It was bad enough that the poachers had attacked two months ago and killed off half the pack. There had been no alpha male left after that massacre, no one more capable than her to lead the survivors deeper into tiger territory to escape the humans. Well, normal humans, anyway. Her pack was still human as well, but with how violently everyone else took to werewolves, it was hard to imagine they were in any way related to the scum that hunted them. At best, the normal humans saw them as extensions of the gray wolves that occasionally picked off their livestock for food. If they were just pests, then it was easy to justify hunting them down like animals.
She made quick work of her tent, watching as the others in the pack gathered their things, tore down their makeshift tents, and put out the fires. Their numbers were so few now. It made hunting difficult, even when they shifted. It also made her heart sore, even as they knit together the remainder of the pack, trying to mend the holes that still remained from their losses.
Her eyes narrowed as she picked up the pace of her own packing. She would see them to safety. It would mean crossing tiger territory to one of their old hiding places near the mountains, but the poachers wouldn't follow. At the very least, they'd be distracted by bigger game. She smirked to herself as she pulled one of the straps of her pack taut. Finally, a use for the weretigers that didn't involve eating her pack out of hearth and home.
With an upward glance, she breathed in the cold air. Snow. It would hide their tracks if they got moving. The day was looking up.
Katya looked behind her, checking on every member of the pack before nodding her satisfaction. They'd made excellent time, even with the snow. It seemed fear and adrenaline were on their side, keeping even the younger ones focused on their destination. She'd sent her two scouts ahead to make sure the path to the outcropping in the mountainside was clear.
It was only when they neared the final bend that she heard the grunts and growls of a struggle, and it sent her rigid with fear. She held up her hand, stopping the pack behind her, and a glance around the bend made her bite back a curse. "Tiger," she breathed to the waiting group as she hurried back and handed her pack off. "Mikhail, keep them back. It's alone, but watch for others. If the clan's close behind, you'll have to make a run for it down past the river. Dmitri, you're with me."
She growled softly, moving with as much speed as stealth allowed. The snow had dulled her senses. She should have heard the struggle sooner. Rounding the bend and moving just a fraction down the mountainside, she peeked over a convenient boulder with Dmitri.
The weretiger was female; Katya could tell that much from a distance. Her eyes widened when she watched one of her scouts take a kick directly to the throat. Her pulse skyrocketed at the sight of the weretiger blocking and dodging each of the other scout's attacks, the first man still struggling for breath in a heap of snow and gravel.
A nod to Dmitri, and they sped to the scout's aid. Before they could even reach the fighting pair, the girl tensed and deepened her stance. Katya growled as Dmitri lashed out at the tigress and was thrown off balance, his own momentum used against him. The tigress was still recovering when Katya lunged forward. Her nails barely grazed the dark-haired woman's cheek, blocked by little more than a reflex.
Katya ducked a kick, blocked a strike, and circled as she took a breath. Damn, but the woman was fast. Feline grace or some such nonsense. It just made her fists tighten with anger, and her growl was louder when she rejoined the fight, watching as Dmitri proved too slow to counter with his bulky frame. A well-aimed punch and the large man was down. Katya's pale hair swirled in the wind as her hood fell back, and she blocked and dodged strikes aimed for her torso.
The tigress' dark hair fell into her face as she swirled to block both the scouts' advances. There it was, a gaping hole in the woman's defenses. Katya darted in and grabbed the woman's arm as it reared back for balance. The screech of pain that sounded from the woman nearly made Katya's grip falter, but she held on tightly, taking advantage of whatever pain she had caused. It seemed to disable the woman, who lashed out wildly but without any apparent aim.
"Grab her!" she yelled to the scouts, who swiftly complied, tackling the woman to the snowy gravel, her calves pinned to the ground beneath their knees and her arms held back. The tigress struggled and cried out in panic and pain, but looked up at Katya with wide eyes. There was something off in the pale yellow eyes, a color she had never seen in an unshifted weretiger.
"How many of you are there?" Katya growled, and when the dark-haired woman renewed her struggles, she reached down and squeezed her captive's forearm until her head thrashed back and forth.
"None!" the woman yelped, panting hard, tears slipping from her eyes. "None. Just me. I swear it!" Her limbs trembled, as she struggled again, but more to pull back from the pain than to truly escape, or so it seemed to Katya. "Please..."
Katya released her arm and exhaled slowly. "Just you? A lone weretiger without a clan?" It was out of the ordinary, but not unheard of. The true tigers in the forest were all solitary, so why not this weretiger? It made just enough sense to be plausible
The tigress began trembling again as Katya shifted to crouch in front of her, just out of reach. "I swear it! I was cast out when my sister was killed by poachers." She opened panicked eyes to gaze up at Katya again... except Katya had crouched down.
Katya's heart skipped a beat, and her scowl twitched. Slowly, without making a sound, she raised one hand and waved it back and forth in front of the tigress' face. The girl didn't even flinch, her gaze only moving when Dmitri finally recovered and stumbled forward in the gravel, drawing attention to himself.
Pressure built up in Katya's chest, working its way up toward her throat. She tried to choke it back, to stop her lips from twitching upward, but it was useless. She burst out laughing, startling everyone in the group as she sat back on her heels, cradling her forehead with one hand. Relief was a welcome warmth through her core as her chuckles died down, and she stood, uncaring of the questioning glances cast her way.
"Mitya," she called, using Dmitri's pet-name and clapping him on the shoulder when he stepped close enough. "I hate to break this to you, but you just got the shit kicked out of you by a blind weretiger with a broken arm."
Dmitri's wide eyes soon narrowed on the tigress, and he growled loudly, "We should just kill her. Get it over with."
"Oh, you'd like that," Katya snorted, watching the tigress cringe away from blows she must have been anticipating, knowing she wouldn't be able to block them. Her smile faded just a bit as the smallest wave of sympathy wormed its way through her. "But you're not Alpha here, Dmitri."
Dmitri grumbled, but obediently bowed his head submissively along with the scouts. She let out a long, measured exhale, pulling her hood back up over her head when a gust of wind sent one side of her face tingling. "You, girl. How did you find this shelter if you can't see?"
"The same way I just broke your beta's nose," the woman retorted.
Katya smirked. She would be just as indignant if she were treated like a defenseless creature when she was anything but. "Who struck first?" she demanded, her eyes flashing between the two scouts, who shared a glance and stumbled over their words. "That's what I thought. Release her."
"But, Alpha!" Dmitri protested, but he froze in place, not daring to step forward as Katya's blue eyes bored into him.
"I said release her. She was seeking shelter from the storm, just like us. You attacked; she defended herself." Yes, she might have been oversimplifying there, but it was the sharp reply needed to make her scouts loosen their holds. The tigress didn't lash out at them. Instead, she simply cradled her injured arm to her chest and stayed in one place. "Did whoever taught you to fight also teach you to heal, girl?"
That startling, golden gaze turned to her through black strands of hair. Katya watched the woman's throat work to swallow, and the tigress nodded. "I was taught to tend wounds, yes. My skill isn't perfect."
The last sounded like a bit of a warning
, and Katya caught the clenching of the woman's hand around her wounded arm. If she wasn't able to heal her own broken bones fully, then she wouldn't be able to heal others that much. So much for the myths about weretigers having skills to heal all wounds.
"In exchange for shelter in our hideaway and a hot meal, will you heal the damage you caused my men?" she asked, not bothering to point out that their 'hideaway' was actually quite deep in tiger territory. Let the tigress figure that out on her own or not. Either way, they outnumbered her.
"Alpha! You can't possibly trust this tiger to—"
"I accept!" the tigress yelled over the protests of the werewolves, effectively silencing them. "I swear to do no more harm, provided I am not forced to defend myself. I will heal what I can. If I break my word, your enforcers may kill me."
Katya nodded, and then realized the girl couldn't see it. "Very well. Ivan, Sergei, go fetch the rest of the pack. Dmitri, start a fire, cool off, and then we'll take care of your nose."
The men went about their business—albeit grudgingly in Dmitri's case—and she smiled when she noticed the small twitches and movements of the weretiger's head. The girl was aware of them all, sight be damned. She reached out slowly and touched the hand that curled protectively around the woman's injured arm. A soft, startled sound left the woman's throat, but even though she twitched with surprise, she seemed to sense that Katya meant no harm and loosened her grip. Katya took hold of her wrist and pulled a little, offering to help the woman up to her feet. "What's your name, girl?"
"Yun."
Yun's arm was still motionless in her grip, and that pale gold gaze narrowed at her just a little in what looked like confusion. "I'm Ekaterina, Alpha of this pack," she said, replying to the unspoken question. She made sure her tone held a note of humor as she added, "And if you break your word, I'll kill you myself."
The first hint of a smile twitched at Yun's lips, and she finally gripped back and took Katya's offer of help in order to stand. "If I were to break my word, you would be too dead to seek revenge."
The sharp sweetness with which those words were spoken sent a chill down Katya's spine. "Then I suppose I'm lucky weretigers have too deep a sense of honor to ever break their words."
Yun squeezed Katya's wrist, straightening with pride, her smile softening along with her tone. "Yes, you are."
Even with Yun's assurance that she wouldn't make any trouble, Katya kept an eye on her as the pack settled into the shelter of the cave-like overhang in the mountainside. They had hauled the venison from their last kill when they ran from the poachers, and it was turning out to be the perfect meal after their successful escape. Seasoned with the few herbs they still had from before the first frost, the kill perfumed their shelter. It was a scent that always reminded Katya of victory and celebration for the entire pack.
"This is going to hurt." Yun's voice lilted to her ears just before Dmitri howled in pain, and she looked over to see two of her wolves shove Yun back and pin her to the ground. Perhaps she'd been hasty with that thought about celebration.
Their forms were little more than silhouettes against the flames of the bonfire from where Katya sat. All she could make out now was Dmitri cradling his nose with both hands. She stood from her small fire and crossed the distance with long, swift strides. "Mitya?" she questioned, placing a hand on his shoulder, biting back her rising anger at seeing him in pain.
"Fucking bitch!" Dmitri cursed.
"I warned him," Yun said in her defense, perfectly passive in the grips of the wolves, not making a single move to incite them to violence. Katya had to admit, she was handling the situation with a calm that her jittery pack couldn't seem to conjure. When no one could speak against her argument, Yun continued. "If you let me up, I can ease the pain now that his nose is set."
Katya raised an eyebrow and squeezed Dmitri's shoulder. He looked up at her and growled. "I don't want her touching me."
"She set your nose like she promised. She hasn't made trouble," Katya tried to reason. Dmitri muttered under his breath—something about Yun having made enough trouble by striking him in the first place—but she jabbed his arm just below the shoulder with her knuckles, and that shut him up rather quickly. She nodded to the other werewolves. "Let her finish what she started."
Yun shifted back up to her knees and reached out. Her hand encountered Dmitri's chest first, and she followed the line of his collarbone up his neck to his face. The pawing made Dmitri lean back away from her, and Katya bit back a laugh. "What, Mitya? Does a woman's touch make you so squeamish now?"
It struck the nerve she was aiming for. Dmitri righted his posture and glared up at her, but there was a hint of laughter in his eyes as he grumbled, "I'd rather have you touching me, and for more than a broken nose."
Katya smirked. "I bet you would." If there was any chance that Dmitri could get into her bed, she knew he would take it. Fucking her was the easiest way for him to wrench control of the pack from her. She wasn't about to give him the satisfaction, but at least it distracted him from his anger.
Yun's fingertips passed in front of Dmitri's eyes, and Katya peered at the strange way she positioned her hands on Dmitri's face. Yun's thumbs pressed just beneath the curve of his cheekbones while her index fingers were carefully placed in the middle of his eyebrows. That second part seemed to make Dmitri uneasy, since he swallowed thickly and closed his eyes. Yun's hands curled around the sides of his face, and the ring finger that Katya could see searched along the upper ridge of Dmitri's cheekbone before settling at the top, just shy of his ear.
Every finger seemed deliberately placed, and Katya's brow furrowed as she tilted her head to get a better look at Yun's face in the firelight. The weretiger blinked slowly, her eyes narrowing though her gaze went straight through Dmitri as if he weren't sitting right there in front of her. A deep breath, and Yun closed her eyes, exhaling slowly.
A low groan from Dmitri drew Katya's gaze back to him, and she watched Yun's fingertips make small dents into his skin, pressing firmly into those points across his face. With the way Dmitri grimaced, she thought for a moment that the pain of his broken nose was only getting worse, but Yun's fingertips began to tremble, and then slowly pulled away. They remained just above his skin, hovering there for a couple seconds, and then Yun exhaled swiftly, throwing her hands down and to the side, her fingers splayed wide in the empty air. She flicked her hands once, as if trying to rid them of something sticky, and then sat back, taking another deep breath and letting it out slowly with a small smile.
Katya looked between Yun and Dmitri a few times, only then noticing that the bustle of the pack had quieted. A glance around revealed that she wasn't the only one captivated by whatever Yun had just done; everyone else was staring just as intently at the pair.
Katya cleared her throat. "How does it feel now, Dmitri?"
The muscles in Dmitri's jaw twitched. "If I have a nose at all," he began, his eyes fluttering open to stare at Yun. "I can't feel it. I don't feel a damn thing."
"Then you have no reason to skin me alive," Yun concluded, her full lips curving up into a small, smug smile.
"It appears not," Dmitri admitted, much to Katya's astonishment.
She looked Yun over once and nodded her approval. "In thanks for your care of him, I will share my meal with you at my fire."
Katya could have sworn she heard a soft purr lilt up from Yun as she rose and carefully followed her back across the clearing to Katya's small, private fire. She wasn't sure if it was from pleasure or just gratitude at being taken from the other wolves, but it was a rather comforting sound, much better than growls or hissing at any rate. "Sit," she instructed Yun, who reached down and found a clear spot before settling, her eyes drawn to the light of the fire rather than to Katya.
"You are wondering how I healed him." Yun's voice was soft, resigned, as if she expected some sort of interrogation.
Katya humphed, flopping back down into her seat, which was softened by her folded coat. It hadn't been t
he foremost thought in her mind, actually, but now that Yun had mentioned it... "Is there any way I could learn?"
Yun's eyes flickered over to her. "Not likely."
"Then there isn't much use in me wondering how you did it," Katya chuckled. "Must be some magic only tigers possess."
"More like a skill and energy that must be learned over a long time," Yun corrected, tilting her head thoughtfully. "You wolves are too impatient, too impulsive. If you could sit still long enough to feel, then you might be able to see without seeing, use what you feel, mold it into something useful."
Katya raised an eyebrow at that. "Like molding it into a force that could heal broken bones?"
Yun's hand went to her injured arm, and her lips quirked up into a smile. "After many years of diligent practice, perhaps."
Mikhail shuffled for a couple steps, making a noisy approach, which earned him a grateful smile from Katya. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the thin wooden plate he brought toward them, piled high with prime cuts of seasoned meat. "When you said you'd share with her, I figured that meant you would need a larger portion." Mikhail smiled softly and handed the food over to Katya, remaining crouched by the fire for a few seconds longer than he really needed to in order to take a closer look at Yun.
Katya watched in amusement, unsurprised when Yun was the one to break the silence.
"You stare," Yun pointed out simply, her eyes focused on Mikhail with that quiet intensity that made the werewolves uneasy. "Are you afraid?"
"Impressed, not afraid," Mikhail corrected with a friendly chuff. "Though I would never take you on in a fight. I can't win against Katya, either." He looked between Katya and Yun. "Will she be sharing your meal and your bed?"
Katya felt her cheeks flush, and she growled to hide her embarrassment. "Mischa," she warned. Damn him, he knew her a bit too well. The only reason he got away with that question was because she'd known him for so long. He gave her all the submissive signals required for an apology, but his eyes still sparkled with mirth and affection as he retreated back to the main bonfire.
Daughters of Artemis Page 4
