill the rei,” she said. “I didn’t kill anyone. Ask the lynx. I traded a headscarf for the rabbit.”

  Kael huffed in disbelief. “The poisoned dart—”

  “The dart came from behind me. I heard the crunching of footsteps, smelled mint, and the rei fell.”

  Mint. Kael had smelled it, too. He hadn’t mentioned that detail to her. How would she have known?

  “A trick!” His father’s voice buzzed in the back of his mind. “Of course she knows the scent. She shot the dart! Don’t fall for it, Kael.”

  He wouldn’t. “You will come back with me.”

  “You heard her. She didn’t kill anyone,” Rafé snapped. “Leave this place. We won’t let you take her.” He stuck two fingers in his mouth and let out a loud, piercing whistle. Shadows in the Bilha Forest moved and grew. Three more panthers, one in his human form and two in their animal shapes, stepped out of the vegetation to stand behind Rafé, Cara, and the child. The black cats were massive, twice the size that Cara had been, with fangs bared and saliva dripping from their curled lips. The man was wide at the shoulders, with bulging arms and a handful of throwing knives.

  This wasn’t going in his favor. Glancing around at the others in the circle, he felt closed in. Had they gotten closer? Even with years of training behind him, there were too many panthers, and he was without a weapon. It looked like he didn’t have much of a choice. He stepped back in surrender.

  He hated giving them this small victory, but it would only be temporary. “Fine. I’ll go, but I will be back.” A growl rumbled in his throat as he turned to Cara. “I suggest that if you plan on running away, do it and never return to Sajra again.”

  Kael raised his voice to make sure every panther in the village could hear him. It boomed in the small, quiet place and bounced back and forth between the forest trees. “Anyone who tries to hide you will be thrown in prison. Anyone,” —his eyes locked with Rafé’s— “who tries to fight or protect you will be killed.” Kael glanced at the many nervous faces staring at him—at the older woman in the wooden hut’s doorway, at the child, and then finally at Cara, the beautiful panther who had murdered his father. “No exceptions.”

  Chapter Three

  Cara watched the tiger prince disappear from the village, rounding the line of trees that separated their part of Sajra from the others. His threat lingered in the air like thick smoke. He would be back—with guards, she was sure. And to protect them all, she would have to go with him. A shiver shot down her spine as her gaze slid across the familiar faces of the people who had come out to watch the commotion. Their expressions were all the same—full of sorrow and hopelessness. Another panther accused of a crime and taken away from the village. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last.

  Cara looked away. Their stares made her stomach turn, and she could still hear their whispers as they retreated back into the safety of their mud and tree-bark houses.

  “What a shame…”

  “Poor Ryna. How will she and the child survive?”

  “She’s dead. They’ll kill her before she can reach the prison.”

  “Which one of us is next?”

  Cara glanced over her shoulder. Her grandmother, Ryna, stood in the hut’s doorway, hunched over with her chin tucked into her chest. Tears gathered in her eyes. She balled her hand into a fist and pressed it over her heart, her face weighted with sorrow. She had already lost a son to the tigers’ reign. Now Cara, her oldest granddaughter, was next.

  All because of something a delusional panther did decades ago. Cara wasn’t sure if the stories were true, but everyone knew of the man who betrayed his city and killed a Noble in cold blood. His name was unimportant—his life before, insignificant—but because of him, the panthers lived in fear, hunger, and filth. His decision to murder a Noble cursed their kind.

  Even though it had all happened long before her birth, Cara couldn’t help but feel like this was partly her fault. Panthers rarely ventured out of the village because of people’s prejudice, but Ryna and Alina hadn’t eaten a real meal in days. They couldn’t survive on her grandmother’s herb teas, nuts, and pitted berries for long. Most of the forest had been picked dry by her people scrounging for food. Hunting groups had to travel for days to find prey. The panthers had discussed leaving Sajra before, taking their chances in the Bilha Forest or building a new life beyond it. But the forest was endless, stretching miles and miles in all directions. No one had ever reached its other side, or if they had, they never returned.

  The hunters told stories of the descendants of Maurus, the wolf, who had murdered Sajra, living beyond the trees. They could shift forms, like them, but were cursed by the moon.

  Deep down, though, Cara knew the real reason they didn’t leave. It was because Sajra was where their lives started, where they had once lived in peace and thrived. As terrible as the people of the city could be, Sajra was still home.

  Someone tugged the hem of her dress. Alina stared up at her with wet eyes. Her sister was still so young, only seven years old. She’d been only a cub when their pare
nts got sick. And Ryna was too old and frail to care for Alina herself. They needed Cara in order to survive.

  “They are going to take you away.” Alina sniffed. She held on to her long black braid with both hands, something she did whenever she got frightened.

  Cara fell to a knee and wiped Alina’s round, dirt-smeared cheeks with her thumb. “They just want to talk to me, and then I will be right back here with you.” She gave her an unsteady smile.

  “For how long?”

  Cara’s heart ached, but she couldn’t tell her the truth. “Not too long.” She took Alina’s hands from her hair and held them tight. She leaned in closer. “Ryna needs you now,” she whispered. “You have to take care of each other while I’m gone. Can you do that?”

  Alina nodded, still frowning.

  “I’ll be back soon.” Maybe she was trying to convince herself, too.

  “You promise?”

  Cara swallowed. She didn’t know what the prince had in store for her, but he seemed convinced that she had killed Rei Salus. Whatever was coming, it wouldn’t be good, but it was better Alina didn’t know that. “I promise,” she muttered.

  Alina placed a kiss on Cara’s nose before running over to Ryna. The elderly woman placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder, gave Cara a stiff, solemn nod, and led the child inside.

  When the curtain fell, hiding them from sight, Cara stood. Rafé was already at her side. He snatched her hand. “We need to hide you,” he said, pulling her a few steps toward the Bilha Forest. “I told you not to go into the marketplace anymore. They look for reasons to kill us. I told you to stay here, stay with me, but you never listen, Cara.” His body still shook from anger and the charge of the shift. Beads of perspiration glided down the muscles of his chest. “We could hide you for a few days up in the trees. After the Hunt, the royals will forget all about you.”

  Did he know how ridiculous that sounded? Cara slipped out of his grip. “Rafé, they think I murdered the rei. They aren’t going to forget about me.”