CHAPTER 12
The journey had been long, and far more than just physically tiring for Maya. She trudged the path through the dense forest, following on Grey’s heels, her heart still aching in her chest as fear slowly built inside her, fear that the male she was about to meet would be as bad as Talon had heard.
Gods, she felt awful for leaving Underworld without saying goodbye to her brother.
The need to run before she had a chance to change her mind had been at the helm, driving her away from him and away from August.
She missed them both.
She had only known August a short time, but he had carved out a part of her heart for himself, and that part ached fiercer than the rest, blazed with fire that wouldn’t abate. She feared it would burn forever, never giving her peace, always reminding her of what she had done.
Grey glanced back at her, concern and warmth in his blue eyes. The sunlight filtering through the trees played across his silver hair and over the shoulders of his black coat. He adjusted the bags on his shoulder, sighed and faced forwards again.
“It’s still not too late to turn back,” he said, quietly enough that she knew he was warring with himself again, torn in two just as she was.
He didn’t want her here, didn’t want to hand her over to the Altay pride’s alpha, Pyotr, and definitely didn’t want to leave without her.
Doubt trickled into her heart and her steps slowed.
Grey turned to face her. “You don’t have to do this, Maya.”
She didn’t.
She glanced over her shoulder.
She could turn back right now and run far from this place, run to where her heart wanted to be.
She clenched her fists at her sides.
She couldn’t.
Pyotr was expecting her, and if she didn’t show up, he would send males to her pride to bring her to him. When they found she wasn’t there, those males would attack her kin, and they would hurt Byron.
Grey’s hand came down on her shoulder, a touch that took her back to the streets of London, before she had met August, before her heart had been thrown into turmoil, torn between two males.
Byron hurt her at times, but he was trying to do what was best for the pride.
She had to do her best too.
She lifted her gloved hand and placed it over Grey’s on her shoulder, and raised her eyes to meet his blue ones. Gods, she was going to miss him most out of all her brothers. He had been her best friend for decades, her shoulder to cry on and her staunch protector.
Who was going to be that for her now?
She looked beyond him, to the distance where the trees thinned and smoke curled lazily into the air above their branches.
She knew no one in that village, not even the male she was meant to wed.
She would be alone.
She was sure her parents hadn’t meant for things to happen this way, that they had planned for Pyotr to visit her with his family, and for her to visit his pride, before anything happened between them.
But both her parents and his were dead, gone, and whatever plans they’d had were gone with them.
She wished she had the courage to turn away, to treat this contract in the way Talon and Grey wanted her to, as if the deaths of their parents had made it null and void.
Perhaps it took greater courage to keep walking forwards, to go through with the promise they had made, stepping into the unknown for the sake of her pride and her brothers.
Courage that she had.
She took Grey’s hand from her shoulder, squeezed it, and then walked past him, continuing towards the village.
Her steps faltered again.
Was she making a terrible mistake?
She turned to Grey.
Her eyes widened.
“Brother.” She reached for him, but he moved in the blink of an eye, pivoting away from her and seizing her wrist, tugging her close to his back.
The three tigers growled and snapped their fangs at him as they eased out of the undergrowth, moving to surround her and Grey.
Instinct roared to the fore, the need to fight blazing to life inside her to burn away her control, and she bared her fangs at the tiger nearest her as he prowled closer.
Grey growled and let the bags drop from his shoulders.
Clothed as he was in a thick jumper and jacket, and his jeans and boots, performing a shift before the males attacked him would be impossible.
She didn’t stand a much better chance in her thick leggings and dress, and the knee-length coat she wore over the top.
Both of them were strong in their human form, their hellcat genes meaning they could match the strength of the tigers, but they would be vulnerable. Three on two were bad odds, and the tigers’ claws and fangs would give them the edge.
Grey moved closer to her and whispered, “Run when I say.”
“No.” She couldn’t leave him.
Wouldn’t.
He was strong, agile, an experienced fighter, but even he had his limits. Three on one were impossible odds for him. He looked over his shoulder at her, something shining in his blue eyes that tore a cry from her throat and had her shaking her head.
She wasn’t going to let him sacrifice himself so she could survive.
She stepped past him before he could stop her, intending to launch herself at the tiger in the middle of the group.
A male voice thick with a Russian accent stopped her cold.
“You intend to attack my bride?”
A chill went through her.
Pyotr.
The three tigers lowered their heads and backed away, disappearing one by one into the scrub. Footsteps sounded behind her and she felt Grey tense, but she couldn’t convince her body to move as her nerves raged out of control, fear of seeing her intended mate for the first time freezing her feet to the forest floor.
The male said something in Russian.
Cold slithered down her spine.
She was his beloved.
He would never be hers.
She would never love him.
Because she was in love with another.
Her fated male.
Maya turned on her heel to face Pyotr, felt nothing as she looked into his golden eyes and his broad mouth curled into a warm smile.
He was handsome, with tousled short hair that matched the colour of his eyes, and a tall broad frame, but he did nothing for her.
Her heart called for another male, one with red hair and pure silver eyes, one who had awakened her soul and brought her to life.
She forced herself to bow her head to him though, to show him the courtesy and respect he would expect from her. That was all he would ever have from her—only as much as was necessary and expected.
“Maya,” Pyotr said, his tone light, almost playful. “You do not need to be so meek around me.”
If that was meant as an invitation to be wicked, to be wild, she was going to have to turn him down. She had no intention of being anything like that with him. Soon, it would be his right to claim her as his mate, but all he would touch was her body. He would never touch her soul. He would never reach her heart.
“Come, come.” He beckoned her, and she went to him, didn’t stop him when he placed his arm around her shoulders and led her towards the village in the distance. “It is lucky I came upon you when I did, no? My warriors are a little… agitated… they crave a fight I cannot give them now.”
Her blood chilled another five degrees as she caught the meaning in his words.
He had stirred his males up with a need to fight in preparation for sending them to her pride if she didn’t show, and she had disappointed them by appearing as promised.
How long would he have given her before he had sent his males to attack her kin?
She looked up at his profile, trying to see the male Talon had painted him to be. Was he really a vicious bastard? As cruel as the rumours said?
He turned a dazzling smile on her.
“Do you like what you see?” His smile widened, his golden eyes gaining a spark she didn’t like as his pupils dilated and she sensed he wanted to look her over, wanted to take in her body and see what the pact with her pride had gotten him.
She didn’t nod.
She averted her eyes, because if she had kept looking at him, he would have seen the loathing in her, the disgust and the desire to leave him.
“You will warm to me soon enough.” He patted her shoulder.
Grey growled quietly from behind her.
Pyotr looked back at him. “You are welcome to stay until the ceremony is complete.”
She could just picture the look Grey would give him in response to that. Her brother wasn’t very good at hiding his feelings. He had a habit of showing it all on his face.
Pyotr’s smile held as he shifted his golden gaze down to her again. “Your brother is not very talkative.”
She managed a small smile and tried to sound light and cheerful. “It has been a long journey and I’m afraid both of us are not in good spirits.”
“Ah.” He nodded. “Of course. It is a long trek to the pride. I am sorry we do not have a road to our pride, as you do near yours. Relocating to that small reserve in South Wales must have been difficult for you all.”
Her blood chilled further.
How did he know where her pride were?
Byron had sent word to him about sending her before the pride had left the old village at Tèarmann in Scotland, before her brother had even decided upon where their next home would be located.
She masked her shock, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing it. He was making a statement, making it clear that he knew where Byron and her pride were, and that his warriors were ready to go there. All he had to do was say the word.
He was threatening her.
Grey growled again, and she wanted to echo him.
They entered the boundary of the village, a gathering of small single storey cabins that all faced each other in a wide circle, with a larger one directly in front of her. Pyotr’s cabin. Her skin crawled at the thought of living there.
The three tigers who had threatened her and Grey slunk out of the undergrowth on either side of her and she frowned at the one on her left as he shifted back, transforming into a huge male with jet black hair and near-black eyes.
They had been stalking her and Grey, keeping watch over their alpha, ready to attack if either her or her brother attempted to hurt him.
The other two shifted back and the three walked off together, naked and unabashed, strolling through the village towards the centre where a huge fire blazed.
Shock danced through her as she looked there.
Other males walked around naked, chatting and laughing, sharing a drink. There were two more off by one of the cabins too, sharpening knives on a whetstone.
What kind of pride was this?
The most modest it got was a male who was wearing an apron while he crouched in front of the fire, cooking something.
She looked at Pyotr.
He casually shrugged. “My warriors prefer the freedom to shift.”
From where she was standing, it looked more like his warriors enjoyed walking around naked in front of the females who moved around the small village.
Females who were few in number.
She counted only three.
Were there more in the buildings?
At least the three she could see were clothed, although they all wore the same drab grey dress with a white pinafore tied over it.
“Come. I will show you to your temporary quarters.” He beckoned one of the females, and the brunette obediently came to him, her head bowed the whole time. “Take the male to his cabin.”
“I’ll stay with Maya,” Grey said, but Pyotr ignored him and led her away as the female tugged on Grey’s arm, trying to pull him in the other direction.
The males watched Maya as she walked through the village, their eyes drilling into her. She kept her eyes off them, not interested in seeing them naked and getting the feeling that some of them wanted her to look at them. Several of them stood as she approached, their hands settling on their hips, trying to draw her focus there.
Pyotr growled at one, and the blond cast him a black look before he moved away, returning to speaking with another male.
Why had Pyotr felt the need to challenge the male and warn him away?
He was alpha, a position the male should have respected, and as far as she knew the entire pride were aware she was here to become his bride.
She looked back at the male, curiosity sparking to life inside her, but Pyotr moved, blocking her view with his chest, and growled at her.
He pushed her forwards, and she stumbled over some wooden steps and almost hit the door of the cabin.
“I am sorry,” he muttered, that smile back on his face when she risked a glance at him, and gently righted her. He raked his eyes over her, concern warming them. “You are not hurt?”
She shook her head.
He opened the door and ushered her forwards into the small cabin that consisted of a single room that had a bed in the right corner and a pair of comfortable looking armchairs nestled around a fireplace to the left.
Maya stepped inside.
Pyotr followed her.
The door shut behind him.
She turned to say that it was a charming place.
His hand closed around her throat.
Her back slammed against the wooden wall.
His growled words chilled her to the bone.
“You are mine now.”