His laugh is callous as he rolls his shoulders back. “You can’t just make medisappear. I’ve already cemented myself as a fixture of stability with the nobles. I’ve got the support of nearly the entire panel of advisors—nearly the entirekingdom! While you havenothingandno one.”
“Now, that’s not entirely true.”
Her voice makes my stomach clench as I look to the side door that leads to the gardens. Leaning against the doorframe, looking amusingly bored as she examines her nails on one hand and idly swings her spear from side to side in the other, is Bahira. I want to strangle her for still being here. I want to claim her mouth for the same. Burning fucking hell, I just wanther.
Looking up, her eyes snare mine, and for a brief moment, I think she might want the same. But then she shifts her gaze to Tua. “Surprise.”
Tua growls again as Bahira steps away from the door and allows it to close loudly behind her.
“I have a bone to pick with you,” she taunts, the leaf-shaped tip of her spear pointing in his direction. “Or, if I’m lucky, perhaps I’ll get to carve out a few from your cold, dead body.”
“Killing you will be easier than breathing,” he hisses. I let a rumbling sound of warning slip out, and Tua’s taunting smile grows more so. “And I’m going to make him watch as I do it.” His shift happens quickly, a flash of blinding green light glows, and then he’s two steps closer to Bahira. Her reaction time is slower than usual, reminding me that she still hasn’t healed from her injuries. Wounds thatheallowed her to get.
In a flash of golden light, I shift into my preferred animal—a wolf—and leap to intercept him, landing in a crouch as we snarl at each other. In his lion form, his head is as large as Bahira’s torso. His paws are tipped in blade-sharp claws, and his elongated canines glint in the sunlight. In another burst of golden light, I shift again, this time becoming a lion to match Tua’s.
His eyes narrow as he snarls at me, letting out a massive roar and making my hackles rise as we leap towards each other. It’s easy work, dodging his incoming strike and then pouncing on his body, my own razor-sharp teeth sinking into his neck as I pin him to the ground. My predatory instincts drive my motions as I clamp my jaw more tightly, Tua jerking and trying to scrabble for purchase to get away from me.
I’m so focused on him that I’ve forgotten about the other two guards, and it isn’t until Bahira shouts out in pain that I realize my mistake. She is trapped between them, her hold on her spear too limp to be effective. Her injuries haven’t had enough time to heal, and that truth washes over the both of us at the same time. Her eyes widen as she blocks a punch from one of the guards, the other moving behind her too quickly.
There isn’t a moment to think rationally, not as rage narrows my vision. Keeping Tua alive had been my goal, but it is no longer my priority.She is. Only her.I bite down harder, letting my canines travel farther into his jugular, before jerking sharply, twisting until there is a snapping sound that rings out into the air. I release his limp body and bolt towards Bahira, tackling one of the guards from behind. He lets out a wail, but my claws dig deeply into his back before I fling him across the room and into the wall.
“Stay there,” the other guard shouts, his arm tight around Bahira’s neck as he drags her backward—her spear left discarded on the floor. I growl as I lower into a crouch, my eyes pinned on hers. She doesn’t look panicked, not even as she fails to get out of his hold. “Shift back, or I’ll kill her.” He brandishes a small dagger, the metal glinting as the tip digs into her skin.
“You’re going to regret that, asshole,” Bahira wheezes, her neck straining as her nails dig into his forearms.
I shift back to my mortal form, coming up to stand as I stalk closer to him. “She’s right. I might have made your death quick before, but you’ll suffer now for touching her.” His shaking hand nicks her skin, adding a wound to the many she’s accrued here under my watch.I will not allow another.With the guard’s gaze fully on me, he isn’t able to stop the blow to his ribs from Bahira’s elbow. He yelps as he leans to the side, his knife no longer indenting her skin.
I charge towards them as she spins, sending a knee up into his gut. He hunches over, and the knife flies from his hands before mine are there, squeezing on either side of his head. My vision grows hazy as the aggression of my animal rises like a sickly wave. Every other sound in the room fizzles away until there is only his desperate wailing as I slowly,methodically, crush his skull. The bone begins to shift beneath my hands as he frantically claws at my wrists. I can’t stop—I don’twant to—not when I know that he would have killed Bahira.She is mine. She is mine. She is mine. His skull gives out, my hands moving closer together as true silence blankets the throne room. I drop his corpse and watch as blood and brain matter shoot out in all directions from the impact.
Feeling the weight of her gaze, I take my time turning to Bahira, forcing each inhale through my nose to last longer than the one before it. The fog of my magic is nearly gone from my vision when I face her fully. I don’t expect fear, Bahira’s a female not possessing a fragile constitution, but I do wonder if she’ll be repulsed by what I’ve done. When my eyes meet hers, however, I’m reminded again of just how wrong I’ve been about her. She watches me with curiosity, her body leaning towards me while I take a step in her direction. Tentatively, I move to cup the side of her face. Right over the small smattering of freckles there, their pattern a constellation I’ve tried to burn into my memory too many times to count. But my hand is covered in gore, so I let it fall back to my side.
“Are you alright?” I ask, grinding my teeth at the blood dripping from the small cut on her neck. She lets loose a slow breath, her gray eyes as beautiful—as deadly—as any tropical storm. I’ve come to realize that I am merely the rock which her powerful waves crash against, both of us slowly carving away at the other’s shields. Who could I be with a female like her at my side? What could I accomplish with the motivation of someone who knows what it’s like to stand tall in the face of adversity? How can I look at her, knowing that her iron will sharpens my own, and call her anything less than extraordinary? Anything other thanmine?
“I’ve been better,” she answers, her hand going to where my gaze is drawn. The tips of her fingers get stained with blood, but she pays it no mind while she studies me. “Areyouokay?”
No. I may never be again—not when I know what it feels like to have you. To thenloseyou.I can’t say that, not as I watch her trace over my face and body with concerned eyes. Not after the things I said at the hot spring. So I settle on repeating, “I’ve been better.”
She snorts, gesturing with her clean hand to my body. “You’re also naked.” The words are breathless, and I nearly groan at the slight shade of pink that stains her cheeks.
One of the doors to the throne room is thrown open, the wood smacking against the wall as Jahlee comes stumbling in. Her hands rest on her knees while her chest heaves with quick breaths before she observes the carnage left in the room. She rights herself, placing her hands on her hips and glares at us. “Damn it, you guys! I wanted to get at leastonerebel!”
“Then you should have gotten here quicker,” Bahira purrs.
“I’m sorry, I was busy gathering ourallies.”
Bahira gives my sister a small smile before she clears her throat, carefully taking a step away from me. “And? How did it go?”
Jahlee eyes the space between Bahira and I suspiciously before tossing her hair over her shoulder and letting out a low whistle. “See for yourself.”
A slow trickle of people enter, males and females, faces I recognize from their work in the palace or in shops and businesses in the surrounding villages. As more and more of my people filter in, their eyes holding none of the contempt I’ve grown used to seeing in so many others, I struggle to keep my emotions tame. I feel Bahira’s eyes on me and send a glance her way, my brow raised in question.
“You are stillnaked,” she whispers.
“It’s not a big deal to not be clothed here, Princess. We lose them when we shift.”
She mumbles under her breath, something like, “not everyone needs to see your massive dick,” and alters her stance so that she is partially blocking me from the crowd now gathered.
Jahlee snorts, then outright laughs when Bahira threatens her with her spear. “Anyone have some trousers the king can borrow?” Jahlee shouts, the crowd hushing as every pair of eyes lands on me.
