Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

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*****

RETH

He was positioned at the top of the rock wall, hidden by the undergrowth, watching the birds position themselves in the trees above the crevasse. But it was taking too long.

Anima birds were far bigger than any Silent Ones. Even with their gift of flight, they had to be careful to stay out of sight because the wolves would recognize them immediately.

Add to that as they grew closer, more and more wolves were revealed, guarding Elia, or the crevasse, than could be easily seen from above.

Reth just thanked the creator that the wind was in their favor. For now.

When Lucine appeared Reth almost roared and ruined the entire plan. He almost dropped in to help her, but Behryn, next to him using hand motions to direct the fighters, put one hand to his forearm and turned, taking precious seconds away from his role, to stare Reth into submission.

They were far too close to the wolves to be able to speak now. But Reth knew what the warning in his friend's eyes meant.

With a slow breath, he nodded, and Behryn immediately went back to directing the guards.

Then Lucine struck his mate, and Reth felt it in his bones, as if a piece of her was within him. He gritted his teeth and fisted his hands—not breathing until Elia moved and shook her head so he could know that she was at least still conscious. But then Lucine dragged her to her feet and Elia wavered.

Reth's hands twitched.

Behryn looped his arm above his head, the signal for the birds to drop in and the equine to set their lines. They would drop down the sides of the crevasse once the diversion had occurred. But they were all hobbled until then. They couldn't afford for the vast numbers of wolves the main encampment to turn their attention to this little corner.

Reth was already trembling when Lucine's threat hit his ears.

"Tearing out the throat is too good for this one. Too fast. Know this, my Queen: You will die slowly—and I will personally deposit your twisted corpse outside your mate's cave—then I will take him for my own."

Reth shuddered with a mix of rage and revulsion that turned the blood in his veins rancid.

Behryn looked at him, but he didn't move. He couldn't. If he did, he was going to leap into the gap and tear out Lucine's throat himself. And that was not his role today.

He knew—he knew—Elia's very best chance of surviving this was for him to play the role he'd been given. Behryn's strategy was perfect, and helped by Lucine's sudden decision to push the wolves out to make a circle around them.

"Thank you, Creator," Reth breathed when he saw the males stepping back.

But his heart went cold when he saw Lucine stand over Elia and realized the fight was about to occur, and their diversion still hadn't happened.

He looked at Behryn who shook his head. He didn't know why.

A tiny huff crept up Reth's throat, but he couldn't do it. He had to be silent. He had to stay here until the males were under control. He had to—

Lucine pulled a knife and Reth stopped breathing, his heart thudding painfully when she only used it to break Elia's bonds. That would save them precious seconds.

Precious seconds they weren't going to have if this diversion didn't occur soon.

"Where are they?" he mouthed to Behryn, who just glared in response. Reth wanted to bury his face in his hands, but he couldn't take his eyes off his beautiful mate, her face already beginning to swell from the blow.

And then his heart sang as she did what he'd trained her to do. She didn't leave room for her opponent to think. She didn't wait to see if the first attack was enough. She hit Lucine with a one-two slam that sent the taller woman reeling

And set the males snarling and leaping forward, towards Elia.

In a blink, they were four paces away, then two. Reth stood straight and scrambled through the underbrush to leap off the side and fight for her—just as the roar finally sounded from the other side of the encampment and everyone froze.

Behryn tackled him to the ground, rolling with him, just inches from the edge of the rocks. Neither of them cried out, though Reth's shoulder took a serious blow from the rock, and he was pretty certain Behryn was going to be limping on that knee.

Below them, the wolves had stopped, listening. There was a chance they'd recognize that it wasn't his roar, but the male guard they'd sent to do the job was massive. Fewer Anima were familiar with his Beast form. He prayed it was enough.

Lucine was already on her feet and screaming rage. Bleeding from the nose, she used both hands, clasped, like a hammer to take Elia out at the temple. Elia got her hands up to block the worst of the blow, but the sheer force still toppled her like a felled tree.

Lerrin was barking orders and the males were spreading out—a few scampering into the encampment itself to be part of the guard against Reth's impending arrival, the others bracing closer, while Lucine snarled at them to stay back.

"She is mine!" the woman rasped, her voice still damaged from the blow he'd given her on the stage. "Do not touch her!"

Elia lay on the ground, unmoving. A groan rose in Reth's throat, but Behryn shoved an elbow into his ribs and whisper-screamed, "WAIT!"

The roar of their ally rose again, tainted with rage, on the other side of the encampment. They could hear the bodies throughout the camp moving in that direction, though those in the crevasse were disciplined enough to wait for orders.

While Lucine paced in front of Elia's downed form in the dirt, Lerrin moved to position himself at the opening of the Crevasse along with a line of wolves, all of them holding weapons.

"A Queen? You call this a Queen?" she screamed. Reth's fingertips dug into the rock, breaking his nails as he forced himself to wait. "And your King comes for you even now? Even when you are so badly beaten? Well, he will find only teeth and claws meeting him here. And even if he does, by the Creator's own luck, reach you and your human stink, there will be nothing left for him to save."

And then she struck.