by Lily Thomas
“Stop talking, Ezi.” Aiyre snapped. She wasn’t leaving.
The bear kept circling, but the circle was getting smaller and smaller. It was going to come in for an attack.
Aiyre swallowed her fear as her heart thundered away in her chest.
Then the bear charged. Its massive body barreled towards her, and then it stopped and rose up, a paw nearly taking her head off as it took a swipe.
Aiyre lunged with a stab towards the bear’s thick hide, but the stone point only slid off all the fur and fat.
They were going to die. Fear rose its ugly head as she gazed up at the massive form of shaggy brown fur.
Daerk’s heart nearly stopped when he came across his wandering pronghorn shifter being attacked by a giant bear.
He plunged forward and knocked the bear in the side with all the force he could. The bear stumbled away from the women as he heard startled gasps sound behind him. He wasn’t surprised they’d be startled.
The bear righted itself and took a swing at him. All he saw was a paw full of sharp claws flying past his face, very little room to spare.
He backed off, only to launch himself on top of the bear. Daerk’s mouth clamped down on the bear’s neck, his long canines sinking into the flesh, but the bear didn’t go down.
How much fat did this thing have on it?!
Daerk thrashed a bit to try and get his canines into some flesh. All the bear’s thick fur tickled his throat. Dislodging his hold Daerk jumped off the bear’s back. He might need some assistance to take down the bear.
He spared a second to take a glance over at the pronghorn shifter. She was trying to drag the other woman away from the fighting. Good. At least she recognized danger and was smart enough to get out of the way.
Still, he wanted more distance.
Daerk lunged at the bear, and then backed off, trying to get the bear to follow him and leave the women alone.
Unfortunately, his wild bear wasn’t so easily swayed. It gave a swipe of its massive claws in his direction and then lumbered back in the direction of the women.
Where were Rir and Tor?
Daerk rushed to put himself between the women and the bear. The bear halted in its tracks and eyed him. Maybe it was finally rethinking this attack. It should go find a couple of rabbits to eat before its hibernation. It just wasn’t allowed to eat the pronghorns.
It charged him deciding he would make a tasty snack in place of the women. He dodged the sharp teeth, backed off and then came back in to sink his teeth into the bear’s neck. The bear rose up on its back feet, but Daerk didn’t let go, even when he saw a paw full of sharp claws coming straight for his side. It would easily slice him open and spill his guts all over the snow.
Something slammed into the bear’s back, throwing it off balance and saving Daerk’s internal organs from being freed all over the ground.
Daerk let go before the bear crushed him with its weight. When he backed off and looked up, he saw Rir and Tor had finally arrived and had changed into their sabertooth forms.
Good. Three sabertooths would have no problem taking down this giant bear.
His men started to shred at the bear’s hide with their claws, and Daerk went back in for the neck. He bit down where he thought the spine would be, and finally heard a snap. The bear went limp and fell to the ground.
The three of them backed away, waiting. Rir moved closer and touched the bear with a paw. Dead. Good.
He looked around and saw his pronghorn was still dragging the other woman across the snow. Time to talk to her.
Aiyre glanced up and saw the sabertooths had taken the bear down. That meant they’d probably come for them next. Her grip on Ezi’s under pits tightened, as she pulled Ezi across the ground faster.
“Just leave me, Aiyre!” Ezi cried frantically.
“How many times will we have the same discussion?” Aiyre was getting exasperated with Ezi. They only kept going in circles. She wasn’t leaving Ezi. It might be a logical decision, but she couldn’t abandon her last clanmate.
Glancing back up she met the eyes of three sabertooths. All three were fixated on them. She pulled harder.
“Ouch!” Ezi complained.
“Sorry,” Aiyre mumbled as she continued to pull Ezi across the thick snow.
Aiyre looked back up and paused as the lead sabertooth shifted in front of her very eyes. She couldn’t look away. He transformed into an impressively handsome man, too bad he was a sabertooth shifter.
Her eyes scanned down his frame, from his brown hair to his golden eyes and then down the rest of his naked body.
The other two sabertooth cats shifted into equally handsome men, but neither of them could compare to the god standing in front of her. Her heart skipped a beat.
“What do you think they want?” Ezi asked.
“I have no idea.” Aiyre continued to drag Ezi across the ground. It was a lost cause at this point since the sabertooths would easily catch up to them, but she wasn’t giving up. “Maybe they’ll freeze to death.”
“I doubt it.” Ezi sounded just as miserable about their odds as Aiyre felt. “But,” she suddenly said with hope blossoming in her voice, “they are in their human forms which might mean they don’t mean to harm us.”
Ezi had clearly lost too much blood to think clearly. “We’ll get through this.” She didn’t believe a single word she was saying, but it was better than announcing to the whole world that they were about to be killed.
The men strode over to a pile of bags and clothes.
“Aiyre, you can stop dragging me. We aren’t going anywhere fast, and they will be on us in a second.”
Ezi was right. She should save her energy.
Aiyre reached behind her back and dislodged her spear from where her pack was holding it, as she let go of Ezi.
“What are you doing?” Ezi criticized.
“I doubt they are about to assist us, and I plan on defending us for as long as possible. If I’m going to die, then I’m going to bring at least one of them down with me.”
“Maybe we could try to talk? We don’t even know if they are even part of the same shifter clan.”
“How many sabertooth shifter clans could there be?” She hoped not too many. “I only know of one in the area. They have to be from that clan, Ezi, and I doubt they’ll want to talk.”
“Be careful. I don’t want to see you get killed.” Ezi pleaded, her voice breaking. “Not after everything else.”
One of the men grabbed a pile of clothing and distributed it among the other two. Once the men were clothed Aiyre sighed a bit in relief. Fighting naked men would be a bit disturbing for her. Even from over here she couldn’t help her eyes from skimming over his naked backside.
Her gloved hands tightened on the wood shaft of her spear. She pointed the stone tip towards them as the men picked up their supply bags and made their way towards her.
Ezi could be right. They might just be three bachelor sabertooth shifters searching for women to start their own clan with, but she doubted it. It was a big world and wandering into someone who wasn’t from the area seemed unlikely to her.
The men stalked towards them, and Aiyre rushed to put herself between the sabertooth shifters and Ezi.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” Ezi begged from behind her.
“Don’t come any closer!” Aiyre yelled at the three men, who were well built and so much taller than herself. Their clothing didn’t help calm her. It made them seem even larger than they already were.
They weren’t armed, but then did they really need any weapons? All they had to do was shift, and they’d be armed with the deadliest weapons nature had bestowed upon them.
The one in the front held up his hands. “We mean you no harm.”
“Doubtful!” She called out still brandishing the spear.
“If we meant you harm, we could have let the bear finish you off, but we didn’t.” He dared her to disagree his gold eyes pinning her to the spot where she stood.
The leader looked to the other two men. “We were searching for you.”
“Why?” Aiyre brandished her spear when he took another step towards her. “I will defend myself.” She warned him.
“I don’t doubt it.” His hands remained up. “You have no reason to trust us if you came from the pronghorn village that was attacked, but you will have to take my word that we mean you no harm.”
“What could we lose?” Ezi asked from behind her, her voice a bit strained. “I need help, or I’ll die, and we need a more than just ourselves if we want to survive the winter. Even you said that earlier.”
Aiyre hated the fact that Ezi was making so much sense. She wanted to get rid of the sabertooth shifters, but they might die without help, so what could they possibly lose?
Aiyre lowered the spear. “I keep my weapon and one false move, and you will have a fight on your hands.” She warned him.
He nodded. “We understand. I am Daerk, and this is Rir.” He pointed to the man on his left. “And this is Tor.” He pointed to the other man. Then he looked at her expectantly.
“I am Aiyre, and this is Ezi. We did come from the pronghorn clan that was attacked. I assume you are some of the sabertooths who are responsible.” Aiyre accused him unable to keep the venom from her voice.
Daerk took in a deep breath his chest puffing out with the action and let it out slowly. “We are part of the clan that attacked yours, but none of us knew about the attack until it was too late.” His golden eyes pierced her. “We were not a part of the attack.”
“I can’t take your word for it.” She met his eyes, unflinching in the face of yet another unknown danger.
He nodded. “Understandable, but allow us to help you.” He held out a gloved hand. “Given time we can prove to you we mean neither of you any harm.”
Aiyre glanced over at Ezi and then down to Ezi’s leg which was covered in trickles of blood. Looking back up at Ezi’s eyes she could see her friend was ready to take the risk.
Aiyre bit her bottom lip. “Fine.” She backed away, allowing the men to get a look at Ezi who was still sitting on the ground. “You can prove yourself by helping Ezi with her twisted ankle and the wound on her leg.” Aiyre glanced over to Ezi who looked a little pale with all her blood loss.
“Rir you will carry her.” Daerk directed one of the men.
“No!” Tor blurted out, making Aiyre jump and tighten her grip on her spear.
Daerk turned in the other man’s direction and arched an eyebrow on his well-chiseled face. Couldn’t the sabertooth shifters have been ugly instead of attractive? All three of them were exceptional specimens.
“Then you carry the injured one, Tor.”
Aiyre eyed them all with skepticism, but the one named Tor approached Ezi slowly and picked her up gently, and Ezi didn’t even flinch once.
“Do you need to be carried?” Daerk sidled up close to her and sent her a smirk.
Aiyre jabbed the point of her spear tip under his chin. “Touch me and die, sabertooth.” She growled.
Daerk backed away, the grin never leaving his face. “It could be quicker if I carried you.”
“I am… was… a hunter in my clan. I can handle myself out here.” Aiyre’s eyes narrowed on him.
A smile creased the man’s lips, almost like he was impressed with her spirit.
Good. She wanted respect from these men since it might help with keeping herself and Ezi alive. She was still dubious about their intentions. After all the sabertooths had done to her people, she wasn’t ready to trust them.
“Where are we going?” Aiyre glared at the man who seemed to be in charge. “We won’t go to your village.” They’d be killed within seconds of entering that village. There was no doubt in her mind.
“We will bring you to a cave we know of near enough to our village so we can provide assistance, but far enough away, so no one wanders into you,” Daerk told her.
“There is a small cave near our village.” Aiyre retorted. “We’ll be more comfortable there.”
“Your cave is too close to your village. If anyone from our clan checks for survivors, like I did, they might notice your presence. Our leader… did not like the presence of your clan, and I know he will want to finish the hunt if he finds two of you still alive.”
So, they’d tracked them all the way from the cave. It made sense that they should change the area they were hiding in. If these men had found them, then others could also find them.
“Why help us?” Aiyre still wasn’t sure about his motivation.
Daerk went silent for a little bit, and she could see him thinking behind those golden eyes of his. “Enough people have been killed. I want to bring redemption for my clan. They’ve been misguided, and I know they will come to regret their actions.”
Aiyre felt like he was holding something back from her, but she’d let it slide now and press him later.
“Lead the way then.” Aiyre motioned him forward.
He inclined his head and headed off through the snow. She set off after him with his men trailing behind. She took a few glances over her shoulder to make sure Ezi was fine.
Ezi had a wary look in her eyes but wasn’t screaming for help, so Aiyre tried to relax her guard a bit. The men did seem to want to help them. It was odd, but they needed the help.
“If you weren’t one of the sabertooths who attacked my clan, then where were you?” Aiyre questioned Daerk as she pulled up beside him.
“I was hunting, and these two,” Daerk hitched a gloved thumb over his shoulder, “they were searching for me so that they could tell me about the attack.”
“And if they’d found you in time, would you have been able to do anything?” Aiyre was curious to know. Could her clan have been saved by this one man?
“Probably not.” His bright golden eyes glanced over at her, and her heart skipped a beat. “I don’t know.”
She cocked her head to the side. “There was a chance?”
His lips pursed. “A slight one. I would have had to challenge my clan leader. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how many would follow me if I tried to take over.”
“Anyone who would allow such a massacre to take place is just as guilty as those who attacked my village.” She challenged.
“You don’t understand the fear Brog has hammered into my people. He’s made examples of people before.”
“Why risk the annoyance of your clan leader by helping us?” Because she was sure his clan leader would think he’d lost his mind.
He shrugged. “I don’t believe my clan would have done this if they had a level-headed leader. Brog, our leader, needs to have control and does it with terror. He made sure everyone in the clan thought you pronghorns were killing us off.”
She couldn’t imagine living among a clan full of sabertooths. They had to be violent and unpredictable, and so far, Daerk had yet to change her mind on that. He wasn’t ripping any throats out yet, but there was still time for him to turn violent.
Aiyre glanced back at Ezi who had to be feeling better now that she wasn’t using her leg.
“Worried about your friend?”
“Yes. Her ankle is twisted, and if that isn’t enough she has a deep gash on her leg, and I’m worried about it getting infected.” And she was worried about being left alone for the rest of winter.
“We’ll see to her.” He reassured her. “If she needs something more, we can sneak our shaman over to this cave.”
“Your shaman would assist us?” She couldn’t help but feel a bit surprised their shaman wouldn’t share the feelings of their leader. Usually, a shaman and a leader had the same views and worked as a unit, like Naru and Bhirk.
“Of course he would. Not everyone in my clan agreed with the attack. And some of those who did attack may have feared retaliation from our leader had they not done as he said.”
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Aiyre looked at him coldly. “That’s little comfort when my entire clan lies dead among their tents, slaughtered in their homes.” She stalked away to walk beside her friend, fussing over her furs.
Something inside of Daerk gave a sharp pang as she walked away from him. He told himself he only felt guilty that he hadn’t been able to prevent the attack, but he was starting to worry that it wasn’t guilt that had driven him to find this woman again.
Chapter 7
Within an hour, they arrived at a cave with a fur flap covering the mouth of the entrance. From the outside, it looked very similar to the one she’d been staying in for the past few days.
Daerk stepped up to the entrance and held back the flap with a gloved hand. Aiyre stepped forward. With the light from outside shining in, she was able to see the cave was enormous compared to the one she’d been staying in with Ezi.
She walked in cautiously. Hopefully, the sabertooth shifters wouldn’t kill them in their sleep, although this would be a lot of effort to kill two women who most likely would’ve died in the snow.
The rest of the group filed in, and the one named Rir bent over the fire pit and got a raging fire started in a matter of minutes.
She put her hands out to the fire and enjoyed the warmth that was filling the cave.
Tor placed Ezi down near the fire, and she noticed him hovering over her friend. Aiyre walked around the fire to take position near her clanmate. Aiyre wasn’t liking the interest this sabertooth was showing in her friend, and until she knew why, she was going to stay close.
She placed her spear against the cave wall, and then bent down next to Ezi. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m fine, but my leg hurts.” Ezi winced.
“The herbs I brewed for you must be wearing off. I can ask them to collect some more for us.”
“What do you need?” Tor squatted next to them.
Of course, he would be listening in. Why was he hovering? She glared a little at the overly interested sabertooth.
“She needs things for her twisted ankle, like herbs to take the pain away and to stave off infection.” Aiyre decided to put the hovering Tor to use. This way he might leave the cave and stay away from Ezi.