Xias froze when he heard a noise near the entrance of the cave. The cold shiver that worked its way up his back warned him that something wasn’t right. Xias pushed the cubs as far back into the small crevice as they would go.
“Ssshhh, babies,”he whispered through that parental bond he had with them. “Not a sound.”
He wasn’t sure they understood him at their young age, but they would feel the tension in the cave. They had learned since they took their first breath what danger felt like, and when to be quiet and still. It wasn’t something a child should ever have to learn, and it saddened Xias that they had.
He quickly moved farther into the middle of the cave, afraid whoever might be coming in would see him standing guard and know where his cubs were. The longer they stayed hidden, the better.
Xias sucked in a shaky breath when a dark figure filled the opening of the cave. He knew he’d made the right decision the instant that figure took shape. Xias was ready to fight for the lives of his cubs. He didn’t care if he died. If he could hold his alpha off long enough for Zhuang to return, the cubs might have a chance.
He swallowed tightly when three enforcers stepped in behind Osamu. The alpha’s enforcers weren’t chosen at random. Most often, they weren’t even chosen from the clan. They were handpicked by the alpha for their cruelty and their ability to follow orders.
“Where’s my son?” Osamu snapped out.
“I would assume he’s back with your clan.” Xias’s cubs weren’t the only ones the alpha had forced someone to give him. There were others.
He knew he was probably going to be hit for his words, but they had just slipped out. Something inside of him had changed, and he no longer considered the cubs as belonging to his alpha.
“Don’t fuck with me, boy!”
Xias could no more have prevented his cringe when the man raised his hand than he could have stopped breathing. He had been hit one too many times. Osamu ruled his clan with an iron fist, meting out punishments he felt others deserved whether they did or not.
He was an evil man.
When Osamu came at him, Xias shifted. He was lucky his transformation was quick. It always had been. Osamu just didn’t know it because, after that first time he had shifted, Xias had been forbidden to shift in front of him.
The dropped jaw and rounded eyes on the man’s face were a wonder to see.
“Shift back,” the man demanded.
Shock rippled through Xias when his alpha’s demand simply rolled over him like water poured from a can. He felt no deep need to obey, no pain when he resisted. Osamu’s words meant nothing to him.
His determination renewed, Xias flattened his ears back and snarled at his former alpha, warning him away. He crouched down, ready to spring up and attack the man if he took a single step closer. He didn’t want to have to fight—mostly because he was pretty sure he’d lose—but he would. He just wasn’t awarrior , even if he now had something to fight for.
“You dare to disobey me?” Osamu sounded astonished. His agitation was clear in the reddening of his face and the clenched fists at his sides. Those in the clan did not disobey him. They usually ended up wishing for death if they even thought about it.
When Osamu took a step toward the place where the cubs were hiding, Xias launched himself at the alpha. He instantly knew that was a mistake when he was caught in midair and thick fingers closed around his throat.
“You think you can defy me?” Osamu snapped as he pulled Xias closer. “You think you have balls big enough to attack me? You will die for your insolence.”
Snow leopard or not, it still hurt when he was tossed across the cave and slammed into the hard rock wall. He whimpered as he hit the floor and lay there, panting heavily. He didn’t think anything was broken, but he was sure he had more than a few bruises.
“Get my cub,” Osamu shouted as he pointed to the corner. “Kill the rest.”
“And the omega?” one of the enforcers asked.
Osamu’s chuckle sent a shiver of dread down Xias’s back. “Give him to the enforcers.”
Xias’s legs shook from fear and pain as he climbed to his feet. He pushed both to the back of his mind and snarled at the enforcer heading for his cubs.
When the enforcer took a step closer, Xias launched himself at the formidable soldier. He knew he would most likely die a painful death, but he’d suffer through it a thousand times before he let anyone take his cubs.
He swiped his claws at the enforcer as he landed on him, driving him into the hard, rocky ground. His satisfaction at the blood he drew was short lived as he was grabbed and tossed away by the enforcer. When he hit the wall this time, he heard a distinctive crack and pain spread throughout his entire chest area. For a moment, breathing was an impossibility.
Until he saw the enforcer start to reach for one of the cubs.
Xias didn’t have enough air in his lungs to roar at the shifter so he attacked him instead, sinking his claws and teeth into the man’s flesh. Blood gushed into his mouth as his fangs sank deep. Warm liquid splashed across his paws.
He heard the man’s loud cry, and was almost surprised by it. He had never attacked anyone in his life. He hoped the fact that he was in his shifter form fighting an enforcer in his human form would give him an edge.
