The Hunt (Shifter Origins) Read online

  When her fingers brushed against his leather tunic, her stomach flipped. Wait, was he wearing that before? She vaguely remembered him wearing white.

  “What’s going on?” she yelled at him, panic rising.

  Kael’s hand reached out, his fingers capturing a lock of her hair. She froze. “I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but you’re beautiful,” he mused. “Probably one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.”

  Cara’s heart fluttered awake in her chest. She had to be dreaming, hallucinating. Something. This couldn’t be real. She racked her memory again for hints. She had been hit by the dart; she was sure of that. She remembered the pain in her arm. And then, she had landed on him—just like this. She grasped for more, but the rest came back blank.

  She must have passed out, then. So, was this real now, or was she still asleep and her imagination running wild?

  It felt real. Kael’s hard body shifted underneath her, and he twirled her curls around his finger. She could feel her stomach knotting and her heart hammering against her ribs.

  “I can’t stop thinking about that night when you first came to the palace.” Kael’s stare bored into hers, and Cara’s breathing staggered. “I wanted to help you, but my father, he forbade it.”

  Cara pressed her lips together. What was wrong with him? Maybe he had hit his head when they’d fallen. She didn’t want to talk about that night. It brought forward too many stinging memories, and she didn’t need the guilt right now. She pulled back and tossed her long hair over her shoulder so it slipped from Kael’s grasp. Needing to get up and clear her head, she lifted her leg to climb off him.

  His hand came down and held it in place.

  She gasped. “What are you doing?”

  “Stay here,” he whispered, his tone low and suggestive. His fingers climbed up to her thighs. “I let you go once before, and I don’t want to make that same mistake again.”

  Annoyance itched at her. If he was trying to make her look like a fool, she wasn’t about to let him. She tried to move off him again, but he gripped her at the waist, holding her still. “Is this some kind of trick?” she demanded. With her legs spread over him and his hands on her, she couldn’t move unless he did. She was vulnerable, completely in his control.

  That was a scary thought. “Or have you lost your mind?”

  “Neither,” he said.

  There was a hunger in his expression that made her hesitate. What if he was being sincere? Her skin flamed at the thought of the tiger prince really thinking she was beautiful. If this wasn’t some kind of game, then he was pinning her in place on top of him because he wanted her there.

  And that meant…

  “Kael,” she tried to reason with him, before her own mind turned to mush. “You were just shot at. The assassin wants to kill you next. We shouldn’t just be lying here.”

  “Let him go,” he replied.

  “Let the murderer of your father go?” She narrowed her eyes. “You did everything to arrest me and bring me here. And that was based on an assumption. Now it doesn’t matter to you?”

  “He can’t touch us. I’ve made sure of it. We’re safe now.”

  Safe. With the tiger prince—the man who had ripped her from Alina and Ryna and brought her here only because she was a panther and in the wrong place at the worst time.

  “But I apologized for that,” he muttered.

  She jumped. Had she said it all out loud?

  “I went to the lynx,” he said, his gaze never leaving her. “I paid for your rabbit meat. I gave you back your mother’s scarf.”

  “Random gestures of kindness.” Again, she tried to lift herself off him only to have his grip tighten on her. She clenched her hands into fists and punched one into his solid chest. He didn’t even flinch. “You can’t blame me for still not trusting you. Sorry, but I’m not swayed by your sudden conscience.”

  He was quiet for a moment. Sadness weighed his features, and he shook his head. “Why not? I am trying to right a wrong,” he said. “I told you. I wanted to help you that night seven years ago, and I want to help you now.”

  “I have my reasons.” Like years of abuse and prejudice from the tigers and Sajra’s people, and the starving panther families in her village. Grinding her teeth, she dug her nails into his arms and pushed against his hold. “I just want to go home. Now, let me up.”

  When his fingers clamped down on her waist, she growled. Still, she couldn’t move.

  “Why are you so afraid?” he asked.

  Suddenly overcome with exhaustion, Cara slumped on top of him. “What?”

  “For a person so brave and selfless, I didn’t expect you to be so afraid.”

  She grunted. “What are you talking about? I’m not afraid.”

  “You are terrified to think about yourself. Even once. You’ll do anything to help your family. You even risked your life to save me, but when it comes to yourself, you’re afraid.”

  “Stop,” she snapped. Nausea roiled her stomach. “You know nothing about me.”

  “Even a thought of anything other than your family is a moment wasted—a moment you could be doing something to help them. You feed them while you go another day hungry. You trade the last memory of your parents for a meal for them. You surrender to me even though you’re innocent, just so that they aren’t harmed.”

  “Stop it!” She trembled as anger and fear whirled inside her like a windstorm. “It’s not true.”

  “It’s true. Helping yourself makes you feel like you’ve failed,” Kael said. “You still blame yourself for the night your parents died, even though the rei threw you out of the palace. Don’t you? You think that by giving everything—every part of you—to Alina and Ryna, you are making up for not being able to save your parents.”

  His words hit her like blows to the center of her chest. Cara’s lungs struggled to take in air, her breaths coming quick and shallow. Everything he was saying was true. And she hated it.

  “Your parents’ deaths weren’t your fault, Cara. You did everything you could to help them.”

  She covered her mouth with her hand as the familiar swell of anguish rolled over her. “I know,” she gasped. “But it still wasn’t enough.”

  Kael let go of her waist and ran his palms up her arms. Goose bumps crept along her skin, following the warmth of his touch. “Do you think any of them would want to see you lose yourself in your responsibility?”

  Panic crawled over her like millions of tiny invisible insects. Her grandmother had told her something similar—last year, when she had turned Rafé down for the Hunt. It had just annoyed her then, but hearing it from Kael made her sick.

  “Thinking about yourself once in a while isn’t wrong, Cara. Let me help you.”

  Help her? Help her do what? Think about herself? Her heartbeat boomed against her eardrums. Just the thought of putting herself first made guilt sink like a boulder into the pit of her belly. She had already wasted too much time in the prison talking to Kael instead of trying to get back to the village. Kael didn’t understand. He lived in a palace. He had everything he needed or could ever want. Alina and Ryna needed her to survive.

  If Kael wanted to help her, he could give some food or coins for her family—just a few. Cara knew how to stretch them to last a long time. But that meant she would have to trust a tiger. If Rafé or any of the other panthers knew she was even considering this, they would think she’d lost her mind.

  “All right, Kael,” she said finally. She swallowed to prevent her voice from shaking. “Let me go back to my village. Help me leave—”

  “I was thinking of something else.” His hand snaked its way behind her neck, pulling her face closer to his. Their lips hovered there, a breath away from each other.

  Cara tensed. The desire to kiss him rushed through her. His warm breath caressed her cheeks, beckoning her to close the distance between them. Every nerve in her body ignited. This was wrong. But as she pressed her hands against his chest, feeling his taut muscles u
nderneath her palms, her head fogged.

  Blessed Mother, help her. She had lost her mind.

  It’d been years since she had let a man kiss her, touch her like this. Years since she had thought about herself and her needs. And right now, something inside her was screaming for Kael. Only Kael.

  Real or not, insane or not, Cara didn’t care anymore. All rational thought vanished.

  He lifted his hips, and his body pushed against hers, telling her that he wanted more, too. Her heartbeat quickened, and fire lit in her veins as the hard bulge in his pants connected with the most private part of her. She almost yelped aloud at the size of him. Even through the fabric of his pants, she could feel all of him; he was firm and ready. For her.

  Was she really about to do this? With him?

  Cara pulled back. There was a primal hunger in his eyes that sent a jolt of desire into the pit of her stomach. A part of her wanted to ask him if he was sure about this—she was a panther after all, and he was the tiger prince—but before she could utter a thing, he sat up and yanked his tunic over his head.

  With his shirt off, Cara could see that every part of Kael was sculpted out of solid muscle. There was so much strength and power to him; it made her tremble with anticipation. The last time she had been with a man this way, she had been young and foolish. A few romps in the Bilha Forest would be nothing compared to this. Kael was three times the size of the boy interested in her then, in all respects.

  She growled. The hell with it. She wanted him.

  Cara leaned in, wanting to taste his lips, but to her surprise, Kael turned his head at the last second and pressed his mouth against her ear. “Stay with me, Cara,” he whispered while his hips lifted and rocked against hers. His breath tickled the curve of her throat.

  His name spilled over her lips. “Kael…”

  “Stay with me.”

  “I will…” She didn’t want to wait a moment longer. She wanted to strip off their clothing and for Kael to take her, right there on the cold stone floor.

  “Cara…” The husky sound of her name on his lips was driving her crazy. He placed a searing kiss on her shoulder, and she shuddered.

  “Cara…” The sound of his voice shifted, becoming faint and strangled like it had before.

  She lifted her head. When her name echoed back to her again, Kael’s lips never moved.

  “Cara…Stay with me…”

  Suddenly, everything stopped. Before her eyes, Kael dissolved into the shadows, and her body sagged against the floor.

  Then a desperate voice pounded against her eardrums. “Dammit, Cara…Fight this!”

  But she was the only one left in the cell.

  Chest heaving, Cara scrambled to her feet, scanning the dark prison. Her legs wobbled. Where did Kael go? Her body still tingled from his touch, but the tunic he’d taken off in a rush was missing from the floor.

  As if it had never happened.

  His hands on her, his body, his kisses. Had she really imagined it all?

  A sharp pain sliced through her upper arm. She cried out, a hand flying to it. When she took her fingers away, they glistened red with blood.

  Cara stumbled back, hitting into something hard. The wall. She pressed against it, afraid she might collapse.

  “Cara…” Kael’s voice came louder this time and from above her. “Wake up…”

  “Kael!” she shouted up at the night sky. Her eyes stung with incoming tears. “What is going on? What do you mean? Wake up? I’m awake!”

  “Please…Cara…”

  She covered her ears. Her temples pounded.

  “Cara…Cara…”

  Cara squeezed her eyes shut. The ground lifted up under her, and the walls tilted back.

  She screamed.

  Chapter Seven

  Everything was quiet.

  Streams of colored light pressed against her eyelids.

  Footsteps. The sound of them was clear when it met her ears this time. When they stopped, Cara cracked her eyes open. Dancing balls of light clouded her vision. She blinked them away.

  Cara’s head fell to the side. She took a first look at her surroundings. White walls, a wooden armoire, and a colorful woven rug decorated the otherwise empty room. Lush red pillows gathered around her head and shoulders. A thin sheet was tangled around her feet.

  No, she definitely wasn’t in the prison cell anymore. She was in a bed, in a room that was too stark and clean to be lived in by anyone.

  So it had been a dream.

  It hadn’t been real.

  Her heart sank. Everything—Kael’s kind words, his body pressed against hers—it had all been in her mind.

  Head reeling, Cara sat up. Tall painted-glass doors led to a balcony. One lay open, and Kael stood there with his back to her, leaning against the frame. The sunlight pushed against him and illuminated his massive torso. He wore only his trousers and boots. She could make out every muscular plane of his bare back and shoulders. The remaining rays shone through the doors’ colored squares, throwing strips of indigo, rose, and yellow across the bed and floor.

  Cara shivered despite the heavy heat of the room, remembering his body under hers, half naked and powerful, as he kissed her shoulder and made her promise to stay with him. She had never before had a dream that made her heart pound after waking up. Her mouth was as dry as sand and tasted like smoldering ash. She swallowed and licked her cracked lips.

  She must have been asleep for hours. The distorted view of Sajra through the glass doors made it difficult to see if the sun was setting or rising. Either way, she had been alone, sleeping with the tiger prince nearby, having intimate dreams about him. Her cheeks flamed.

  As she scooted to the edge of the bed, her aching muscles seized up, and little fiery explosions flared under the skin of her upper arm. She winced and glanced down. A bandage had been wrapped around her wound and tied off.

  Taking her time, she moved her legs over the bedside and touched the ground. The chill of the marble floor tickled her bare feet. When she stood, her knees wobbled. She held on to the bed to steady herself.

  One step at a time, she made her way to Kael’s turned back. The closer she came, the more the urge to reach out and touch him overwhelmed her. She ached to feel his skin against hers again, even if for a second—something as simple as tapping him on the shoulder. Maybe then she could be sure this was real, and their moment had been only an illusion.

  She took another hesitant step and stretched out her hand.

  He turned around, and Cara jolted.

  “You’re awake,” he said, brows lifted in surprise.

  Her gaze roamed his naked chest. Rippling, solid muscles made up his torso and stomach. His upper body was almost identical to how she’d imagined it—tan, sculpted, and bulging—but also covered with a dusting of fine hairs. They made a dark trail down his front, disappearing below his belly button at the top of his pants.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  Her temples pounded, and her legs were unsteady. She was starting to wonder if her symptoms were from the poison or from her body’s natural pull to Kael. She settled with, “Better.”

  “And your arm?”

  It burned and stung. “Better also,” she said.

  “I washed and covered it,” he muttered. He clasped his hands behind his back, and Cara couldn’t help but notice his wide chest tense at the movement. “I wanted to make sure you were safe while I treated your wound, so I brought you here. To my bedroom.”

  Bedroom? Her stomach dropped, and she glanced over her shoulder, expecting guards to burst through the door. When they didn’t, she turned back to Kael with her brows lifted in disbelief. He had brought her to sleep in his bedroom? Her. A panther.

  There was no way she should be allowed in here.

  She took another clumsy step back, suddenly dizzy. When she rocked forward, Kael’s hand shot out and snatched her by the wrist. His grip was strong to steady her, reminding her of his hold on her waist during the dream
.

  But it was just a dream, Cara. Stop this.

  “Easy,” Kael growled. “Maybe you should lie back down.”

  Cara closed her eyes for a moment to help the spell pass. When she opened them again, the morning sun broke over the treetops, spilling its golden light all over Sajra. Behind Kael, the rays touched the dew on the canopy’s leaves, and the water droplets sparked and shone like fireflies.

  It was morning. She had slept through the rest of the day and through the entire night.

  Kael cleared his throat. “I called for a healer. She came and extracted the poison from your body,” he said. “She gave you a tonic and drained some of your blood.”

  Cara touched the cloth bandage on her arm. “She drained my blood?”

  “Yes.” His fingers remained locked around her wrist. Searching her face, he leaned in closer until he was only inches away from her. The scents of fresh mountain water and perfumed soap—his scent—filled Cara’s senses and made her head spin. Suddenly, the desire to kiss him gripped her. When his lips parted, something familiar sparked in his eyes. She had seen it before, while on top of him on the prison floor, and again in her dream.

  Was he considering the same thing? Did he want to kiss her, too?

  Impossible.

  Cara drew her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t understand any of this. Kael had brought her to his private bedroom, sent for a healer, and cleaned and dressed her wound? It didn’t make sense. Even if he finally believed her innocence, nothing had changed. This wasn’t like her dream. She was still a panther. Why not just let her die there on the prison floor?

  “Why?” she blurted. “Why are you helping me?”

  Kael let go of her, and her hand dropped to her side.

  “Do you want something from me? Payment of some kind? I have no money—”

  “I don’t want anything from you,” he said. His forehead furrowed in confusion.

  “Then why did you do all this? Why did you help me?”