Page 37 of Urban Gladiator

What woman in their right mind lusted after a man who planned to kill her? A crazy one. We were talking should be committed, insane.

The path curved to the right. I smiled when I spotted the bubbling stream. It was too small to be a river. The crystal clear waters spilled into an enormous lake that reached the mountains on the opposite side of the meadow.

Sitting on a flat boulder near the lake, I snapped my fingers and had a handy goblet that I filled with water. And I rested, soaking up the sunlight while munching on a hunk of bread and drinking the clear, refreshing water that eased my parched throat.

I’d need to find shelter tonight. And maybe then I would look and see where Rowan was at. A part of me didn’t want to know. But it would be better if I did. I needed to know if he’d picked up my trail or if the stint as Ansel’s prisoner had hidden me well enough that he’d lost my scent and was still searching.

Because I knew the man well enough to know he wouldn’t give up so easily. He was too proud. And he believed with every fiber of his being that I was his mate.

I sighed, knowing I needed to keep moving but wishing I could take some time to rest.

A massive hand the size of a tree trunk gripped my shoulder. I yelped at the strength in it. Glancing over my shoulder, I gaped at the mammoth being behind me. I should have been more aware of my surroundings. How had such a large man come up behind me so quietly?

I tried jerking my shoulder from his grasp, but it was like trying to move a boulder. I was no match for his physical strength.

“Female. Mine now.” The male voice was so deep it sounded like a sarcophagus being opened.

“No,” I screamed, gripping his hand and trying with all my might to make him release me. I had to tilt my head back. He was the most massive being I’d ever encountered. He had to be at least nine feet tall, if not larger than that. All his features were enormous and proportionate. Although his motor skills were lacking.

“Come. Female.”

I shook my head. “No. Unhand me.”

“Bad female.” He yanked me up and held me in his arms. He squeezed my body, cutting off my air supply. Even if I wanted to cast, I didn’t have any breath to utter the words. I tried snapping my fingers, thinking if I could douse him with water, the shock would make him loosen his grip enough to release me, but they weren’t working properly.

Spots formed in my vision. I struggled to breathe. This had to be, without a doubt, the worst luck anyone had ever had trying to escape. I slumped against him as darkness fell before my eyes, and it was lights out.

14

Simon and I raced after Ember’s trail. We lost her scent in the early evening and searched through the night. We’d find it—and her. I knew we would. She couldn’t have simply disappeared. Unless something or someone had gotten her.

But as night bled into day and we’d still not located her scent again, I worried. There were many things in the forest that could end her existence before I reached her. Was it any wonder my father went mad after losing my mother? They’d been mated fully, and they had centuries together.

If I was this bad after a handful of days, I could only imagine how bad it would be after centuries.

We stopped at midday to rest and refuel, but after some discussion, we headed back toward the spot where her scent simply ended.

“So, are we going to talk about the fact that Ember is your fucking mate?” Simon asked, running alongside me.

“Nope.” I didn’t want to discuss it with anyone.

“Oh, come on. Have you already claimed her? Does your father know? He’ll have a fucking seizure on the throne.”

“I’m not going to discuss Ember with you other than locating her scent again and finding her.”

“Well, you can’t kill her. She’s your mate.”

No shit. Tell me something I didn’t know. “Do you think I don’t fucking know that? Do you think I haven’t thought about the potential pitfalls should I claim her? Because you’re right, my father would have a damn heart attack. And don’t even get me started on the outcry from the rest of Avalon. I’d lose the support of the military. And then the fucking orcs, who have been frothing at the mouth to take over and rule Avalon, would have their opening to instigate a coup.”

“So, you’re not going to claim your mate? Are you insane?”

“No. It’s too big of a risk.”

Simon halted. We were near where we lost her scent. It burned me that it had taken the better part of the day. But I stopped and glared. “What?”

“You know what happens to shifters when they don’t claim their mate.”

Yep. We went psychotic and had to be put down before we destroyed anything and everything in our paths. “I’ve heard the rumors.”

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