Chapter Forty
Pausing at the territorial line separating Temple land from Payami, Peder sniffed the ground. Alphas marked their lands every few days. “The smells are faint. No one new has been marking it so we can assume no new alphas have been chosen.”
“This will be the last time I smell my father’s scent.” Kele ran her nose lovingly over the spot, then leaned back and howled. The mournful sound echoed through the forest. “But you’re right.” She shook her fur out. “We have time to join the challenges.” Charging ahead, she left him blinking after her.
Ahote bumped his shoulder. “Let her lead us in. The pack needs to see her as an alpha before we introduce you.”
He flicked his ears in assent. Otherwise, it would appear as if he came in as a conqueror rather than a mate. They ran on a well maintained path and this time, the pace was less frantic.
A dark cave loomed ahead. One of the four guards on the mountainside jumped down to greet Kele with nudges and licks. His fur appeared tattered and fresh claw marks ran along his left arm. “We’re so glad you’re safe.” His gaze grew dark as it turned toward Peder. “Who’s this?”
“He’s with me.” Kele laid a white-furred hand upon his gray arm.
The battered guard rose on his hind legs and approached them. He nodded to Ahote. “Good job finding our Kele.”
“Was there any doubt I’d succeed?” Ahote stayed next to Peder. He pointed at the other hunter’s fresh wounds. “Were you challenging to be alpha, Minu?”
“No.” Minu frowned. “The pack has gone crazy.”
Kele pushed forward. “What do you mean? What’s happened?”
“What do you think? We weren’t ready to lose your parents. With their death and your disappearance, too many of the pack tried to fill the void at once. Factions formed and the fighting fell out of the ring. Feral law almost swept the pack away.”
Peder’s heart pounded. Feral law was never supposed to be inside the den, only the challenge ring and in the forest. It had been ages since such a tragedy afflicted their tribe.
“Oh no…” Kele twisted as if to run inside the caves, but Minu grabbed her arm.
“It didn’t happen. The elders called upon all the hunters who didn’t wish to challenge. We returned the pack to civil law, but not without some casualties.”
Ahote’s ears drooped. “But the pack is still divided?”
“Yes, I didn’t know how we’d ever bond under one couple again after the fighting.” He caressed Kele’s face. “But I do now.”
Peder growled and knocked his hand away. “Are you scent blind as well as injured?” He rose to meet the hunter’s glare. He reminded Peder of the first shifter he’d fought in the slave compound, all muscle and no training.
“Kele, it’s not time to bring a guest to the den.” Minu’s gaze roamed over him, his nostrils worked as if taking his scent from that distance.
Peder crossed his arms. “I’m not her guest. I’m her mate.” So his test of dominance would begin here. The next few days would be tiring, but it wouldn’t compare to what he’d had to endure from Timothy. He smirked at the thought. It was as if he’d spent his whole life preparing for this moment.
The guard’s ears sprang so high Peder almost laughed. He glanced at Kele for confirmation. “He doesn’t smell like Yaundeeshaw.”
“Because he’s not, he’s Apisi.” She admitted Peder’s origins without hesitating. He hadn’t expected that. It was like admitting she’d mated an animal. “We’re here to fight the challenges.”
“No.” Peder rested his arm around Kele’s shoulders. “We’re here to win them.”
Ahote laughed. “That’s the attitude.” He clapped the other guard on the back.
“You support this mating?”
The other guards on the wall peered at him with interest.
“Peder helped me rescue Kele twice. She loves him. I think he deserves to fight at her side.”
“But alpha?”
Ahote nodded.
Kele guided Peder inside the cave system. “Once the challenges are done, you’ll have to learn these tunnels. It’s our best security.”
The tunnels grew very dark and he found his way through only because of his feral gift of night vision. “Even if an enemy was lucky enough to find their way through, he’d still have to figure out a way to escape.” Whoever thought of this was brilliant.
“Only one person’s made it out unguided in recent memory.”
He grinned. “Sorin.” He could smell Kele’s growing anxiety. “What worries you?”
She gave him a weak laugh. “I’m not sure how to introduce you. My pack expected me to mate with Nahuel and I return with a different male.”
He stopped her with a touch. “You can’t walk in the den smelling of doubt.” Gathering her against him, he rubbed his scent into her fur. “They don’t know what we’ve gone through so they haven’t a right to judge us.”
“What will we do if they refuse to let you fight?”
“Then we leave. We’ll return to the Apisi or travel west or live with Benic. Whatever you want to do, Kele, I’ll follow.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t know what I ever did without you.”
“Okay, lovebirds, there’s time enough for that kind of stuff in your own room.” Ahote loped pass them. “Let’s get some food. I’m starved.”
“Excellent plan.” Peder pulled Kele by the hand and raced Ahote out of the tunnels.
The dark hunter shifted to civil form and searched through a pile of kilts by the door. “Something here should fit you.” Dressing, he assessed Peder’s size before tossing him a fine black leather kilt.
Peder ran his hand over the soft leather. They must have very skilled crafters. He recalled his threadbare kilts, some of them made of fabric because the leather was needed more for the hunters. He’d never worn such fine work.
Ahote handed him a sweater the color of Kele’s eyes.
He turned as she pulled a matching colored dress over her head. It reached below her knees and was decorated with a simple pattern of white beads that stretched across her chest.
She tilted her head. “What?”
“You’re beautiful.”
A blush pinked her pale skin. She slipped her hand in his and rose to her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “You’re not so bad either.” She traced the muscles on his chest.
Peder let out a sharp breath as need sizzled across his flesh. He was used to females wanting him, but this new sensation—his own desires—flared at her slightest touch.
She strolled across the sandy floor of the den toward a large cave on the other side of the entrance.
He’d been there before as a prisoner, but they’d snuck him in blindfolded and housed him in a room away from everyone so he hadn’t seen the den clearly. The top of the mountain was gone and let in sunlight. Wooden stairs were built along the inner walls of the hollow mountain, leading to other levels of caves carved out of the stone. Swinging bridges crisscrossed the gaps overhead to connect all the sides. He grinned. It was huge and housed so many shifters.
A group of hunters, also bearing the evidence of recent fighting, strode out of the large cave entrance where Kele walked. They stopped at the sight of her. One of the females hobbled on crutches with a solid splint around her leg.
Kele waved Peder over.
He took one more glance at the open sky before joining them.
“Kele!” The female hugged her close. “You wouldn’t guess how happy I am for your return.” The hunter turned a questioning gaze upon him.
Kele set her hand possessively on his arm. “This is Peder, my mate.” Those words sent a wave of warmth through his body and washed away any uncertainty of his decision to follow her home. He rewarded her with a quick peck on the lips. She cleared her throat and gave him shy smile, but didn’t reprimand him for his open affection. “Peder, this is Tegrathe. She’s the top female hunter.”
“When no one returned from the mating ceremony, we sent hunters. They reported that someone had taken you and the others who were missing. Sorin had ordered Ahote and Benic to rescue everyone. The others returned a few days ago. They told us of the slavers.”
Kele nodded. “Good. Benic told me he’d purchased them and sent them home. Peder and I were separated from the others. It took Benic more time to free us.”
Ahote cleared his throat and raised his eyebrow at Kele.
“And Ahote.” She grinned.
Tegrathe eyed Peder closer and inhaled. Her attention snapped to Kele. “By the dark Goddess, you mated an Apisi? Did the slavers hit your head too hard?”
Kele’s grip on his arm tightened.
“Kele! Peder!” A male voice shouted from across the den.
Peder startled as his name filled the uncomfortable silence.
The male seemed familiar as he jogged over. He hugged Kele hard. “I’m glad to hear of your escape.” The stranger slapped him on the shoulder. “And yours.”
Peder finally placed his face. He’d been a hunter taken with them by the slavers. He couldn’t recall his name. There had been so many in the compound.
“Were you harmed?” The hunter’s voice grew more serious. “I’ve been asking Tegrathe to let me return with others to kill Timothy.”
“He’s dead.” Peder went still as he recalled Timothy’s sightless stare. “I killed him.” It hadn’t been a pretty death, either.
“Kele is mated to Peder.” Tegrathe watched them with interest.
“I’m not surprised.” He set his hand on Peder’s shoulder with a familiarity saved for packmates. “Not after the way he took that beating for Kele.” He shook his head solemnly as if recalling that day. “Kele’s made a good choice.”
Kele leaned against Peder. “We’ll be entering the alpha challenges.”
The male blinked and searched Peder’s face then glanced at the other hunters. The Payami shifters’ expressions questioned the hunter. Peder could only assume it was because their packmate was the only one among them who had known Peder as a slave.
Peder braced for attack. He wasn’t sure by whom, but this moment would set the tone to the pack’s judgment, and his kind was known for attacking first then asking questions later.
“Peder…” The male swallowed visibly. “I’m honored. You didn’t seem to savor leading us when it was forced on you.”
“I didn’t.”
It was the wrong answer. He could tell when Kele let her hand fall from his arm, but it was honest. He would not start this journey by lying.
The hunter straightened his shoulders as if coming to a decision before kneeling at Peder’s feet and pressing his face to them. “I would follow you.”
His heart hammered even faster. He almost jumped away at his touch. In the slave compound, some of the shifters had touched his feet with their hands in submission after he’d won his first challenge but this hunter was claiming him as his alpha in front of his fellow packmates. Would that be enough for them to accept him as pack? He doubted it. He wouldn’t have accepted a stranger so easily.
Tegrathe’s eyes narrowed as the hunter rose and stood at his side. Peder could sense she wanted to pace but her injury kept her still. Her nostrils flared. “My leg keeps me from fighting.” She glanced at Kele. “Thanks for that.”
Kele chuckled. “You are my strongest competition. I won’t apologize for what I did.”
“You broke her leg?” Peder asked.
“The day before I left to meet Nahuel, we fought a challenge for dominance. Tegrathe won though.” Kele grimaced. “Like I said, you’ll have your chance to try again once you’re healed.”
Tegrathe shook her head. “I learned a lesson that day. Sometimes one doesn’t have to die or kill to show dominance. You could have killed me but chose mercy instead.” Unsteadily, she used her crutches to kneel with a scowl of pain and touched Kele’s feet with her hands. “You are the only female I would choose to follow.” When she tried to rise to her feet, Peder reached to help. She swatted his hand. “You still have to prove yourself to me.”
He grinned. She reminded him of Lailanie, a hunter in his pack. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Kele led him into the empty pack gathering room and sat at a table. Not long after an omega female appeared with a tray of food and drink. Without a word, she deposited it in front of them and left.
That was him not long ago.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so quiet in here.” Ahote joined them in their meal. “It’s eerie.”
“You don’t need to keep following us.” Kele handed him a plate.
“Yes, I do. The more support is shown of your mating, the better the others will accept him.” He nodded toward Peder. “I sent Gongi to speak with the other two hunters he’d been held captive with.”
Peder assumed Gongi was the hunter who’d just claimed him. A few hunters wandered into the room and sat a few tables over. They watched him and Kele in silence, which did terrible things to his appetite.
“You should remain here and speak to anyone who wishes to question you. When I’m done eating, I’ll go find out where the pack is in challenges and find out how many couples you have to beat.” Ahote shoveled his food into his mouth.
“I’m still not sure why you support me.” Peder picked at his meal.
“Being alpha isn’t about muscles, otherwise I’d be alpha. It’s about heart and head.” He pointed to both body parts. “I followed Kele’s father long enough to know he never had to step in a challenge ring to remind us he was alpha. Respect goes a long way in a pack. While I traveled with Benic, I had lots of time to think and realize that I didn’t want to follow any of our males. I feared what would become of our pack.” He pointed at them with his fork. “You two. You’re smart and you’ve got good hearts. You care about us.” He encompassed the shifters in the room. “That I respect and would follow.”
Kele wiped gravy from Ahote’s chin with a cloth napkin. “When did you get so smart?”
“Don’t say that too loud. I don’t want rumors spreading.” He winked at Peder.
Watching Peder among her pack warmed a part of Kele’s heart she hadn’t realized was cold. She leaned forward and rested her chin on her hand.
As they ate, more and more of the pack trickled into the gathering room until it was filled like when her parents lived.
Peder appeared comfortable speaking with whoever came to their table to chat. His disarming smile and open manner won over many of her pack from pups to elders, hunters to omegas. Maybe everything would be all right.
Ahote weaved through the crowded room. Word of her return with a mate had spread like wildfire and almost the whole pack had crammed the room to get a glimpse. Some even came to speak with them. Ahote knelt between them and spoke in a low voice. “The challenges started yesterday. The elders have agreed to allow you both to join in the next round this evening.”
She met Peder’s concerned gaze. They hadn’t fought together as a couple. “I think we need to talk strategies. We’ll go to my room.”
Peder’s smile grew sultry. “Yes, we should do this alone. Right away.”
Ahote punched him in the arm. “There’s plenty of time for that after the challenges. Don’t tire her out. I have a lot riding on your success. We’ll go to my rooms.”
“What do you mean?” Peder rose to his feet and helped her up.
“I’ve publically supported you. If someone else becomes alpha, they’ll remember that. My standing in the hunters will drop.” He leaned closer to them. “I have the others who were in captivity with you telling their stories.” He pointed to the branding on her hand. “Especially that one.”
She clutched it to her chest. “What are they saying?”
“How Peder supported you through the whole ordeal. How he didn’t even cry out and helped the others find their courage. They’re also telling the others of the pack about how he fought that hunter in the compound and how Peder took punishment for you.”
“What about Kele?” Her mate pulled her against him. “What are her stories?”
“The pack already loves Kele. It’s never been a doubt that she should be alpha after her parents. We need them to love you so they’ll at least be willing to give you a chance.”
Peder scratched his chin. “And if we win?”
Ahote clapped him on the back. “You’ll both be alpha and I’ll be your new best friend.”
She laughed at the flash of panic in Peder’s eyes. “Pack politics are different in the Apisi?”
“Very. We’re much smaller, so I’d say politics doesn’t seem to exist.”
She slipped her arm around his narrow waist and guided him out of the pack room and toward Ahote’s apartment. “I don’t think you’re that naïve, Peder. Politics plays in all pack life. When Sorin chose to train you over the other omegas, didn’t that cause any issues within the pack?”
He shrugged. “Some of the hunters spoke to me more.” He turned his attention inward, recalling memories. He shook his head. “I guess you’re right. I just never thought of it that way.”
Kele’s father did most of the politicking for her parents and her mother handled the pack’s day-to-day issues. She saw herself in her father’s role. Peder would be a good match, especially since the pack warmed to him so quickly. He’d rule them with his heart where her mother ruled them with her fists. They had to win. They’d bring a new golden age to the Payami.
Ahote’s rooms were filled with thick fur-covered cushions. A large stack of books threatened to fall in the corner. Her favorite thing was a painting he’d done on the wall depicting his first deer hunt with the pack. It covered the whole main wall in the sitting area. A separate room held his bed. She didn’t care to ever enter that room of overindulgence. She’d heard enough stories to satisfy her curiosity.
Ahote plopped himself on the closest cushion. “You’ll have a choice. Start at the bottom with the weakest couple and climb your way up or fight yesterday’s winner.”
Peder and she took the largest cushion. He wrapped himself around her like a living blanket. His warmth and scent mixed with hers. “What are the consequences of our choices?” Peder asked.
She’d heard her father ask this same question hundreds of times.
“If you start with the weakest, you’ll have time to practice together and will most likely win, but it will also mean you have more fights to endure. If you fight yesterday’s winner, you have only one challenge but more likely you’ll lose since you haven’t fought together yet.”
She swore softly. The choices were difficult. If the last few days hadn’t been so physically and emotionally trying, she would have been more inclined to fight the weaker couples first and practice.
Peder rubbed her shoulders. “How many challenges have you fought and won since you learned to shift?”
“Many. I lost count.” She’d been focused since she’d escaped Benic’s castle. She’d wanted to prove herself worthy to her parents and climbed the hunter hierarchy. “I won them all except the last with Tegrathe. She’s right. I could have killed her and won but I didn’t see the reasoning behind destroying one of the pack’s best hunters just to prove I’m stronger and faster.”
“That’s why she submitted to you.” Ahote nodded. “Your reasoning is sound. She would have killed you without a second thought.”
“How many have died in the challenges so far?” She picked at a loose thread on her dress. Most challenges weren’t to the death, but these were different. It wasn’t about having a better spot in the pack. It was about having the best spot.
Ahote sighed. “Eight.”
She swore again. When an alpha died, it was a bad time for the pack, but usually the remaining alpha could keep the pack from tearing itself apart until a new couple was chosen through challenges. Both alphas had died though. Her pack was desperate. Maybe that was why they accepted Peder so quickly. He was young and strong. She twisted to look at him and he smiled. Handsome too. Being mated to the old alpha’s only daughter helped. “What do you think we should do?”
“I’ve only fought a few times but I won as well.” He ran a fingertip along her jaw. “What happens if we win today?”
“Then we have to fight the winners of the following days until only one couple stands undefeated. Isn’t that how your pack does it?”
His smile faded and she regretted her question.
“I guess the Apisi used to, but the last alpha wasn’t normal. He ruled alone until Sorin killed him. No one had the heart at the time to challenge Sorin once he’d won. It was too great a relief that the old alpha was dead.” He pulled at his ear as if thinking. “I think we should challenge the strongest couple. We’re both good fighters. You concentrate on the female and I’ll take care of the male. From there, we’ll continue to fight only once a day. It will conserve our strength and avoid unnecessary injury.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “I agree. How many challenges in total do you think we’ll have to win?” she asked Ahote.
He scowled. “I’d say three. They’ve been doing as many challenges as possible a day. Some are taking the opportunity to climb the hierarchy as well. They did ten challenges yesterday. You’re lucky the elders are not demanding you start from the beginning.”