The Bear Monstrum looked at him long and hard.
“A feral male does not always know what he will do until it is too late.”
Brux bared his teeth before he could stop himself.
“I was never fully feral. I could still think–—though dimly–when she found me.”
“Perhaps you weren’t fully feral,” the Fox Monstrum said mildly, folding his hands in his lap. “But the distinction between fully feral and partially feral may be difficult for a dead female to appreciate after you lose control and kill her.”
That shut Brux up. Because there it was again—that cold, sharp truth he had no answer for. His time with Kiera might have ended differently if she hadn’t been able to pull him back from the void.
Kiera might have died.
Commander Rarev lifted one hand and the murmuring ceased.
“Let us hear more of how you spent your time after Kiera ‘adopted’ you. How long were you locked in your primal for?”
“Well–” Brux began.
Suddenly a thunderous feminine voice interrupted them.
“Silence! There is no time for this trial!”
It seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere at once. The living walls shivered and the glowing flowers in the wall sconces flared brighter. The very roots under Brux’s feet seemed to vibrate with power.
A divine presence filled the courtroom, and Brux knew who it was at once—not with his mind but with something deeper…older and more instinctive inside him.
His heart leapt into his throat, and he dropped to his knees instinctively, as did every other being in the courtroom. Even Commander Rarev bowed his great, leonine head.
The whole chamber smelled suddenly of spring rain and wildflowers and the charged metallic tang of a coming storm.
“Goddess?” Rarev asks, looking around.
“Yes, it is I—the Mother of All Life,” the Goddess responded. “I understand that you are trying to safeguard a female's life—for which I commend you. However, you must let this warrior go at once—the female I have set aside for him is in mortal peril and only he can save her.”
Brux was on his feet in a heartbeat, his hackles rising.
“Kiera’s in danger? Where? What happened?” he demanded.
Around him the chamber erupted in shocked whispers, but he barely heard them.
Kiera–only Kiera mattered.
“The one who attacked her before has taken her,” the Goddess told him. “Go back to where you came from—her scent will lead you to her. Go swiftly, warrior—you have no time to lose.”
Then her presence faded as abruptly as it had come.
The flowers dimmed back to their normal glow, the roots underfoot stilled, and the scent of storm and blossoms vanished, leaving only the ordinary warm smell of living wood and the shocked Monstrum who were still looking warily around.
For half a heartbeat, everyone in the chamber seemed frozen…then the whole room was in an uproar.
“What did she mean by ‘set aside for him’?” the Fox Monstrum demanded, half—rising from his chair.
“Did Higgs take her?” Iyanna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth.
The Tiger Council member was already barking orders to one of the armored warriors at the back of the room.
Commander Rarev rose to his feet, mane bristling, eyes blazing. He seemed about to speak but Brux couldn’t wait to hear what it was the Monstrum leader had to say.
