The Hunt (Shifter Origins) Read online

  “You went to the prison to release her?” Her black brow rose, making the wrinkles on her forehead more prominent. “You never release a panther, Kael.”

  Had she not heard everything else he’d said? Cara saved his life. “But she was innocent,” he snapped. “There was no need for me to keep her here.”

  While Jaleh studied his face, Kael held his breath, trying his best to clear his expression. If she discovered that he had any feelings toward a panther other than hatred, he would never hear the end of it.

  After a long moment, she shook her head. “What makes you think she wasn’t part of a plot against Salus, against our family? She was in the marketplace when your father was poisoned.”

  His argument died on his tongue. He hadn’t considered Cara being part of a larger plan against him. But the more he thought about it, the more he knew it couldn’t be true. Cara had plenty of opportunities to kill him—when he’d helped her up by the river, in the prison cell, before she left just minutes ago. She’d injured herself to protect him.

  His mother’s accusation didn’t make sense. Or was it that he didn’t want to believe it?

  “She saved my life,” he repeated, trying to convince himself. “If she hadn’t jumped in front of me and shoved me aside, I would be just like Salus. Dead.”

  “She is a panther, Kael. The fewer of them, the better.”

  His building anger buzzed inside him. “That panther saved my life.”

  Jaleh’s hard gaze dropped to the cloth clutched in his hand, and she closed the distance between them in two quick steps. “What’s this?” She tugged the exposed end and ripped it out of his grasp. “Your cape? Blood?” She sucked in a breath through her teeth. “You used your robe to treat that-that thing?”

  “She was poisoned and bleeding.”

  She glared at him. “If your father knew what you did—”

  “You mean like try to find his true killer?” A growl vibrated in his throat, and he locked his knees. His bulky frame loomed over her miniscule one.

  Despite his threatening stance, Regis Jaleh pulled her stiff shoulders back and turned her head, emphasizing the sharp points of her nose and chin. “A panther murdered Noble Vallius,” she sneered. “A panther almost cost us the throne. And you want to help them try and take it away from us again? That’s treason!”

  Kael grunted. “What does that mean? A panther almost cost us the throne?”

  “You’re naive, Kael. Still.”

  “The death of Vallius was almost fifty years ago. One panther should not represent all of them.”

  Her mouth opened, but instead of speaking, her eyes darted to the door. Kael followed her gaze. The young cheetah guard stood frozen there. Like the day before, his blond curls peeked out of his head-wrap, but today, he wore a white and brown speckled feather tucked into its folds.

  When Regis Jaleh’s lip rose in a snarl, he bent low into a bow.

  “Prince Kael. My regis.” He acknowledged both of them with a quiver in his voice. “Am I interrupting?”

  “Yes,” Jaleh said with venom. “You are.”

  “Mother,” Kael snapped. “He is here for a reason.” When he glanced at the cheetah again, the young man’s face paled. “Go on.”

  Then, Kael noticed the silk green fabric in his hand. The Hunt headdress. The cheetah held it out to him.

  Kael’s pulse raced. “Where did you find this?”

  “In the prison cell,” he replied. “The one we put the panther woman in. I believe it belonged to her.”

  Kael took it, his fingers wrapping around the cool, glittering scarf. She must have dropped it after the dart struck her.

  “Burn the ugly thing,” his mother quipped. “Why did you even bring it here?”

  Before the guard could respond, Kael interrupted, “Thank you.”

  He dipped his head. “Of course, my prince. But there was something else.” He reached up and plucked the feather from his wrap. “This was also found in the cell. If the assassin scaled the wall, it may have belonged to him.”

  Kael’s eyes widened. A feather. His only clue besides the poison. He picked it from the cheetah’s fingers and examined it. It was long and white with brown spots, maybe from an eagle or hawk.

  He brought it to his nose and inhaled. Attached to the thin, soft fibers was the scent of mint.

  Teralau.

  Still, he had no idea who the feather belonged to. Having it didn’t tell him much more than he already knew. Maybe the assassin decorated his or her clothes or hair with them. Kael tried to think if he’d seen anyone wearing feathers in the past couple of days but couldn’t conjure up a soul.

  He tucked the feather into his pocket, his fingers touching the smooth faces of the coins there. Many of them, too. His gaze dropped to Cara’s scarf in his hand, and an idea struck him.

  He turned to the guard. “What is your name?”

  Baffled, the young man remained silent.

  “What is your name?” Kael asked again, keeping his voice calm.

  His mother jabbed his arm with a pointed nail. “What does it matter? Kael, stop this nonsense.”

  The guard hesitated, but after a moment, he replied, “Corbin.” A dimple appeared on his cheek as he smiled. “My name is Corbin.”

  “Corbin, you’ve been very helpful to me,” Kael said, “but I must ask one more thing of you.”

  “Anything, my prince.”

  Kael draped the headdress over his open palm, then reached into his pocket and pulled out all the coins inside. He placed them in the center and gathered up the scarf’s sides. He handed it back to Corbin. “Go to the end of the river to the panther village. There is a house—small and slanted—set farther back than the rest. Give this back to the young woman. It belongs to her.”

  Jaleh gaped beside Kael. “Absolutely not!” she cried out. She pointed at Corbin. “You will do nothing of the sort! Give me the wretched thing.”

  The guard paused, his eyes flicking between the prince and the regis’s waiting fingers. Kael gritted his teeth. Until his ascension ceremony, his mother still held power over him, and Corbin’s hesitation proved he was thinking the same thing.

  To Kael’s surprise, Corbin brought the scarf closer to his chest. “I will bring this to the panther village, my prince.”

  “You give that to me this instant. Or so help me—” Jaleh said through clenched teeth.

  Kael held an arm out to block her, and she whirled to face him, eyes wild.

  “Go, Corbin,” he ordered. “Go and be quick.” The cheetah sprinted away without waiting for another word.

  “Who are you?” Jaleh screeched, sharpened nails biting into the flesh on his forearm. “What have you done to my son? Helping a panther? Giving them money? Have you lost your mind?”

  An artery in Kael’s neck throbbed as rage pushed his blood faster.

  Jaleh shook a tight fist at him, the red-stained cloth still in her hold. For a moment, Kael thought she might strike him. “This is not how a rei should act.” She flung the bloody strip of fabric onto the floor with a disgusted grunt.

  His mother’s words only fueled the swelling fire inside him. Kael’s body shook from the force of it. “It isn’t what Salus would do,” he said.

  “Salus was the best ruler this city has ever had,” she retorted. “And he was right. You’ll never be the rei that Sajra needs.”

  Unable to tame it any longer, Kael threw his head back, his jaw extending as the tiger reared up, and let out a deafening roar. It filled the room and echoed off the white stone walls, making the armoire and the bed skate inches across the floor. After years of suppressing his tiger, his body accepted the shift without a fight. The skin on his face prickled with heat. His teeth sharpened, and power rippled up and down his spine. His muscles shifted and bulged, and there was a terrible tearing sound.

  Regis Jaleh jumped back, her fear and shock clear on her face.

  Shoulders heaving and breathing ragged, Kael looked down at his mother. She was
so small compared to him. In his half-shifted state, she appeared no more of a threat than an annoying fly. He wondered how he could have ever been afraid of her.

  He mustered his control again, an invisible vice wrapping around him as he forced the change to stop. He stared at his reddish and black fur spread over his still human fingers and broad chest under the tunic, feeling irked and unfulfilled.

  “You’re losing yourself, Kael.” Jaleh’s voice quivered. “You must control your animal side.”

  “Stop,” he growled. His voice sounded deeper and radiated with authority. “I want to hear no more of it. Salus is dead, and soon I will be the new rei of Sajra.”

  Kael strode to the door, his wrath swirling inside him. He threw one last threatening glare back to his mother, hoping that this time, she would consider his words.

  …

  Cara slowed her pace once she reached the tall river grass. The gash on her arm burned and oozed. Her limb wobbled whenever she put her weight on it. Shifting had torn the wound open again, and without Kael’s bandage, blood dripped out and stuck to her fur. She was going to have to shift back into her human form and stay that way for a while, until it was fully healed.

  She trotted over to the grass and pushed herself through the reeds. Dropping the dress from her jaws, she let the power of the shift take over. The familiar sparking feeling erupted throughout her body, and a sharp pain shot across her arm as her muscles clenched around the cut. Biting the inside of her cheek, she shed the black fur. Her spine straightened, and soon she was on her feet again. She picked up her dress and pulled it on.

  Stepping out of the grass, Cara continued on her way back down the river. But after a few steps, the sensation of being followed crept up her back, making the hairs at the nape of her neck spike up.

  Remembering the last time she’d felt this way in the marketplace, before the death of the rei, she slowed her pace and strained to listen for any hints of who it may be. The sound of bare feet squishing in the soft mud reached her. Whoever the person was, they were close. She sniffed the air. Wet fur. If it was someone she knew, the musky scent masked their identity.

  Cara’s fingers extended into sharpened claws. She held her breath, spun around, and swung her hand.

  Her forearm connected with something solid, stopping her nails from meeting skin. Then, she saw Rafé staring back at her, water clinging to his forehead and hair, his arm raised to block her attack. Cara glanced down. Drops cascaded down his chest like he’d been swimming or bathing recently. A smirk curled his mouth.

  “You’re too slow,” he whispered playfully.

  Cara pulled back and smiled, relieved to see his familiar face, and her jittery nerves eased.

  “You’re lucky it was me,” Rafé said. “What if I was one of the tigers’ guards? You’d be dead.”

  “I knew it was you,” she lied.

  “Oh, did you?” One black eyebrow rose.

  “Yes, I did.”

  “I’m impressed,” he drawled. “How did you get out? The guards aren’t the smartest lot, but the palace is swarming with them. How did you sneak around them all?”

  “You were by the palace?” she asked.

  “We all were.” He nodded over his shoulder, and it was then that Cara noticed Rafé hadn’t come alone. His Majasha men stood behind him, all watching in silence. All four of them were there—Felic, the oldest of the group, with his pointed beard; Barun, flicking his knives in and out of their sheathes; Sani with a jagged scar across his closed right eye; and Danil, the youngest and the only one missing the first time Kael entered their village. His face was still round and boyish compared to the others, and his tight curls were cropped close to his head, reminding Cara of thick tree moss.

  “All of Sajra has been talking about the assassination attempt on the prince. I thought that with everyone scrambling to protect him and find the hero, the prison might be left unguarded. It seemed like a good time to help you escape.”

  Cara ignored the hero bit. Disdain for the tigers’ rule was common amongst their people. “You tried to help me escape?”

  “Of course.” His hooded eyes roamed her face. “I hated that the prince took you away and there was nothing I could do about it.”

  “I didn’t let you do anything. Remember?”

  “There was that, too.” He chuckled, his laughter quick and breathy, the opposite of Kael’s. “But don’t thank me for it just yet. When we got to the palace, we knew there were too many guards around the prison to try during daylight, so we didn’t get far. I had planned to come back at nightfall, but here you are. Free. You beat me to it.”

  She hadn’t expected anyone to try to help her escape from prison. Especially Rafé. It was too dangerous. She wasn’t worth risking his life for.

  First it was Kael calling for a healer to extract the poison from her wound, and now Rafé had tried to get her out of the tigers’ prison? Why did everyone want to help her now? Cara knew she should have been flattered by his attempt, but instead, she thought it was foolish. If he’d been caught, who would have looked after Alina and Ryna then? He had given her his word to watch over them. If he was gone, they would have no one.

  “And before you say anything about Ryna and your sister, don’t worry. They’re fine. I even made an arrangement with Farrah to stay with them until we came back or permanently if we didn’t.”

  Her cheeks flamed. Was she really that predictable? Rafé had kept to his word, and it seemed he had done more than she’d asked of him. Maybe she had misjudged him.

  “Farrah is Danil’s mother. Sweet little thing. She owed me a favor,” Rafé went on, gesturing toward Danil. “I don’t know if you’ve met her before. She doesn’t leave her house much.”

  The name sounded familiar to Cara, but she couldn’t think of a face to match it with. She glanced at Danil, whose gaze dropped to the ground. He shifted the shoulder strap of his side-bag. Large hand-painted beads and feathers decorated the worn, brown leather. For a moment, Cara wondered what the favor could be, but after glancing again over Danil’s lanky frame and the other intimidating Majasha men, she figured it had something to do with him joining Rafé’s group.

  “I know how much your family means to you,” Rafé said.

  Even though his tone didn’t change, Cara heard the double meaning to his words. Her devotion to her sister and grandmother was the reason she had turned him down for the Hunt last year. Maybe he finally understood why she had rejected him then.

  “Thank you,” she replied, meaning it. “They are all I have left.”

  “I know.” Rafé closed the space between them. His hands came up and touched her shoulders. His thumbs stroked her skin. “But they don’t have to be all you have, Cara.”

  She tensed. Was he implying what she thought he was? Again? “Rafé—”

  “I understand now,” he interrupted, his gaze locking with hers. Hope shone in his yellow eyes. “The only way you and I can be is if your family is looked after. You love them. I understand. If I want to be with you, they have to come along.”

  She didn’t respond. Her shock made her tongue heavy in her mouth. Instead, her thoughts went to Kael, the way he looked when he laughed—his face softening and lighting up—and then to the spreading of heat over her body when they touched.

  Cara glanced at Rafé’s hand on her shoulder and back to the tormented look on his face. Her pulse didn’t speed up at his touch. Her heart didn’t flutter or dive. If anything, it squeezed with sympathy and apprehension.

  “The Hunt is in three days, Cara,” he said. “Run with me. I can protect you and your sister and grandmother. You’ll never go a day without eating again. They’ll have everything they need. I swear it.”

  She hesitated. Rafé had cared for them, like he’d promised, when she was gone. Was he trying to prove what he said was true? He did have influence in the village, and it would be easier to gather food for them with another set of hands. They could be an actual family again, not a broken one any
more.

  Was she actually considering taking Rafé as her mate? Yes, he was handsome, strong, and clever. Ryna had thought she was a fool to turn down his offer last spring. Many panther women wanted him to be theirs, and he could have any of them.

  But I don’t love him.

  If she accepted, Alina and Ryna would be cared for, maybe even better than she could do by herself. They all could be better off. Her, too.

  She sighed and tried to imagine a life without worry, hunger, or sleepless nights.

  It seemed too unreachable.

  What about Kael?

  What about him? There was nothing real between them, just Cara’s nagging dream and a few moments when she had misread his gestures and words as something else. She meant nothing to him, and he meant nothing to her.

  Right?

  Right.

  But why, then, couldn’t she stop thinking about him? Running in the Hunt and being Rafé’s mate could be the best thing for her sister and grandmother. But was it the best thing for her?

  When Cara finally spoke, her voice trembled, “Rafé, I…just don’t know.”

  Something sparked in his eyes, and a sly grin split his lips. The look he gave her sent shivers throughout her body. Were they from allure or from fear? It was hard to tell.

  “You have three days to consider, Cara. I don’t want to force you into anything. Last year I was upset, I admit it, but things will be different now.” Rafé’s hands began to slide down her shoulders. She took a short step back, but he followed. “You have my word that Alina and Ryna will have everything they need. You won’t lose them if you become mine.”

  Before she could reply, Rafé’s fingers brushed the gash on her arm, and pain shot through every nerve ending. She yelped, jerking back.

  Rafé studied his fingertips, now shining red. “Blood?”

  Felic, Barun, and Sani stepped closer to Rafé, whose expression pinched. His voice rumbled with rage. “Not mine, Majasha. Step back.” They did.