Sarazen's Hunt

by Isabel Wroth

  He didn’t bite hard enough to puncture her skin, just hard enough to get a grip on her, growling harshly while he gave her a teeth rattling shake.

  It was brutally shocking, how quickly her cat submitted. Instantly gave up the fight and went limp.

  Kalix took her to the ground carefully, increasing the pressure of his bite until she winced, as though he was making sure, silently asking her if she was done.

  Alec made a mournful little sound in answer. Every muscle, every quivering ligament falling lax as the fury bled away.

  Kalix’s growl turned to a deep, rumbling purr. A comforting sound vibrated through her entire body while he wrapped her up in his furry legs and lay over her.

  He licked at her scruff to soothe the sting of his bite, bumping his muzzle against her like he was checking for blood, checking to see how badly he’d hurt her.

  Alec just lay there and let him, too weak and too tired to resist. She closed her eyes, feeling his weight pressing her into the damp ground, warming her with his bulk.

  Kalix wrapped her up in his paws, finished cleaning the fur at her nape and settled his chin on top of her head with a little groan.

  Alec wasn’t sure how long they lay there, long enough that her fur was wet, the cold starting to set in despite Kalix’s heat.

  He must have felt her shiver, because he was up in an instant, nipping at her flanks until she heaved herself to her feet.

  He used the press of his body to move her, directing her where to go. He could have been herding her off a cliff and she wouldn’t have cared. Wouldn’t have noticed, she was so tired. Her joints felt stiff, everything just hurt; all the way through to her heart, she hurt.

  Kalix shoved his nose under her chin and made her flinch with his insistent nudge. She looked around to see that they were in some kind of cave.

  The light was low, but it was warm and dry, smelling of rich soil and an odd musk she couldn’t identify. Didn’t care to identify.

  A glance at the beast who claimed her as his mate made his ears perk, a weird look of hopefulness coming across even through his furry features. Alec just stood there, not sure what he wanted from her.

  After a minute he chuffed and bent to swipe his tongue over her muzzle, jerking his head toward the rear of the cave, nudging her into motion to follow alongside him.

  The blackness of the tunnel opened into a wider chamber, lit by the weak light that came through a hole in the ceiling. Light enough for her to see the shimmer of blue crystals all over the walls. To see the steam that rose off the surface of the pool that warmed the cave, and the mossy green lichen where it grew up the side of the wall toward the opening.

  It was beautiful, a secret little place hidden away from the rest of the world. Alec thought about never leaving it.

  She blinked when Kalix gave a short bark of sound to get her attention, patting the dirt at the edge of the pool like he wanted her to sit there. Alec obeyed, not having the energy to do much more.

  She sighed heavily and let herself slump to the ground, curling her lip a little when Kalix bent to snuffle around at her face, huffing when he licked her again. Gross.

  She lay her chin on her paws and watched him move to drink from the pool. Watched the graceful way he trotted over to the far wall and sniffed around until he found whatever it was he was looking for.

  She hoped it wasn’t some kind of live creature he intended for her to eat. He started to dig, raking his claws across the floor, churning up the dirt until he was satisfied with it.

  When she didn’t respond to his grunting call, he went back to biting her on the ass until she got up. Alec hoped as she got to her feet that the slap of her tail across his face was sufficient to express her displeasure.

  She didn’t have the energy to do anything else. He used his bigger body to push her to the dirt and threw himself down beside her, curling back over her and wiggled until he was comfortable.

  She was too tired to claw his eyes out. Maybe tomorrow.

  The trip back down the mountain the next morning was much longer than the trip up. She had slept soundly in the cave, waking to Kalix kneading his paws into her shoulders, like he was massaging her.

  He’d gotten her up and prodded at her furry butt with his paw to get her moving. Alec hadn’t realized how much ground she had covered in her mad dash to escape her grief. Her body hurt, every step making her wince.

  She trudged along behind Kalix, putting her paws in the prints he left behind, one after the other until suddenly they were right beside the transport.

  Good timing too, because her legs chose that moment to give out and she went sprawling to the ground.

  “It’s alright now, I’ve got you.” Kalix’s voice reached her seconds before his arms slid under her and lifted her up. She groaned in agony, every muscle screaming and on fire in protest.

  “I know, I know it hurts. We will be home soon, I promise.”

  He carried her into the transport and lay her down on one of the padded benches. She shivered on and off, feeling the tug of her insides as the transport lifted off to take them back to the fortress. Back home, Kalix said.

  But was it? Was it her home? She wasn’t so sure.

  Alec retreated into her beast and curled into a little ball. She liked it in there. Liked being safely cocooned in the warm darkness, deep beneath the primal thoughts of the animal.

  “Whoa! Is that Alec? You were gone all night. Is she okay?”

  The familiar voice almost brought her out from inside the beast. Just enough to open her eyes and see the familiar face that belonged to the familiar voice.

  A cub. What was his name? Did it matter? Her beast didn’t think so.

  She was aware enough to know she was being carried, held close to a warm body with her chin on a strong shoulder.

  “She is well enough, cub. She just needs rest.” Kalix. His voice soothed her beast, but made her human heart ache. Made her retreat back into the dark to avoid that pain.

  Avoid him.

  *****

  “...being a coward, Alec. It is beneath you.”

  Alec blinked, shaking herself as disorientation made her weave on her feet. How had she gotten to her bedroom? What was that smell? Metallic. Wet.

  She could taste the tang of it in her mouth. She felt dizzy, her stomach rolling a little as she plopped back on her butt. Fur... oh right. Beast. She had finally changed into her beast.

  “There you are, mate.”

  She blinked again and Kalix came into focus. He was crouched on his haunches in front of her, frowning at her intently.

  The metallic smell was the blood dripping from his fingertips and running in streams from the four knife like slashes across his chest, from the punctures to his wrist. Her belly bottomed out as she lifted a paw and saw it stained with blood.

  She was the reason Kalix was bleeding.

  The sound she made was shocked, distressed, because she didn’t even remember doing it.

  “Are you alright?” Kalix was asking her that? “Come here.”

  He waved his bloody fingers at her and shame welled up. Alec didn’t remember hurting him. Didn’t remember why she would have.

  She crouched low and crawled across the floor on her belly, wincing when he clicked his tongue at her in reprimand.

  “Don’t do that. I am not angry with you. Use your nose, you can smell the truth of my words.”

  Alec could smell it, his sincerity, but that didn’t lessen her shame. His big hand grabbed her by the scruff when she was close enough, pulled her up on her feet and tugged her close, kneading and rubbing at her. Clenching handfuls of her pelt in his strong fingers in a massage that had her groaning in pleasure.

  “I would prefer it if you would change back so we can carry on the conversation you ran from yesterday.”

  Alec sat back on her haunches and shook her head, not ready to continue anything from yesterday.

  She rolled her eyes up to his face, carefully touching her nose to his arm. Kali
x sighed and turned his hand over for her to see the punctures in his flesh. From the depth of the bite, she obviously hadn’t held back at all.

  “Do not be concerned, it will heal. It seems your beast is as unhappy with me as you are.”

  Alec ducked her chin, shuddering to realize the odd tang in her mouth was the taste of his blood. Sickeningly, part of her liked the flavor of it.

  “Very well. You can either change back and allow me to ease the ache of your muscles, or stay as you are and listen to what I have to say. And then change back so I can soothe the ache.”

  Alec didn’t even know how she had managed to change in the first place, and neither option seemed like a pleasant one. But her body did hurt.

  She tried to tell him she didn’t know what to do, but all that came out was a garbled sounding string of grunts and growls.

  So Alec wiggled her paw at him, shook it like she was trying to shake the fur off. Kalix nodded like he understood perfectly, reaching out with his uninjured hand to rub at her ears.

  “Picture yourself naked and give the beast a chance to retreat.”

  If she’d had an eyebrow to arch at him, Alec would have. Picture herself naked? Surely it wasn’t that easy.

  “It is the simplest way to envision the transition from four legs to two. Start with your feet.”

  Doubtfully, Alec imagined fingers and toes instead of paws and claws. Skin instead of fur. Two legs instead of four and could hear the smile in Kalix’s voice before she saw it.

  “You have taken to your shift as though you have done it all your life, Alec.”

  Alec was kneeling now on the cold floor, naked. She bit back the groan that worked its way up her throat.

  Every muscle fiber and strand cramped and ached, the tightness radiating pain through her entire body.

  Kalix reached down and lifted her to her feet, murmuring a gentle apology to her. Her calf muscles twisted, threatening to give way and spill her back to the floor.

  Kalix hugged her closer to his side and guided her into her bathroom, helping her down onto the padded seat beside the sunken bath.

  “Sit. I will be only a moment.”

  Alec would have frowned at Kalix’s order, but the movement of her facial muscles hurt so she didn’t bother.

  She sat and closed her eyes, focusing on not breathing or doing anything else to make her body scream at her in pain.

  The sound of running water made her crack an eyelid, guilt immediately hollowing out her belly.

  Kalix was kneeling by the spigot, washing the blood from his arm and chest.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t remember why I did that,” she whispered.

  Kalix looked over his shoulder at her, not a single hint of censure or anger seen in the silvery gray of his eyes.

  “You retreated into your beast and she did her best to protect you,” he answered simply. As though having clawed and bitten him was only natural and to be expected.

  “I bit you.”

  “It will heal.” Still he gave no censure. He simply washed the blood away like it was no big deal.

  Alec’s cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. She lowered her gaze to her lap, wincing when she lifted an arm to cover her bare breasts.

  “Seems you and Tarek were right to make sure I didn’t go anywhere unguarded.”

  “At the time I saw the wisdom of the Asho’s concern. I have since realized that instead of protecting you, I made you feel even more of an outcast than before.”

  Alec wasn’t interested in discussing her feelings any further. Kalix said if she shifted, they wouldn’t be talking. She shifted. She didn’t want to talk. The breath she took to say so was unneeded.

  “We will speak of it later,” Kalix said firmly. “You need not apologize for having bitten me. It was less than I feel I deserve and the scars will serve as a reminder for me to not make such mistakes in the future.”

  She flinched when he came back and curled his arm around her to help her back up. God, even her hair hurt! Everything just hurt.

  If she hadn’t known already this sort of hurt only really ever happened after the first shift, Alec would have been wary of ever changing again.

  “Scars? I thought you guys healed too fast to scar.”

  “Normally, we do. However, at the moment, you are in heat. The pheromones your body produces during your fertile cycle affect the cell regeneration in my body.”

  Alec’s breath caught as she stepped down into the tub with his assistance. The heat of the water instantly attacked her sore muscles.

  It felt so good she moaned and dropped to her knees in the big center of the tub, all the way down until the water came up to her chin.

  Only then did she consider his words, and the realization that she had not considered what else would happen to her if she ever was faced with a Sarazen mate.

  “I am definitely not experiencing heat. I’ve seen that a lot around here, and I’m not harboring any desire to rip your clothes off. Me being naked is not an invitation to... what are you doing?”

  Kalix gave a dark chuckle in answer to her squeaked demand, his fingers deftly pulling at the tie on the loose pants he wore.

  Alec watched his fingers with a horrified sort of fascination. Watched the play of muscles in his hands and arms, the ripple of his abdomen.

  “Calm, mate. I do not expect you to have your way with me any time soon.” Alec whipped around just in time, hearing the soft thud of his trousers hitting the floor.

  “Twice your beast has been satisfied by blood. She will remain content enough for now.”

  A splash followed his explanation as to why she wasn’t feeling the urge to jump him. A splash, and a ripple of the steamy water. He was not... oh, he was.

  “Why are you getting in the tub? I can bathe myself.” She had been trying for firmness in her tone. What came out was a breathy whisper.

  “We were closer to the fortress, than the citadel. Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient amounts of regeneration gel for you to submerge in here. The hot water should help, and so will this oil. Turn around and rest your arms on the ledge.”

  The water was deep enough to stand in now, the tub filled almost to the top. Alec glanced over her shoulder to see that as tall as Kalix was, the water hit him just below his sternum. She didn’t dare glance down lower. When she didn’t do what he said, he moved closer and tilted his head to meet her gaze.

  “I will not hurt you.” His soft, sincere rumble made her swallow thickly and whip her head back around so she couldn’t see the look that matched his tone.

  Alec wasn’t afraid he would hurt her. Sarazen males weren’t wired that way, at least not the majority of them. She scrambled to find a reason for why she didn’t want him behind her, touching her.

  Funny enough, it wasn’t as hard to find a reason.

  “You saw my scars on the scan. It’s much uglier in person and aside from my parents and Meg, you’ll be the only other person to see—”

  Kalix’s hands curled around her biceps, squeezing gently when she flinched in surprise. That flinch made her sore, cramping muscles twist, made her have to bite back an agonized groan.

  “There is not a single thing about you that is ugly. Certainly not this.”

  Goosebumps prickled her exposed skin at the touch of his lips on the raised bump of her largest scar.

  The gentleness, the sweetness in his kiss made her lurch forward to the edge of the tub. Alec forced her sore arms to move, resting them on the edge of the tub like he’d told her to, biting down on her lip hard to keep it from wobbling.

  No one had ever touched her like that.

  No one.

  It was just a tiny thing. A barely there brush of his skin to hers, but it felt so intimate and dare she say, loving, Alec couldn’t handle it.

  She might have been better able to process the emotion that came with his kiss, if he had touched his mouth to any other place on her body.

  But not there, not on the raised, ugly marks she had ta
ken such pains to hide from everyone. Marks that were constant reminders of her failures. Her weakness.

  Thankfully, Kalix didn’t press her about why she jolted away, and he didn’t give her any more gentle kisses.

  “Does your neck hurt? I may have shaken you harder than I intended.” His hands curved over her shoulders, slick and slippery now with oil.

  His entire palm covered the back of her neck, the way he rubbed firmly at the knotted muscles shot tingles all the way down to her toes.

  “No. Feels good,” she managed to mumble. Good was an understatement. It felt amazing.

  Relaxation made her utterly melt as he slowly moved from her neck and shoulders, down her back, his strong fingers manipulating every sore spot like he knew exactly where to find it.

  There were no thoughts of why she seemed so at ease with her nudity, or feelings of self-consciousness about her scars.

  Not until Kalix’s hands pressed down her sides and to her thighs. The wonderful relief from the aches and cramps faded as she tensed up in reaction to his rough palms gliding over her bare butt.

  “Um... do you... is it necessary to do that?” she squeaked.

  “The muscles here are exceedingly tense. The oil will soothe the ache. Relax, mate.”

  Relax, when a gorgeous man who was technically her husband was kneading at her butt cheeks. Was he joking?

  Alec peeked over her shoulder to see the very serious frown on his face while he performed his task. Her toes curled with a mix of mortification and uncertainty, her calves giving a twinge of protest.

  “My legs hurt worse than my butt. So feel free to move along,” Alec choked out, skin prickling as a sweet scent hit her nose. It wasn’t the oil, or the soap. What was it?

  Kalix gave a short grunt. “I will move along when I am satisfied your muscles are no longer so knotted. Is something wrong?”

  Alec realized, as she had lifted her head and half turned to follow that smell, Kalix had moved his hands down to her thighs.

  It wasn’t a feminine scent, not something Alec would have associated with the word ‘sweet,’ but it was and it wasn’t.