The thought of being tied down—even to a woman—makes me wrinkle my nose in disgust. “Love and lust are two entirely different beasts, Hugh, and besides, you’re missing my point. My private life should remain my own. I fail to see how the whims of the Elders should have any bearing on it.”
Sym exhales an exasperated sigh. “Spoken like a true spoiled brat. You’ve been coddled your entire life, Cara, but one of these days you’ll have to put the good of the tribes ahead of your own interests.”
I draw a dagger from one of the sheaths strapped to my thighs and focus a thread of power into it, igniting the blade. “I’m sick of this ‘good of the tribes’ rhetoric. My gifts supposedly come from Solari Himself, right? Hells, even my birth is hailed as a divine occurrence. If that’s the case, then my …anticsare as divine as the rest of me. I’m a package deal, and if the Elders have a problem with any part of me, they should take it up with Solari.”
Hugh shakes his head. “And where were you off to after your tryst? Dinner isn’t for another hour.”
“I thought I’d head for a bath. I could use one after today’s training. Six shifts in a row—wolf to woman to wolf and back—plus drills! Corvin may not be my ideal mate, but he sure knows how to work our army into a sweat.”
Finally, Sym relaxes enough to laugh. “You certainly smell on the ripe side of a bath. May we escort you?”
“You mean do your jobs?” I tease. “Sure. C’mon.”
The three of us head to the bathhouse together, Hugh and Sym arm-in-arm and me the lone wolf out, walking slightly behind them to give the impression that they’re actually my guards in more than name.
We grew up together, running around the palace grounds, playing and shifting and chasing each other. When Hugh and Sym both excelled in the early trials, the Elders assigned them to guard me round-the-clock. Truth be told, I don’t need much guarding; I’m perfectly capable of protecting myself, should the need arise. I enjoy their company, though, and their relationship allows me to keep my two best friends nearby without worrying about talk of mating me to one of them.
I get so sick of it. Until Corvin rose in the ranks, the Elders were always parading eligible men in front of me in the hopes I’d suddenly change gears and fall for one of them. Now that there’s a standout in their army—and one of their own grandsons no less—the Elders have latched onto Corvin as my supposed match, and they’ve decreed that we are to be married at the next solar eclipse.
The next solar eclipse, it just happens, is a mere six weeks away.
I should be more concerned about that. With time ticking down on this arranged marriage, I should be doing everything I can to stop it. Instead, I flirt with the servants and make out in hallways. Small rebellions, ones that won’t make a bit of difference in the long run. I guess my hope is that Corvin will get sick of my antics and put a stop to the engagement himself.
No such luck so far.
We reach the bathhouse without incident, and an older servant woman draws me a bath, filling the huge, metal claw-foot tub with steaming hot water. Once the bath is drawn, Hugh and Sym excuse themselves to give me some privacy. Not that we haven’t bathed together before in our youth, but my station dictates that they vacate now that we’re grown.
I busy myself with unbuckling the various straps on my training outfit. It’s a pain in the ass to get on and off, but surprisingly comfortable once I’ve got everything situated, allowing for full range of motion when I’m in my human form. My daggers sit strapped to my thighs most of the time, always at the ready in case trouble arises. As the first heir to Solari born in generations, it falls to me to lead one day, and with leadership comes responsibility to protect our citizens. The wolf tribes have ruled for hundreds of years, but that doesn’t stop the nearby panthers from trying to gain footing. I have to be ready for an attack at any moment; it’s exhausting.
Mirrors line the bathhouse walls to one side, and I spare a glance to size myself up. Long legs, toned arms, high cheekbones, round, pert breasts … I can see why some of the servants are taken with me. I wish it made me less appealing to men like Corvin, but that’s a problem for another day. I shrug off my introspection and step into the tub.
Five minutes into my soak, all hell breaks loose.
The elderly servant, one whose name escapes me, steps behind me. Not usually cause for concern, but my ears catch the sound of a blade whispering out of its sheath.
I duck under the sudsy water, hoping the bubbles obscure her view enough to make her miss her target. The water above splashes as she strikes, and I twist and push with my legs, ejecting myself from the tub on the other side.
“Assassin!” I scream at the top of my lungs, knowing Hugh and Sym are right on the other side of the bathhouse door. Solari help them if they’re going at it again.
The servant screeches and raises her wet arm above her head, diving for me. Without my weapons to summon the Blades of the Sun, I instead use a more primitive technique. I call the solar flames gifted to me to ignite directly on the woman’s clothing, setting her aflame as I dodge her slash.
A thundering crash resounds in the room as Hugh barrels through the heavy wooden door. Sym follows close behind, shifted into his wolf form. Threads of foamy spittle fly from his teeth as he snaps his jaws at the woman. Hugh draws his sword, and the two of them maneuver to place themselves between me and my would-be murderer, who has shed her flaming dress and started to shift to a feline form. Inwardly I cringe as her sagging, wrinkled tits flap around with her movements. Even though black fur sprouts on her skin, it does nothing to camouflage the grotesque, misshapen mammary glands as she flails about. If anything, the addition ofmoreteats as she morphs into a panther only adds to my disgust.
This isnotthe last image I want ingrained in my mind.
My clothing and weapons still rest on a chair across the room, well out of reach, so once again I summon flames on the woman, this time lighting her fur on fire. She screams and drops her knife to pat at her head with half-clawed hands, giving Sym the perfect opportunity to strike.
One clamp of his deadly jaws is enough to end the conflict. The snap of her neck echoes in the bath chamber, followed rapidly by the clack of Sym’s teeth connecting as he bites clean through.
As my racing heart slows, I push my wet hair out of my face and heave a sigh of relief.
That’s the third attempt this week. The panthers are getting bold.
“Fuck, Cara, cutting it close there!” Hugh sheaths his blade and rubs the fur on Sym’s neck. “How could you not smell her?”
I narrow my eyes at him and scoff. “Hell,youdidn’t smell panther on her either! Their damned priests have obviously come up with some spell or other that masks their scent. Nobody scented the one three days ago, and he came after me in the middle of the market.”
Bones crunch and the wetsquelchof skin morphing fills the room, until Sym stands naked and covered in the panther woman’s blood. “You know we’ll have to report this to the Elders.”
