The Sabertooth's Mate (Ice Age Alphas Book 2)

by Lily Thomas

  “Good idea.” Daerk nodded his head. “It will surprise Brog and make us look like a smaller group.”

  The men murmured in agreement.

  “You, you, and you go around and take out any men you come across, and the rest of us will meet Brog head on.” Daerk ordered them. “He’ll be expecting us to do that, so we should so he doesn’t suspect we have men surrounding him.”

  Three of the men shifted back into their sabertooth forms, and when Tor glanced over at Ezi he didn’t see her give a single flinch. Another spark of hope fluttered through his chest. This was a good sign.

  The sabertooths melted away into the forest as they rushed to do their leader’s bidding.

  “May the gods bless us and provide us the strength to do what needs to be done,” Daerk said before shifting into his enormous sabertooth form. Then he launched himself forward and disappeared from sight.

  Everyone else shifted and followed close on their leader’s tail. Tor felt excitement flow through them. They were finally going to end this reign of terror. Tor’s paws eagerly tore up the ground underneath him. His claws dug into the soil, allowing him to gain traction as he raced forward.

  Ezi was beside him. He did his best not to allow her to distract him, but her long neck was outstretched as she sprinted beside him, and she was glorious. Shaking his head, he focused on the battle that was ahead of them. He would do anything and everything necessary to save Flosa. All that mattered was his mate’s happiness.

  Brog’s scent grew stronger until the air was filled with the sour scent of sweat and blood. He sniffed the air, making sure the blood wasn’t Flosa’s, and it wasn’t.

  Relief swept through him.

  When they broke out of the forest, all of them came to a grinding halt as their eyes landed on a group of men before them. Tor waited for Daerk to make the first move, not even his short tail twitched.

  After a tense second, Daerk shifted into his human form so he could communicate to Brog who stood a mere few feet in front of them. Tor and the rest stayed in their sabertooth forms until Daerk gave them a signal. In his human form, their leader would be nearly defenseless. He was naked and without a single weapon. They were his weapon.

  “Taken my spot as leader I see.” Brog tossed them all a smile that would kill if it could spit venom. Then Brog’s brown eyes flickered over to Tor’s side, where Ezi stood in her pronghorn form. “A pronghorn?” Brog spit as his mouth curled in disgust at the sight of her.

  Tor’s muscles tensed, and he suppressed a growl of displeasure. Brog might not like pronghorns, but this was Tor’s mate he was sneering at, and it caused Tor’s hackles to rise in irritation.

  “We’ve accepted two pronghorns into our clan after you destroyed their clan,” Daerk informed their past leader, sounding proud.

  Brog sneered. “You’re weak.”

  All the men around Brog nodded their heads. No wonder they were following Brog and fine with taking a baby. They held exactly the same views.

  “Where’s Flosa?” Daerk demanded.

  Brog stood there in silence, and Tor knew he was trying to get the upper hand. He was drawing out the tension, to see who would break first.

  Tor could feel the tension vibrating off of Ezi’s pronghorn form as she waited impatiently. She wanted to know her child was safe, and so did he. The moment Flosa’s dead body was produced, he would pounce, and no one would stand in his way. Tor would rip out Brog’s throat.

  After several tense moments passed, Brog raised a hand, and Tor’s hind legs bunched, ready for an unpleasant surprise. Brog snapped a couple of his fingers together. A man in the back stepped forward, a small bundle in his arms. Tor’s ears pricked forward as his eyes locked onto that small bundle. Then the man flipped off one of the sides of the fur and revealed Flosa. Her small eyes looked around at the world around her with wonder and innocence. She had no idea how dire the situation was around her.

  “Why did you take her?” Daerk asked.

  Brog snorted as he glanced around at his men who chuckled with their leader. The sounds were false and brought a frown to Tor’s face. He must be ruling over his men with force, yet again. The man would never change.

  “You stole my clan from me, and I’ve been forced to live out here.” Brog swept his arm around the forest. “Now, I want to see you endure the same pain I had to when I was forced out.”

  If Brog asked for Daerk to back down… they would be in a tough position. Tor wasn’t sure what they would do. They couldn’t let Brog back into the clan. The man would take out anyone who hadn’t been loyal to him.

  “What do you want?” Daerk growled, his patience growing thin.

  Brog’s mouth dropped before he snapped it shut. Clearly, he hadn’t expected Daerk to cut straight to the matter at hand. “I want Tor.” His hand rose, and Tor found their ex-leader pointing straight at him.

  Now it was his turn for his mouth to drop. Him? What had he done, other than support Daerk? Glancing over to Daerk, he realized what Brog was up to by asking for him. Daerk’s eyes were filled with turmoil as he thought about Brog’s demand.

  Tor shifted into his human form and went to stand beside his leader. “There is no reason to think on it, Daerk. If Brog wants me, then he can have me.” Tor faced Brog without a single sign of fear.

  “He will kill you,” Daerk whispered out the side of his mouth, “after days of torture.”

  Tor knew this, but they couldn’t sacrifice a baby to Brog. “We have no choice,” Tor whispered back.

  “I know.” Daerk met his eyes and a message passed between them. Once they had Flosa, they could attack, but first, they needed the child.

  A small hand pressed up against his back, and Tor turned to find Ezi looking up at him. “I don’t want you to be harmed…” She trailed off as she turned to look over at her child being held by a strange sabertooth shifter.

  But she wanted him to save her child. His mate didn’t need to finish her words for him to know what she was going to say.

  Stepping forward, he announced, “You may have me, but you must hand over the child at the same time.”

  A slow smile crept across Brog’s face. “Agreed.” He nodded his head as he waved the man holding Flosa forward.

  Each time the other man stepped forward, so would Tor, until he was face to face with Brog. The man’s stale breath washed over his face, and he barely suppressed a cringe. He couldn’t wait to dig his teeth into Brog’s flesh.

  “We have Flosa!” Daerk called out, and that was the signal Tor had been waiting for.

  Tor shifted in the blink of an eye and lunged, but Brog dodged and slipped away like the serpent he was. Instead, another sabertooth filled his vision, and he could smell that the man wasn’t a clanmate. He charged the male.

  They met with a clash of teeth and claws as each of them tried to get the upper hand. A paw slashed dangerously close to his throat, but it left the other man open to attack. Pushing forward, Tor went for the throat, his mouth wide, and then he closed his long canines down on the man’s throat. Thrashing his head, he ripped the man’s throat out, and he went down in a gurgling mess.

  Tor’s sabertooth purred in happiness at the taste of blood. These men had harmed his mate and stolen her child. Their lives were forfeit.

  A clan mate rushed up beside him and together they targeted another of the sabertooths on Brog’s side. While his clan mate distracted the male, Tor snuck up from behind and then leaped on top of the man’s back, his claws digging into the man’s back. The sabertooth under him roared in pain and attempted to buck him off, but Tor wasn’t letting go. His clan mate came in for the kill, crushing the man’s throat with a single bite.

  Letting go of the now motionless sabertooth, Tor pulled away, and his eyes searched the writhing mass of sabertooth bodies. He caught sight of Ezi in her human form with Flosa clutched to her chest as she watched the bloody fight in front of her. She was being guarded by a couple of clan mates, which meant he had time to search for Br
og.

  Tor’s eyes scanned over the area again, but he didn’t spot the sabertooth he was searching for. Huffing, his large cat’s body turned as he continued to scan over the area, and then he caught sight of a sabertooth fleeing the area.

  The coward!

  Brog was fleeing while his men stayed and died.

  Tor flung himself forward. His claws dug into the ground as he tore towards the retreating back of Brog.

  A roar behind him had his ears flickering back, and as he turned to see what the commotion was about, he spotted a sabertooth aiming straight for him. His eyes widened as he realized he couldn’t do anything about the incoming attack. Then Rir shot out of nowhere and tackled the sabertooth.

  The air whooshed past Tor’s face as he watched the two sabertooths battle it out with their teeth and claws.

  Shaking off the surprise, Tor whipped around and sprinted after Brog who had disappeared. Thankfully the man’s sickly smell filled the air, leading a trail straight to him.

  Trees and bushes flew past in a blur of green as his nose led him in the direction of Brog. There was no way he would let Brog slip through their fingers. Once this man was laying on the ground dead, their clan wouldn’t have any more reasons to fear his return.

  Grinding to a halt, Tor paused as Brog’s scent ended. Confusion flooded Tor as he looked around, his cat eyes scanning over the forest as he searched for his prey. How had he just disappeared in the middle of a forest?

  The ground rose up and slammed into his face as something heavy landed on his back. Twisting around under the immense weight, Tor found Brog’s sabertooth snarling into his face. Brog’s large canines were dangerously close to his throat, and for a brief second fear froze him, until his sabertooth instinct kicked in.

  Thrashing under the weight of Brog, Tor got a paw up blocking Brog’s strike, which was aimed straight for Tor’s neck. Brog’s mouth locked onto Tor’s arm and got a mouthful of hair.

  Using his own weight, Tor flipped them, breaking free from Brog’s mouth. A trickle of blood tickled its way down his front leg, but he ignored it. Letting out ferocious growls, the two men circled each other.

  If they’d been in human form, they would have been throwing insults at each other, but in their sabertooth forms, they could only growl, slash their claws through the air, and flick their small tails in annoyance.

  After several circles, Brog made the first move. He leaped forward, a claw swiped through the air, and Tor dodged, but not soon enough. Some of his fur was shaved off as he flung his body out of the way, but the skin wasn’t broken.

  Tor twisted back around and swiped his own claw at Brog. Satisfaction flowed through him as his claw hit its mark, and red-hot blood covered his sharp claws. His sabertooth purred with excitement. When he pulled his paw back, Tor launched himself at Brog in another onslaught of sharp claws.

  One of Brog’s paws came up to deflect the attack, and their claws hooked together as they tumbled over each other. Kicking out his hind legs, he attempted to scrape his claws across Brog’s exposed belly, but the man was stubborn and refused to die. Brog twisted onto his side, and Tor only ended up clawing his side.

  Brog roared in pain, before shoving Tor through the air.

  Twisting his body in mid-air, Tor landed on his feet, and they began circling each other again.

  A growl from behind him, had Tor tensing, but he didn’t turn. It would either be a friend or a foe, but he definitely knew he had a foe in front of him, and he didn’t want to give Brog an opening.

  Rir came around the other side, a snarl curling his upper lip as his large sabertooth form circled Brog. Brog’s ears went flat as he moved backward trying his best to keep them both in his sights.

  Then another growl pierced the air and Daerk melted out of the shadows of the forest.

  A smile curved Tor’s sabertooth lips. Together, they were going to bring down Brog once and for all.

  Ezi watched the fighting in front of her with horror. Fur and blood flew through the air, but she had two sabertooths guarding her and Flosa, so she felt decently safe as the fighting continued around her. She managed to keep her eyes on Tor for a few seconds before all the sabertooths blended into one massive pile of predators.

  Her pronghorn form begged her to flee, but her feet felt like large boulders. Her heart skipped a beat when she watched a sabertooth go down. Was it Tor? Her eyes skimmed over the motionless form until it transitioned into its human form.

  Relief washed through her. It wasn’t Tor, and it wasn’t one of her new clanmates.

  A sabertooth broke off from the rest and fled the area. Then another sabertooth followed after, and she immediately knew it was Tor. He was chasing Brog down. Her heart shot into her throat as she feared for his life. She wasn’t sure how skilled a warrior Brog was, and she worried about Tor’s safety.

  Stepping forward, she intended to follow, until one of the sabertooths guarding her stepped into the way. It lightly growled up at her, and she paused, and when she looked back up the two fleeing sabertooths they were gone.

  One of the sabertooths guarding her shifted into his human form. “Get on Lers back.” He ordered her.

  Turning, she eyed the sabertooth beside her. “I don’t”

  “Get on!” The man beside her growled.

  Her pronghorn forced her feet into motion. There was no need to anger a sabertooth shifter. She clambered onto Lers back, positioned Flosa in her arms as she laid down slightly, and then they were off.

  Ezi felt horrible fleeing with her child when the fighting was still going on behind her. All those men in the clan were putting their lives in danger for her, and Tor was one of them. Her heart pattered uncomfortably in her chest.

  The next time she saw Tor, she was going to give him a chance at being her mate. She wasn’t ready to say she was in love, but she definitely hated the idea of seeing his lifeless body. And he was wonderful with Flosa. He was gentle with her, and even without her accepting his matehood he looked out for her by allowing her to use his hut.

  She was going to give him a chance if he came back alive. The thought of him dying had her throat closing up as she choked on her emotions. He’d better live. She wasn’t ready to lose another who was so close to her.

  Epilogue

  Tor braced himself outside his hut. He, Rir, and Daerk had successfully killed Brog, and scattered his men to the four winds. It was nice to have the pressure off their backs. The clan would be able to sleep easier, and they would be able to reduce the number of hunters in the forest around their village.

  A couple of clan mates passed by, and Tor smiled at them until they left and then he faced the entrance to his hut again. Sucking in a breath to calm his nerves, he pushed the fur entrance aside and popped his head inside.

  “Ezi?”

  “Tor?” Ezi glanced up from where she was feeding Flosa.

  “May I come in?” It felt strange asking her permission to enter his own hut, but he’d given her free use of the hut, which meant it was no longer just his.

  “Yes.” She pulled Flosa off her nipple and placed the child in her fur-lined basket.

  Slowly, Tor entered the hut, which looked no different since the last time he’d been in here. He took a seat by the fire and sent her a smile.

  “I’m glad to see you alive.” Ezi’s eyes skimmed over him before landing on the scrapes on his arm. “Do those hurt?”

  Tor shrugged. “They are healing. They itch more than anything,” he reached over and scratched around his wounds, “but Eron has been kind enough to make me a couple of salves. We are lucky we made it out of our fight with Brog with just a few scrapes.”

  “Brog?” Ezi asked as her jade eyes searched his.

  “Dead.”

  Relief washed over her face. “Flosa will be safe from him.”

  “We all will be safe from him.” Tor reached out and grasped one of her hands, and satisfaction pumped through him when she didn’t flinch or pull away from his touch. “I
should never have left Flosa unguarded. We knew he would be back for one or all of us.”

  Ezi shook her head, her loose brown hair swirling around her shoulders in hypnotic waves. “You didn’t know when or if he would come back. It’s not your fault, and Flosa,” she glanced over at the child who was sleeping soundly, “wasn’t harmed. She doesn’t even know something happened.”

  “But it could have gone wrong.” It broke Tor’s heart in half to think that Brog could have killed Flosa so easily, and destroyed his mate in the same strike.

  Ezi leaned in, and before he could react, she placed a gentle kiss to his cheek before pulling away. A light blush stained her cheeks. “Thank you for saving her. And thank you for,” she glanced away, “giving yourself over to Brog.”

  “He wanted me more than he wanted your child.”

  “His plan to get his hands on you seemed poorly planned.”

  Tor nodded his head. “Brog was never good at being a leader. It was one of the reasons our meat hut was so empty last winter.” Tor squeezed her hand, which was still clutched in his.

  “Tor?”

  “Hmm?” He glanced over at her.

  Ezi’s hand tightened around his as she stood and brought him up to his feet as she guided him over to his bed of furs. A place where he used to sleep until he’d given her his hut, so she and Flosa could get out of the women’s communal hut.

  “What are we doing?” He asked cautiously as his heart pattered in his chest. He didn’t want to get too hopeful, but as she laid down on the pile of furs and drew him down on top of her, his heart soared straight into his throat.

  “Ezi?” Tor tried again as she spread her legs, and he settled between them.

  “I want…” she took a moment before raising her eyes and meeting his, “I want your mark.”

  His heart thundered in his ears, and he feared he hadn’t heard her words correctly. “Wh what did you say?” He stuttered a bit.

  A smile curved one corner of her lips as she weaved her hands into his long hair and pulled him down for a passionate kiss. Then she broke away and said, “I want your mark, Tor.”