The Alpha's Concubine (Historical Shifter Romance)

by Claudia King

  "And you will tell me the tales of all the pretty young females you ensnare until you find your mate. With Adel gone, you need not worry over capturing girls of the Sun People to share your furs."

  Khelt smiled. "I fear it may be many years before the last one leaves my mind. But I will do my best to give you the stories you desire."

  They broke apart, having said all they needed to. Khelt had always feared their shared love for Netya would come between them, and in many ways it had. But as they walked back through the forest that morning, there was no taint of hatred or jealousy to darken their companionship. When they parted ways, they would do so as friends.

  As they talked of lighter things on their long walk back, the alpha felt a small part of his burden easing. He wondered, as they strolled, how things might have been different had he never made the decision to take a pretty young Sun girl as his concubine.

  * * *

  In other circumstances, Netya would gladly have stayed many weeks longer with the North People. Their stories were new and their skills unique, and the few fleeting days she spent with them sped by like feathers on the wind. She wanted to learn how their shamans divined the turning of the weather, and how their farmers cultivated such rich crops year after year in the same earth. No more than the briefest glimpse into their way of life was afforded to her before it came time to leave, and she said her goodbyes to Lutek and his people with the promise that she would one day return. Now that she had seen the ways other tribes lived, Moon and Sun people alike, she wanted to visit all of them. Every village from here until the end of the world, wherever that was. She was beginning to believe that the world had no end. Beyond the forests she had found the plains, beyond the plains the mountains, and beyond the mountains there were broader lands still. There existed more things in the world than she had ever imagined.

  It was with a heavy heart that she made the journey south with the others, knowing what was to come. Khelt had told her of his accord with Adel, but besides that they had spoken little. It seemed that he could no longer look on her without being reminded of what he had done, despite her efforts to reassure him. She forgave the alpha for his actions, but it was not just her forgiveness that he needed. It would be a long time before he overcame his own doubts. Perhaps it was for the best that she would not be around to remind him.

  "You do not have to go with Adel if you do not wish," Caspian said one morning as they walked together across the plains, making the final stretch of the journey on foot. "There are others who could instruct you in the ways of the seers, and you have the wits to learn much on your own."

  "But there are no teachers quite like Adel," she replied. "That is not why I must go with her, though. Khelt is strong, even now. I have faith that he will weather whatever trials the pack face in the years to come."

  "And you believe Adel will not?"

  Netya smiled and shook her head. "I think it is a different kind of strength that Adel needs. I have seen the kindness in her. She terrified me when I first came to the pack, but I have grown to care for her like family. She was not always so cold and bitter."

  Caspian encircled her waist with his arm, drawing her in close. A year ago, Netya had been a hopeful young girl desperate to catch his eye. Now, it seemed the most natural thing in the world to be walking alongside him, cradled in his grasp.

  "You helped awaken the woman she used to be," he said. "I tried to do the same, but it was never enough. Without Khelt, perhaps she will be able to thrive once again."

  "And I want to be there to help keep her on that path. As much as I need Adel, perhaps she is the one who needs me more."

  "My wise seer." Caspian grinned, kissing her forehead. "I always thought Adel a great woman, but perhaps now I have come to know one even greater."

  Netya's cheeks warmed, and she rested her cheek against his broad shoulder, their meandering pace soon leaving them trailing behind the rest of the group. When they were out of earshot, she felt for his hand on her hip and twined her fingers between his.

  "I still feel it growing in the back of my mind," she said quietly. "It gets stronger every day. In my dreams, sometimes I am the wolf now."

  "Do not fear it," Caspian murmured. "When it rises up and takes hold, I will be there. Your wolf may be young and confused, but it is neither friend nor enemy. It is only another side of you."

  "What if that side is not a pleasant one?"

  "Then we will learn to tame it. The days ahead will be hard, but we have already endured worse."

  Netya closed her eyes and stopped, pausing to embrace him as the gentle wind rustled the grass around them. The path opening up before her seemed hard indeed. Rougher and more uncertain than ever. Terrifying, even, but for the trials she had already faced in coming so far. Caspian was right. She would meet whatever came next, but not as a helpless young girl this time. From the wolf pelt adorning her shoulders to the spear slung across her back, the beads braided into her hair and the mended pendant resting upon her breast, she was a woman of the Moon People. She belonged to the sun no more.

  With tears in her eyes, she embraced Erech as the two sides of the pack said their farewells. They had been given a few days to decide where their loyalties lay, but the time had come for them to take their separate paths. Winter loomed, and they could not afford to delay any longer.

  "I will walk every day until my leg is strong enough to carry me to the pack gathering once more," Erech said. "I will make it there to see you and Fern again, I swear."

  "We will be waiting for you." She smiled at him, blinking back the moisture that threatened to escape her eyes as she caressed his cheek with a palm. "Alpha Erech."

  Swallowing down his emotions before they could crack his composure in front of the other young males, he embraced her tightly, lifting her off the ground for a moment with a groan as he braced himself with his crippled leg. Once he had done the same with Fern, Netya made her farewells to the few others who had looked kindly on her during her time with the pack. Oke, Brae, Nathar, the craftspeople who had helped her make her spear, and her fellow seers who had elected to remain with Khelt. It was clear that many of the others were more than happy to see the back of her, but she had no eyes for them that morning. She would remember the ones who had been good to her, not those that made her feel like an outsider.

  All in all, Adel's group made for a sorry gathering compared to Khelt's. Barely a quarter of the pack stood at her side, most of them young seers, totalling just twenty in number. Among them there was not a single distinguished hunter, and only three males. Caspian and the mates of two of the seers were all they had. One craftswoman, one elder, Fern, and Wren made up the remainder. With no family left on Khelt's side of the pack, Hawk and Essie's daughter had chosen to remain with the surrogate sisters who had taken her in.

  Before they gathered their belongings to leave, there was one final farewell left for Netya to say. She suspected the alpha would have left without a word had she let him, but they would both regret it if they did. Seeking him out amidst the others, she tugged at his wrist, and met him with a smile.

  "You have one last goodbye left to say, Alpha."

  For a moment he seemed reluctant, but his face softened with relief when he met her eyes. "Netya. Of course."

  "I do not recall thanking you for all you did for me. Even if I have, let me say it one more time. Thank you."

  Khelt shook his head. "I did little for you that was worthy of thanks. You have lost everything you once held dear because of me."

  "But perhaps I have gained more than that life could ever have offered. Perhaps it was fate, or the will of the spirits. These last months have left me with so much sorrow, but every day I tell myself not to regret it. Things are as they are, and we are still strong despite it all."

  "Then I will not ask again for your forgiveness, as much as I may want to."

  "There is no need. You already know you have it."

  The alpha sighed, looking on her with a fondness tha
t made Netya's heart ache for all the things they had shared, and all the things they had been unable to.

  "Be mindful of Adel, and be a good mate to Caspian," he said. "No matter which alpha you follow, you will always be welcome in my pack." The alpha remained still until Netya embraced him, then wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

  "Thank you for the nights that made me a woman," she whispered.

  Khelt's broad chest rumbled beneath her with a deep chuckle. "I shall not soon forget them. I only wish I could have given you more."

  They pulled apart, and Netya bowed her head respectfully before him. "Alpha."

  He tilted her chin up with a crooked finger, blinking back tears of his own. "You need call me that no longer. Goodbye, Netya."

  Adel's gathering watched as the rest of the pack filed away into the distance, Netya standing between Caspian and Fern with her arms wrapped around Wren's shoulders. It was many hours before the group disappeared into the tall grasses on the horizon, but barely a word passed between Netya and her companions until their former brethren were gone. Many silent tears were shed, but no ill words were spoken. Those who remained with the den mother understood why it had to be this way. They had all come to their decisions on their own.

  "Where will they go now?" Wren asked eventually.

  "The snows are lighter in the south," Adel replied. "They may find an easier crossing through the mountains there."

  "And what of us?" Netya said, looking to her mentor.

  The den mother regarded her small group of followers one by one, making sure each of them met her gaze. "Without hunters and males, we are weaker than any of the clans whose territory we must skirt. We must be cautious, and we must be cunning. When the packs come together next summer, we must gather new strength, and pick our allies carefully. Until then, we head north. We can find shelter from the winter in the lands beyond the mountains, and perhaps a den to call our own."

  "Who will be our alpha?" Wren said. "Will it be you, Caspian?"

  "Do you think we need one?" he replied.

  "A pack always has an alpha."

  "If there is one thing I would have you all learn," Adel said, "it is that traditions will be our guiding light no longer. I am your leader. Alpha, Den Mother, call me what you wish. As long as I have your loyalty, I will do everything in my power to ensure the safety and happiness of my pack."

  Netya bowed her head slightly, but she did not make it the traditionally submissive gesture she would have presented to Khelt. "Then lead us on, Den Mother. We are all your daughters and sons now."

  A thin smile lit Adel's lips, and a hint of the youthful glimmer came back into her eyes.

  — Epilogue—

  At the end of that year, when the first frosts of winter covered the northern grass, Netya awoke to a stirring sensation in the back of her mind. She lay there beneath the warm furs, clutching Caspian's arm around her chest as her heart beat faster. A low murmur left his lips, and he tugged her in closer against his body.

  "What is wrong?" he said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

  "It's there. I can feel it again."

  "Is it troubling you?"

  Netya shook her head. "It is— I do not know. It feels different this time." She squirmed in the darkness, shivering slightly as a lurching feeling dragged like a hook at the nape of her neck. The first light of dawn was visible through the hide coverings of their makeshift tent, but she could not hear the voices of the others yet. Fern and Wren still slumbered peacefully alongside them.

  "Come," Caspian whispered urgently, sitting up and throwing his cloak about his shoulders. He led her out of the tent and around the coals of last night's cooking fire, down the patchy slope at the base of the mountains and toward the hills beyond. Countless specks of frost dusting the grass around them caught the light of the sun, turning the northlands into a rolling sea of silver.

  Netya breathed in the crisp air, closing her eyes as the urge to run grew. She was struggling to hold the niggle in check, but it was a niggle no longer. It was a writhing force inside her, ever questioning and calling, demanding she acknowledge it. It frightened her, but only in its strangeness. The growing voice of her wolf was unlike anything she had ever known before. That morning, it refused to go back to sleep.

  "I think it is time," Caspian said, bringing them to a stop at the crest of the first hill. Leagues of empty land surrounded them, free of any and all distraction.

  "I am afraid," Netya said, clinging to the front of her male's clothing. "I feel as if... As if I am a bowl of water, ready to tip. And once I do, something will come out that can never go back in."

  "I know the feeling well." He took her face between his palms, kissing her gently. "It will seem very strange, but it is nothing to fear. You will not be the same again, that much is true, but you will still be Netya. Let it come, gently, and see the world through your wolf's eyes."

  She nodded, swallowing desperately, as if the sensation growing inside her was a bout of nausea that could be forced back down. Her senses prickled, the sights and sounds around her suddenly becoming much more keen. Caspian turned her away from him, guiding her by the shoulders as the first splinter of something unknowable broke loose from her mind.

  "Try not to think. Instinct will guide you at first. Once you become used to the shape of your wolf, your thoughts will follow along soon after. Oh, and as you feel it taking hold, imagine your body clinging to your clothing like a coat of fur." He smiled. "Otherwise, you may end up very cold after you change back."

  Netya nodded, her skin tingling so sharply she almost believed she was clad in fur already. The impending tug surged, flooding through her body like a hard buffet of wind, pressing outward from the spot at the nape of her neck until it had forced itself all the way to the tips of her fingers and the balls of her feet. Caspian stepped away. She stumbled, losing all sense of balance as the writhing knot broke loose and took hold, clamping around her mind like a set of iron jaws. The splinter became sharp, and for an instant the pain gripping her seemed so intense it was maddening, but as soon as it had flared it was gone, leaving Netya to wonder whether it had even been there at all.

  Her body changed, the pressure inside pushing outward, beyond the limits of her small frame. She felt a splitting sensation, and remembered at the last moment to cast out the hooks of her shifting body to snag the clothing that clung to it. She dragged the wolf pelt she wore along with her, mingling with the spirit of the white beast who had become her guardian. Long fangs filled her mouth. The balance of her legs shifted backward. An overwhelming clarity came into the air she breathed, as if the scents she smelled before had been a murky fog, and now they were an intricate weaving. Within moments, the idea of she became something very different. She was no longer the girl who walked upon two legs. She was someone different. Someone new. Similar, yet distinct. Her thoughts were no less her own, but they had transformed along with her body.

  Gazing down at the grass, she saw black fur cladding her paws, tinged with wisps of white, just like Adel's coat. The urge that had been building within her for weeks, the urge to run, finally broke free. Strength and energy like she had never known coursed through her limbs. She tore the ground beneath her claws as she dashed down the slope of the hill. A cry of elation left her lungs, taking shape in a feral howl that echoed across the land.

  Caspian's brown-furred wolf appeared alongside her, barking with excitement as he darted ahead, encouraging her to chase him. She no longer needed words to understand him. Her new senses read the simple motions of his body and the sounds he made without having to even think about them. The message was simple, but it was clear.

  Bounding up the next hill alongside him, the world sped by so fast it made her giddy. The two of them ran together until the sun was high and their fur was damp with freshly melted dew. When they finally stopped, looking back over the ground they had covered with pride, Netya felt the tingle of her thoughts returning to clarity.

  She sat a
longside Caspian, nuzzling into his fur, and gazed up at the sun. As welcoming as it was, she longed to see the land bathed in a different light. The moon beckoned her, calling to its new daughter, and she answered willingly.

  She awaited the night, for it was her time now.

  Netya's story continues in Daughter of the Moon: The Moon People, Book Two.

  Read on for a sneak preview!

  —1—

  The White Hunters

  In a flash of realisation—and not for the first time in her life—Netya realised that people were about to die if she stood back and did nothing. The white fur of the wolf pelt she wore twitched in the breeze, blending in with the snow-speckled brambles around her as she crouched there in silence. Fern, her pack-sister and closest friend, shifted in agitation beside her, eyes fixed on the scene that was about to unfold before them. Their younger sister, Wren, huddled in on Netya's opposite side. She hadn't moved since they first caught sight of the white hunters.

  "Will those weapons of theirs pierce a wolf's hide?" Netya whispered.

  "I do not know," Fern replied. "Perhaps, if they have sharpened the tips."

  It was not the white hunters to whom Fern referred, but the group of Sun People gathered a short distance ahead of them, unaware of their predicament. Netya and her companions had come out to hunt for the third day in a row, knowing that birds gathered in large flocks upon the open ground in the mornings. They were easy prey for the jaws of a silent wolf, but this morning it was more than wolves that stalked them. The Sun People were not like Netya and her kind. They lacked the ability to take the shapes of wolves, and their bodies were weak and easily hurt by comparison.

  Netya knew all too well the differences between the Sun People and her. She had been born one of them, after all. This particular group was not familiar to her, however. They hunted with ingenious tools that she had never before seen. Each one of them carried a long, curved piece of wood, with a tight cord strung between both ends. She had watched in fascination as they hunted the birds by knocking long wooden darts flighted with feathers into their strings, drawing them back and launching them with greater force than even the mightiest of spear throws. All morning they had struck bird after bird from the sky, bringing down several before wringing their necks and collecting up their fallen darts, then moving on to another area as the flock settled once again.