Chapter Twenty
The Temple always offered Kele peace. It was a place she sought whenever she could coerce a hunter to accompany her. Many in her pack didn’t like traveling here. Maybe the loss of their goddess was too much. Maybe they felt abandoned. Sometimes she did.
She trailed her fingers over the flowering vines holding the structure together. Odd how these plants had grown and supported a building that should have crumbled by now. She wanted to change her people’s lack of faith, to bring them hope, but she’d have to resolve her own doubts first. Where had the Goddess gone?
A few shifters from other packs made the journey. She found their offerings on the altar, but mostly, Kele was alone at the Temple besides her guards. Belief in the Goddess had diminished. It might be the reason she’d left or that no one heard her call. Either way, communication didn’t flow between shifters and nature like she’d heard it had. All stories and myth now, but she believed that once upon a time, shifters communed with their land instead of just surviving off it.
Escaping her father’s displeasure, she and Ahote, with two other, younger hunters, had made camp on Temple lands, planning to stay for at least a couple of days. She didn’t think Sorin would allow Susan to return—he’d seemed quite adamant about keeping her—but she’d like to be available to the human female if she escaped and found her way here.
It must have been terrifying to fall into another dimension with no knowledge of the culture or laws. Some part of Kele sympathized with Susan’s plight. In a way the human was like her—a shifter who couldn’t change to feral form, trapped as a civilian.
Her guards hunted the Temple lands for amusement, except Ahote. He sat in feral form on the Temple stairs, jerking the petals off flowers growing on the vines. Stubborn, impossible, pigheaded male wouldn’t talk to her. He preferred the comforts of the den to the wild.
A distant howl carried through the forest. Her guards were on the hunt.
Ahote’s ears perked forward, and he dropped his latest floral victim. “Maybe we’ll have lunch soon.”
At least his mood hadn’t affected his appetite. She strolled between the old stone walls that were broken and cracked.
Carved in the solid walls were faded words, their wisdom lost to time. She couldn’t read the broken symbols and longed for a miracle to bring her understanding. Brushing away the vines, she searched for her favorite engraving, full of twirls and one of the few engravings still deeply scratched within.the stone.
She’d figure it out one day. She’d even brought her paper and pen to copy some of the writing.
From the corner of her eye, she caught Ahote jumping to his feet. He crouched low as if preparing to attack.
Her pulse sped and she reached for her dagger on her belt, suppressing her urge to ask questions. Silence was a predator’s best tool, so she crept toward the exit.
The sound of struggle came from outside the Temple, followed by a body impacting the ground with a grunt.
Fear seized her gut, and she hurried to the stairs. Could it be Susan? She’d only recently made a delicate friendship with her. Such things needed time to grow, and it wouldn’t take much to shred those ties. Stupid males.
Ahote’s arm snaked around her waist and set her back behind him. “Stay here. I don’t want you tripping me if they can’t control him.”
“Him?” She caught a glimpse of her guards escorting a thin, male shifter to the foot of the stairs. “This is the Temple, Ahote. You have no right to treat others poorly here. It’s sacred ground. Neutral territory.”
“It’s also a place open for attack, and you’re my responsibility.” He pointed at the male. “Look, he’s not even bleeding.”
The unknown male cowed in submission. No posturing. No threats. An omega. Her pack had very few of these, and her father reacted violently whenever she approached one. “That’s enough.” She raised her voice in a perfect impression of her mother’s.
The guards glanced at each other then backed away.
Kele’s spirit lifted. It worked. Maybe her female parent had a useful influence after all.
As she descended the steps, Ahote hovered at her side like she’d grown a new shadow. She peered at the omega. “Please accept my apology. They protect me—from everything.”
The male’s golden fur shone with the sunlight. “Understandable, princess.” He raised his face and met her gaze with his intense green eyes.
The breath in her chest froze. Unlike her guards, the male didn’t look through her but at her, solidifying her existence. “I-I’m not a princess.” She blinked and waited but he didn’t move. “Please stand.”
Ahote tensed behind her.
“The Temple is open to all.” She spoke to the stranger but her words were for Ahote. A foreboding settled on Kele.
“You’re very gracious.” He rose and pulled out a leather kilt from his shoulder pack, then shifted to civil from. As his body reformed he dressed and maintained his modesty. “Better? I’m less a threat this way.”
Slight of shoulder, he still bore enough muscles to be mistaken as a hunter. Handsome. She had trouble meeting his gaze. His presence made her giddy and bashful all at the same time.
He climbed the steps until he stood next to her. “I’m Peder. Sorin of the Apisi sent me to gather some medicinal herbs. I couldn’t find any on our land, but I know they grow here.”
Ahote’s growl vibrated the stone under her feet. “More Apisi dogs…”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Sorin stole a female bearing Ahote’s mark yesterday.”
The omega’s gaze darted to the guards at the foot of the steps. “Susan? It must have been a temporary mark. She wears Sorin’s now. The way she stares at my alpha, I don’t think she came against her will either.” He winked at her.
Taking a deep breath, Kele forced the tension to ease from her shoulders. He spoke the truth. Or at least, what he perceived as the truth. She hated to admit it but Benic was correct about Susan being an untapped resource of knowledge. Kele had been a fool to lose her. Now, the naïve human was in the hands of tribe’s most feral pack.
Peder glanced at Ahote, who still looming over them. “You don’t seem heartbroken over the loss. They seem like a good match.”
The dark hunter stepped around her, his claws flexing in and out of his fingertips.
Peder’s eyes went wide as he sank to his knees.
“Ahote!” She sandwiched her body between the males. Could Peder stay quiet long enough to keep his head? Torn, she didn’t know if she should step out of Ahote’s way or not. This was playing out as Benic predicted. If Sorin mistreated Susan, the fault fell on Kele. “Susan wishes to stay and explore the possibility of staying with the Apisi.” She glanced at the pretty male kneeling at her feet. “In the meantime we should take measures to assure Susan can return to the Payami if she wishes.”
“As a token of my alpha’s good faith, I am sure he’d allow some kind of trade. I can pass along the message after I collect the flowers.” Peder’s eyes lowered once more.
Kele’s eyebrows shot up. That scent had a slight tinge of anxiety. Not enough for a lie. What did it mean? Was someone ill? Packs didn’t disclose weaknesses. Withholding information was the only lie a shifter couldn’t detect. “Your pack has little to trade.” Her gaze settled on him. Two hostages in the same amount of days. Maybe she was becoming too much like her mother.
Bad enough she brought home a human stray, but an Apisi omega? “You’re placing me in a difficult position, Peder.” If she sent him home then she surrendered her only leverage.
“He’s just an omega. Sorin probably won’t even care if he’s missing,” Ahote whispered in her ear.
She turned her head and glared at his bestial profile. “Why would you think that? We care for our omegas.”
Peder climbed a step closer, still on his knees. “Sorin does care about his omegas very much.”
They both spun and faced him. Ahote bent, a little drool landing on Peder’s shoulder. “You’re very bold.”
“My alpha has been encouraging me to find my inner hunter.” The smaller male swallowed visibly as the larger, feral beast circled him. “I forget my place sometimes.”
He obviously did. The outer shell of this shifter appeared omega but she suspected, as did his alpha, that a hunter lurked inside. What had broken this male?
She straightened her dress and squared her shoulders. “Take him.” She addressed the other two guards. Where would she house Peder? Her stomach went sour. She had a big, maternal concern. Her mother would eat this omega male alive with his pretty face and all that golden hair.
She stared at Ahote—a strong, massive, dominating male—then turned toward her other two guards. “Peder’s existence will remain a secret among us four.”
Their ears perked and they looked to Ahote.
She clenched her jaw. “If you squeal to my parents or anyone else like a pair of frightened pups, Ahote will deal with you in my stead.”
The dark hunter went still and silent next to her. She sensed the wave of shock from his body.
“Do we have an understanding?”
The taint of the guard’s fear carried on the wind as they nodded.
She wanted to give Susan an avenue of escape if she needed it. The only way to ensure a meeting with Sorin was to keep Peder. What harm would it cause if he stayed a few days? She’d write a note and leave it on the Temple altar for whoever came to search for Peder with her terms for his return. She only wanted to speak with Susan one more time.
Peder glanced at the guards, then at Ahote as if assessing his chance of escape.
“Don’t, Peder.” She didn’t want him injured.
The omega cringed. There was something fragile about the male that she found fascinating. All the hunters of her pack were muscle-bound fools with little to offer in conversation. She sensed something different in him.
“We’ll sneak Peder into the den.” She faced her guest. “If you value your hide, you won’t leave your room. My mother will eat you for dessert if she catches you inside the den.” She tapped her foot and glared at each of the males. “I expect Susan returned in good condition, and we’ll do the same with Peder.”
The omega raised his chin and appraised her under downcast lids. His interest washed over her, and she drowned in his gaze. “As you wish, princess,” the omega whispered. A submissive answer, yet the invitation in his eyes offered her what no male of her race ever had.