Page 32 of The First Trial
‘Thanks, Juniper,’ a Warlock I didn’t recognise spoke up. Relief dropped everyone’s shoulders as they had one less thingto worry about, and while it was nice to feel useful, this whole thing was beginning to feel like a group project with slacking partners.
Shrugging those thoughts away, because the job still needed to be done even if I was the only one making any effort, I stared at the dark, narrow opening. Navigating was only one part of the challenge. Facing the unknown threats that lay ahead was what would either kill us or not, but we would need to stick together for any chance of survival. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, so I cast aside any negative feelings towards my own people.
Succeed and survive or fail and perish.
It didn’t matter if no one had stepped forward before. I wasn’t about to leave them to die.
Qarinah took the place on my other side and grasped my hand in hers. The action created a sense of solidarity I’d been searching for when I’d first approached the Fae. I beamed at her then tugged her to the hole, ignoring the way my people panted after her like she was water in a desert. I could tell she was holding back on whatever magic that ensnared horny idiots, but I hoped they would be able to control themselves. We’d wasted too much time as it was, and we needed to get moving.
I knew in my bones that whatever predator called this place home would catch up eventually, but I wanted to make sure we had a head start before the inevitable encounter. Hopefully, it would give us enough time to make a plan or two while we had the chance.
Chapter 11
Rakshasa
Istared after the little slip of a woman, my jaw hanging so low it was practically scraping the ground. At first glance, I’d thought she was a child, her happy smile and bouncy personality leading me to believe she was just an ignorant, naïve little thing that would get us killed if we tried to protect her. Strength was paramount in Shifter politics.
Calling it politics was probably taking things a bit too far. We didn’t have councils or governing bodies. We had the strongest protecting the weak, or Nature killing off the weak to keep us strong. There was no place for a weak little girl. She wouldn’t have survived into adulthood.
And then I’d gotten a closer look. She was no child. Her stature may have been small, but those curves, hidden beneath layers of cloth in a strange style that covered her from her neck to her toes, were undoubtedly womanly. Her breasts were what caught my attention first. I couldn’t see much of them, but they were round, perky, and an obvious protrusion that marked her as of breeding age.
That was why her personality grated so much. She was so pathetic, following around those Fae idiots like they were going to be friends or something. When she’d stormed off in a huff, I’d even followed her to see what she was up to next. It really was good to have a laugh. But then those Angel bastards caught on to what she was doing and found a tunnel, flying through it and leaving her behind. She’d taken one look at them and run.
I’d thought she wasn’t going to last long here at all, that I’d never seen something so blatantly pitiful in my life.
Oh, how wrong I’d been.
I could still feel the burn of her vines from where they’d rubbed my skin raw, the pricky sensation of my body healing bruises and a few cracked bones. She wasn’t weak at all, and she’d defeatedme.
That changed everything.
Small she may have been, but she was also fierce and capable. No female had ever succeeded in knocking me off my feet, let alone almost crushing the life from my lungs. Her strength clearly didn’t lie in the physical, but magical fortitude was just as appealing. She was strong enough to take me on, and I had yet to find a female so worthy of me.
Whether she realised what she’d done or not, I was now hers. Hers to mate. Hers to breed. Hers to do with as she pleased. My cocks stirred just at the thought, and my soul screamed ‘finally!’,but my brain was telling me to be cautious.
I couldn’t tell if she knew we were following her, but we stuck to the shadows regardless. I shifted into my second form, my serpentine body stealthier than my feet, and slithered after her newly acquired followers. The rest of my clade took a moment to decide if they were going to join me, but ultimately trailed along. I was their Prime, and I had just found the woman who would rule by my side. Many would challenge the tiny Human, and I was looking forward to it. I wanted to see what else she could do, if she was truly Prime Mate material or if I’d just lost my position for allowing an unworthy female to best me.
The shame would be… indescribable.
We stayed at a distance to avoid spooking them, keeping a close eye on their movements.
‘Chief, what are we doing?’Arcturus, a strong polar bear within my ranks, asked through the clave’s mental connection. I would have considered him a friend, but he was currently getting on my nerves with those knowing looks he kept sending my way.
‘Following her.’
‘Yes, but why?’
‘Because I already underestimated her once. I will not make the same mistake again,’I hissed.
He backed down, tilting his chin to his chest in submission when my eyes flashed at him in warning. My forked tongue poked out to taste his fear, and while I could still taste it in the air, it was more muted than it should have been. He may have been practically family, but I wouldn’t hesitate to put him in his place, and he knew it. Thanks to her little stunt, the puny Human had diminished my authority already, and I couldn’t have that.
I hissed, seething at this unforeseen turn of events. I should have been prepared for anything, and I certainly shouldn’t have been bested by a slip of a woman I’d mistaken for a child.
Shame filled me from nose to tail as I slithered after her, my rage growing into a silent and deadly beast as I watched her continue to charm the Daemons and Humans alike. A single flip of that long, luscious green hair, a flutter of those long eyelashes, and they were a goner.
Pathetic.
A surge of power rolled through the rock beneath me, and I could immediately sense her at its core. It was warm. Cheerful.Teasing.
