The Hunt (Shifter Origins) Read online

  He looked away, as if he was debating what to say. “Because,” he started, his voice soft, “I’ve been thinking a lot about that night when you first came to the palace. I wanted to help you then, but my father—he wouldn’t allow it.”

  A twinge of familiarity shot through her. He had said something similar in her dream.

  “You risked your life to save me,” he continued, frowning, “after I’ve done nothing but take you from your family, call you a liar, and lock you away. I couldn’t let you die…I-I just couldn’t.”

  Why did you push Kael out of the dart’s path? Cara filled her lungs. If the rei and the prince were gone, Sajra would be without a ruler. Maybe then the panthers could reclaim their old lives, like they’d been during the golden era. So then, why had she saved the tiger prince?

  It’d happened too fast. Once she had smelled the mint, she knew the dart’s new target must be Kael. She thought back to the way Rei Salus looked on the dais, his body flopping around and foamy bubbles pouring out of his mouth. It was as if he were being boiled from the inside out. Tiger or not, no one deserved to die like that.

  She didn’t know how to explain her reasons for saving Kael, either. She just…couldn’t let him die.

  As silence stretched between them, Kael turned and leaned against the balcony’s doorframe again, arms crossed. Cara went to his side and observed the city from their new height. Straight ahead, Sajra’s statue and the tents of the marketplace dotted the hilltop. The river ran below them and stretched out before disappearing behind the natural curve of the valley. The dense, moist smell of a pending rainfall lingered in the air.

  The tiger palace sat at the mountain’s base and hid the Bilha Forest and panther village from view, but knowing it was there—just out of reach—made Cara’s chest squeeze with sorrow. She wondered what her sister was doing at that moment. Maybe she was helping Ryna make her morning batch of herbal tea, or maybe she was gathering dead branches for a fire to cook the rest of the rabbit meat.

  She missed them. She wanted to go home.

  “The sunrise is breathtaking to watch from here,” Kael said, interrupting her thoughts. “But mostly I come out here to think. Clear my head.”

  “Don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous? With an assassin out there trying to kill you, being exposed like this doesn’t seem wise.”

  To Cara’s surprise, Kael chuckled. Her heart skipped a beat. It was the first time she had ever seen or heard him laugh. His cheeks drew up and fine lines appeared at the corners of his eyes. His laughter was loud and rumbling, like a thunderstorm rolling in during a hot summer night.

  Cara couldn’t stop the smile stretching her lips. “I don’t think it’s very funny. I risked a lot to keep you alive the first time.”

  “I know,” he said, shaking his head. Long strands of dark hair danced in front of his face. “You were the one poisoned and passed out for hours, yet you’re worrying about me.”

  She hesitated, not sure how to respond. “I-I just don’t want my efforts wasted.”

  “Guards have been roaming the grounds since I brought you here.” He gestured to the balcony. “No one was found around the prisons or the cell we were in. Every guard will be stationed either in the palace or outside it. There will be no more guard shifts or breaks to provide protection at all times.” He paused. “Still, I haven’t stepped any farther from the room than here. I had the same thought as you. It isn’t wise to be out in the open air, but I didn’t want to disturb you while you slept, either.”

  “Oh.” Cara glanced at him. His gaze hardened on something in the distance.

  “I don’t know if you heard me or not, but I tried speaking to you while you rested. The healer warned me that even with her remedy, there was no guarantee you’d survive—”

  Cara tensed. She didn’t know she had been in that much danger. The thought of dying and leaving Alina and Ryna alone terrified her. If Rafé found a mate, she doubted he would continue to look over them.

  Then, she remembered Kael’s haunting voice calling to her in the cell. Was it possible that his words had leaked into her head?

  “I know I shouldn’t be saying this, but you’re beautiful.”

  “Stay here with me.”

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

  Heat pooled in her lower belly at the thought that the things he’d said were real.

  “Cara, everything’s going to be all right.”

  “Let me help you.”

  “Dammit, Cara…Fight this!”

  She couldn’t tell the difference between reality and her imagination. And what about everything he’d said about her being afraid to help herself, about her feeling guilty about her parents and the need to care for her now broken family?

  No, that couldn’t have been from him. Kael didn’t know that much about her. He didn’t know her thoughts, or the things her grandmother told her last spring. That part must have been from her memory.

  Her throat tight, she whispered, “Yes, I heard you. And thank you for…helping me.” His voice had been what brought her back. If he hadn’t tried talking to her, she could have slipped away forever.

  Kael grew rigid beside her. His spine straightened, his hand hovering near the dagger on his belt, like the first time she had seen him on the dais. The laugh lines by his eyes smoothed out, and his face was washed clean of his tilted smile.

  In an instant, the Kael she had been talking and laughing with was gone. Prince Kael was in his place. She frowned.

  “Cara,” he said, his voice stern, “do you know of a plant called teralau?”

  “Teralau? No. I’ve never heard of it.”

  “It’s the plant the healer recognized as the poison. She said it mimics the smell of mint but carries a fire inside.” A muscle twitched in his jaw. “The flowers hold the poison, and it is so deadly, the Nobles ordered them stripped from the forest during their reign.”

  “Apparently not all of it,” she replied with a short laugh. When he didn’t flinch, any remaining hope Cara had of things being different between them drained away. Replacing it were regret, longing, and anger—anger at herself for allowing her heart to think anything could change. In the dream, Kael had told her that he wanted to help. She understood what he meant now. He wanted to help her see that there could never be anything more to them. Never.

  She was a fool to think otherwise.

  “Someone has gotten their hands on it again and dipped the darts in the poison,” Kael went on, rubbing his hand along his chin. “I need to find out who, but I don’t know where to start. Maybe I’ll have my guards do a sweep of the forest to see if any other teralau plants are growing.”

  A deadly plant that grew wild in the Bilha Forest when the Nobles ruled. Cara would ask her grandmother about it, if Kael would let her go. Ryna knew a lot about two things—herbs and the golden era. Maybe she would have heard about it.

  “Kael—” It was the first time she said his name out loud, and it sounded strangled coming from her lips. “My family. I need to get back to them. Am I…still a prisoner here?”

  He was silent for a long moment, staring at her. A flicker of sadness touched his eyes, but vanished just as quickly as it had come. “If you believe you are feeling well enough, you can go.”

  He stepped aside. “You must try not to be seen by the guards. Panthers are not frequent visitors in the palace, and I don’t want—” He stopped himself.

  Even though he didn’t say the rest, he didn’t need to. Cara could finish the sentence. He didn’t want anyone to associate the tigers with the panthers. He didn’t want anyone to see them together. That hurt. More than she expected it to. She was back to being just a panther to him. Hated by all.

  She wanted to slap herself. She needed it—one hard smack right across the face, enough to fully wake her up out of her self-delusion. Had she thought he would help her leave, walk with her down the stairs and out the door like she was anything else? Or that he w
ould see her as anything other than her animal side?

  Pathetic.

  Fury ignited inside of her. She needed to get away from Kael and return to Alina and Ryna before he changed his mind and threw her back in the prison. They were the only ones that truly loved her. Before this disaster with the tigers, she had lived without confusion. Her family needed to survive, and Cara had to find out how, day by day. Nothing changed. She wanted that back.

  Cara held her breath and squeezed past Kael, making sure not to touch him. She stepped into the dense heat outside. “Blend in. Live without being seen. I know how it works,” she threw over her shoulder at him. “No need to warn me.”

  “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Don’t worry. I get it,” she shot back. Despite her biting words, her chest ached. She ignored it and marched across the balcony to the edge. Palms pressed against the short stone wall, Cara peered down at the ground below. Guards lined the palace walls, all with spears in hand and knives tucked into their belts. She spotted a tree nearby. Its branches were tall, and the canopy was full of leaves.

  Her way back home without being seen. Then, she could start to forget about Kael and her dream all together.

  “I’ve stayed here long enough.”

  Kael’s voice hitched. “Cara, wait—”

  “Stop it,” she growled. Was he going to apologize now? He was trying to wiggle his way into her head, and she wasn’t about to let him. “I need to go home. I don’t belong here. You and I both know that.”

  He pressed his lips into a firm line. “And where do you belong? At the end of the river? Poor? In a hut that can barely fit you, your grandmother, and your sister?”

  Her chest heaved as rage coiled inside. “Salus—your father—put us there. We had no other choice!”

  His gaze hardened. “After everything I did to keep you alive, you still think I am like Salus?” he replied in an angry whisper.

  “If keeping me alive was such a burden to you, then maybe you should have let me die.”

  “I’m starting to think I should have.”

  She huffed and turned around, her gaze landing on the black outline of Sajra’s statue in the distance. “Spoken like a true rei. Your father would be proud.”

  Cara crossed her arms, grabbing handfuls of fabric, and lifted the dress over her head. She dropped it on the floor. As the power of the shift rippled over her body, her pulse raced. Her bones popped. Her vision sharpened. A jolt of energy shot down her spine, and she dropped to her knees. Short black hairs pushed through her skin and cloaked her nakedness.

  In her panther form, the bandage on her arm squeezed and tore apart as her muscles flexed and swelled. A stabbing pain told her the healing wound on her arm had reopened. Blood trickled down and matted her fur. Ignoring it, she took a few steps back, and scooped her dress into her mouth. Lowering herself into a crouch, she gathered up the rest of her strength.

  “Cara, what are you—”

  She snarled and broke into a sprint. Jumping up the balcony’s wall, she used all the power left in her legs to push off. She leaped against the wind before landing with ease on an extended tree branch. Her claws dug into the bark to steady herself. With a quick glance to make sure no one had seen her, she scurried into the thick canopy, crawled along another branch, and jumped onto a larger fruit tree near the river. She slid down the trunk and dashed to the old bridge crossing the water.

  Only when on the other side did Cara stop and look over her shoulder. No one followed her, and she grinned inwardly. Easy. The guards were all too occupied marching back and forth between the palace’s entrances to notice her.

  Then, she paused. In the distance, on the marble balcony, the shadowy figure of the tiger prince stood silhouetted by the rising sun, watching her go. She spun around and ran as fast as she could down the winding river toward the panther village and home, her heart heavy.

  Chapter Eight

  Leaning over the balcony’s marble wall, Kael watched Cara hurry along Sajra’s rushing river. In her panther form, she was a black spot against Sajra’s lush grass and colorful flower patches until she curved around the river bend and disappeared.

  Again, she had shifted and stood bare before him with not even a hint of hesitation. And again her nakedness stirred something in him. Just thinking about it sent waves of energy up and down his spine. His insides sparked, and his inner tiger rose, wanting to give chase and claim her as his own.

  He gritted his teeth, pushing the beast down. It was difficult enough for him to shake the vision of her fully exposed in the slanted hut. Now, he was sure the image of her dark hair sweeping the middle of her back, her round backside, and long, strong legs would be engraved into his thoughts forever.

  This time, he had come too close to kissing her. When she’d stumbled and he’d grabbed her wrist, only inches separated them. He couldn’t stop staring at her full lips. And when she had pulled the bottom one between her teeth, it took all his self-control not to tug her against him, crush his mouth against hers, and finally find out how she tasted. Sweet and fiery, he imagined. Like honey and spice.

  Kael heaved a sigh. Kissing him was probably the furthest thing from Cara’s mind right now. He hadn’t meant the things he’d said. Of course he didn’t regret saving her. Thinking of the way she’d been—trembling, sputtering, and bleeding, skin feeling like fire—made his heart constrict. He would have done anything to keep her alive. Why didn’t she see that?

  Kael peered over the balcony. Armed guards swarmed the palace; they blocked every entrance and marched rounds inside and out, yet Cara’s escape had gone unnoticed. That worried him. If Cara could still sneak past his guards, then he wasn’t safe.

  Kael clenched his fists and slammed them down on the stone. His knuckles stung, but it wasn’t enough to distract him from the bite of his own failure. The culprit had outsmarted him twice. He needed to find the assassin before he came after him again. Cara had saved him the first time. He may not be able to walk away from a second attempt.

  Exhaustion weighed down on him, and he ran a hand over his face. With Cara in his bed, and his pestering, chaotic thoughts, he hadn’t slept last night, but he couldn’t rest just yet. Teralau. The poisonous plant was the only clue he had to catch the killer. The healer had said it was used and destroyed during the Nobles’ reign. Maybe the murderer was older, like her, and knew how the poison worked. But even with the name of the plant, Kael had no direct connection to anyone. No suspects. He needed more, but first, he would finish what the Nobles had started years ago.

  “You there!” he shouted down to one of the guards passing under his balcony. The guard looked up, squinting, and Kael noted his wide forehead and flat nose. A jaguar.

  “Prince Kael? It’s unsafe to be outside,” he called back, switching his spear to his other shoulder.

  “Yes, yes, I know.” Kael waved the comment off. “I need you to take your division to the end of the river. Scour the forest for a vine with bright orange and red flowers. It’s called teralau. Ask the locals for sightings. Destroy all you find and report back to me.”

  The jaguar bowed his head. “Right away, my prince.” He hurried into the palace, disappearing from sight.

  Kael started back to his bedroom but paused when he spotted something white on the floor. He bent down and picked it up. A strip of shimmering cloth dotted with red—the piece of his cape he’d used to stop Cara’s wound from bleeding. It must have slipped off when she shifted.

  He crumpled it in his hand and walked inside. Latching the glass doors shut, he glanced at his bed. It was still mused and stained red in places. He couldn’t believe she’d heard him speak to her while she slept. How much had she heard? During his murmurings, he had slipped and said he thought she was beautiful. But she was. He’d thought so the first time he’d seen her. His stomach flipped every time the vision of her appeared in his thoughts. Cara was possibly one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

  He wished she hadn’t
left him.

  Then why did you tell her to go?

  Everything he had done these past two days went against all he’d been taught growing up. As much as Kael’s human side and sense told him to forget her, untangle himself from her hold on him, the thought of not seeing her again made his inner tiger roar.

  Kael grabbed his leather tunic from the foot of the bed and pulled it on. Lacing up the front, he considered his next move. It wasn’t safe for him to leave the palace, but he didn’t want to stay either. He refused to be a prisoner in his own home. He would revisit the prison cell, and search for anything he may have missed.

  He touched the hilt of his dagger. It wouldn’t protect him from a flying dart, but it did make him feel safer. On his way to the prison, he could stop by the armory and pick up another weapon, maybe a short sword or crossbow. Just in case.

  Kael trudged to the bedroom door and pulled it open.

  To his horror, Regis Jaleh stood on the other side, rigid, her bony hand outstretched, ready to push against the wood. The hard lines of her face tightened when she saw him.

  “Mother—”

  Dressed again in her traditional burgundy gown with gold embroidery and accents, she shoved past him and strode over to his bed. She touched a bloody stain on the sheets and rubbed her fingertips together, examining them. Lifting her nose, she sniffed the air.

  She gasped, her blue eyes piercing. “It’s true. You are housing a panther in here!”

  Kael’s heart thundered.

  “Where is she?” Her head swiveled as she searched the room.

  “She’s gone.” He took a step back, thankful Cara was no longer in the palace. Thinking about her lying in the bed, sleeping off the poison with his mother in the room made Kael sick. With Salus off the throne, his mother held all the power until his ascension ceremony. He wouldn’t be able to do much more to protect Cara until then.

  Jaleh huffed. “Have you lost your mind? The panther that killed your father, and you brought her here, to your bedroom?”

  “Mother,” he kept his voice smooth, even though irritation gnawed at him. “She wasn’t the one. I was wrong. When I went to release her, the true assassin scaled the prison wall. He shot at me, and she pushed me out of the way. She saved my life.”