by R. E. Butler
Daeton raced forward, pushing through the crowd to leap into Rysk’s arms. “Princess,” he said, his voice a low growl. “Thank the bear spirits you are well.”
“I’m not a princess anymore,” she said as he set her on her feet and she hugged Tyrant. Both males were tall and muscular, their bodies honed from years of training and fighting in the former prince’s army. “I never actually was a princess,” she added.
Tyrant shook his head. “You always will be to us.”
“Daeton?” Cosmo said anxiously. “What’s going on here?”
“You remember Rysk and Tyrant, the warriors who saw me safely to the palace. This is my father-in-law, Cosmo.”
Rysk and Tyrant bowed their heads briefly. Cosmo grimaced. “As I recall, they led you right into a trap.”
“No one could foresee what would happen,” Daeton pointed out. “I’ve forgiven them, and I’m the one who almost died in the palace. You should forgive them, too, Papan.”
He looked over her head at the warriors, his eyes hard and his face set as if he were silently communicating his displeasure to them. After a tense moment, he said, “If it’s what you wish, my daughter. Let’s speak in the house.” He sent Abrax to find Perseus and Ekho, and Daeton hooked her arms through Rysk and Tyrant’s arms and started off toward Cosmo’s home.
“What brings you to Cholas?” she asked.
“A week ago, we felt compelled to come to you. I don’t know why, but I believe we are meant to be here at this time, to help you,” Tyrant said.
“Help me with what?”
Rysk said, “We don’t know. But we both felt the need to come back to Cholas.”
Daeton was quiet as she sat down at the kitchen table in her in-laws’ home. “I’m surprised to see you, but if you feel the need to be here, then as far as I’m concerned, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.”
Perseus and Ekho stormed into the kitchen. Ekho pulled Daeton from her chair with a loud growl and Perseus kicked the table away. Rysk and Tyrant stood quickly and moved away from Daeton’s rampaging mates.
“For goodness sake, guys,” Daeton said, “they’re not trying to hurt me!”
Ekho’s body vibrated as he growled. “The last time you were with them, you could have been killed!”
“That wasn’t their fault.” She looked at Perseus, who was frowning severely. “If I’ve forgiven them, then you should too. Plus, they said they felt like they needed to come see me. Doesn’t that sound like something we should explore instead of acting like cavemen?”
Ekho looked at her. “Cavemen?”
She forgot sometimes that they didn’t know about the Mortal Realm’s history. “How about jackass? Do you know that word?”
He snorted and grinned. “That word I know. I’m sorry, honey kitten. We’re so worried about your safety, especially since the Vehsi attacked.”
“When did that happen?” Tyrant asked.
“A few weeks ago,” Perseus said, moving away from them to join Daeton and Ekho. “I’m sorry as well. I overreacted to hearing you had returned.”
Rysk relaxed. “It’s our fault. We were duped by Prince Aedan in his quest to sacrifice Daeton in his place. We are as liable as him in what could have happened.”
“Enough of the blame game,” Daeton said, taking Perseus’s and Ekho’s hands and squeezing them tightly. “We’re all here and we’re all safe.”
Perseus and Ekho reluctantly shook hands with Rysk and Tyrant, and after righting the table, they all sat down. Cosmo and Elektra brought a meal and joined them, and they spent the afternoon talking. It reminded Daeton of the journey she’d made through the Medes Realm with her were-bear protectors. It was better now, of course, because she had her mates by her side. Whatever had drawn Rysk and Tyrant to Cholas, Daeton was thankful they were there.
* * * * *
Daeton looked up at the dark sky as the full moon rose slowly. Her bear was anxious to shift and hunt with her mates. She was especially excited to be able to hunt with Rysk and Tyrant, who were were-bears, the last of their particular kind. In spite of her excitement, though, she felt as though there was an evil presence nearby. It had saturated the air and made everyone in the settlement uneasy.
Perseus had been against the hunt that night, wanting her to shift and stay within the area of the settlement, but she had argued for some time in the woods. Walking around between the houses just wasn’t enough for her or her bear. Ekho had backed her up, because he understood the need to hunt and get in touch with her primal side better than Perseus did, and when she’d pointed out that Rysk and Tyrant would be there, too, Perseus had reluctantly agreed. Of course, he’d also insisted on extra Centaur guards, but she was fine with that.
They walked through the settlement to the edge of the woods that bordered one side of the Centaurs’ property, Ekho on her left and Perseus on her right, with Rysk and Tyrant behind them. A small group of Centaurs in their human forms stood at the edge of the woods. The full moon shone brightly overhead and she could see that many held weapons, from swords strapped to their backs to quivers filled with arrows and bows.
The males all turned their backs to them as she began to remove her clothes so she could shift. Her bear stretched and rolled under her skin.
“I wish I was a witch like my sister-in-law Elizabeth, so I could call on a god or goddess to tell me who sent the Vehsi,” she said, toeing off her moccasins.
Perseus scanned the area and then turned his eyes to her. “That Vehsi who claimed he saw our future could have been guessing.”
“That was a pretty damn good guess,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t think for a second it was a guess; I believe whoever sent the Vehsi is powerful enough to foretell the future.”
Perseus made a frustrated sound. “Then why are we leaving the safety of the settlement?”
She opened and closed her mouth a few times before sighing loudly. “Because I’m going nuts, okay? You won’t let me leave the settlement even to go into the market, and the mates aren’t allowed anymore, either. The herd is patrolling the settlement around the clock. The patrols can’t keep it up forever.”
“Yes. They. Can,” Perseus growled.
“Well, I need to be in my bear form and hunt. She doesn’t like being kept captive in the settlement and unable to commune with nature. Be reasonable.” She took both of their hands in hers. “I’m not asking to go hunting for Vehsi or anything, I’m just asking for some freedom.”
“You are free, honey kitten,” Ekho said, kissing her palm. “We just want you to be safe, too. Until the source of the threat against you is discovered and put down, neither of us feels that you’re truly safe.”
She wanted to argue some more with them about their idea of freedom, but decided that the night was disappearing quickly and she needed to get on with the hunt before her mates decided it was a bad idea. She didn’t mind them being protective, and most of the time she relished it. But it was stifling to be watched all the time, to be made constantly aware of the threat of danger.
Dropping the last of her clothing on the pile, she slipped to the ground and shifted, her silver-coated bear form cracking and snapping her bones as the shift took place. Feeling the earth under her paws, she shook herself out, dug her claws into the soil and sprang forward with a chuff at her mates. The Centaurs at the edge of the woods parted for her, laughing at her enthusiasm. Perseus and Ekho kept pace with her easily as she plowed through the woods, turning sharply whenever a noise alerted her to a small animal she might chase. However, as much as she enjoyed chasing the small animals, she knew she would have the most fun splashing around in the lake at the base of the hills around the settlement and going fishing with her paws. Stomping around the woods was very freeing, though, and she had no regrets as she stopped, leaned against a tree, and rubbed her hindquarters against it.
“That’s adorable,” Ekho said, rubbing her ear between his finger and thumb.
She chuffed at him, inhaling his
sunshine scent. She turned to head back to the settlement, her bear ready to leave the darkness of the woods and spend the rest of her shift trying to catch some tasty fish, when she heard something faintly.
She listened intently, and noticed that even the Centaurs and Ekho paused and listened.
“Sounds like a…baby,” Cosmo said.
Protective instincts rose inside her like a tidal wave. She roared and raced off toward the sound of a baby in distress.
* * * * *
“For Hades’ sake!” Ekho grumbled, racing after his mate as she stomped through the woods toward the sound of a baby wailing. “Daeton, stop!”
She didn’t listen, twisting and changing direction as they drew deeper into the woods and closer to the sound. Perseus also yelled for her to stop, but she didn’t heed him, either. Their mate was one stubborn female.
They stayed close to her as she followed the crying; Rysk, Tyrant, and the Centaurs behind them keeping an eye out for danger. The deeper into the forest they went, the stronger Ekho’s feelings grew that something wasn’t quite right.
As he scanned ahead of them, he saw something hanging from a tree. The trees were so dense that the moonlight barely filtered through them, but he could tell that something was moving around in what appeared to be a basket, and the crying sounds were much louder. They drew closer and Daeton made plaintive sounds. Ekho noticed an odd pile of leaves underneath the basket.
“It’s a trap!” he shouted, and Perseus threw himself against Daeton, grabbing her around the neck, pulling her over onto her back and away from the suspicious pile. Ekho reached down, felt along the ground, and picked up a rock. Giving it a toss, he was not surprised when the leaves scattered and a net rose quickly from the ground, closing tightly into a bag big enough to hold all of them.
He glanced over his shoulder and found Perseus kneeling next to Daeton, who was growling.
“I think you pissed her off,” Ekho said.
“Yeah, well, better pissed off than in a damn net.”
She huffed and batted at Perseus with her paw.
As several of the Centaurs who had been with them neared, Ekho crept around the perimeter of where the net had been hidden and leapt onto the trunk of the thick tree. Using his claws, he climbed slowly up the trunk to the branch that the basket and net were secured to. Climbing onto the branch, he saw a pale bird tied to the branch above the basket. When it opened its beak, a sound like a crying baby came from it.
“It’s a bird,” Ekho said, crawling forward nimbly and using his claws to cut the rope. The bird cried loudly and flapped away.
Ekho pulled up the basket slowly and peered inside. The crudely constructed cage was made of branches and inside was a long-snouted burrow cat, one of the forests’ small, furry inhabitants. He was just calling down to confirm that it wasn’t a baby in the cage when the whole tree shook violently and the cage slipped from his hand.
He looked up to see an Urtal swinging a giant club, and had only a heartbeat to turn and duck so it struck him in the shoulder and not the head. As he flew through the air, he shouted a warning to Perseus that they were being attacked, and then everything went dark as he smacked hard into another tree and fell to the ground.
* * * * *
The trees shook as hoots and angry shouts sounded around them. Rysk and Tyrant stood on either side of Daeton, growling furiously. Daeton looked up into the thick canopy of trees but could see only shadows. The sound of Perseus drawing his swords and calling to the Centaurs was lost as the thud of many feet hitting the ground filled the air. Daeton roared, calling for Ekho, who was up in the trees, but heard no answer.
A cracking sound echoed above them and she looked up to see a shadow falling toward them. As the moonlight broke through the trees, she saw a heavy branch hurtling toward Perseus. She lurched forward and shoved him aside. He stumbled away from her as pain exploded through her body from the impact of the branch.
Everything went black.
* * * * *
Daeton found herself walking in the woods of her youth. On either side, two large bears walked with her, one pale gray and one black. She knew where they were as they emerged through the trees to the sacred red cedar grove where the males of her den carved the names of their mates and children into the ancient trees. As they passed by the red cedars, she saw her grandparents’ tree, her parents’ tree, and her brothers’ trees, carved with symbols representing their names. Then the woods suddenly shifted and she found herself standing before two paths. One path was dark, the trees tangled, their limbs full of menacing thorns. The other path was bright with sunshine, and flowers hung from thick, green vines.
Out of the dark path, Perseus and Ekho emerged. A young Centaur boy stood next to Perseus, holding his hand, and Ekho held a baby leoneman in his arms, swaddled in pink blankets.
The little boy held out his other hand. He had big brown eyes, a mirror of her own. “Protect me, Moman.”
“How?” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. Was she looking at her own son? A child with Perseus’s dark horse body, but her copper skin and dark eyes.
Ekho looked up and then hugged the baby a little tighter to his chest. “The sun is setting.”
“Blood and bone,” Perseus said, “blood and bone.”
She heard hoof beats and a golden-bodied Centaur appeared in the bright tunnel. His face was hidden by mist, and his body was battle-scarred.
Holding out one scarred hand, he said with a deep voice, “If you wait for me, I will save you. Our children will be rulers.” Beneath his hooves, blood bubbled from the ground and flowed like a river, and black smoke swirled around his legs.
She felt the bear on her right nudge her, pushing her toward the dark path. Toward her mates and their children.
“Don’t,” the golden Centaur called, “wait for me!”
The dark bear pushed harder and the pale gray bear grabbed her wrist in its jaws and pulled. As she walked toward the dark path, the golden Centaur called for her again and she saw smoke fill the bright path as the flowers wilted and died and the sunshine faded away.
Stepping onto the dark path, the world dropped away and she found herself standing before the red cedars again. The bears that had walked beside her were leaving, moving away slowly. They glanced at her as they faded into the distance and she knew as she faced the trees that her future diverged along two paths; one with her mates that was dark and dangerous, and one with a stranger that was deceptively easy.
She knew her choice.
* * * * *
Ekho woke up, unsure of how long he’d been unconscious. The battle appeared to be over, and the Centaurs had lit torches to illuminate the woods.
“You all right?” Abrax asked, offering his hand. Ekho accepted it and stood slowly, his ears ringing and his vision swimming slightly.
“Yeah.”
He moved quickly to Daeton, who was back in her human form but unconscious. Apparently a tree limb had knocked her out.
“Seems you two had similar interests in getting knocked out by trees tonight,” Perseus said with a wry smile.
Ekho smiled and stroked Daeton’s soft cheek. Her skin was flushed and she had a bruise across her back. He picked her up carefully so she wasn’t lying on the hard ground and settled her in his lap to keep her warm. Perseus reported that the Urtals, great ape-like creatures, had set the trap to lure Daeton into the net, with a plan to kill all of them and take her alive. When the trap had been sprung unsuccessfully, they attacked from the trees.
Rysk joined them. “Many of them fled when they realized their clubs were no match for swords and bears, and of those who fell, one was alive long enough to tell us that they had been hired by a stranger to capture the bear shifter from the Mortal Realm and bring her to Dran.”
“Is he still alive?” Ekho asked. Worry settled over him once more as the reality of the situation sank in. Someone truly wanted Daeton harmed and had hired two different groups of creatures to see to it.
As they all walked back to the settlement, Ekho carried Daeton, worried about the bruise on her back and his inability to keep her from getting hurt. Elektra was waiting at the door of the house, pacing worriedly.
Ekho carried Daeton into their room and Elektra began to prepare a healing wrap for the bruise on her back. Draya and Fontaine came to help and all three women fussed over her.
Leaning against the door, Ekho watched as they tended her wound and dressed her in comfortable sleeping clothes. Perseus joined him and said with a low voice, “How are you feeling?”
“Fine, just pissed.”
“We’ll figure out who is hiring people to kidnap her.”
“I know we will, but I’m pissed that I got knocked out. I wasn’t paying close enough attention. If you and the others hadn’t been there to protect her, she might have been taken. I’m a poor excuse for a mate.”
“No, you’re not,” Perseus insisted roughly. “We were ambushed. If Daeton hadn’t shoved me out of the way, I would have gotten hit by the limb that crashed into her. She got hurt because she was protecting me.”
Ekho glanced at the angry Centaur. “At least she’s safe now.”
“Until whoever is after her hires someone else.”
Ekho didn’t know what to say. Perseus was right. Someone was after their mate and was hiring creatures to capture her. He didn’t know why, and it didn’t really matter. All that mattered was that they kept her safe.
As Elektra and the girls finished the wrap, Daeton made a gasping sound, sat straight up and said, “I think I’m pregnant.”
Chapter 4
Pain rolled through Daeton’s back, but she ignored it, shoving the blankets away from her legs and attempting to get out of bed. Perseus and Ekho pushed gently on her shoulders, encouraging her to stay in bed, but there wasn’t time.