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With a growl, I leaped into the group, pulling Drnak away from my female.
“I saw her first,” he growled. He head-butted me and wrestled out of my grip. The warriors here all respected me, but when the rut started there was no such thing as rank.
Around us, the females gasped and sprang away, including my Clara.
“Clara is mine,” I growled through gritted teeth. “I dropped to my knees for her.”
“Then why have you not taken her to your aerie? She is fair game as long as she is here.” His fist shot out, but I expertly dodged out of his way.
Heat and frustration filled my head, which was too hot to form a proper answer; my scalp tingled, and my skin itched. I snarled and lashed out at him.
“What’s going on?” I barely heard Clara's words. “We need to stop them. They're really fighting.”
“It's the rut. The heat is on them already. I thought we had a few more days.”
I didn't know who spoke, nor did I care. I had one target. I sent another punch in his direction, landing it squarely on his shoulder.
“…see a lot more fights…”
Drnak kicked and I rolled out of the way, just barely. The tips of his claws caught the side of my arm, and four thin lines appeared, seeping blood. I roared and lunged at the male, claws extended.
“…separate them and…”
In the back of my head, I knew that this was a friend, a fellow soldier, but the heat in my brain refused to let me think. I needed something.
The females were still speaking, but I no longer understood the words.
Several pairs of hands pulled me back from my opponent, holding me in place. I snapped at them, trying to break out of their hold.
“Krxare.”That single word broke through the red haze and made me pause.
She was here. My mate.
The violence that controlled my body changed, morphing into something else: a need. A hunger.
I whipped around to face the voice as the hands holding me back released me.
Clara stood feet from me, her hands outstretched. Fear from the fight she’d witnessed still filled her eyes, and she shook as if terrified.
Chapter 16: Clara
This was the rut, and it turned gentlemen into monsters. I’d caught a glimpse of it back at the Vokiren tree village, but Krxare had been partially in control then. He had none now; that was clear from the untamed fire burning in his eyes.
“The others can break them up and hold them back, but not for long. And soon, every Kadrixan will be in the rut. You have to lure him away. It’s our job to stop them from killing each other.”
Kill. They had explained this to me. All of a sudden, I realized how much these Kadrixan warriors really needed us. I remembered an old documentary I saw once about how some animals on Earth fought tothe death during mating season. That was what was happening here. We were literally keeping them from killing each other.
Krxare was terrifying. He was every bit the beast I’d imagined when I first arrived.
Penelope took my hands and looked me right in the eye. “I’ll take the other guy, and you take your mate.”
I remembered the feeling of power as Krxare had calmed under my hands earlier, but he’d still been in control then. The monster in front of me? I wasn’t even sure he knew his own name with how far gone he looked.
I peered over Penelope’s shoulder at the snarling and feral red beast. I could barely recognize him, and he hadn’t even shifted like the Vokiren.
The Kadrixan males who’d been sparring in the ring had finally noticed the fight. They jumped in between the two and pulled them apart. How none of them got scratched or punched in the process was impressive. They’d clearly had experience breaking up fights.
Penelope was right. The other warriors were able to pull them apart, but the two males did not calm. Even now, they fought against the very people who were trying to save their lives.
