Chapter 8

“Is something wrong?” I glanced over at Gage, who’d been quiet ever since we’d left my tower. We’d been speed-walking for a while through the woods and crossed paths with only deer and rabbits. With Gage’s senses, he’d pick up on a cougar or other predator stalking up behind us, so I wasn’t worried about being ambushed. Still, shadows danced beneath his eyes, and he offered me a weak smile.

My head swam with worry that after everything I’d told him, he now figured I was a basket case, that I posed too much risk, and I was the farthest thing from normal. Was he reconsidering helping me or worse being with me?

I finally broke the silence. “Look. You don’t have to do this with me. You’re under no obligation—”

“It’s not that,” he said, his voice deep.

“Then what is it?” My voice wavered because for so long I’d pushed Gage away, scared he’d get harmed.

He didn’t respond at first, and I waited, giving him time. Getting a man to speak openly was as hard as digging a ten-foot hole in the ground with my bare hands. I wrapped my arms around myself to keep from shaking him and demanding answers. Instead, I busied myself with surveying the land.

Around us, the oaks swathed with moss grew sparser, and in the distance, an open field spread out. Lions ruled this territory and everyone else living here had to follow their law. Many shifters steered clear of the area to avoid dealing with their egos. Lions saw themselves as kings of the animal kingdom. Yet I recalled Reed in my tower, his dread and fury. Learning that someone hunted down his kind had killed me. It was one thing for a group of shifters to live by their own rules, but getting exterminated was monstrous.

Trepidation crept into my chest. What if Reed wasn’t with his pride and they confirmed my worst fears that he’d never returned home? Guilt chiseled at my brain. I couldn’t undo the past, only try to make amends. I had to believe he was still alive. Or would his pride blame me and make us pay?

Then don’t tell them the truth.

I ignored my inner voice, who clearly didn’t feel remorse, while I recalled how Reed had pressed up against me, and my insatiable reaction to our proximity. Despite my concoction of emotions, I was excited to embrace him and tell him I was sorry for not telling him about the gargoyle right away. Something tightened in my gut. Please let him be alive.

“I’ve let you down.” Gage’s whispered words floated on the wind.

At first, I wasn’t sure what he was talking about until I recalled my question about why he was behaving strangely. “You’re being silly.”

We emerged from the forest and stepped into the open plain spanning outward as far as the eye could see. Trees continued on either side of us in a U-shape. Mountain peaks in the distance blotted the starry sky, towering over the land like giants. Enormous oaks with wide branches riddled the landscape, their greenery gleaming beneath the moonlight’s silvery glow.

“If I could take my dragon form,” he continued, “I’d offer you a tooth to use for a dagger.”

Shock rattled through me, and I halted, taking Gage’s hand. “You’re doing more than I could have asked for by not judging me, and for helping me find a solution.”

His hooded gaze darkened. He turned away, marching deeper into the field ahead of me.

It never occurred to me once how this might have impacted him, or his inability to shift. His inability to fully shift had always been a dark mote with him. I rushed after him and took his hand in mine. What I ought to have done was find a book on dragons and determine how to help Gage. “What about returning to the family who found you in the woods?” I suggested. “We can ask them more questions about what else they found with you. Maybe someone who lived there saw—”

He froze, and I bumped into him.

“Shh. Hear that?”

I glanced around and listened, but all I heard was my pounding heart. “What is it?” I whispered.

“Foliage breaking. Someone’s stalking us. We’re being watched.” He sniffed the air, and I scanned the surrounding woodland covered in the moon’s glimmer. Branches swayed in the breeze, grating together, and my skin pinpricked. I suddenly hated being out in the open and vulnerable.

“Surely, they won’t hurt us,” I insisted, my muscles tense, unsure if I was convincing myself more than Gage. “We’re not here with the intention to attack.” Three animals emerged from the woods to my right. If we ran, how far would we get? When they strode into the moonlight, I gasped at the powerful lions closing in. None had manes…Must be females. Powerful paws hit the ground, their breaths steaming in the darkness.

How long have they been following you?

I clenched my fists. Gage stepped in front of me, blocking me from their presence. But two more animals came forward from the forest on our left.

“We’re trespassing in their territory,” Gage said. “Who are we here to see again?”

“Reed. He’s the pride leader, and—”

He snapped around to face me, his frown worrying me. “You didn’t tell me he was the leader. They won’t take us to him.” His voice climbed.

“Why the hell not? Once Reed sees me, we’ll be fine.” I bit down on my lower lip, and my heart throbbed fast. I should have told Gage everything upfront, but I’d assumed we’d walk in and find Reed in no time.

“Lions take no one to their alpha. They protect him with their lives.”

His anger surprised me. I didn’t know he had a beef with lions. “Stop worrying. We’ll be fine.” Then why was I trembling?

The deadly animals were within striking range now, surrounding us. Two had short manes—juvenile males. One roared, his head lifted into the air, making short grunts. Hot air wafted on the wind from his mouth.

I flinched against Gage, who pulled me close and wrapped an arm around me. But this wasn’t about being scared. If I intended to find a dragon-tooth dagger, well, I had to get over my fear.

“We’re here to speak to your leader,” Gage said in a deep voice.

Hadn’t he just said that no one gets to see their leader? Or was he trying his luck?

One lioness swiped her clawed paw at the air, snarling in a way that sounded nothing like, sure, right this way. The others froze on the spot, hunched low as if waiting for the command to tear us to shreds.

My breaths raced, but I reluctantly stepped forward. “I met with Reed, and he told me about his kidnapped sister and how your pride is being hunted down.”

I prayed my honesty and insight would change their mind. But if Reed hadn’t returned to his pride after the encounter with the gargoyle, I might have opened us up to an attack.

Nobody moved and even the lioness taking charge tilted her head sideways, staring at me as if trying to make sense of my words.

“We don’t mean Reed or anyone harm,” I added.

The lead female roared and approached Gage, sniffing him. She headbutted him in the leg, sending Gage into a stumble.

The other lions closed in.

My pulsed spiked, and I stiffened. Was this a warning, demanding we leave?

Two of the animals turned and wandered across the field, glancing back at us. One yawned, as if she was bored by our presence. The female nudged Gage’s leg again, pushing him in the same direction.

“Think they want us to follow them,” I said. Together, we marched across the field to the woods on our left. Lions flanked either side of us and a few fell behind, grumbling. I fought the urge to scream and run, telling myself once I found Reed, we’d be fine.

You keep telling yourself that, but wishes don’t make truth.

We entered the woods, trampling foliage and stepping over shrubs. The animals stayed close on our heels.

“Where do you think they’re taking us?” Gage asked.

“Their home?”

Before long, we emerged from the woods into an area with scattered foliage, an open meadow, a gurgling river cutting the land in half, and gigantic trees with figures underneath them. More lions. Glowing eyes stared our way. Any chance of escape was now gone. They’d tear us apart before we ran fifty feet.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, counting at least thirty coming our way. Goddess, how big was this pride? Two beasts with shaggy, brown manes approached and their noses creased as they strutted closer. Nope, they weren’t happy.

“Okay, which one is your friend?” Gage asked. “Can you call out to him before they make a meal of us?”

“Reed?” I called out. My voice shook, and I loathed sounding weak, but it wasn’t every day I stood amid a pride of animals capable of scratching my heart out of my chest without warning. There was a reason people stayed away from this land—most lions attacked first.

“Why aren’t they responding?” I brushed against Gage’s arm as we followed the lioness to a seven-foot wooden pole sticking out of the ground. My thoughts swung to being tied up while they took turns taking bites out of us. My muscles froze in place but flooded with the tingling pressure of needing to run. Fleeing was the dumbest course of action, but my brain turned to mush trying to make sense of how to escape with my head intact.

“Fuck,” Gage whispered, and I trembled, my gaze swinging left and right.

I shook my head and refocused on the shithole we’d walked into. Now I regretted my decision. We should have planned it better.

“What about them?” Gage lifted his chin to more males coming our way. “Any of them the leader?”

“Who knows. They all look the same.”

One animal licked his paw, the razor-sharp claws extended. Probably cleaning them for dinner. Dread dug deep into my chest. We were trapped and no screaming in the world would save us.

My breaths raced.

A male lion grazed right past me, striding elegantly past as if he walked on clouds. His tail flicked me across the ass, and I flinched, twisting around, meeting his large and dark-rimmed eyes. “Reed?”

Another animal glided past, brushing against me, and my skin pinched. When I glanced back, the male had vanished. A female nudged Gage in the thigh, shoving him aside, and I chased after him, but two creatures blocked my path.

“They’re separating us!” I cried out, and my teeth chattered. We’d marched in here like fools offering ourselves as their meal.

They’ll hunt you both down. Grab your knife and stab them.

Yeah, smart move. Draw my weapon against a pride of lions. It wasn’t as if I could kill them all. Maybe the ones who attacked me if I was lucky. “Listen, I don’t want to hurt anyone. If Reed’s not here, we’ll leave.”

Gage staggered as several females drove him farther away, his reaction blackened by the night. My heartbeat slammed against my ribcage. A chill washed down my spine as I turned around, scanning the area. But there was no way out.

Three animals circled me, each taking turns to whack me with a tail or claw my pants, drawing blood. I cried out as another headbutted me in the leg. Over and over, I stumbled about, treated like a freaking plaything. Were they tenderizing me? And despite the fear clinging to my insides, a fiery rage erupted in my chest. I hadn’t come this far to turn into someone’s dinner. I curled my hands, and pure adrenaline surged through my veins.

“Enough,” I called out. “I’m not your enemy.”

But none listened, and they broke into a sprint around me, faster, dust thrown into the air, blurring my vision, clogging my throat. Bits of dirt and tiny rocks whipped around my legs. Roars erupted from every direction, loud and piercing. All I could picture in my mind was one of them ripping out my jugular with those sharp teeth.

I trembled and reached for my blade.

Everything fell deadly silent. The dust cloud blinded my vision, and I gasped for air. Icy daggers surged right through me because I’d brought Gage into this danger and now, he’d lose his life because of me.