by Shea Malloy
“Kash,” he said, holding out a section of raw meat to her. Ana reared back in horror and stared at the wet, bloody mass in his palm with disgust. Like a caveman, he’d returned with a dead animal of some sort and had gutted, skinned, and sliced it into chunks with a huge knife right in front of her.
“No thanks,” she said, shaking her head. But her traitorous stomach took that moment to complain about its emptiness. She hadn’t eaten since her lunch break back at the coffee shop which had been god knows how many hours ago. Did anyone notice she’d gone missing?
Would anyone care? She had no one important in her life save for her brother, Diego, and her cousin, Flores. Of the two, maybe Flores would give a shit about her sudden disappearance. Diego would only care after he’d ran out of money and needed to mooch from her yet again.
“Kash,” he insisted, frowning. Then he pointed at her stomach. “Yama sotain.”
“Yeah, yeah, yama sotain or whatever, but I am not eating that thing raw,” Ana said, pursing her lips. She pointed at the live fire pit that beat away the chill and alleviated the gloom in the cave. “I can’t eat it unless it’s cooked.”
He gave her a look of confusion as he followed the direction of her finger.
“Afun,” he said, meeting her gaze again.
“Afun?” she repeated slowly. She supposed that meant ‘fire?’ His nod confirmed it. Excited by this small breakthrough in communication, Ana sat up straighter. She pointed at the hunk of meat dripping blood from his hand and gave him a questioning look.
“Skoya,” he said immediately.
“Skoya,” she repeated. It wasn’t much, but she’d learned the words for ‘fire’ and ‘meat’ in Kozan’s language. She was already bilingual. So maybe if she applied herself, she could learn quickly enough to communicate exactly what she needed from him.
“Kash,” he said yet again, a note of irritation in his voice. She guessed that word meant ‘eat.’ So she shook her head.
“Skoya,” she said, picking her way around the unfamiliar word as she pointed at the meat, then the fire. “Afun.” She gestured him taking the meat and putting it into the fire.
His perplexed look rapidly turned into one of distaste. He looked like he was on the brink of ignoring her wishes and demanding she eat the meat raw again when he got to his feet and prepared to cook it. He muttered a few words, his look of disgust never abating as he roasted the meat. Amused, Ana watched him. She really hoped she hadn’t broken some sacred tradition his people had or anything.
Wait. His people! He wouldn’t be the only one around these parts, right? Maybe there were others like him? Others who might be capable of understanding what she wanted? As Ana ate the overcooked meat Kozan presented her, the cogs in her mind turned rapidly with hope and possibilities.
Eventually, the day’s events got to her. Tired, she lay down on the furs. Kozan laid down beside her and hauled her body against his. She protested at first, but he only held her tighter to him. She soon gave up the fight. It did feel pretty good being held in his powerful arms. And his body heat cocooned her from the persistent chill that permeated the cave. As Kozan nuzzled her neck and she warred against the rising arousal in her belly at this stranger’s touch, Ana drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER FIVE
Ana
“Vaya, Ana. Vaya.”
Ana grumbled, roused by a firm but gentle grip on her shoulder shaking her. When she opened her eyes, she met Kozan’s startling silver-eyed gaze. Ana stared openly. Dios mio, it was like falling into a liquid mirror. She feared she might drown if she stared too long.
But Kozan looked away first. His gaze turned hungry as his eyes travelled past her chin. Ana glanced down at herself. At some point during her sleep, she must have turned, and so the fur robe he’d given her had fallen open, revealing her completely naked body beneath. Face hot, she sat up quickly and covered herself. He raised an eyebrow at her in a look that clearly said, “Why’d you do that?” Then he got to his feet and helped her up as well.
“What’s going on?” she said, but he didn’t answer her. Instead, he moved around the cave, squatting every so often to pick up an item on the floor. When he returned to her, he handed her the items in his arms.
It was her uniform! At least, what was left of it. All the buttons on her shirt were gone, her pants were a tattered mess, and her bra and panties were ripped in half. The only thing that had survived were her running shoes. Ana glared up at Kozan.
“Pendejo! Why did you destroy my clothes?” she asked indignantly. “Now what am I supposed to wear?”
Not looking the least bit ashamed, Kozan shrugged and pointed at the opening in the cave where bright daylight streamed through.
“Otten mai cassaan,” he said. Then he pointed at the bits of cloth that once made up the uniform she’d always hated wearing. “Seyan lafta.”
He wanted her to dress so they could leave. Leave and go where?
“Are you taking me home?” she asked as she dumped the destroyed clothes and hurriedly shoved her feet into her shoes. She didn’t know why she bothered speaking to him. He couldn’t understand her. But no doubt her tía would roll in her grave if she knew her niece was being deliberately impolite. Besides, she’d always been a person who hated long stretches of silence. She didn’t mind it when she was reading a good book. But when she wasn’t, silence felt creepy.
She looked down at herself and the robe she wore. Though it practically swallowed her body, there was no band or buttons to keep it closed around her. She’d freeze if she went out like that. So she bent and retrieved her torn pants and fashioned a crude belt around her frame.
Triumphant smile on her face, Ana looked up at Kozan… except Kozan was no longer there. In his place stood a gigantic, snow white wolf with piercing eyes of silver.
Ana’s heart stuttered to a stop, then restarted at full blast. She struggled to breathe, to find voice, but all she felt was the scream threatening to explode from her. She clamped a hand over her mouth and stumbled backward away from the wolf. It was almost as tall as her, its body long and lithe and powerful. She wanted to run, but there was no way in hell she would ever be able to outrun that thing.
Worse yet, there was some sort of intelligence in those silver eyes, which reminded her of Kozan’s.
Wait a minute.
She dropped her hand from her mouth, her body trembling. What if she was wrong? Transforming into animals was a thing in books and on TV! Not in real life. Then again, she would have said the same about teleportation two days ago before touching that watch.
“Kozan?” she said.
The wolf dipped its head, then met her gaze again. Was that a nod? Holy shit. A wolf just nodded at her. In all the weird experiences she’d had since arriving to this place, this moment probably took first place.
“Why are you a wolf?” she asked, then immediately felt stupid. He wouldn’t have been able to answer her when he looked sort of human. He definitely couldn’t now that he was a wolf.
But even in animal form, despite being far more terrifying, he was still gorgeous. His fur gleamed white, interspersed by those same blue markings that covered his skin in non-animal form. His snout was long, his nose the colour of soot. Despite all the blaring alarm bells telling her it was a bad idea, another deep sense pushed her feet toward him. She reached a hand up tentatively and ran her fingers up his snout, marvelling at the smoothness of the fur there. He let out a warm puff of air through his nostrils and it fanned her skin as he pressed his face into her palm.
Something warmed in her chest at this moment. It felt sort of intimate. But then Kozan lowered his head and the upper half of his body and the moment was gone. He turned his head to the side, using his snout to indicate his back, then he looked at her.
“You want me to ride you?” Ana clenched her fingers into the fur robe she wore and ignored the childish humour at thought of ‘riding him.’ This instance brought new meaning to the phrase. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I don’t even know
how to ride a horse, let alone a wolf.”
He stared at her, waiting. Finally, Ana let out a sigh and shuffled forward hesitantly. She had to be brave about this. He was taking her somewhere. Preferably to something or someone that could help her return home. Wherever home was.
“Please don’t eat me if this hurts,” she said as she sank her fingers into his soft fur and struggled atop his back. He stood up as soon as she was on. Ana let out a startled squeak and lay astride him, cinching her hands around his neck to maintain her balance.
Her eyes squeezed shut, her heart in her throat, Ana prayed she didn’t fall off as Kozan-the-wolf bounded out of the cave with her.
CHAPTER SIX
Ana
Despite the cold, Ana conceded wherever this place was she’d teleported to was absolutely beautiful. She felt like she was in one of those snow globes sold at gift shops. Except the snow was tinted pale blue instead of completely white. It blanketed the ground entirely, formed small hills, and clung to the leafless branches on spindly trees that stretched for the stark grey sky above. When Ana squinted up, she saw the bright spot of the sun hidden away behind the overcast sky.
The chill bit at her face, at her exposed fingers wrapped around Kozan-the-wolf’s neck, and at the exposed skin of her shins where the furs had ridden up. But the heat from Kozan kept her warm. He was like a furnace! No doubt some in-built part of his physiology to keep him protected from the perpetual cold of his home land. She pressed her body closer into his soft fur. He smelled like earth and fresh rain water. His heat and comforting scent batted away any lasting terror she’d had about being atop a huge as hell wolf.
She was anxious to know where he was taking her. In time, she saw a cave’s entrance in the distance, cut out into one snowy hillside. Was this her way home? She hoped so. Why else would he suddenly decide to take her someplace else than where they’d been? She refused to consider any other possibility.
When they entered the cave, Kozan came to a stop and lowered his body, indicating she climb off. Ana did so with shaky legs, then watched in amazement as the wolf’s bones undulated and retracted beneath his skin, his fur receded to the top of his head, and his height grew. Then Kozan-the-man stood before her, naked as usual. Only his shimmering silver eyes remained unchanged.
“Whoa,” she said, her eyes wide. Where the hell was she where things like men shapeshifting to and from animals happened in the blink of an eye? Was she in some kind of dream? Did that Hausten guy give her a watch or did he actually whack her over the head?
“Eya,” he said, enclosing her hand with his and tugging her forward. Ana followed on quivering legs as he guided her deeper into the cave. It was gloomier than the first one she’d slept in, the walkway narrow and the floor uneven. She could barely see her fingers when she raised her hand to her face. So she pressed close to Kozan, who seemed far more sure-footed. Maybe he could see perfectly well in the dark? She wouldn’t put it past him since he was capable of shapeshifting.
Soon, the narrow walkway widened into a large circular area with a high ceiling. It was warmer here and much brighter too, due to the three live fire pits in the room. In the center of the room atop a dais slept yet another huge wolf. It was not as large as Kozan-the-wolf, and its fur was not snow white but slate grey.
“Niar san,” Kozan said, his tone respectful.
The wolf on the dais raised its head slowly, its shiny black eyes regarding Ana and Kozan. Ana struggled to subdue her fear, trying to swallow the sudden thickness that had risen in the back of her throat.
Kozan continued to speak, and when he was finished, the wolf pinned Ana with its black eyes and pushed slowly to its feet. Ana wanted to run, but the slate grey wolf’s stare kept her rooted where she stood. The wolf slipped down off the dais and walked toward her. Then Ana’s eyes widened with renewed amazement as the wolf shape-shifted into an old, slate grey-skinned woman mid-step.
“And where to will you run, child?” asked the old woman, an amused smile curving her lips. “We are in Freize, where the gods curse us with nothing but ceaseless ice and cold. You will die on your own.”
“I understand you,” Ana said, her heart racing with excitement.
“Of course, I speak your tongue,” she said, drawing closer. She cupped Ana’s face with long, cool fingers, her thumbs pressed against Ana’s temples. “And now I will teach you the tongue of your mate.”
Ana frowned and opened her mouth to question the old woman, when she lost the ability to speak, to even think. Instead unformed words and images filtered through her brain. Her head felt hot and like an abused rubberband being stretched beyond its limit. She squeezed her eyes shut and was certain her head would literally explode when the old woman retracted her hands and the unpleasant sensation came to an abrupt end.
Ana reached up to rub her temples as a headache beset her. The old woman’s touch still lingered on her skin. She opened her eyes and glared at the old woman.
“You could have warned me first,” Ana said angrily. Except… the words weren’t English and they certainly weren’t Spanish, either. It was like she was learning the words even as she spoke them.
“Mind your tongue,” Kozan said, frowning as he folded his arms across his muscular chest. “Even the wife of the future Sor must be respectful to the Great Mother.”
Ana regarded him sharply. “Excuse me?” Maybe her translation of his words was going crazy because it was new. “Wife of the… Sor?”
“He is your husband, child,” said the old woman. “And your fated mate.”
“My… what?” Ana squawked. Her gaze flew to meet Kozan’s again, but he gave her an inscrutable look. “He’s not my husband. I’ve only known him for a day! I don’t remember saying any ‘I dos!’”
The old woman smiled patiently at her. “You were on all fours at his feet at the wedding altar. This is the Freizean female’s way of accepting a male as her husband.”
“But that was by accident!” Ana rubbed her head again as her headache strengthened from this new piece of outrageous information. “I did not come here by my own free will, neither did I intend to get hitched to anyone. I just want to go home.”
“You are home,” said Kozan, a stony note in his voice. “You are my mate, as I am yours. The gods brought you here to me. You cannot leave.”
Infuriated, Ana opened her mouth, ready to give Kozan an unfiltered taste of her fury in all the languages she knew how to speak when the old woman cut in.
“Child, this is much for you to accept, I know, but it is true. He is your husband.” The old woman stepped closer. “Though you are not of Freize, you can bear his pups. You are his fated mate. The gods never choose unwisely.”
“First time for everything,” Ana said, still angry. “Look, some crazy old man did this. He gave me a…” she stuttered, struggling to find the appropriate word for ‘watch’ as a time-telling device in the Freizean language. There was none, so she moved on. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that I don’t want to be here. And I don’t want to be anyone’s wife.” At this, she glared at Kozan, who scowled at her in return. Then she gave a pleading look to the old woman. “Please. You must know a way back to where I’m from, right?”
The old woman shook her head. “No, child, I do not. I have met one of your kind before, many moons ago, and it was through him I learned your tongue. But I do not know how he came nor do I know how he left. He has never returned since.”
“So I’m stuck here,” Ana muttered morosely. Her shoulders sagged beneath the realization.
How was she ever going to get home?
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kozan
As the son of the Sor and the strongest warrior of his people, whatever Kozan’s heart desired was often within his grasp. He’d never wanted for anything save for a new day where he could hunt or fight or fuck.
Then his fated mate had fallen from the sky and all of those needs had been decreased in importance. All he wanted was her. And all she wanted was…
not him. As a matter of fact, she wanted to be as far from him as possible.
Since they’d returned from the Great Mother the day before, her mood had worsened. She’d spoken to him a lot more in her strange tongue than now, even though she knew how to speak his language. She didn’t speak to him at all.
“I have heard enough,” snapped Kozan, and the two east faction villagers who had come to the tribunal to complain about territory rights ceased their incessant bickering. He hated these tribunal meetings, but as his father’s health declined, he was forced to attend them in his stead. When he became Sor, they would be a permanent part of his duties to his people, as would many other responsibilities.
He passed judgment on the matter, and the two males were led away. As the tribunal officers prepared the new set of complainants for entry, one of the two servants he’d assigned to watch over and take care of Ana in his absence hurried toward him.
“Var Sor Kozan, apologies for the interruption,” she said. “I have come to let you know that var Sora has left the den. She demanded we take her to the wedding altar and now she searches for something there.”
Kozan frowned as he got to his feet. What could she be searching for at the altar?
“Thank you, Zatana,” he said.
He considered carrying on with his duties at the tribunal, but he’d already spent the better half of his morning residing over complaints and he wanted a break. Not to mention, he had a suspicion that whatever Ana searched for was to facilitate her desire to leave Freize. Kozan left and made his way to the wedding altar.
There he found his mate kneeling in the snow as she clasped a strange, shiny object in her hands, and the other servant, Rin, kneeling beside her, looking anxious.
“What are you doing?” he demanded as he approached.
Both Ana and Rin jerked their heads up to look at him. Rin looked understandably upset at the sight of her var Sor frowning down at them, but Ana regarded him fearlessly, her strange dark brown eyes widening with surprise briefly before narrowing with annoyance as she shifted her gaze between him and Zatana. Just the sight of her alone already stirred his desire for her.