The Sabertooth's Promise (Ice Age Alphas Book 1)

by Lily Thomas

  Books By Lily Thomas

  Giant Wars Series

  Loving His Fire

  Grounded By Love

  Melted By Love

  Wicked Flames of Desire

  Galactic Courtship Series

  Xacier’s Prize

  Claiming His Champion

  Captivating the Doctor

  Escaping the Hunt

  Abducting the Ambassador

  Wicked Prisoner

  Seducing the Enemy

  Cuff Me Now

  Challenging the Arena

  Dark Desires in Space

  His Fallen Star

  Ice Age Alphas

  The Sabertooth’s Promise

  The Sabertooth’s

  Promise

  Lily Thomas

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Cover created by SelfPubBookCovers.com/ KimDingwall

  Copyright © 2018 by Lily Thomas

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce the book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information email lilysamanthathomas@yahoo.com.

  www.lilythomasromance.com

  ISBN: 9781720242048

  ISBN: (ebook) B07HJDJMNM

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  Chapter 1

  Aiyre shook her body out as she stamped a hoofed foot, fluffing the thick brown fur, knocking the snow from her fur. Then she shifted out of her pronghorn form before she entered the village in her human form. The freezing winter air rushed over her, prickling her bare skin, and she quickly grabbed her fur clothing from where she’d taken them off when she’d left the village earlier in the day.

  Her body heat quickly warmed up the furs, as she walked further into the village. Winter was one of her favorite seasons because of the beauty, but it had a cruel side, and the cold was relentless.

  Their village wasn’t the largest, but it was where she called home. She glanced at all the fur huts dotting the snow-covered area. Smoke trickled out of the center of each tent, personal fires burned brightly within each tent, and she couldn't wait until she could warm herself back up around a hearth.

  She could taste the tension hanging in the air, and it ruined the peaceful look of their small village. There were guards posted in the village and the surrounding area around the village. The sabertooth shifter clan was making noise again, but this time it seemed like they might be a more serious threat than usual.

  It made her skin crawl with goosebumps just thinking about it. Every day she left the safety of the village to go hunting, she wondered if it could be her last. Just the thought of a sabertooth ripping her throat out made her want to duck into a tent to hide and never venture out. Unfortunately, a tent wouldn’t be much shelter when it came to those terrifying claws and teeth which they wielded with deadly accuracy.

  She walked into the clan leader’s hut. “Good day, Bhirk and Naru.” She greeted the leader and his wife, as she ducked inside the warm hut leaving the cold winter outside, where it belonged.

  “Good day, Aiyre. Where have you been?” Naru looked up from where she sat on a pile of furs near the fire pit in the center of the hut. Her soft hazel eyes gazed fondly at Aiyre over the flames of the cooking fire.

  Aiyre took a seat beside their fire pit and let the heat flowing off of it warm her some more. Shifting from form to form in winter wasn’t the most pleasant experience with the cold always lurking in wait for exposed human skin. “I went out to look at some traps we have set and brought a few of the guards some food.”

  “No luck then with the traps?” Naru looked at Aiyre’s empty hands.

  “No luck.” Unfortunately, she'd found the traps empty thanks to the deep snow they'd been experiencing. The traps had been buried before any animals could be caught, but Aiyre had reset them. Hopefully, the next time she went out, she’d come back with some animals.

  Her eyes skimmed over Naru who was developing more wrinkles and spots on her softening skin. Journeys out into the cold were harsh on her, so Aiyre had tried to relieve Naru of some tasks, like feeding the guards posted around the area.

  “How were the guards holding up under this impossible weather?” Naru asked as she flipped a few small fish near the fire.

  “They were doing fine. A little hungry, but that should be expected. Now that I’ve brought them some dried meat, they should be good until they are switched out with other men from the clan.” And none of them had spotted any sabertooths, so that was a bit of good news. They didn’t need the sabertooth shifters sniffing around their village.

  “Would you like some?” Naru offered her a small fish she’d cooked over the flickering flames of their cooking fire.

  “Thank you.” Aiyre accepted the hot fish eagerly. It would help to warm her from the inside out after her trek in the winter wonderland that was their life.

  “What news did the guards have, if any?” Bhirk folded his long legs as he sat beside the fire pit, and Naru handed him another small fish that had finished cooking.

  Aiyre balanced the hot fish on the tips of her fingers. “They’ve seen no sightings of the sabertooth shifters.” She reported with relief.

  Every day was tense with unease as they waited for the sabertooths to attack. Life was already difficult in winter without having to worry about the sabertooth clan causing chaos. Recently, there’d been a lot of unrest as they waited for the mammoths to come.

  Naru nodded, pleased with the news. “Hopefully, this means we won’t see much of them.”

  “It doesn’t mean they’ve calmed.” Bhirk took a bite of his fish, as he thought on the matter.

  Naru frowned, not liking what Bhirk was implying. Just because they hadn’t seen the sabertooths in a while, didn’t mean they weren’t still out there waiting to pounce. The sabertooth leader was blaming their clan for the lack of food in the area this winter.

  Aiyre plucked the little fish bones from the flesh of the fish. She tossed them into the fire where they sizzled.

  “We have to hunt before winter sets in fully, but need to do it without bothering the sabertooth shifters. Their leader has grown weary of our presence.” Bhirk continued.

  That was putting it politely. They couldn’t venture outside of their village without worrying what the sabertooths would think.

  “If only we could stay in our pronghorn forms and move south where the snows would be less severe, and we didn’t have another clan breathing down our necks.” Aiyre wished it was something they could do.

  “It would make it easier.” Bhirk agreed. “But some of the clan wouldn’t be able to shift for such an extended period of time. The old and the young wouldn’t be able to shift easily, if at all.” He shook his head. “We would lose too many of the clan if we tried to move now.”

  Aiyre eyed Naru as she nibbled on her fish. She hadn’t even seen Naru shift into her pronghorn form in the past year. She studied the woman who had been close to a mother to her since her own mother had died long ago.

  “I still don’t understand the cause of the upset.” She shook her head. “Our two clans
could live near each other in harmony, but this leader just seems to desire a fight with us.”

  Everyone in the tent nodded their heads sadly.

  Bhirk had done his best to try and speak to the other leader, but the man was unpredictable and unbudging in his views. He was adamant the pronghorn shifters were the reason prey was so limited this winter. It didn’t bode well for their clan, and she feared what the outcome might be as aggressions grew.

  Not that it would be much of a fight. Their pronghorn clan would have a hard time fighting against a larger clan that could shift into sabertooth cats. It would just be a slaughter.

  She forced herself to finish her fish, even though her stomach was reeling at the thought of what might come if they couldn’t make peace with the other clan. They kept trying, but there was no way for them to please the sabertooth cats.

  Naru and Bhirk were like her parents, and she didn’t wish to see any harm come to them. They’d been so good to her after her parents had been killed by a bear while out hunting. She hadn’t even been old enough to know her parents. They were just faceless people in her memories, and it saddened her.

  Thankfully, Naru and Bhirk had been able to tell her about her parents and were kind enough to raise her as their own. They’d been nothing but doting, and she couldn’t have asked for anything better, but recently there’d been a bit of pressure about finding a man in the village to combine her furs with. She knew which man they thought she should choose. She just wasn’t sure he was the right man for her.

  “I will assemble our hunters and head out to gather some meat.” Aiyre nodded her head as she watched the flames of their cooking fire dance gleefully, unaware of the danger they were all in.

  Aiyre hadn’t ever wanted to be a burden on the clan that could have done away with her. She’d only been another mouth to feed, and a few of her clan mates had pointed that out while she’d been younger and unable to help with hunts.

  Now though, she was proud to say she participated in hunts on a regular basis, and she was a reasonably decent hunter. Her clan had been so kind to her, even if there had been some rough patches in there. She’d wanted nothing more than to pay them back for their generosity and kindness.

  “Avoid any known hunting grounds the sabertooth clan might think they have a claim to so we don’t irritate them anymore,” Bhirk warned her gently.

  “You could try the southern valleys,” Naru suggested as she began eating her own fish. “They can’t possibly think they have a claim to those hunting lands.”

  Naru was probably right. The southern valleys lay almost a day’s journey from the sabertooth village.

  Aiyre nodded. “I’ll go and gather the hunters then.”

  “Go.” Bhirk waved her on probably just as eager as the rest of the clan to see their meat hut filled to the brim before the worst of winter blew in.

  Recently, the sabertooth clan had been making it hard for them to hunt their normal hunting lands, so they relied on ice fishing the frozen lake right beside their village. Unfortunately, the lake wouldn’t provide them with enough food for the rest of winter.

  Rising from her seat, she found herself reluctant to leave the warmth of the fire, but she had to go hunting to help their dwindling meat reserves. The harsh winter was far from over, and it would only get worse.

  As she exited the tent, the cold didn’t take long to rush up and smack her in the face. She let the tent flap fall back into place behind her before she let out all the warm air. She slipped on some fur gloves to keep her fingers from freezing off.

  Now she had to find herself some hunters to join her.

  Slowly, she walked through the village, her fur boots crunching in the thick layer of snow that covered the ground all around them.

  She spotted Girk stepping out of a hut. She watched as he paused right outside the hut and stretched his arms above his head, before throwing his fur-lined hood over his head.

  She smiled. Now there was the man she needed on a hunt with her.

  “Girk!” Aiyre raised a gloved hand in greeting eager to get his attention. He would be an excellent person to have in a hunting party. He had the skill and drive to make a hunt successful.

  A smile spread over his face, as he began to stride over to her. “Aiyre! You’re back already?”

  She shrugged. “It didn’t take me long to get meals to the guards.”

  He draped an arm over her shoulder, his grin going ear to ear. “I’m glad you’re back. I’m not sure what I would’ve done without you nearby.” Even though his hood covered his head, she could still see his blonde hair peeking out.

  “Oh!” Aiyre blushed. “You can be such a flirt.” She rolled her eyes. Everyone knew Girk wanted to join with her, but he had yet to ask, and she was glad because she wasn’t too sure what her response would be. He’d been more of a brother to her than a potential suitor.

  “Only for you though.” His brown eyes danced in amusement as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

  “Pfft. Stop distracting me.” She smacked his chest playfully. “We need to set up a hunting party and get some more meat for the clan before we run out and starve.”

  Girk nodded, his lips drawing down into a serious line. “Gather your supplies, and I will gather the hunters.”

  She sent him a smile, as he took back his arm and let her go. The sooner they got this done, the better, and they had to make the hunt count.

  Aiyre glanced at the hunters Girk had gathered for their outing. They were some of the best, and she couldn’t wait to set out. They were going to come back with plenty of meat. She was positive about it.

  “Where are we to hunt?” Girk folded his arms in front of his massive chest, which was only accented by the large fur coat he was wearing.

  “He’s right. The sabertooth clan seems to be everywhere we look.” Another hunter complained. “Every time we round a tree, there’s a sabertooth shifter waiting on the other side ready to slash our throats open.”

  “I’m not sure that’s what I said.” Girk scowled at the other hunter.

  “We will go to the southern valleys. Hopefully, they won’t be out hunting while we are. Those hunting grounds are far from their village, and I’m doubtful they will be there.” Aiyre informed them. It wasn’t like they could bury their heads in the snow and hope everything would be alright. They’d starve this winter if they didn’t get some more food in their meat hut, sabertooths or no sabertooths.

  The hunter who’d offered up the complaint grumbled a bit under his breath, most likely wondering why she, a woman, was leading their hunting expedition. There were maybe three women in the clan who hunted but never before had any of them decided to take charge of a hunting party. Only Aiyre was that daring.

  Yanking the butt of her spear out of the snow, she led the grumbling group of hunters away from the village and towards a hunting ground where they might find something to hunt without another clan breathing down their necks.

  Or worse, coming to blows with them.

  Aiyre shared her companions’ fears, but they had to hunt if they wanted their clan to make it through the long cold winter. They trudged through the snow-covered ground, first heading south, and then turning to go slightly east.

  “Perhaps we should move our village.” Someone said from behind her.

  “That doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”

  “This close to winter?” Aiyre scoffed. “It would be the same as not hunting. Most of our clan won’t make it.” She followed Girk through the snow, using his footsteps in the deep powder to make her trek over the ground easier.

  “We still might not make it through winter. It might be in our best interest in losing a few to save the rest.”

  “I can’t believe you suggested that.” Aiyre glanced over at Friu who was walking next to her.

  “We might all die if we stay here.” Friu reasoned looking for someone in the group to agree with him.

  “We can’t abandon some of our people.” Girk stepped in. “W
e will stick together until the end. We are a clan, and we protect each other like family.”

  “I’m hoping it won’t come to that.” Aiyre grimaced. She didn’t want there to be an end to their clan.

  “I hope the same, but I’m not sure we’ll be that lucky.” Girk sent her a sad smile.

  “Maybe we should take the fight to them,” Friu suggested as he thrust a spear in the air.

  She wasn’t going to let Friu bother her with his stupidity, and instead gave the hunter a stern look hoping to shut him up once and for all. This wasn’t something she wanted to talk about. “This is a time for hunting, not wasting time in pointless conversations that will lead nowhere and only result in scaring the prey away.”

  They went silent, the only sound the crunching of the snow as they trekked onwards. Every once in a while they’d pass a white long furred rabbit, who’d scurry away in a panic. They were searching for something more substantial, and the rabbits had nothing to fear from them unless they got themselves trapped in one of the snares she’d set earlier.

  Once they arrived at the hunting grounds, Aiyre and the rest of the hunting party crouched low in the snow and crawled over the hill. With each movement, more snow built up in front of her, and she used her fur-lined sleeve to move the growing mound of snow.

  As they crested the hill, they spotted a herd of horses grazing below. Their shaggy brown coats blew around in the chilly wind, and Aiyre smiled at their good fortune. The wind was working in their favor, blowing their scent away from the herd. This might just be a good hunt, and she could feel the excitement of their small group grow.

  If they could manage to take a couple of those horses, it would significantly increase their ability to make it through the winter. That much meat would go a long way and give them some much-needed hope which her clanmates were losing with every day that passed.

  Looking to the hunters near her she gave a subtle nod of her head, and a couple of them melted away into the snowy terrain their white fur clothing blending in seamlessly to the background of fresh snow. They would go around to the other side of the herd and kill the horses as her group chased them in the correct direction.