Galen rolls his eyes. “She’ll find out eventually.”
“Find out what?” I ask.
Before I can pester the information out of them, my guys grow still and silent as they scan the forest around us. Awareness prickles along my skin, and I press my lips together as fear whispers down my spine.
“There are at least three foxrets advancin’ on our right who have come to investigate,”Raith says, his voice lower as he uses his shadow whisper power to speak to the rest of us.
“Four more are coming from different locations on our left,”Knox adds.“They’re all moving quickly.”
Raith’s brows lower as he scrutinizes the trees like he can see something I can’t. All humor is gone from his face, and all that’s left is the hard, shadow warrior.
“What’s wrong?”I say, not sure why all the guys seem so tense.“This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
I don’t miss the uneasy look the guys give each other, and it doesn’t exactly help my nerves.
“Why would there be so many?”Thane growls.
My mates all stare at me like I’m the one responsible.
“Times must be even more desperate than we thought,”Galen answers.“They’re drawn to her scent like bears searching for honey.”
Yeah, it’s at that point that I back up a little. Before I can make it too far, Raith grabs me.“Relax, sunshine. We can handle the foxrets. And we’ll head out the moment we’ve captured enough to keep the queen satisfied.”
“Remember what we discussed. You stay with her,”Thane orders Raith, drawing his sword. Shadows dance along the blade, moonlight revealing the bear’s head that decorates the pommel, complete with glittering blue gems for eyes.“We’ll circle around them from behind. Call us if you have any trouble. We should get this done quickly.”
I fidget with my hands.“So now that the foxrets are on their way, do you even need me?”
“If you leave or cloak yourself, the foxrets will assume you’ve been mated and claimed,”Raith answers.“They would quickly abandon their hunt for you to pursue another unmated female, and it would be harder to capture them. But don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me.”
I give him a small smile, but as much as I want to believe him, an unsettling feeling still stirs in my gut.
Knox disappears into the forest without a single word, and Thane and Galen give me reassuring looks before they disappear into the trees as well, my mates quickly swallowed by the darkness. Raith stays beside me and curls of fog drift around our feet.
The mating calls and barks of the foxrets sound throughout the forest as the moon rises higher, and I stay still, listening to the noises. After the others have been gone for a little while, I talk to fill the silence.“So, what exactly will the foxrets be used for during the games? I mean, you’ve told me what they can do, but I still don’t know what the queen’s plans are.”
Instead of answering me, Raith draws his blade, and he steps in front of me protectively as he stares into the forest.“How?”he breathes, his chest rumbling.
That’s all it takes for me to go from feeling uneasy to downright terrified.Crap. “What’s going on?”I whisper.
He cocks his head, eyeing the dark shadows between the line of trees behind us.
A chorus of barking and screaming starts up, and it’s so loud my ears sting. I stagger back a step as multiple figures emerge from between the trees, like they’re melting out of the darkness.
The creatures have half-human and half-animal forms, and they look as though they’re at least six-feet tall. Coarse orange fur covers their naked human-like bodies that ripple with muscle, and they stalk toward us on two legs, with giant paws instead of human feet. Their long bushy tails rise into the air behind them, and while majority of their body is more human in shape, their heads are more animal-like with strange, elongated snouts, furry, black-tipped ears, and wicked fangs dripping with saliva.
Their chests are bare revealing a long expanse of hardened abs, and I snort when I can’t help but let my gaze lower. Mating season for these guys is no joke, and let’s just say the vixens must beveryhappy to be claimed considering what these guys have to offer down there. Unless, you know, they’re not.
“I can’t get through,”Raith rasps under his breath, and it takes me a moment to realize he means that he can’t contact the others.
“This isn’t right,”he comments like he’s talking more to himself than to me.“The foxrets usually don’t organize in groups like this. Especially not during the mating moon. This isn’t natural.”
I don’t fully grasp what he’s getting at, other than the fact that things aren’t going to plan.
The foxrets stop just beyond the trees, and the largest creature in the group lifts his snout to the air, breathing in deeply before he lets out a howl that makes me shiver.
“There must be at least a dozen of them,”I whisper, knowing that it’s not a good sign.
Raith turns to me, and I’ve never seen him so serious. It’s freaking me the hell out.“I’ll take care of the foxrets until the others arrive, but if one of them manages to claw me before I gut it, you need to get yourself into that cage, sunshine.”
