by RS McCoy
Kaide swirled the last sip of wine in his antique glass as he watched the indigo creep further across the sky, smothering the last of sunset.
“You don’t have to do this. What’ll Raene say when she finds out?” Norsa asked as she made her way beside him, looking up at him with hands on her hips, but Kaide didn’t look back.
He couldn’t be talked out of this. He was going to kill the man who murdered his sister.
A sister who, to his great shame, he couldn’t remember a thing about. Kaide had been robbed of the chance to get to know her because Naiden Randal thought it best to kill her. Alia would have been thirty-five now had Naiden not stolen the life from her.
Kaide shot back the last of his wine and turned away from Norsa.
“Haven’t you done enough?” she screamed, her voice shrill. “First Druma, then Valenta. You sent our Rain Drop away. How many people will it take before you’re done? She’s not coming back, Kaide. She’s gone. Blossom is gone.”
Already holding back that beast within, Kaide didn’t last even a second before his transitional energy coursed through him. Muscles expanded and fur sprouted and covered his skin. Even faster than usual, Kaide’s beast paws hit the carpeted floor of his office as he let out a bloodthirsty howl.
He had to get out.
As her head barely met his shoulders, it was easy to knock the old woman out of his way as he darted down the stairs and out the door. In the warm evening air, beast-Kaide swelled with the power in his veins. Hunger bubbled up like magma, white hot and relentless.
He needed to eat. He needed to hunt. He needed to kill.
And he knew just the blood he wanted to taste tonight.
As he had rarely had cause to do before, beast-Kaide raced down the mountain to the west. He kept off the roads and loped between the trees, using his capable night eyes and impeccable sense of smell to find his path. His long legs carried him to the stone house in minutes.
Beast-Kaide’s shoulders were as tall as the flimsy wooden door, so that even after he sent it crashing to the ground with an impressive boom, he still had to work to wriggle his hulking body through the frame.
So consumed with the moment, beast-Kaide struggled to stay focused, to hold his human thoughts inside his beast mind. He forced the man’s name through his thoughts. Naiden Randal. Snake. Killer.
The house was dark, utterly pitch black, but beast-Kaide knew his target was close. His sense of smell was too keen, and from the first day he picked up the scent of Naiden Randal, Kaide had dreamt of this moment. A growl of excitement sounded in his throat.
A moment later, the faint glow from a lamp cast the room in dingy, yellow light. Naiden stood beside it, his clothes soiled and his eyes glassed over with drink.
Beast-Kaide was almost too disgusted to eat him. He stank of wine and filth and spoil, but it was the man himself who smelled the worst. At his core, Naiden was rotten.
Naiden pulled a half-empty wine bottle to his lips and took a long swig before he spoke. On and on he went, rambling in words beast-Kaide couldn’t understand. Naiden had always had a serpent’s tongue.
Beast-Kaide let loose a low, rumbling growl to silence him. Nothing could stop him now.
The pathetic excuse for a man dropped the half-empty bottle to the ground and remained motionless as it shattered at his feet. Then, he closed his eyes and whispered yet more words.
Beast-Kaide growled again. He didn’t understand. Human words were so difficult in totem form. It was too hard to concentrate when he was so hungry, so eager to kill.
When beast-Kaide didn’t move, the words continued.
Nothing made sense. Naiden didn’t run or flee or transition to fight him off. He only stood there, speaking but not moving. Beast-Kaide grew tired of hearing his voice and his breath and his heartbeat. It was finally time to rid the realm of Naiden Randal.
Beast-Kaide lunged forward in a flash and gripped Naiden’s torso in his jaws. It was easy to crush him, to feel the crunching, snapping bones as he smothered the life right out of him. Blood poured from a dozen different wounds, and beast-Kaide was rewarded with the bitter flavor, still hot and delicious.
He had no doubt the man was dead, but he wasn’t satisfied. The wolf in his blood made him shake his victim, swinging his head wildly from side to side, causing more bones to snap and blood to splatter the walls.
But still he hadn’t had enough. Beast-Kaide dropped Naiden’s body to the floor in a lifeless heap and worked to free his organs from his body. Intestines, stomach, esophagus—he pulled them all out.
As a last desperate measure, beast-Kaide gripped the head between his canines and crunched it clean through, leaving nothing more than a bloody pink splatter where the brain had once been.
Nothing worked. Nothing quieted that rage within him. Frustrated and well beyond furious, beast-Kaide tilted back his monstrous head and howled through his anger.
At a loss for what to do next, beast-Kaide wriggled his way back out of the stone house and made his way up the slope, leaving the catastrophic scene in his wake. What started as a desperate, full-speed run slowed to an easy jog, and finally the trudge of defeat. Only halfway to the manor, he transitioned back. He didn’t have enough energy to maintain his totem any longer.
He didn’t have enough anything. Whatever had been inside him before was gone now. She was gone. She wasn’t coming back.
She saw an opportunity to run and she took it.
Nothing between them was real.
And in his human form, Kaide could process what he’d done. Naiden hadn’t run. He hadn’t transitioned to fight. He’d merely stood there, probably begging for his life or making a final apology. Naiden had known Kaide would kill him, and he didn’t try to stop it.
He let Kaide end his life. He knew it was what he deserved.
The knowledge that Naiden and Kaide agreed on something—even this—made Kaide wonder if he’d ever really understood the man. After ridding the world of such a snake, Kaide thought he’d feel vindicated, but instead, there was only this cloud of confusion and something that bordered on guilt. He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d made the right decision.
But it was too late now. Naiden Randal was dead. No one would go looking for him. No one would notice he was missing—save maybe his wine vendor. Otherwise, Naiden would simply be another Pyro to disappear and never surface again.
Kaide stumbled up the front steps of the manor and found Norsa sitting on the entryway stairs, wiping at the tears on her cheeks.
“You did it, didn’t you?” she cried when she saw him.
He could only smear a hand across his beard and try to lessen the blood he knew was there.
But Norsa only cried harder. She stood and cupped his cheeks in her hands, ignoring the gore still stuck to his face.
If it had been anyone else, Kaide would have pulled away. But he couldn’t. He was a sail without wind, empty and stuck. He stood and endured her tear-filled eyes as she said, “I know it hurts. It hurts something awful. It cut you deep, don’t the Alder Mother know it did. But this? This is not you. And this has got to stop. I’m not going nowhere, no matter what you do or who you do it to, but please. Please, boy. Don’t make me watch this. I don’t want to see no more of this from you. I raised you better than that.”
And with that, Kaide knew for good and certain he was a monster—not just his totem, not just his murderous behavior—he was a true monster in every sense of the word.
He had become beast he’d fought so hard against.
Kaide placed his hands over both of hers and closed his eyes, threatening to spill tears as he hadn’t dared in years. With nothing more than breath, he told her, “I don’t know what to do.”
Norsa squeezed his face in her hands. “We’ll figure it out, boy. We always do.”
The last light of evening disappeared between the trees as Raene and Olin pulled their horses into the stables behind the Mother’s Inn. Raene was more than ready for a soft bed and a hot mea
l. On this day that started with transformation and ended in the Alderwood, Raene had yet to taste anything other than Olin’s leg. As she thought of food and her growling stomach, her totem urged to let loose yet again. Her hands tightened into fists, eager to unleash their claws.
She couldn’t be around horses another moment.
Raene climbed down first so she could help Olin. His bandages were remarkably intact; the stain of blood hadn’t spread much since they left the city hours ago. The Hydra man’s skill with wrapping wounds had prevented Olin from bleeding out, but that didn’t keep him from gripping Raene’s shoulder as he struggled to regain his balance. They both handed their reins to the stableman and together they slowly walked toward the inn and the comforts that waited within.
“It’s only a half-day’s ride from here,” Olin said, though she hadn’t asked. He let her help him up the worn wooden steps into the fire-lit warmth of the inn’s central room. A spinning staircase led to the upper floors and to sitting rooms on either side, though only the one nearest to the kitchen was occupied. A dozen Terra patrons already sat eating and engaging in low conversation.
But all chatter stopped when Raene and Olin entered. Both in Pyro clothes and weary from a full day of travel, they stood out like candles in the night.
Raene had never felt more out of place.
Olin, however, didn’t seem to mind. He motioned toward an empty table and limped his way to the nearest chair. Both were maple wood, well-worn by decades of rough hands and tired feet.
“Don’t you want to get a room first?” Raene asked.
“You need to eat.” As he said it, Olin raised his hand and signaled a Terra woman. Under her cream-colored apron, she had a large moss-green tunic top and loose honey-brown pants. All in all, she looked to be drowning in so much fabric, but she managed easily enough as she neared.
Standing across from him, Raene protested. “I’m fine. Really, we can get—”
Olin huffed a breath out his nose and shook his head. “You need to eat, Rain Drop. I know the appetite of a cat better than anyone, though I suspect yours is worse. Sit down and eat. Then we’ll worry about the room.” He looked up at the woman, who was now standing at the tableside, and asked, “What meat do you have?”
The woman’s mouth twisted into a frown, as if she suddenly disliked speaking to them entirely. “Roast badger and a turtle soup,” she offered.
Raene cringed at both as she sat.
Olin ignored her and said, “We’ll have three plates of badger.”
“There’s only two of you,” the woman fussed.
The coins he put on the table were answer enough. She slid them into her hand and spun back toward the kitchen a moment later.
“You’re really that hungry?” Raene asked as she untied what was left of her braid, combing between the strands with her fingers.
“It’s for you. Trust me. It’s better to do it this way.” Raene didn’t know what he meant, but she wasn’t in the mood to ask. Instead, she occupied herself untangling her hair and braiding it until their dinners arrived.
Just the smell of it made her mouth water. Raene was sure she’d never eaten a badger before, but the savory scent that filled her nose made her want nothing else.
She dove in as soon as the plate hit the table. Her teeth ripped through the meat with ease, shredding whole sections off as she barely chewed them down. Oil coated her face, and juices slicked her fingers, but she wouldn’t slow, couldn’t slow.
Before she knew it, only the slender arm bones of the badger remained on her plate.
Without a word, Olin slid over a second helping.
Raene dug in and stripped the bones in minutes. Never had she enjoyed meat that way—the feel of muscle tearing between her teeth, the heat and juice and flavor of the animal in her mouth.
And then, like a crashing wave retreating back to the ocean, the urge was gone—at least for now. Raene sucked a few breaths into her lungs and felt the emptiness in her chest. After an afternoon of continuous struggle, it felt strange to have it gone now.
“Feel better?” Olin shot her an amused smile as he continued to eat his own portion, working each bite from the bone slowly and carefully. Like any civilized person would do.
Suddenly conscious of her behavior, Raene wiped a hand across her face and tried to remove the evidence of what she’d done. “I’m sorry,” she told him, embarrassed at her barbaric performance.
“Don’t be. It takes a while to get used to it.”
“Was it like this for you?”
“It’s like that for all Pyros, Rain Drop. Some more than others. Yours will be some of the worst, but like him, you’ll learn to control it.” Olin hadn’t even said his name but Raene felt the impact of it.
She was like Kaide. More than she’d ever wanted to be.
Her finger found the beginning of the faded scar on her temple and mindlessly traced it down her cheek to her jaw and on past to the other side of her neck.
Raene remembered the chilling look in his eye when he reached out with his massive claw and gave her that scar. He’d been angry with her, and she’d been scared of him, but once he learned to keep that rage inside, they’d been closer than ever.
Like Kaide, she just had to figure out how to keep in control of her totem.
With her stomach full and the warmth of the nearby fire, it almost felt possible, but Raene knew she was far from in control. On her neck, her fingertips found the edge of the bandage and pulled, cleanly removing it in one motion.
Less than a day after earning her tattoo, the skin was still raw and sore. She grazed the tender skin with her hand and wondered if it would ever really feel the same—if she would ever feel the same.
This was a new Raene. She was no longer the elegant niece of a leading political figure. Now, she was a predator and the future bride of some Terra man in the Alderwood.
She clung to the hope that, at least, whoever her husband would be, he would make her feel like this was all worth it. Kaide had had a glimpse of it with Blossom. The prospect of a future with love and happiness was the only light in the dark had become her life.
On the far wall of the central room, Raene noticed the alder tree engraved in the wood, so massive its branches spanned the entire room. From the sweeping boughs hung the symbols of the branches, a raindrop for Hydra, a flame for Pyro, a gust of wind for Aero, and an alder leaf for Terra.
The Alder Mother and her four branches.
“They’re quite religious, aren’t they?” Raene asked with her eyes still on the carving.
“Terras? That’s what they say. Devotion to the Mother and such.” Olin shrugged like it didn’t matter, but a moment later, he leaned in and asked, “Sure you want to go through with this?”
“What choice do I have?” Raene wished she had the marriage document to throw at him. “It’s all in writing. He traded me to a clan. In the Alderwood. There’s nothing I can do about it.” Raene would have been so much less angry if everything had happened differently. He could have traded her to another clan in Pyrona. He could have told her when he made the arrangements rather than blindsiding her. He could have delivered her himself. He could have been sorry to see her go.
“You’re already out. You could run. I could take you anywhere you want, except Pyrona of course.” Olin made it sound like choosing a restaurant for lunch rather than the whole rest of her life.
“I’m not going to do that. I’m not a coward.” Raene realized as soon as she said it. Raene was no coward, but Blossom was. She’d run the first chance she got. She’d run away and ruined everything.
Raene pressed her hands to her face and exhaled a long, slow breath. What was happening to her? How could she harbor so much hate and anger for people she loved? Nothing made sense.
Maybe she should run. With her tiger totem, she could make her own way. She could go anywhere, do anything. She would never be in danger.
But it would be a betrayal to Kaide. And so Raene would never d
o it. She was stuck here in the Alderwood for the rest of her life.
Then, Raene looked up at Olin and said the words she knew must be true. “He traded me to Blossom’s clan, didn’t he? The Bear Clan of the Alderwood? In exchange for Blossom?” She didn’t need to see the document to know. It was the only way that made sense.
Olin nodded with a cheek full of badger meat. “There were a few other contingencies, but yes. They stayed in this very inn on their way to Pyrona.”
Raene’s head spun. Kaide didn’t send her away as punishment. It was arranged even before Blossom arrived in Pyrona. Maybe he’d done it to secure his bride, but even so, he hadn’t done it out of spite or misery. Raene was a pawn in his game, but at least he didn’t hate her.
And she was going to Blossom’s clan. Where Blossom likely went instead of transformation. Maybe this whole mess could be salvaged. Maybe she could get Blossom to go back to Kaide.
Maybe Raene would lose her all over again.
The selfish desire to have Blossom in her life once more crept up like a thief. Living in the Bear Clan as Blossom’s sister wouldn’t be so bad.
But she couldn’t do that to Kaide. He needed Blossom, and if Raene had even the smallest say in the matter, Blossom would go back to him.
Raene was on her own no matter what.
Overwhelmed by the revelation, Raene pushed out of the wooden chair so hard and fast it fell to the floor with a crash, earning the attention of every person in the room. Only Olin would speak. “Give it some time, Rain Drop. You’ll learn to quiet it. It just takes time,” he offered, incorrectly guessing the source of her renewed anguish.
But she didn’t want to explain it. Raene barked at the woman by the door. “Show me to my room.”
As she was told, the Terra woman darted up the stairs, taking them two at a time as Raene jogged up behind her. Then, in a room that was all her own, Raene closed the door and sealed herself away from the rest of the world.
Introductions
PARSON RAISED the axe high over his head and brought it down with all his might. The blade hit the wood with a thud and cleaved off the slender branch in a single motion.