by Lily Thomas
She gathered up some furs and used two spears to tie the furs together. Within minutes, she had a sled ready to go. She helped Ezi onto it and then covered her with furs. If Ezi wasn’t moving out there in the cold, she would freeze.
“How does it feel?”
“You did a good job.” Ezi smiled up at her. “Although I don’t trust these men.” She whispered.
“Neither do I,” Aiyre whispered back. “Unfortunately, we have no choice but to go with them.”
“Don’t let what Brog said get to you. Daerk clearly adores you and wants you as his mate. It was clear in his eyes every time he looked at you.”
Aiyre smiled over at Ezi. “Do not worry about my feelings. I could care less if Daerk is ashamed of me.”
Ezi cocked an eyebrow at her. “We’ve been friends for too long. You can’t pretend you don’t feel something for that sabertooth.”
“Now isn’t the time to discuss this. We’ve got bigger problems.” Aiyre eyed the sabertooth shifters out of the corner of her eyes.
“We will discuss this later then,” Ezi promised.
“Are you ready yet?” Brog entered the cave and sauntered over to them.
“We are.”
“Good. I want to get back as soon as possible.” He waved over a couple of men. “Carry this woman.” He ordered them.
Aiyre backed away as she grabbed her spear. The men seized the ends of the spears and lifted Ezi off the ground. It looked like it was working. Good.
“Let’s go!” Brog led the way out of the cave and into the winter wonderland that was their life, and Aiyre had no option to follow unless she wanted to face several sabertooths at once.
Walking into the sabertooth village had to be the most terrifying experience of Aiyre’s life. The moment they walked into the village, a mass of people surrounded them as they wondered what their leader was bringing to them.
Aiyre made sure to stick by Ezi’s side. She wasn’t about to leave her friend when she was in such a vulnerable state. She reached out a hand and gripped Ezi’s hand with hers.
“You will stay here in this tent with your clanmate.” Brog motioned to a tent near the middle of the village.
“Thank you,” Aiyre said as they entered the fur tent. She may not like the man, but she didn’t want to anger him unnecessarily, not while she was still trying to figure out what he really wanted. She didn’t believe his story about fetching them for Daerk, but she was sure Daerk would hear of this and come to her defense.
Brog’s men dragged Ezi’s sled into the tent and then left.
“I will let you get settled, but I want you to join us for our feast tonight.” A gleeful light entered Brog’s eyes, and her pronghorn screamed at her to leave the village and never look back.
“I thought your clan was having issues with your store of meat for the winter months,” Aiyre said as she turned to look at him wondering what the sabertooths would be celebrating this night.
She saw his jaw tense as his eyes moved over her face. “I am clan leader, and I know exactly what my clan can and cannot do.” He growled at her. “Keep to yourself, pronghorn.” He spat with contempt.
Aiyre reminded herself to be more reserved. Brog wasn’t the kind of man who liked being corrected, and she got the feeling he really didn’t like it from a woman, much less a pronghorn.
She bowed her head demurely. “We look forward to joining your clan for the feast.” It took all her self-restraint not to glare at him.
Brog left the tent in a storm.
“We better be careful around that one.” Aiyre shook her head.
“I can see our lives flashing before my eyes right now.” Ezi’s eyes darted around the inside of the hut.
“I am as well.” She wished she knew where Daerk was in the village. She might feel a little safer if she had him by her side. Aiyre couldn’t defend them both against a whole clan of sabertooths, and she felt some fear trickle into her mind. Her pronghorn was still screaming at her to run away, but she couldn’t leave Ezi.
Aiyre approached the front of the hut and noticed feet below the tent flap. They were being guarded, so she’d have to wait for Daerk to come to her.
Daerk stalked his prey from a distance. He’d stumbled upon a lone young stallion digging in the snow for any shoots in the desolate area. He was hoping for an easy kill to bring back to his people.
His fur boots let him glide over the snow with ease. Not a single sound came from him as he moved against the slight breeze. This stallion wouldn’t know what had happened.
He’d chosen to hunt in his human form. His inner sabertooth grumbled with discontent at the choice, but he couldn’t always rely on his sabertooth. He had to keep his human form honed.
Aiyre was still on his mind, but he focused solely on the stallion right in front of him. This beast would feed his clan for a reasonable amount of time. Once he was done with the kill, he could return to figuring out how to get back to the cave to see her again without Brog noticing.
All of sudden something crashed through the snow towards them. The stallion’s head darted up, ears flew forwards, and then he darted.
Daerk tried in vain to send his spear flying through the air, but it landed in the snow with a hollow thump. The stallion had been spooked and gotten away.
With a growl, he whipped around to find a sabertooth bearing down on him. Then he recognized the form of Rir. He knew his friend wouldn’t interrupt a hunt if it weren’t something important… he hoped.
Rir pulled up beside him, barely stopping in time to prevent from plowing into Daerk. He changed into his human form.
“Brog... found... your mate.” He panted, his hands resting on his knees as he sucked in much-needed breath.
Daerk’s heart plummeted to the frozen ground under his feet. “How?”
“I have no idea, but he brought her into the village along with Tor’s mate.”
He had wanted to bring something back to the clan, but he couldn’t leave his mate alone with Brog. Brog hadn’t sought her out and brought her back to please Daerk. His leader was up to something.
Rir shifted back into his sabertooth form and darted back in the direction he had come from. Daerk didn’t even waste time with shedding his clothing and shifted into his sabertooth form ripping the clothes during the transformation.
He couldn’t trust Brog as far as he could throw him.
Maybe it was time to see how much his clan would back him if he overthrew their leader. Brog may have just pushed him too far. He was willing to do anything for his mate’s safety. And if that meant fighting to the death, then so be it.
His massive paws evened out his weight on the snow so he could fly over it with little to no effort. He dodged thick-trunked trees as he flew past them.
It took him a few hours to get back to the village since he’d been having a hard time finding anything decent to hunt near their village. Night had already fallen, and he could see a roaring bonfire in the middle of the village as he finally approached.
What did they have to celebrate? They had to hunt almost every day to keep their store of meat in stock. They never had a bonfire unless there was something to celebrate.
He changed out of his sabertooth form the moment he hit the edge of the village and kept on sprinting until he was fully in his human form. He had to find his mate and her friend. If something happened to Ezi, he knew Aiyre would hold him responsible. He didn’t want to think about Tor’s reaction, either.
Daerk found the whole clan gathered around the bonfire, enjoying the warmth and eating a lot of the stores of food.
“What happened to rationing the food?” Daerk grumbled in displeasure.
Rir rushed up beside him, undressed as well and still slightly out of breath. “We may have a more serious problem than food rations. I’m unable to find your mate among the clan. She and her friend must be in a tent, but we have so many tents to check.”
“Stay with me. The moment I find Brog I get the feeling I will
have to challenge him, and I need someone to guard my back.” Daerk told him.
“The clan will be happy if you win.”
Daerk frowned at his friend. “I have every reason to survive a fight, more reason than Brog. My mate is here, and if I die, she will follow closely after me.”
They made their way through the village, searching every tent they could find and avoiding the crowd around the bonfire.
Mira strode out from behind a tent and blocked his way.
“Move,” Daerk growled. He didn’t have time for her and her games.
“I know where your mate is.” She said.
Now she had his full attention. “Where is she?”
“Brog has them, and he plans on killing them tonight to put an end to the pronghorn clan once and for all.”
Daerk let out a growl. “Where is she?”
The clan members around the bonfire went suspiciously quiet behind them.
“Is he doing it publicly?” Rir turned to take a look around all the tents. “Daerk!” Rir took off towards the bonfire.
Daerk took off after him. Mira was involved. Every fiber in his being screamed at him that Mira had done something. Guilt was flowing off that woman thick as ice. There had been remorse gleaming brightly in her eyes, like she may have done something she regretted. And if she had done something he was going to make sure she regretted it.
Brog’s voice carried through the cold night air. “With the death of all the pronghorns, the gods will reward us with survival this winter!”
Daerk’s blood froze in his veins as he came around the side of a tent and saw his mate all tied up. His eyes moved to where Ezi sat bound as well.
“I challenge you!” Daerk roared. The words were out of his mouth in a split second. It was one sure way of putting a halt to this. He knew what Brog was planning. He wanted to burn the pronghorn shifters alive.
“Daerk!” Brog’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
“Wasn’t planning on me showing up?” Daerk strode over to him. He was completely naked, and he could feel his mate’s gaze on him. He was here to protect her and protect her he would.
“You challenge me?” Brog almost seemed taken aback by the declaration.
“Yes. Right now. Destroying the pronghorn clan has done nothing to help us. You would lead our clan into death based on wishes and fears. I declare you unfit to be our leader.” Daerk growled his words, barely human. His sabertooth was clamoring to be released so it could rip out this foe’s throat once and for all.
Rir came up and dragged the two tied up women away from the flames of the bonfire, to Daerk’s relief. He couldn’t believe Brog would do something so viciously cruel. If he hadn’t gotten here in time, he might have arrived to find a crispy mate. His heart faltered at that image before it began hammering away, ready to fight.
His skin crawled, his sabertooth ready to be released. He let out a growl as he shifted.
Rir finished removing the leather ties on Aiyre and Ezi and shifted into his sabertooth form to back him up in case Brog’s men decided to intervene.
The clan moved away, each of them trying to get a good vantage point for the upcoming fight. They would support him if he won, but first, he had to do this on his own.
“Be careful, Daerk!”
One voice rose above the rest. His mother. There were a couple of other people in this clan he needed to fight for. Not only did he have a mate, but he had a sister and a mother still relying on him.
Brog smiled before shifting, letting his shift tear his clothing from his body. He was an impressively built sabertooth, but Daerk had him when it came to motivation. This was his time to take control of the clan.
They circled each other, looking for any weaknesses in the other man. Brog let out a growl, and as they came around to complete the circle, one of Brog’s men lunged for Daerk’s leg.
Rir was quick to react, pushing the man away before his large canines could clamp onto Daerk’s leg, but it distracted him, and Brog lunged for him in that split second.
As Daerk faced his opponent once more, he realized his mistake. He did his best to roll out of the way, but Brog’s sharp teeth latched onto his leg. He growled in pain and twisted around enough to scrape his claws across Brog’s face, causing him to pull back in a howl of pain.
Backing away Daerk favored his leg. This wasn’t going to plan. He’d been too eager, but if he hadn’t challenged Brog, his mate may have been burned alive.
He reassessed Brog, watching for any old wounds he could take advantage of in this fight. Unfortunately, Brog presented him with no easy openings. They continued to circle as Rir kept anyone from the clan interrupting the fight.
Daerk darted forward, only to back away as Brog leaped to the right. This fight was going to come down to whoever could react the fastest, not who was the strongest because they were evenly matched.
Brog rushed him, and they slammed into each other, driving each other onto their back legs. One of Brog’s paws swiped past his face. Daerk opened his mouth letting a rumble escape his throat as he aimed for Brog’s jugular.
Unfortunately, Brog ducked, knocking them both onto the ground before Daerk could land a blow to his throat. They rolled around on the ground, growling resonated through the air around them as the clan got excited by the fighting.
Brog’s hind leg came up and scratched down the length of Daerk’s hind leg. He let out a howl of pain but didn’t let it distract him. He’d have time to lick the wound after he killed Brog.
He managed to get his two hind legs between them and pushed Brog off of him sending Brog into the edge of the fire. Brog growled as his fur singed a bit but came roaring back at Daerk in a matter of seconds.
Ducking to the side, Daerk rounded and grabbed a hold of Brog’s back leg, ripping into the flesh with his canines. Brog kept trying to swipe at him, but Daerk had him at a good advantage. Every time Brog leaped back at him, Daerk would pull on the leg and send Brog sprawling to the ground.
Then chaos broke out as Brog’s supporters jumped to his aide. Daerk caught sight of Ryion, in sabertooth form, slamming into one of Brog’s men. More sabertooth forms leaped into the fray, and Daerk felt a surge of warmth as he realized there were as many people fighting for him as for Brog. Now all Daerk had to do was finish off the threat once and for all.
Daerk was forced to let go of Brog’s leg and focus on the ruckus around him. He didn’t need one of Brog’s men holding him down to give Brog an unfair advantage. Not when he was this close to victory.
“Daerk?” He heard Aiyre’s voice break through the ruckus. His head shot up, and he saw her not too far away. Her eyes were focused on his thigh, and he looked down to see he was still bleeding from where Brog had gotten him.
Looking around, he found the clan in chaos, but Brog had disappeared. Quickly, he leaped over a couple of clanmates and sprinted over to Aiyre and shifted back into his human form.
“Are you alright? Did Brog do anything to you?” He checked her over pushing the pain in his leg to the back of his mind.
“No, we’re fine, but if you hadn’t arrived sooner we would have been…” She trailed off as her eyes looked over at the fire.
“I know. I’m sorry. I never thought he would find you both.” But he should’ve known better. He shouldn’t have waited so long to fight Brog. He just wished he could’ve gone back and changed the past so she wouldn’t have been put through this trauma.
“You did come back to see us several times. It was only a matter of time before he became interested in what you were doing.”
“But to kill you both, and in a fire?” Daerk growled. “I need to find him and put an end to this once and for all.”
Aiyre glanced around. “He disappeared once your clan started attacking each other.” She shook her head. “I lost sight of him.”
“I’ll find him. You and Ezi should stay near Rir.” Daerk moved through the crowd before she could say anything else and found Rir. “I need you to stay with Aiy
re and Ezi!”
Rir shifted into human form as another of Daerk’s supporters filled in his space in the scuffle. “What will you be doing?” Rir asked.
“I need to find out where Brog disappeared while I was distracted. If I don’t finish this now, he’ll come back to be our living nightmare.”
“I will stay with the pronghorns,” Rir reassured him.
Daerk shifted and took one look back at Aiyre. She’d be safe with Rir, and he wouldn’t be far if they needed him. He just needed to see if Brog was still in the area, and if he was, Daerk planned on ending his life.
Chapter 16
“Follow me.”
Aiyre glanced up to find Rir standing next to them.
“Will you help me with her?” Aiyre assisted Ezi into a standing position before Rir swooped her friend up into his arms.
It was more help than she’d been anticipating, but she was glad he was so eager to assist them.
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to Daerk’s tent until he comes back. It will be the easiest place for me to protect you.”
“Shouldn’t you go with him?” Aiyre followed close on his heels as he led her through the calming crowd of sabertooth shifters. Brog’s men had been chased out of the village or tied up like animals, and she worried Daerk might get teamed up on and killed.
Her heart puttered in her chest.
“You don’t have to worry about him. He’ll come back alive. He has a mate and a clan to live for, and he isn’t stupid. Daerk will only search the immediate area around the village to make sure we don’t have to worry about an attack by Brog’s men.”
“My leg hurts.” Ezi looked over at her.
“I thought it was feeling better.” Aiyre glanced over her friend.
“With the way they tied me up, I think they may have caused it to flare up.” Ezi’s face contorted as pain seared through her.