12
Raja
I recognized it instantly. The shaggy, coarse fur and jutting tusks - it was the massive boar shifter that attacked me the night I left the village for the first time.
Instinct took over. In one swift moment, I shifted into my agile panther form and leapt out of its path. Beside me, Lorenzo did the same. Normally, I would have been awe-struck at his dragon form, but now was not the time.
As the boar missed its charge, it turned around to face us again and snorted. Lorenzo let out a fierce snarl as he returned to my side.
“Who are you and what do you want?” Lorenzo exclaimed, his voice deep and draconic.
He must have realized already that the boar wasn’t just some dumb animal. But the boar didn’t reply. Its eyes flickered from Lorenzo to me, and it took a few steps back.
“You didn’t have a dragon with you last time,” the boar grunted. I was surprised to hear its voice in this form, but I assumed it had something to do with Lorenzo’s magic.
“No, but I do now,” I snapped, my voice laced with my panther’s growl. “So you better fuck off and leave us alone!”
A sharp squeal tore the air. Another thundering crash sounded from the other side of the thicket. I sucked in a breath. My cat reflexes saved me as a second boar charged. I leapt up, fast and high enough to barely avoid getting gored by the boar’s tusks. My claws extended by instinct and scraped the tips of the pig’s fur. When it passed, I landed on the sand with a great gasp.
But it didn’t stop charging. This time, it attacked Lorenzo with an angry squeal. These werenotregular boars - they were tall enough that their tusks reached Lorenzo’s stomach when he stood on his hind legs.
“Lorenzo, watch out!” I cried.
The dragon whipped around and grabbed the boar by the tusks, stopping the pig in its tracks. The commotion kicked up a cloud of sand. While they struggled for control, I noticed that the second boar had something tied tightly to its leg.
“You better let go before I spill your guts open!” the second boar squealed, its voice deep and rough.
“I’ll let go when you tell me your identity and what you want with us,” Lorenzo snapped. He squeezed the tusks tighter, threatening to break them.
The boar grunted. “Why don’t you ask that omega? He has a pretty good memory, I’m sure!”
“Yeah, I do,” I snapped. “You’re those poachers that tried to kidnap me!”
Lorenzo’s eyes widened. “They didwhat?”
The first boar took advantage of Lorenzo’s shock to charge his other side.
“Lorenzo, move!” I called.
But the dragon was faster than any of us. He threw the second boar off and leapt into the air, flapping his wings and hovering above them. The pigs scrambled not to collide. Lorenzo darted over to me and picked me up in his arms, staying safely above the attackers.
When the boars came to their senses, Lorenzo said, “Now that you’ve lost your prize, you can explain who you are and why you’re after Raja.”
But the boar shifters didn’t look deterred. In fact, they didn’t seem nervous at all, which sent chills over my skin.
“We know what you did, black panther,” the first boar announced. “And we’re not afraid to tell your entire clan.”
“What?” I said.
The second boar added, “We have evidence to expose you to your entire village. After this, you’ll be known as Raja the slut.”
The word shocked me like a bolt of lightning. I snarled, “What the hell are you talking about?”
In front of our eyes, one of the boar shifters transformed into a human. I gasped. I recognized the man - he was one of the bystanders present when Lorenzo and I saved the human girl from drowning. With a jolt of panic, I remembered that he was the man who asked if anyone saw an animal in the water.
While horror dawned on me, the man reached into the pack tied to his ankle and pulled out a small electronic device. “See this? I’ve been using it to record your conversations during the entire honeymoon.” He paused. “Or should I say, yourfakehoneymoon?”
The air was sucked out of my lungs.
