The white lions of the Blackreaches.
She’d heard they were a sort of mountain lion, but rather than sporting tawny fur, they were ghostly white and able to blend into the frosty landscape. They plagued the shepherds and farmers of the foothills on both sides of the mountain range, easily killing sheep and the dogs that guarded them. But what put the fear into the hearts of Harendellians and Amaridians alike was that they were man-eaters.
And very good at catching their prey.
Patting Dippy’s neck to steady him, Ahnna extracted an arrow from her quiver. Ithicana had wild cats, but they weren’t big enough to see humans as prey—Vitex, Aren’s cat, mostly fed on snakes and rodents. But remembering how Vitex hunted had Ahnna watching the tree branches often as she scoured her surroundings, knowing full well that she was unlikely to see the attack coming.
As the sun fell low, only a thin sliver of orange between two peaks, Ahnna dismounted and lit the lantern hanging from her saddle. Exhausted as both she and her horse were, she needed to put more distance between her and James before setting up camp for the night.
The moon was rising to join the myriad stars in the sky. It was a slender crescent, barely piercing the shadows around her, leaving the lantern’s glow as her only source of light. The wind was a constant, chilling howl, rattling her bones as much as it shook the trees. Each step felt like a risk, as if she were the only prey in a wilderness full of predators.
Ahnna’s hand tightened on Dippy’s reins as she led him onward. His hooves made sharp clacks against the loose stones, his ears flicking back and forth in a constant state of vigilance. She couldn’t blamehim. Every shadow seemed like a lurking beast, every sound a warning.
She glanced over her shoulder again, half expecting to see yellow eyes staring back from some hidden crevice in the rock. Her hands were growing numb, and though she wanted to shove them deep in her pockets, Ahnna was unwilling to let go of her grip on her bow.
The path narrowed again, forcing her closer to the edge, where a sheer drop fell away into nothing but blackness. She took a deep breath and focused on her footing, feeling the sting of cold air in her lungs. Dippy shuddered beside her, and Ahnna murmured softly to him, “Steady, boy,” the words meant as much to calm herself as the horse.
A stone skittered down the slope above, and Ahnna froze, heart pounding. She held her breath, eyes scanning the darkness for the crouched shape of a white cat ready to pounce. The silence returned, oppressive and vast, pressing down on her shoulders like the weight of the mountain itself.
On and on they walked, and Ahnna did not stop until well after midnight when her eyes picked out the signs of a rough campsite set up in a clearing with a slope to one side that would hide the glow of a fire. Loosely picketing Dippy so that he could break free if he needed to, Ahnna gathered deadfall and set to building three fires around the perimeter of her camp. She ate the rest of her squirrel meat from a prior meal while water from a nearby stream warmed in a tiny cup next to one of the fires.
Dippy grazed the scrubby grass, and Ahnna measured out some of the grain she had in one of her saddlebags, knowing that he’d need it more when they got higher in the mountains. Already, the streams had ice along their edges, and the wind blowing in from the north smelled of snow.
Building up the fires so they’d burn for at least an hour, Ahnna wrapped up in her blanket and lay on the ground. It was rocky and uncomfortable, but with the relative sanctuary of flame and the weight of exhaustion heavy upon her, sleep came.
But so did the dreams.
Gravel and debris dug into her back, but Ahnna barely felt it as she tangled her fingers in James’s hair, every part of her consumed by the sensation of his mouth between her legs. “I want you in me,” she begged. “Please, James.”
The sun gleamed off the hard muscles of his shoulders as he lifted his face, amber eyes dark with lust. He was so beautiful, so harshly masculine, that part of her wanted to hold him in position so her mind might freeze the vision of him forever, but her body ached with the need for more. The need for him to fill her, body and soul.
“You want this?” His voice was low, nearly a growl, and every muscle in Ahnna’s body tightened, her thighs slick as she reached for him. “Yes. I want this.”
He kissed her lips, and she tasted the salt of her own body on his tongue as he took hold of his cock and pressed the thick tip against her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him deep into her body. “Ahnna,” he groaned into her mouth. “You feel so good.”
He pulled back and thrust again, deeper this time. She arched her back, needing to take as much of him as possible, climax rising in her body.
“Harder,” she gasped, desperate to have all of him. Every part of him, most especially his heart. “Make me yours.”
“You have always been mine.” He slammed into her, fingers locked with hers. “You will always be mine.”
Her climax began to crest, and Ahnna opened her lips to cry out his name.
Only to taste blood.
Hot sticky blood splashed, filling her mouth, and she choked, trying to scream. James stared down at her, throat sliced open from ear to ear, and through the bloody opening, his voice whispered, “I loved you.”
“James,” she screamed, trying to stop the blood, but a cruel laugh filled her ears. As he collapsed onto her, Ahnna saw Alexandrastanding in the darkness, a knife in one hand. “Such a disappointment,” the queen of Harendell chuckled. “Such a failure. But don’t worry, Ahnna. At least I have the stomach for murder.”
The dream shattered with a sharp, panicked whinny. Ahnna’s eyes snapped open, her heart pounding as she tried to orient herself in the pitch-black night. Her fires were nothing more than glowing embers.
How long had she been asleep?
Dippy was snorting, his large shadow frozen in place, his terror palpable.
Ahnna had only a moment to snatch up her bow and nock an arrow before she heard a low, terrible growl that sent a chill straight through her. She leapt to her feet just as a white shape sprang from the shadows, all coiled muscle and glinting claws.
Ahnna threw herself sideways, barely rolling out of reach before the lion’s claws raked across the spot where she’d been lying. Her hands fumbled to nock the arrow again, her fingers slick with sweat despite the cold, her breath fast and shallow as she aimed, body shaking as she drew the bowstring taut.
