The Hunt (Shifter Origins)

by Harper A. Brooks

  When he saw her, his familiar, suggestive grin appeared, as if he was thinking of something mischievous, or sexual, or both. A prickling chill slid down Cara’s spine. She’d never considered what kind of lover Rafé would be. Possibly brutish, possessive, and selfish. Whatever it was, she would find out soon enough.

  His gaze flickered from the tree at her back, to her breasts, the curve of her neck, and then to her lips, telling Cara that his mind was conjuring something devious about her now. She swallowed her nerves.

  “Rafé, you’ve come back,” she called. “Where are the others?”

  “Scouting the forest,” he said. “And I told you I’d be stopping by again.”

  “I know you did. I just didn’t expect you so soon.”

  Rafé laughed, white teeth flashing. “Do you want me to leave, then?”

  “Well, no…”

  “Neither do I.” He stepped closer.

  After a quiet moment, he chuckled again and peered at the healing gash on her arm. “It looks much better,” he said, taking her elbow in a gentle grip for a better view. “Ryna gave you something for it?

  “She did. Some kind of jelly concoction. I have no idea what it is, but the pain is gone.”

  “Good. I’m sure she’s happy you’re home. Alina, too—” Suddenly, Rafé’s attention snapped to the forest, and he held out a hand to silence her. His nostrils flared as he sniffed the air.

  Cara stilled, wondering if it meant danger. The assassin—had he followed her home? Turning her ear toward the dense woods, she listened for sounds and heard nothing but the muddled chatter of Ryna and Alina in the hut and neighbors in the village’s center. Body tense, Rafé didn’t move.

  “What is it?” she asked in a breathy whisper. Her pulse sped up. “Do you hear something?”

  His narrowed gaze bounced between shadows, trees, and branches. “I thought I did…I guess I was wrong.” His voice lowered, and he turned back to her. “Cara, there is another reason why I came by. The tigers’ guards are roaming the forest.”

  Her heart plummeted. Guards in the Bilha Forest? Were they looking for her? Had Kael’s gift been a trap?

  She took a deep breath, silently chiding herself. If the guards were searching for her, the village would have been the first place they looked, not the forest. There had to be another reason. “Why are they here? Do you know?”

  “No, but that’s why I have my men watching them, making sure they don’t get too close to the village,” he said. “They seem to be searching for something. I don’t know what, yet, but I’ve been warning everyone I see to avoid the woods, to keep their food gathering to the riverbank and the forest line, just in case.”

  The guards were searching for something… What could it be?

  Then it hit her. Teralau. Kael had mentioned wanting to search the forest for more traces of it.

  “You don’t need to worry, Cara. The Majasha and I will make sure the village is safe from them,” Rafé said. His eyes fell to the bundle of coins clutched in her fist. “I heard that you were also making your way around to everyone in the village. And that you’d come into some money. Is that what you’re holding there?”

  Cara’s grip tightened.

  “Who gave it to you?”

  Remembering Rafé’s reaction the last time she’d said Kael’s name, she scrambled to form a lie. She could say she’d stolen the coins while in the palace. Would he believe that?

  He took a quick step closer, forcing her back against the tree. “It was that Kael, wasn’t it? Is he trying to buy you with favors now?”

  “No…” She hated the way Rafé spat Kael’s name, like it was a curse. “He’s just trying to make things right. He’s not like Rei Salus.”

  “He really has you convinced, doesn’t he?” Rafé ran his hand along the dark stubble shadowing his jaw. “Whatever his intentions may be, Cara, you must be careful. Your heart is in a good place—it always is—but the prince can say whatever he wants and do the opposite. Has he done anything to pull us from the hole his father put us in? No, he hasn’t, and he won’t. That’s because his promises are all empty. Once he has his ascension ceremony and becomes rei, he’ll be just like Salus. Watch.”

  Heart filling with sorrow, Cara turned to the forest. As much as she hated to admit it, Rafé had a point. Kael had done a lot, but really, he’d done nothing to change the way the people of Sajra felt about the panthers. He held all the power. If things were going to change, it had to begin with him. That was a lot to ask of the tiger prince.

  After Kael became rei, he would pick up where his father left off. Like it had been for years, the panthers would be at the end of the river and the last of Sajra’s worries. The same as it was before.

  “I’m sorry if I upset you,” Rafé added, his tone soft. “I just can’t trust the tigers. Not after everything they’ve done to us. To you.”

  “No, don’t apologize,” she replied. Even if she didn’t want to, she needed to hear it. When it came to Kael, for some reason, her sense got pushed aside. At least someone was thinking straight for the both of them. “I need your honesty.”

  “Oh.” Rafé paused, his eyes roaming over her face. “Then can I be honest about one more thing?”

  Maybe all Kael’s favors had been done as a way to confuse her—blind her—like Rafé had said. She didn’t know what to believe anymore. All she did know for sure was that she hated the way the tiger prince made her feel. Vulnerable. Lost. Hopeful sometimes, but mostly like a fool. “Of course—”

  Rafé’s mouth was on hers in the next second. Cara gasped, stiffening. Heat rushed to her face as his hand came up and cradled the curve of her neck. His body hovered over her, his bare chest brushing against her breasts. But her heart didn’t skip. Her breath didn’t catch. There was only a dull ache starting in between her lungs. Squeezing her eyes shut, Cara told herself this would be her life soon. It would be just her and Rafé. Like this.

  Kael’s face appeared behind her lids—the skin pinched at the corners of his eyes, his cheeks drawn up, his head back as his rumbling laughter poured from him. It was how she always wanted to remember him. Momentarily free.

  “Be my mate, Cara,” Rafé breathed against her lips. “Be mine. I want you like I’ve never wanted anything else.”

  The pain behind her rib cage strengthened into a deep throb. She had to be with Rafé. There was nothing between her and Kael besides a repaid debt and her wild imagination.

  Rafé’s fingers trailed down her unharmed shoulder. The words she knew he longed to hear stayed weighted in the bottom of her throat. As much as she tried, she couldn’t bring them out. When Rafé’s tongue traced the crease of her lips, asking for entrance again, she turned away, breaking the kiss.

  Rafé stepped back. Saying nothing, he stared at her, his body rigid and brows pinched.

  She knew how this must have looked to him. Another rejection. Cara’s pulse raced. She needed to explain herself, but what would she say to him? That she couldn’t stop thinking about the tiger prince?

  “I’m sorry,” she rushed, scrambling to find the right words to say. “This is all happening so fast. I think we should wait until the Hunt. Until we—”

  Rafé huffed, annoyed, and rolled his eyes to the cloudless sky. “You want to wait. Really?”

  Lifting herself from the tree and standing on her own again, Cara gave him a stiff nod.

  “Does that mean you’re saying yes to running with me?”

  Her temples pounded. Did it?

  Yes. Say yes.

  “Maybe…”

  The tension eased from his shoulders, and he gave her a cool smile, seeming satisfied with her answer.

  “All right, Cara,” Rafé drawled. He ran his finger along the side of her face, making goose bumps rise on her skin. “I’ve waited this long. I can wait three more days.”

  …

  Heart thundering, Kael slid behind tents and vendor tables, along the border of the marketplace. The argument with his mother l
ingered with him. Every step he took away from the palace caused his anger to push, the wound-up power within him to pulse, and his inner tiger to claw for release. He’d suppressed the change for now, but with his rage still raw and his control thin, he didn’t know how long that would last.

  Jaleh had said that a panther had almost cost them the throne. What did she mean by that? And what did it matter? Noble Vallius’s death was half a century ago. It meant nothing now. It said nothing about Cara. His mother didn’t know her like he did.

  Kael entered the Bilha Forest, set on being anywhere but the palace and near his mother’s grudge. The guard uniform he had borrowed from the armory was scratchy and too small. The dense fabric stretched tight across his chest, pinched his arms, and the trousers clung to his thighs and painfully restricted his groin. Sweat dripped down his brow from the cloth wrapped around his head. Poor Corbin. He didn’t know how he or any of the guards stood the heat wearing such heavy clothing.

  Another thing he would have to reconsider when he became rei. Changing the guard uniforms.

  Wearing it was only temporary, meant to disguise him from the assassin if he was waiting for another chance to kill him. Kael had no other suspects, only a speckled feather and the teralau poison to guide him. Not enough to throw anyone in prison.

  His father’s murderer was still out there. Somewhere. With his eye now set on Kael.

  He pushed through the forest, dodging low hanging branches and lifted roots. If the uniform wasn’t enough to hide him, he had also grabbed some extra weapons while in the armory—a short sword, a quiver with a few arrows, and a bow. He’d tucked his dagger into his boot. The sword rested on his hip, the bow was slung over his shoulder. He had enough weapons to fight a small army. One person wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Kael grunted. That was if the assassin didn’t get the jump on him, like on the dais, and again in the prison cell.

  He paused, searching through the surrounding trees for the plant the healer, Nura, spoke of. He found nothing resembling vines with orange and red flowers. Maybe his guards had discovered the teralau while searching the woods. He listened for voices or footsteps, only to hear the twitter of unseen birds in the canopy above, the distant whoosh of the river, and his own choppy breathing. The guards must have traveled deeper into the forest.

  Continuing forward, he debated between finding the forest’s edge or trudging deeper into the woods. He couldn’t be far from the panther village, and if he walked along the tree line, he could find Cara’s hut.

  Kael’s anger eased, and his insides jolted at the thought of seeing her again. He would meet with his guards later. He was too close to her now to turn away.

  Changing direction, Kael hurried through the Bilha Forest, heading toward the border and the sound of the river. Muffled voices reached his ears, and he halted. His guards? Slowly, Kael turned and peered through the thin gaps between the trees. Small wooden houses with slanted roofs sat just beyond the brush, some yards away. The panther village.

  Creeping closer to the forest’s edge but sticking to the shadows, his heart leaped at the thought of Cara being nearby.

  Then a female’s voice made him freeze.

  “I have no idea what it is, but the pain is gone.” It was her. Shifting closer, he could see Cara leaning against a mossy tree, her dark hair spilling over her tan shoulders and her thin, gray dress clinging to the curves of her body.

  His breathing hitched. Had he really seen her only hours ago? Her beauty still stole the air from his lungs. But she wasn’t alone. A man stood there, too, his chest bare, and his black hair slicked back from his pointed features.

  Rafé. The panther who had challenged him in the village, the one who wanted to claim Cara for his own.

  Even though Cara had told him they weren’t involved, the way Rafé’s hungry gaze roamed over every inch of her said differently. Kael recognized the look from his fight training—a predator with his prey. Rafé wanted to devour her.

  Kael clenched his fists, his head swimming with the need to drive one of them into Rafé’s jaw. His lips pulled back, and a snarl tore from his throat.

  Rafé’s ears perked at the sound. The same time his face snapped Kael’s way, Kael ducked behind the wide trunk of a nuna tree. What was he doing? The tiger prince, skulking in the forest and spying like a common thief? If Cara wanted to be Rafé’s mate, it should be no concern of his.

  “What is it?” Cara’s voice floated to his eardrums. “Do you hear something?”

  Holding his breath, Kael didn’t move. He never thought he’d be thankful for a windless day. Even the smallest breeze would carry his scent. They’d know who he was before he took a step in the other direction.

  “I thought I did…I guess I was wrong,” Rafé replied, and only then did Kael swallow another gulp of air. Peering into the dark recesses of the wood, he considered making a run for it, but his legs stayed locked as if buried in mud. His head shouted for him to sprint far from this place, but he couldn’t move, not knowing Rafé was alone with Cara and looking over her like she was a piece of meat.

  More hushed words were exchanged. Straining to make out the distant whispers, Kael slid closer to the trunk’s end. When he heard Rafé spit his name, a silent growl rose in his throat.

  Did Rafé see him as a threat? Kael smirked. Good. He wanted him to.

  Kael yearned to be closer, to hear the rest of the conversation, but he couldn’t risk being seen or heard again. If he was discovered, Cara might think badly of him. It would confirm her opinion of him as a coldhearted brute. She might want nothing more to do with him. After everything he’d done to sway her thinking, that was the last thing Kael wanted. Instead, he waited, catching words here and there.

  “I’m sorry…” Rafé muttered. “Can’t trust the tigers…everything they’ve done to us. To you.”

  Kael ground his teeth, his anger flaring back to life.

  Cara sounded upset when she answered, “No…I need your honesty.”

  Kael’s insides twisted with conflict. Should he risk it and look? But he stayed still, waiting. Listening.

  “Can I be honest about one more thing?” Rafé asked.

  “Of course.”

  Then silence.

  Kael grew rigid, heart knocking against his ribs. He waited for another word, but nothing followed. The back of his neck itched, urging him to peer around from his hiding place.

  Just for a second. He’d make it quick.

  Kael poked his head out. What he saw struck him like a blow to the stomach—Rafé’s lips locked with Cara’s, her eyes closed, and their bodies molded together against the curved tree.

  Kael threw himself back against the nuna’s trunk, a fire erupting in his chest.

  No! Pinching jolts of energy shot from the top of his spine to his toes as his tiger reared up.

  It roared. Every muscle tensed, readying to push off the ground, pounce, and tear Rafé off of Cara. He should be the one kissing her, not Rafé. Not that greasy rat.

  His legs wobbled as his bubbling rage shoved at his control, urging the shift on. Nails sharpening, his claws dug into the rough tree bark to keep himself standing.

  Cara needed to be his.

  His. She was his.

  Kael’s vision fogged red, and his breaths came in short bursts. The restricting guard uniform tore at the seams as his muscles and bones shifted under his skin. The quiver and bow hanging from his shoulder weighed him down. In one quick motion, he pulled them off and tossed them aside. He dropped his head-wrap on the ground, too.

  He couldn’t let this happen. He’d kill Rafé before letting him take her from him. Damn the consequences.

  But then, the sounds of twigs snapping not too far off caught his ear. His head snapped in the direction. The shadowy figure of a man trudged through the woods the opposite way. Kael glanced around the tree again to find Cara standing behind the crooked hut alone. The person walking away must have been Rafé. Kael could catch up with him in seconds, hav
e him on the ground with his sword at his throat before his next breath. Then, he’d never think about touching Cara again. Kael would make sure of it.

  He looked back to the thin line of trees separating the village from the Bilha Forest, spotting Cara again. She stood with her arms wrapped around her middle, and her shoulders slumped forward. Cara deserved a lot more than she’d been given. She needed a man to help her and her family. There wasn’t much Rafé could do for her. And Kael didn’t trust him. Rafé wouldn’t value her. Not like Kael would.

  Why hadn’t he taken the chance and kissed her in his bedroom? He had come so close then. That was his chance to claim her, and instead, his hesitation pushed her away, right into another man’s arms.

  His feet started moving in Cara’s direction. His anger still wanted him to follow Rafé, but his steps continued forward. The closer he got to her, the more the fire blazed inside. He wanted answers, an explanation—something from her to make the pain ease.

  He marched out of the forest.

  “Kael?” Cara’s innocent and questioning stare found him, and a blush darkened her cheeks. It only infuriated him more. “Kael, what’s this about? Why are you here?”

  She reached out, and her fingers brushed against the shreds of fabric around his wrist. Her tone peaked in worry. “And why are your clothes torn? Were you attacked?”

  He stared down at her. Head whirling and thoughts jumbled, his words came out in clipped gasps. “He kissed you.” His chest was painfully tight. “You let him kiss you.”

  “How did you—”

  “Do you love him?” Kael blurted out.

  Cara stepped back, startled. “You sh-shouldn’t be asking me that.”

  “Tell me. Do you love him?” he repeated, following her. He feared her answer, but he needed to know. She’d said there was nothing between them. He wanted to believe it, but after seeing them together, he wasn’t sure. If she loved Rafé, truly loved him, then there was nothing he could do. Despite the aching heart, he would have to leave her be. Forever.