The Alpha's Concubine (Historical Shifter Romance) (28 page)

Before long the dust had cleared enough for them to see clearly, but the rest of the hunting band had already disappeared beyond the summit of the ridge above them. They were so close, barely a few moments away from scaling the final rock face, when Fern stumbled and fell, her wolf's legs going out from beneath her with a whimper of pain. Netya waited for her friend to get back up, but she seemed unable, whining under her breath as she panted and pawed at the ground weakly.

Netya tumbled off Fern's back and knelt beside her, scanning the wolf's body for a moment before noticing that one of her hind paws was swollen and bleeding.

"Oh, why did you let me ride you!" Netya exclaimed, stroking Fern's neck with a shaking hand as Caspian turned back and reverted from his animal shape.

"She must have hurt it when she jumped down," he said, feeling the tender area gently, much to Fern's vocal discomfort. "I think it's sprained, badly. She'll need help walking."

"I'll help her, the others can't be far."

"She needs carrying, and you don't have the strength," Caspian said. "Hold on to that spear and take a look behind us. Fern, leave your wolf behind."

As Fern changed shape Netya glanced back the way they had come. Three mountain cats were scaling the slope below them, one of which was only a few dozen yards away. Caspian hefted Fern into his arms and broke into a run, and Netya wasted no time in hurrying after him. She could hear the breathless growls of the beast gaining on them, but the summit of the ridge was just ahead. Only a short climb up one last sheer rock face stood between them and the rest of the pack.

She almost realised too late that the cat would be upon them before they were even half way up the final climb. Caspian pushed Fern ahead of him, supporting her with one arm as she struggled to drag herself up without the use of her leg. Netya turned at the last second, her hair whipping about her as the cat roared and made to pounce. There was no time for her to be afraid. She remembered what Caspian had taught her, and her body shifted to brace her feet and raise the point of her spear.

The cat froze at the last second, stopping just short of throwing itself straight on to the piece of sharpened flint hovering just a short distance from its muzzle. Netya didn't blink, hearing only the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears as she kept her eyes fixed on the animal, matching its movements with the tip of her spear. Remembering again how Fern had slipped past the same spear when Layon held it, she backed off as quickly as she could.

The cat snarled at her, prowling from side to side as it advanced. The weapon gripped in Netya's hands was the only thing standing between her and a swift death. Where were the other cats now? Had Fern and Caspian climbed to safety?

She could hear other animals fighting somewhere nearby, both wolves and cats, and realised that she was not the only one facing down a vicious opponent. The cat sidestepped suddenly, and Netya cried out as she jerked her spear to try and intercept it, sending the animal scuttling backward with a yowl of pain as sharp flint nicked its muzzle.

"Vaya, help her!" Caspian called out, and in a moment of panic Netya snapped her head around to look behind her. Vaya's wolf had a wounded cat cornered up against the rocks, and the huntress looked poised to go in for the kill. She glanced back when Caspian called, taking in Netya's predicament, then snarled and turned straight back to her prey.

Netya did not even have time to be shocked at the other woman's dismissal of her plight. Taking her eyes off the cat in front of her had been a mistake, and it seized the opportunity to lunge past her spear, claws unsheathed and teeth bared. She span away at the last moment, the shaft of her spear striking the creature's skull as she toppled off balance and fell to her knees.

"VAYA!" Caspian barked again, the command so loud and so chilling that even the cat bearing down on Netya froze for a moment. It gave her the chance to find her footing again, but as soon as she raised her spear and began to back off a lump of rock struck her heels, and she tripped again. The cat lunged. She jabbed her spear at it one-handed, and the tip caught in the flesh at the nape of the animal's neck. But it was a weak thrust, and the blade pulled loose as quickly as it had bitten in, only slowing down the cat for a fraction of an instant.

Vaya's wolf butted into Netya's attacker from the side, the force of the impact sending the cat rolling away from her in a screeching tangle of fur and claws. The huntress growled at her, and Netya wasted no time in clambering to her feet and hurrying back to where Caspian was shoving Fern up over the ledge above them. Once she was safe he climbed half way back down, taking Netya's spear from her and tossing it up before offering her his hand. With his added strength she reached the ledge in seconds, imagining the jaws of the mountain cat snapping at her heels at any moment.

But Vaya's intervention had sent the last of the predators running. When Netya swung herself over the top of the ridge and looked down the huntress almost seemed as if she was about to give chase, howling at the wounded cat she had cornered as it limped away with the rest of its brethren.

Only then did Netya let herself start thinking again, and her whole body began to shake as she realised how close she had come to death.

Caspian put a hand on the back of her neck and made her look at him. "Fern would not have made it up the ridge without you keeping that cat at bay."

"Or without you to help me," Fern said to him, embracing both of them as she buried her face in Netya's shoulder.

The rest of the hunters arrived a moment later, helping them up and calling for one of the seers to attend to Fern. Though Netya had not been injured, she found it difficult to walk without the aid of her spear propping her up. She was still wide-eyed and trembling. Her body felt like it was still trapped in the fight, heart racing and muscles tense, her senses so sharp she jumped every time someone brushed past her.

When Vaya clambered back up the ridge with the help of the others Netya opened her mouth to thank the huntress, but before she could say anything the other woman silenced her with a vicious scowl, growling something under her breath as she shoved past the hunters who had helped her up and disappeared among the pack.

Netya caught Caspian watching Vaya with a grim look of his own before she disappeared. The pair of them shared a look, and a shiver went down Netya's spine as a moment of understanding passed between her and the male. Even though Vaya had come to her aid in the end, for an instant she had been willing to let Netya die. If not for Caspian's command, almost that of an alpha himself, the huntress would have left her to her fate.

—
22—

Revenge

Several people had been wounded in the ill-fated hunt, but much to everyone's relief the entire party was eventually accounted for once the last few stragglers found their way back. The chasers had run straight into the mountain cats before anyone else as they ran up the sides of the ravine, and in the ensuing chaos the group that had been sent ahead with Vaya turned back to help, thankfully arriving in time to save the stranded chasers and drive most of their attackers off. Nobody seemed to know whether it was the cats or the early arrival of the forward group that had turned the drove of horses around. In the panic that followed, nobody had managed to make a single kill.

The plan had failed, but despite the morose mood among the pack as they retreated down the opposite side of the ridge, Hawk reassured the others that the great hunt was far from over. When they began tracking the horses again it became apparent that they had not split and scattered, and there was a good chance of chasing them back down the following day. They were incredibly fortunate that no one had been killed in the ravine, and Hawk chose to take it as a sign that, despite everything, the spirits were still with them on this year's hunt.

Netya was shaken for several hours after her fight with the mountain cat, but once dusk fell and the group stopped to rest she began feeling a little better. There seemed to be two tales of her encounter circulating among the hunting party, and she could guess where the less flattering one had come from. Some of the group believed she had made a brave stand to protect Fern while Caspian helped her to safety, while the rest seemed to think that she had gotten herself almost killed by a mountain cat, forcing Vaya to come to her aid and abandon her own kill in the process.

It was hardly the first time Netya had been the subject of divided opinion, and after everything that had happened to her she cared little for the latest gossip. She stayed by Fern's side at their small fire, eating from her bowl of nut meal and dried meat as she slowly began to feel a little more like herself once again. She touched the talisman of beads braided into her hair, silently thanking the spirits for watching over her that morning.

"Hawk is sending me home tomorrow," Fern said glumly. "Brae said my foot will not be better for at least another day or two, especially not if I plan on hunting. At least you still have a chance, though."

"You still think I might make a kill tomorrow?" Netya replied.

"Caspian said he will let you ride on his back. After today, bringing down a horse should be no trouble for the pair of you!"

That finally coaxed a smile out of Netya, and she edged closer to her friend beneath the cloak spread across their laps. "I suppose horses do not seem very threatening compared to mountain cats, that's true."

Fern sighed, squeezing Netya's hand. "You really must make a kill for us now. For me and Erech both. It seems I will be spending another year as a chaser again."

"Do you really want to join Vaya and the other high hunters so much?"

Fern shrugged. "It would be something. Until I find a mate, I have little status."

Netya gave her a playful nudge, hoping to cheer her friend up. "But Fern values love over status, does she not? And from everything she has taught me, I think I do as well."

"I suppose you are right," Fern smiled, but there was still a hint of sadness in her eyes. "I only wish love could be found by killing a horse or two."

"You have my love," Netya said, making her mind up. "And I will prove it by making that kill for you and Erech tomorrow. I promise."

Fern put her arm around Netya and kissed her, before resting her head on her shoulder. "I am sure you will. An alpha's consort and a hunter. I told you your hair meant there was a great destiny waiting for you."

Fern went to sleep early, but Netya still found herself restless from the day's excitement, and once she had wrapped the cloak around her friend and left her curled up by the fire she decided to go for a short walk and relieve herself.

She picked her way through the circles of slumbering wolves and people alike, listening vaguely to the low murmur of conversation from those who were still awake. Some of the hunters were discussing their plans for the next day, while others continued to recount their heroics in the fight with the mountain cats.

The tongue of the Moon People had become so familiar to her that she already found herself thinking in their words from time to time. It had been months since she heard a person, even herself, speak with the same cadence of voice that her own people used. But the thought warmed rather than saddened her. She had begun to look, behave, and even sound like the people she now lived with. In a few months it would be a whole year since she left the village. Had her existence back there really been so unhappy that she did not miss it?

No, she reflected. She missed Layon, her mother, and her sisters every day, but she would not trade away her life with the Moon People just yet. She would see her family again, but their reunion could wait. She needed time to become the woman who had always hidden within her old self, and that side of her could only flourish out here in the wilderness, where she was free.

The pack had made camp a few hours to the east of the ravine, where the craggy terrain was more overgrown and difficult to navigate. A line of trees separated them from another steep drop down into a lush valley, and it was in that direction which Netya headed once she had made her way out of the camp. She carried her spear with her, reassured by the presence of the weapon. It had saved her life that day, and proved to her that she was not some helpless girl unable to defend herself. She may not have had the body of a wolf to call on in times of need, but with her spear at her side, the night time wilderness no longer seemed so threatening.

It made her realise why her mother had kept the weapon hung over their hearth for so many years after her father died. It was more than just a tool or an ornament, it was a window through which a warrior could find their inner strength and bravery. Without it, she was prey to the mountain cats, but with it, she was their equal. Her father's spear had let him stand toe to toe with the warriors of the Moon People, and it had symbolised that inner bravery for years when it hung in her mother's house.

Netya reached the trees and looked out over the valley below, crouching down to empty her bladder as she tried to make out the features of the land before her. There was little moonlight that evening, and the dim canopy rippled like murky water as the wind dragged through it.

She did not realise that anyone had followed her until she stood back up, and froze at the sight of Vaya and three others blocking her path back to the camp. Trying to hide her shock, she inclined her head politely and made to step past, behaving as if the hunters had only come out for an innocent stroll of their own. But as soon as she made to walk by, Vaya caught her by the shoulder and pushed her back.