by Radclyffe
“We accept,” Ty said, answering for her cadre without hesitation.
“Not your cadre. You. The mission is yours alone,” the general said. “We have rescued the queen’s son from his mountain stronghold and will return him to the city on the solstice. We need you to break into the palace and kill Leo before we arrive. It is vital that you are successful, but you will most likely be captured before you can escape. Are you willing to give your life for the Resistance?”
Ty allowed herself to briefly meet the general’s eyes. “I am.”
*
Two nights later, Ty followed a group of off-duty sentries as they left their barracks at the Royal House and headed toward the edge of town, where the taverns and brothels had dominion. She had been observing the guards since her arrival in Varesska the day before and had quickly settled on her mark. The chosen guard’s restlessness and youth made her a likely candidate for Ty’s purposes—she ought to be easily seduced, easily convinced to sneak Ty into the palace. It was only a pleasant bonus that the sight of her made Ty’s mouth water and her sharp canines pierce her lips.
Ty slipped through the shadows as she trailed behind the boisterous group of sentries. Her mark occasionally glanced behind, a frown creasing her delicate features, and Ty had a moment of doubt about her choice. The young woman was the only one who seemed to sense the group was being tailed, and Ty wondered if her own desire had led her to misjudge the guard’s vulnerability. She briefly considered changing her focus to another female in the group, but that thought made her wolf howl with such force that Ty almost fell to her knees in the street. She staggered a few steps before she managed to calm her inner turmoil. She had made her decision and she would make it work.
The group of sentries seemed to have a specific destination in mind and passed several taverns before they finally entered one called the Broken Hart. The wooden placard hanging by its door showed a crude drawing of a wolf tearing into a deer carcass—a theme she’d seen repeated outside most of Varesska’s shops and inns. The images were mostly of wolves engaging in various forms of violent behavior, designed by Leo no doubt to reinforce the citizens’ idea of Lycans as uncivilized and brutal. Disgusted by the lies, Ty hated to patronize the bar, and only her sense of duty—and her growing desire to finally get close to her mark—made her push through the door and into the dimly lit tavern.
Ty leaned against the bar, ordered a drink, and tossed a few coins on the counter in exchange for a glass of vodka. She sipped the clear liquid and fought to keep her face from revealing her distaste. Everything was too warm, from the oily-tasting vodka to the room with its blazing fire and wall torches. She tried to shake off her memories of the day Leo’s guards had reached her village. She had been in wolf form, on a routine patrol of the village’s flocks and fields, when the shouts and smell of smoke had alerted her to danger. She arrived home too late to help, and several days later members of the newly formed Resistance found her sitting among the ashes of her family home. She’d been twelve then, and that was years ago. She was no longer a child. She would finally have a chance to avenge her family, her pack. She glanced at her sentry out of the corner of her eye, not making direct eye contact but still feeling the sensation every time the woman’s gaze rested on her. She was about to head over to the guards’ table when her mark made the move for her.
“Evening,” Ty said casually when the sentry came over to the bar next to her and ordered a drink.
“Hello,” the woman said after a slight hesitation. She picked up her glass and moved as if to head back to her table, but instead remained at the bar.
“I’m Tyvka.” Ty held out her hand and waited a few seconds before the sentry reached over and shook it. She carefully pulled her hand away when she felt her claws start to emerge, fighting the sudden desire to yank the sentry closer. “Friends call me Ty.”
“Mina,” the guard said briefly. Ty had expected the sentry’s eyes to be brown, matching her hair, and she was oddly pleased when she saw that they were flecked with greens and gold instead. She was even more pleased to realize that this woman was much too young to have been involved in the destruction of her village.
“Mina,” she echoed, enjoying the feel of the name on her tongue. Her voice sounded rougher than it should and she tried to control it. “You look very warm.”
“A little,” the sentry admitted. Even with the fire and the heat from crowded bodies, Mina still wore a deerskin jacket and mink stole. Her boots were fur-lined, probably rabbit. The assault of different odors was distracting. Besides the conflicting smells of the furs, Mina wore a cloying perfume that was too potent for Ty’s heightened senses. She couldn’t understand why her wolf kept pushing her closer to these scents instead of pulling away as she would have expected.
“Let’s go outside for a while,” Ty offered, more for her own relief than as part of her plan. Mina simply nodded and followed her out the door. Ty walked without looking back until she came to a shadowed alley. She stepped off of the street and the second Mina followed, Ty crowded the young sentry against the side of a building. Mina was nearly her height, but Ty’s added muscle and her wolf’s desire made her seem larger.
“I shouldn’t…” Mina raised her head and her gold-flecked eyes glittered with arousal.
Ty put her hands on the wall on either side of Mina’s head, letting her claws elongate and dig into the wood. She hadn’t doubted her ability to seduce a sentry on this mission, but she hadn’t expected to be seduced herself. She felt a rumbling growl start deep inside and leaned forward to kiss Mina in an attempt to silence her wolf.
Their lips met in a gasping, drowning kiss made of nothing but passion. Ty felt her enlarging canines roughly brush against teeth and she moved her head to the side. She couldn’t risk being exposed as a Lycan, but turning away from Mina’s kiss only brought her in contact with a smooth neck that was even more tempting than Mina’s mouth. Ty kept her lips protectively over her teeth and only allowed herself to lick the beating pulse, the soft skin below Mina’s ear, the rigid tendons that supported Mina’s flung-back head. She glanced at her hand to make sure there was only a hint of claw before she reached under Mina’s deerskin shirt, dragging her nails over a taut nipple and nearly losing control of her wolf as Mina sighed and arched under her touch.
A few more minutes of this and she’d completely lose her ability to maintain total human form. Already thoughts of her mission, her duty to the Resistance, even her responsibilities for her cadre blurred under the force of her desire and Mina’s need. She managed to check her instinct to rake her claws down Mina’s torso, tasting her blood and marking her as a mate. Instead, she thrust her hand down the front of Mina’s leather pants, careful only to graze Mina’s clit firmly with her nails. Just one touch and Mina cried out, rubbing against her and making Ty stiffen with need. She pulled her claw away and replaced it with her softer palm, cupping Mina as she sagged against the wall, her breathing eventually evening out.
Ty tugged her hand free, stepping back into the shadows. She wanted to say something to console the sentry, who looked shocked at what they had done, to find some way to salvage her forgotten mission. She didn’t trust herself to speak, though. To open her mouth and show her canines, or worse, have her voice come out as an unintelligible growl or snarl. So she simply turned away from Mina, running into the night until she was far enough from the bar that she could rip off her clothes and let the shift take her.
*
The night before the solstice, Mina slipped out of the barracks and jogged through the shadows until she reached a small park on the outskirts of the city. It was never safe for her to shift, and now with the solstice approaching, it was more dangerous than usual. She had to take the chance. She couldn’t contain her wolf any longer. The experience with that stranger from the bar had left her shaken, out of control. Her infrequent sexual encounters had always been with women who didn’t excite her enough to call her wolf. If she felt a strong sexual attraction, she had
learned to walk away and not risk her life, or her family, for mere personal satisfaction.
But Ty had been different. She had called Mina to her and there had been no question that she would answer. Mina could still picture Ty leaning against the bar, the muscles on her forearm sharply defined, her posture tense and prepared for flight. Mina hadn’t been able to tell how much of the red glow in Ty’s black hair and eyes had been due to the firelight, or to something shining from within, but she had been unable to resist the desire to approach her.
Mina shed her heavy furs and slipped naked into the icy fountain in the center of the park. She ducked under the frigid water, wetting her hair in an attempt to remove the stench of the perfume she wore to camouflage her Lycan scent, and to freeze out the memory of Ty’s touch. Ignoring her strong emotions and walking over to the bar had been risky enough, but following Ty into the dark alley was suicidal. To let herself be touched and kissed when her wolf was revolting against constraint, to expose her neck and lean into the other woman’s searching caresses. Insanity. Mina knew she should have fled the moment her growing canines had rasped against Ty’s teeth, but instead she had opened herself up and risked exposure as a Lycan.
Mina’s father had managed to spare his family by hiding them directly under the royal guard’s watchful eyes. She was alive only because he had volunteered as a member of the sentry when the Civilization began and she owed it to him to keep their family secret. Yet she wondered how long they would have to live in hiding, not only denying their true natures but delivering fellow Lycans to their death for Leo’s cause. Mina chafed under the necessity of sacrificing her connection to her wolf just to stay alive. What good was living half a life?
Relieved of the overpowering perfume and furs, Mina was able to detect traces of Lycan scent in the park. She found evidence on her infrequent nightly wanderings of other Lycans still living in Varesska, and she hoped there might be even more outside of the city. She had never revealed her knowledge of these illegal inhabitants, had never taken part in any of the hunts that Leo occasionally required. But she worried that trouble during the solstice might force her to choose between killing one of her own or facing certain death.
“You’re Lycan.” A shocked voice broke Mina out of her distressing musings. She’d been so caught up in her inner turmoil she hadn’t noticed the increasing wolf scent until Ty was standing right next to the fountain. Mina glanced toward her weapons that lay under her furs, but Ty stood between the sentry and her silver sword. “Hiding among the guards themselves. Brilliant.”
The absolute hatred in Ty’s voice chilled Mina’s already icy skin. With her weapons and her sentry training, Mina thought she stood a chance of defending herself against the powerful Lycan who stood before her. Without her sword, however, and with little experience in shifting, Mina knew Ty would rip out her throat before she could even grow a full set of claws. A shiver ran down her spine as she recalled Ty’s mouth on her throat the night before. Her own desire had been so intense, her fear of being discovered as a Lycan so fierce, that she hadn’t noticed that it was an enemy who had taken her in the alley. At least she now had an explanation for her foolhardy urge to get close to this stranger.
“So, coward,” Ty continued, her voice rough and wild enough to make Mina flinch. “How many of your kind have you killed to save your own pelt?”
“None,” Mina whispered, unsure why she was so determined to make Ty believe her. “I’ve never killed a Lycan.”
“Nor have you made any effort to save one, I’m sure.” Ty paced restlessly in the space between Mina and the weapon, her red-accented black eyes never wavering as Mina slowly climbed out of the water and sat on the cement edge of the fountain. Mina didn’t try to deny the truth of Ty’s statement, but she refused to cower in front of her. She sat erect even though she was naked and exposed, resisting the urge to cross her arms and hide the stiff peaks of her nipples.
“It is only temporary,” she said. “While Leo is in power it’s too dangerous for any Lycan…”
“Do you think I don’t know that? I watched the royal guards burn my village, kill my family. And you try to lecture me about safety?”
Ty’s last words came out as a snarl and Mina fought the instinctive reaction to lower her eyes or act submissive in any way. She had little experience with other Lycans except for her family and limited knowledge of pack life. Even so, her wolf recognized Ty’s call as strongly dominant. Mina squared her shoulders and kept her head raised. She didn’t belong to Ty’s pack and would not recognize her as a superior.
“I wasn’t even a sentry when the raids began,” she said, not foolish enough to refer to the purging of Lycans by the customary term “Civilization.” In desperation she repeated the words her father had often used to appease her guilty conscience. “It’s important that Lycans survive, in any way necessary. Then, when the uprising comes…”
“It’s coming now.” Ty’s voice transformed to a deep growl. She stepped closer and threaded rough fingers through Mina’s hair, pulling her head back and again exposing her pale throat. “The Resistance has been fighting this battle while you’ve been living in royal luxury. You are the enemy and I should kill you right now.”
Mina sensed Ty’s brief hesitation and she slipped off the ledge and onto her knees, Ty’s fingers still tangled in her hair.
“What would you have me do?” she asked, her voice quiet as she leaned her forehead against Ty’s belly. She inhaled deeply, her breath catching as the scent of wolf—so close—made her body vibrate with need. “Should I announce that I’m a Lycan and be killed on the spot? What purpose would that serve?”
“If you truly want to serve, then leave this city and join the Resistance.” Ty’s snarling tone revealed her doubt that Mina would dare to be so brave. “Use your training and skills to save your people, not murder more of them.”
Mina shook her head against the taut muscles of Ty’s abdomen, a reluctant groan escaping her throat. “I’ve heard rumors of a Resistance, but nothing certain.” She had assumed her father would tell her if there were facts instead of simply rumors, but hearing Ty’s conviction fueled the doubts that had been growing in her mind lately. Doubts about her father’s intentions and her own participation in his deception. It had been easier to pretend that there was nothing for her beyond Varesska’s walls, beyond her duties as a royal guard.
To divert her mind from those uncomfortable thoughts, Mina instead focused on the tantalizing, overpowering scent of wolf. She pushed Ty’s shirt up and skimmed her mouth over hard muscles and soft skin. She inhaled through her nose, her body growing tight with need as she licked the thin trickle of blood she inadvertently drew when her canines erupted more easily and swiftly than they ever had. Ty’s hand remained fisted in her brown hair, but suddenly it felt more like a caress, less like a threat. Mina took that as a silent, if reluctant, acceptance of her touch and she opened the buttons on Ty’s pants. Hastily, she pulled them down, spurred on by Ty’s rapid breathing and her own desire as the potent Lycan scent hit her full force. She left slender trails of blood as her elongated claws raked down Ty’s thighs, making Ty gasp and arch at the slight pain.
For the first time, Mina felt every part of her respond to another’s nearness. Ty smelled of wildness, of country air and spruce trees, of wolf. Without hesitation Mina’s mouth found Ty’s wetness. Tears trickled down her cheeks, their saltiness mingling with the sweeter taste of Ty on her tongue. Grief and remorse and anger coursed through her as she faced her cowardly compliance with her father’s deceptions, followed by a sense of loss over the wasted years spent in the city and far from her own kind. Most of all, however, an overpowering sense of returning home, of belonging, filled her. Her breathing deepened along with Ty’s and her hips jolted when Ty’s shook in orgasm.
*
Ty released her hold on Mina’s hair and staggered a few steps away before she turned her back and roughly pulled her clothing back in place. She grabbed Mina’s cloak
, unbuckled the scabbard, and threw the fur at Mina, who knelt shivering on the pebbled ground. “Get dressed.”
Watching Mina dress, Ty stood silently, blood dripping from her palms where still-elongated claws dug into her clenched fists. Her mission was more successful than she had expected. She had planned to seduce a guard and had instead found a mate. Mina’s compliance in her plans was certainly more assured than if she were simply a lover, but Ty felt no satisfaction in their joining.
“I had no idea…” Mina’s voice faltered to a stop, but Ty could easily guess the feelings their mating had brought close to the surface. No idea there was an organized Lycan community just beyond her city’s reach, no idea her wolf would respond so strongly to another of her kind, no idea how little depth of connection and emotion her life as a human—without a pack—truly had.
“I didn’t know there was a Resistance, but now I do,” Mina continued. “I’ll leave the city with you, fight with you.”
In a heartbeat Ty was standing close enough to ruffle Mina’s hair with her breath. “It’s too late now,” she growled. “The fight is coming to the city, along with the true heir to the throne. Choose your side.”
Mina’s voice shook but she still refused to lower her eyes and submit to Ty’s dominant posture. “You,” she said quietly, but without hesitation. “I choose you.”
“Then get me into the Royal House,” Ty said, taking a step back as she resisted the urge to either push Mina back to her knees or drop to her own and reclaim her mate. Lessons in submission were pointless now. Ty had accepted that she had little chance of getting out of Varesska alive after she completed her mission. Her odds of survival were even lower with an unprepared and recognizable guard as her ally. She felt a flicker of pain at the thought of Mina’s likely death, but she pushed it aside.
“Dawn will break soon and the celebrations will begin,” she said. “Most of the guards will be outside watching the crowds. I need to get inside. To Leo.”
