Falling in Love with the King of Beasts

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ELIA

She'd had a lovely dinner with Candace, and Gahrye had sat with her for a while too. The entire city was planning to attend what they called a Reading that night—apparently some kind of show where actors read a story in the amphitheater. Elia was eager to see it and share the experience, she'd yet to see entertainment in Anima. But staring at Reth's empty chair—again—for the whole meal had worn her out. The weight of his absence pressed her down. There was still no news about where he was, or why he'd been gone for so long. And the worried burrowed under her skin. She'd barely slept the night before, thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong, and stroking the furs where he last lay. She'd even given in and curled up on his sleeping platform, just to be close to his smell.

An irony, when she knew that, to him, the entire cave smelled like her. But if she buried her face in his furs, she could smell that pine and rain, mixed with that uniquely male tang that was only him.

A wave of tiredness hit her as she stood from the table, and she made her excuses to her two friends. "I'm really sorry, but I'm just wiped out. Next time?"

Gahrye shrugged and waved as he walked out. Candaced paused, though. "Are you okay?"

Elia shrugged. "I just… I hate not knowing what's going on."

Candace looked sympathetic. "I know if there was something serious, we would have had news. It could be simply that the animal tried to get around him and keep coming. He wouldn't leave until he was sure the city was safe. Try not to worry."

Elia nodded and forced a smile. "Thank you. I'll try. I think I just need to sleep tonight."

"Yes, you'll need to be well rested for when he comes back. Assuming his balls haven't dropped off from lack of use," she said with a grin.

Elia blushed, but forced herself to laugh. "I'll make sure and check when he gets home."

Candace gave her an approving nod. "We'll make an Anima out of you yet, Elia. Sleep well."

"Thank you, I will."

As she left the market, she was walking against the flow as everyone else moved toward the center of the Tree city. Apparently the readings were popular, even the stall holders were packing up early. For a moment she stopped. Should she go, too? But no, her limbs felt heavy and her eyes grainy. She needed sleep.

There would be another reading. And maybe she and Reth could enjoy it together.

With a heavy sigh she started down the path out of the city and towards the cave.

It wasn't until she was two minutes in that she realized there was no other sounds around her. No other people. No footsteps. No voices calling—not even the twitter of birds, or scrabble of wildlife.

She stopped for a moment and looked around. It wasn't until then that she realized the forest had a rhythm. A constant hum of activity, either from the city's citizens, or from the natural world.

She wanted to stand there and enjoy the silence and solitude for a moment, but something itched between her shoulder blades. Why were the creatures silent?

She looked around, peering between the trees, but she couldn't see or hear a thing. Not even a breath of wind in the leaves.

She was about to start walking again when there was the faint snap of a twig off to her left. Elia gasped and looked into the growing darkness.

She was alone. Utterly alone.

And that's when she realized, that had never happened before. Usually when she left the city, the guards appeared—at least one or two—to shadow her on the path, or follow her through the trees.

Where were they?

The little hairs on the back of her neck stood up and Elia whipped around to see a shadow behind her shift behind a tree. "Who's there?" she called out, trying to make her voice strong. But there was no answer.

There was a very quiet thud, just on the edge of hearing behind her, and she whipped around again. At first she thought there was no-one there again, then suddenly, eyes glowed in the darkness—the same way she'd seen Reth's eyes glow in the black of the cave at night.

"Who are you?" she demanded, crouching down to pick up a stone from the side of the path. "What do you want?"

A tiny huff of air—like a disapproving snort—sounded off to her right and she turned again, lifting the rock. But there was nothing.

"Elia…" a voice whispered behind her and she whirled around, throwing the rock, but it snapped a twig and bounced harmlessly off the trunk of a tree.

She would have sworn she heard a snigger of laughter, but she couldn't see or hear anything else.

She broke and ran down the path towards the cave, pushing herself, sprinting, forcing her legs to keep going even when they began to burn and her throat ached with the heaving of her breath. She was out of shape. An embarrassment in this world. And she cursed herself for it.

Behind her, far in the distance, a roar of a crowd sounded, as if hundreds of people had raised their voices all at once. The stories must be exciting.

Was she going to die out here, in the dark, by herself, while everyone else celebrated?

Not if she had any choice in the matter.

But she couldn't deny that no matter how had she pushed, she couldn't shake the feeling of those eyes watching her, of a laughing audience keeping pace with her, effortlessly.

*****

RETH

Her scent was everywhere, but it didn't take long for him to find the most recent trail—and the predatory scents mixed with it.

He tracked the wolves as they tracked her—braiding themselves, crossing trails, clearly taunting her so each could appear and disappear on different sides as she wove down the trail to the cave.

His mate. His mate was being hunted.

His heart raced.

He found the spot where she'd stopped and scented the spike of her fear.

With a swallowed snarl, he leaped between the trees, darting through them to reach the clearing before the cave ahead of her.