Gage paced backwards and forwards. Up and down. On and on. It wasn’t very practical, but it did help him to stay calm. Relatively calm considering his heart was racing and that adrenaline pumped. He could scent it on himself.

His left eye was still swollen shut. His skull felt like it might be fractured. The minor abrasions had since healed. The rest would too, and in no time.

Shifters. These fuckers were shifters. The … what was it Edith had called the creature … something mythological? He couldn’t recall. He hadn’t given her theory much mind at the time. A lion-eagle with magical powers. He still wanted to snort. It sounded absurd, too crazy to contemplate. Still did, even though he knew it to be true. At least the lion-eagle part was true.

Fuck.

There was no way out of this room. Nowhere to go but down. To jump to his freedom. He would die from the impact, that was almost a foregone conclusion. However, he would also regenerate and come back. Would someone notice his bloody corpse before he had a chance to sufficiently heal? Very likely. Even if he did manage to get away with it, he couldn't leave without the female. Without the others as well. Frustration ate at him. Gage grit his teeth.

Where in hell was he? If he left with the intention of bringing others back with him, would he even find the place again? If he did, and he returned with every shifter, would they be able to stand against this formidable enemy? He allowed his eyes to roam over the vast plain and counted hundreds of such towers. How many of these things were there? Too fucking many.

The creature that had knocked him unconscious hadn’t so much as uttered a word. They’d arrived at this place ‒ here in the middle of no-fucking-where ‒ and the beast had lowered itself to just above the ground. Gage hadn’t stood a chance; one hard shake of the talon and he was on the ground. At least he managed to land on his feet. So much for being a big lumbering bear. Not that it mattered much, because one more swipe of that same talon had knocked him the fuck out. He’d woken up here a half an hour ago. Good to know that it had chosen to let him live. So far, it was the only thing he had going for him. Why though? These creatures didn’t want him there. Why not simply finish him?

A loud screech drew him back to the large doorway. If that’s what it could be called. The opening served as both door and window. He leaned out, scouting the perimeter. One of them was flying towards a tower to the left of him. It drew closer and closer. He couldn’t see the doorway of that tower from this angle. It disappeared into the tower. These large spaces were obviously being used as dwellings. They had to be. He looked around the sparse room for what felt like the hundredth time.

The bed was covered in furs. If only he had a knife ‒ something to cut them into long strips. He’d be able to fashion a rope and escape. Same problem though ‒ how would he make it back up the tower with the human? Which of the hundreds of towers housed Alice, Edith and the others? He doubted he’d be able to scent them from all the way on the ground. Frustration ate at him. What the fuck was he going to do next? How long until they decided to kill him? Then he’d be of no use at all.

More of the creatures flew by, making their way to various towers.

His hackles went up. Gage had heard something that sounded like a scream. Not only that, it had sounded distinctly female. He held his breath. “Stop it!” It was the human. The sound was muted. He was sure she was yelling otherwise he wouldn’t have heard her.

There was more shouting. Something that sounded like, “No! Stop!” and then, a garbled sentence he couldn’t make out, followed by, “Hey! Stop!”

Adrenaline coursed through him and he leapt onto the ledge, craning his head. It was coming from the tower that beast had just entered. There was a godawful scream that he felt deep in his core. Just as Gage was about to launch himself off the edge ‒ broken bones be damned ‒ he saw it. It was the creature as it flew from the tower. The beast had the female clasped tightly in his talons, quickly moving away.

Edith sucked in a deep breath and screamed again, this time it sounded more angry than fearful. Where the fuck was it taking her? Fuck this!

Gage roared. It didn’t help their situation any, but it made him feel marginally better. He sucked in a deep breath and slowly released it. It was time for action. No more sitting around and twiddling his damned thumbs.

It was hard work to hold a partial shift but that was too damned bad because he needed to do this and right now. His nails lengthened and thickened some, as did his jaw. Fur had sprouted in tufts on his body, it was especially prevalent on his arms and legs. His nails were thick and clumsy. Right now, panther claws would have been fantastic. He’d use what he had, which was better than nothing. Gage sat down on the bed and began to slowly tear strips off of the fur hides. It was slow, tedious work. He was forced to take frequent breaks, changing back into his human shape. He compelled himself to keep at it and, in the end, was very glad he had.

* * *

The asshole griffin carried her up and around all of the towers, they passed a couple more of the creatures. The big beasts would hover on the spot. One or two of them would come in closer and sniff so loud she could hear it. Other than that, they were eerily silent. Even the flapping of their great wings was noiseless.

She noticed that there were subtle differences in each of their plumage – for lack of a better word. Some were a deeper chocolate caramel. Some were more of a golden color. There were a couple of darker ones as well. Their beaks and scales were also varying degrees of gold.

Oh!

It looked like they were making their way to a tower in the distance. It was perched on a hilly outcrop and looked to be bigger than the ones they had left behind them. As they flew higher up the outcrop, she noticed that the ocean lay on the other side. The water was framed by wide expanses of beaches, but not like any beaches she had ever seen. These had pebbles instead of sand.

There was no time to appreciate the view because the distance to the tower was diminishing fast. Edith felt her stomach lurch. It was probably the fact that they were flying a good two or three floors from the ground, or the claw that clasped her firmly around her waist. The talons on this creature were ridiculous.

Her heart beat faster as they reached the opening. The griffin stood on the ledge with his back legs and put her down.

The space was so much bigger than the first tower, at least four, possibly even five times bigger. There was a man in the room. Another one of the griffin shifters. She could tell by his eyes. He had the same predatory gaze. A gaze that focused with shocking intensity and missed nothing. His irises were more golden than fiery yellow.

There were cracking noises behind her, but she didn’t take her eyes off of the guy in front of her.

This griffin was slightly bigger, he wore a loincloth. She wasn't going to complain about his choice of clothing though because she was just infinitely glad that his junk was covered. The cloth looked like it had been made from soft leather. His thighs were well-muscled, like the rest of him. It was definitely a shifter thing. These guys more so than the regular shifters. In her opinion, they were too damned big. Far too imposing. The guy smiled ‒ or tried to. He thankfully gave up. Probably when he caught the look of horror on her face.

She hugged herself. Thankful that Gage had made her dress more appropriately for the trip. She wished she was wearing more. Especially when his eyes moved down the length of her and then back, lingering on her breasts before lifting to meet her eyes.

“Come in.” He gestured for her to move closer. His voice had that same rich melodic quality. His hair was much lighter. Honey blond if she were to take a guess. There was a girl in her first year at college who liked to say her hair was honey blond. Not simply blond but honey blond. His was the same shade. Not that it mattered. Not right now. Nothing mattered other than talking some sense into these Neanderthals.

“Come in,” he repeated.

Not hardly. She stayed right where she was. "I want to go home." She decided to make her position clear from the get-go.

“No.” He shook his head, not looking as happy as before. “You will stay.”

Okie dokie. This was going well. Not. “Um … I don’t want to stay. You can’t keep me here against my will.”

“I can.” He folded his arms and tilted his chin slightly upward.

That was it. No explanation. No discussion. Just boom, you’re staying.

“Why am I even here? What do you want with me?” She shouldn’t have asked, and yet she needed to know. It would be better if she knew what the hell was going on even if she hated his response. She wasn’t a pessimist by nature, but she got the distinct feeling that she was going to hate it.

“I am a keythong.”

When she realized that nothing more was forthcoming, she asked, “A what?” She sighed in exasperation, feeling irritation well in her. “It would be really great if you could speak English. It would help things enormously. What do you want with me?” She enunciated every word of the question.

The big griffin pushed out a heavy breath, he looked over her shoulder at the guy behind her. “These beings are spirited.”

“Yes, they are,” he responded. It sounded like he was smiling.

“I am still not convinced that we would be compatible with them.” The big guy cocked his head to the other side and gave her the once-over all over again, looking thoughtful. He was definitely sizing her up, which she didn’t like.

There was only one thing that made her feel slightly better and that was how indifferent he remained. He lifted his head and sniffed the air. Then he walked over to her. Edith couldn’t go backwards because the other guy was there, so she stood her ground.

He dropped to his knees in front of her and sniffed again.

She wanted to give him a kick to the face but that probably wasn’t a good idea. “Stop that.” What a jerk!

He got back up and even took a step or two back. Edith could breathe a little easier. Then he nodded once. “Unmated.” He shrugged. “That is at least something. This one is a bit bigger than the other one. Maybe she will withstand a mounting.”

Say what? Oh shit! No! Hell no! This was what she had been afraid of. Her first thought was to back away, to run, but neither of those were a possibility, so she put her hands on her hips instead.

Do not show fear. Ever.

“Look! I’m not interested. No.” She shook her head. “Do you understand that?”

“Of course, I understand,” he snorted. “I am Leukos the Great.” He puffed out his chest. It was a good chest. He wasn’t a bad-looking guy, if you liked seriously rough around the edges, but he wasn’t her type. Not even close. Even if he was, it would still be a resounding hell no. The whole kidnapping thing had put a damper on that.

“Good!” she said the word with conviction. “Then you will understand me when I say that I’m not in the least bit interested. You are wasting your time. I would like to go home now. My friends too. You can’t keep us here against our will.”

“I think it may be you who lacks language skills. I already said no. You are an unattached female. You will stay. One of us will mate you and get you with clutch.”

Her mouth fell open for a second. “Firstly,” she pointed a finger at him, “I’m not mating anyone. No one is mounting me either. You can forget that.” She felt her lungs seize at the thought. If he, or any of the others, wanted to rape her, she wouldn’t stand a chance. She forced the thought out of her head. Panicking right now was not going to help her. “Lastly, what the hell is a clutch?” Best to change the subject. Move away from talk of mating and mounting.

“A clutch.” He looked at her like she was going mad. “Eggs, young. You know what an egg is don’t you?”

“Of course I know what an egg is, I just don’t know what an egg has to do with me?”

“I’m not sure about these beings,” he addressed the other one again, looking back over her shoulder. “They seem dimwitted.”

“That may be so, but they are well suited to our needs. If they can mate and produce with the wolf and bear males, then they can do so with us too.” He sounded so nonchalant as he doled out her fate. “There is only one way to find out.”

“Please stop talking about me as if I’m not in the room,” Edith piped up. “I’m not dimwitted. I just don’t understand what an egg has to do with anything.”

Leukos the Great ‒ she gave a mental eye roll at his name ‒ took a step forward as he began talking. “One of us will mount you to test that it is possible ‒ I have my doubts ‒ and then you will be mated. Do you understand so far or—?”

“No one touches me. Not so much as a finger.” She tried to sound tough.

“Did you check this one for compatibility?” Leukos ignored her flat.

“My name is Edith. Please don’t call me ‘being’ or ‘this one’ or whatever other name you have in mind.” She should probably tone it down a touch since she was on the back foot here. It wasn’t in her nature, so she ignored the little voice telling her to tread carefully.

“No, I didn’t even try to undress her. I could tell that she would fight me like the other one did.”

“Meredith is just as lively.” Leukos widened his eyes like it was all giving him a headache. Well tough luck, buddy!

Meredith.

She was the other woman who had been taken. “Is Meredith alright? Have you harmed her?” Edith tried to keep from yelling at him.

“Of course, she’s in good health,” Leukos snorted again. He gave her a questioning look. Like he thought she was a nut job. “We’re not barbaric. It has been established that I am too large for her, so I instructed that my warriors find me another potential mate.”

Too large.

Oh brother! This was not happening. Please let this not be happening. She shuddered. “Not me.” She shook her head. “I’m not your girl.”

“This one,” the guy behind her cleared his throat, “Edith is sturdier. Much better suited, Great One. Wider hips, bigger chest. I am sure her female organ will be bigger too.”

“I cannot believe what I am hearing.” Edith felt like sticking her fingers in her ears and making loud noises. “What you are referring to is rape … forced sex,” she added when Leukos frowned, looking confused.

“Leave us, Soren. I want to become acquainted with our guest.”

She shook her head, looking back. The other shifter was turning to leave. “Soren,” she shouted his name and he turned back. “Don’t go. I’m not interested in becoming acquainted with him, you or any of you.”

“I am not giving you a choice in the matter,” Leukos said before turning to Soren. “Now go.” His gentle, melodious voice turned steely.

“Wait!” she shouted, but Soren was already shifting and leaping from the window.

“We are a good people.” Leukos looked at her with such sincerity. “I am a good keythong and not just any keythong but the …”

“Yeah, yeah … Leukos the Great.”

He nodded, a glint evident in his eyes. “Yes, I am king of all. I am not familiar with the way of your beings, or,” he sighed, “with females in general but I will do my very best to please you.”

“You’re really starting to piss me off. I’m not sure how to convey this without losing my cool. I’m not interested.”

“I am strong, powerful. I’m ruler of all.” He shrugged. “I have untold riches.” He pointed around the room. At the golden chandelier. At the gleaming gold floors, at the ornate golden doorframe. Not that the opening was a door exactly but what did it matter when she was about to be raped.

“I can make you very happy.” He looked at her earnestly. “Tell me how to please you and I will do it.” His yellow eyes seemed to brighten.

At least he was trying to convince her before he jumped her. “Thank you for the kind offer but I’m not interested. I don’t know you.”

“I told you, I’m Leukos the—”

“That’s your name, it’s not who you are. I would need time to get to know you and to …” Oh shit! Mistake. Big mistake. Her and her big mouth. “I don’t mean it like …”

He smiled. Feral was the right description. Their name suited them big time. “That is no problem. We have all the time in the world to get to know one another. We can spend every waking hour together and you will warm my furs at night.”

“No! I don’t want to warm your furs. I’m sure you’re a great guy but I’m not interested.” For whatever reason, her mind wandered back to Gage. To her instant attraction to him. It was either something you felt for someone or something you didn’t.

“Given time—”

She shook her head. “I know that it will never happen. It’s not that there’s something wrong with you or anything. You’re a good-looking guy … keythong.” She hoped keythong was the right word. “Very good-looking but you’re just not my type.”

The huge, very buff king of the griffins sighed heavily and sank down on a nearby chair. "I don't understand it." He shook his head, looking distraught. "The Feral are a strong species. The strongest of all the species, and yet not one female has shown even the slightest interest in mating with us. Not one would allow any of the males to mount her."

Was this guy for real? “You can’t go around kidnapping women and then expect them to allow you to have sex with them. That’s not how it works. You clearly have zero understanding of our species. I’m not sure how things work out here, but that is not how it happens in my world.”

“But keythongs and females are meant to be together. To mate and have young.” He shrugged. “That is the point isn’t it?”

“No, that is the result.” She didn’t think she was getting through to him. “Love is the point and having children is the result. Two people need to meet in a natural way. In a natural setting. They need to hit it off.”

“Hit it off? What would they hit, surely not one another? You are very strange beings.” He shook his head.

Edith had to chew on her lower lip to stop herself from laughing. Was this guy serious? “I don’t mean literally hit as in … never mind. What I meant was that they need to get along and be attracted to each other.” He still looked somewhat confused. “They need to be compatible.” She used his word in the end.

“Ah, I understand. What you are saying is that the mounting should be enjoyable.” His eyes glinted and he smiled.

“No … yes, but no, that’s not entirely correct.” She paused gathering her thoughts. “They should want to have sex … mount, but that is not the most important part of it. They should like each other and talk. They should spend time together. Do fun things not involving sex. It should not be forced in any way. Given time, they would become physical and expand their relationship. They might move in together. Live together and then yes, they would eventually marry … mate with each other and start a family. It takes time and two willing people. How do you guys go about things? Your womenfolk can’t be too impressed with your abducting of human women. Why would you want to replace them like that?”

He clenched his jaw, his eyes clouded. “There are only twelve remaining females.”

“Remaining?” Her voice was laced with shock. “What happened to them all?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “They all died from the clutch sickness.”

“There’s that word again. It’s familiar but I can’t place it. What is a clutch?”

"Our females do not give birth to live young, like the shifters and you humans. You do give birth to live young, do you not?" His brows raised, and he seemed to look at her for acknowledgment.

“Yes.” She nodded. “That is correct.”

“It is what we observed.” He shifted in the chair. “The Feral are part eagle. Not your normal run-of-the-mill eagle.” He made a face like the thought was obscene. “We are related to the now extinct phoenix. It’s a distant relation but still a relation nonetheless.”

She nodded, taking a seat on the edge of the bed.

“Our females give birth,” he sucked in a deep breath, “give birth to a clutch of eggs, normally two or three.”

“Oh, okay.” She nodded a bit too vigorously because hey, eggs. Come on! She was entitled to feeling a little shell-shocked. Shell! She stifled a giggle. This was all too much, and she was clearly losing her ever-loving mind.

“One after one, they all died,” he said. “We could find no cure. There was nothing we could do.”

“Stop having eggs.”

He shook his head. “We are born to procreate. To continue the species. We are driven to do so. The drive is almost beyond our control. Even though we all knew, including our females, that they would most likely die, they still chose to try.”

“Wow! That’s awful.” She couldn’t imagine. All of those griffin women, all becoming pregnant and then dying from a sickness.”

“It took years. Eight years and ten months to be exact, until every fertile female was gone, barring one. Valintina has chosen to be alone, she lives a life of solitude. That was years ago already. Our males have been without females for far too long.”

She could tell. “And the twelve who are left? How is it that they survived?”

“Nine of the females are elders, they can no longer bear a clutch. The other two are barren. The twelfth is Valintina.”

“So, the future of your kind is at stake here.” It was starting to make sense.

“Yes.” He nodded. “That is why we require willing females to take as mates. We need young.” His voice had once again become hard and steely. This time with determination. It shone in his amber-colored eyes.

“You do realize that you’re going about this the wrong way though, don’t you?”

“No. You are here. It is only a matter of time before you choose a male. There are many of us. I am hoping that you decide I am the right—”

“Stop right there.” She slumped her shoulders. Frustration ate at her. He hadn’t listened to a thing she had said. “I’m not going to agree. Not ever. It’s not going to happen. Kidnapping women is not the way to go about this.”

“What else should we do? There is no other way.”

“You will have to find another way. I don’t know. Figure something out. For a start, you need to understand humans better. Our ways, our culture. Here’s an idea, get Netflix. Study the programs.” She smiled at her own stupid joke.

“What is Netflix?”

“It’s television. A box that you watch …” She could see he had no idea. “Never mind that. Observe human women but not in a creepy way.”

“Not in a creepy way.” He sounded like he was thinking it through.

“Don’t spy on them. Spend time with them on their own turf, on their own terms. For a start, you can’t walk around naked. It’s not how we do things.”

Leukos looked down.

“Yeah, no, I’m afraid a piece of leather ain’t going to cut it. You need jeans and a t-shirt. You need actual human clothing.” Just then, her stomach grumbled. It had been forever since she had last eaten.

His head cocked to the side and his gaze moved to her belly.

“I’m sorry, I’m hungry. What do you guys eat? I’m sure it’s a lot.”

“Oh, how rude of me. You must go and take nourishment. I’ll have Soren bring you back once you have finished.”

She faked a big yawn. "Actually, I'm also really exhausted. It's been a long day." Truth was, she didn't want to come back. Not ever! "Unless of course Soren wants to take me home." Edith thought she'd try her luck.

“No!” Leukos’s eyes narrowed. “You have much to explain. It seems we have a lot to learn about humans if we are to mate them.”

“Okay, fine. I’ll answer some more of your questions and help you out by giving some information, but then I’m done and you let me go.” A win-win situation if she ever heard one. Edith held her breath.

Leukos, the great dickhead, shook his head, infuriating her. "We will talk but you are not leaving. You will stay. You will make a good mate."

Edith rolled her eyes preparing to argue.

“It’s no use, you will not be able to change my mind.” Then he rose to his feet. She watched as he walked to the opening. She quickly looked away when she realized his ass was bare. They really had to work on their dressing skills. They had a ton of things they needed to work on.

Leukos made a high-pitched whistling noise. It had that same melodic quality as his voice. There was an answering screech as her lift arrived. She had a feeling that the coming period was going to be taxing on her patience. It didn’t seem like he was going to force himself on her. Right now, at least. Then again, words from their conversation came back to her. It sounded like they had checked Meredith out, finding her too small in ways she didn’t want to think of. How had they checked to find this out? By trying to rape her? She would be next. Edith chewed on her lower lip. She definitely wasn’t out of the woods yet. Worry churned in her gut.