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I was about to step through the circle of men, but Tamerin then spoke in English, his words only for us.
“If you kill him, you will become the leader of this group. You will be responsible for his people.”
And I realized what was going on here. These men would follow their leader, but they didn't like him. He had won the leader position, probably based on brute strength, but he didn't have their loyalty. So they would wait and see who would win and only protect him at the last moment, when he asked for them to. That time wasn't now.
Lexi tensed before relaxing her stance and rolling her eyes. “Fuck this.”
My eyes widened as I exhaled, reaching out to her, but it was too late.
She shifted.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I shook my head, while the men all murmured, astonished at her ability to change forms. The leader took several steps backward, fear and amazement warring for control on his face. A moment later, his gaze grew calculating, as her value to him increased.
Lexi struggled out of her clothes before picking up the knife with her mouth. Trotting out of the circle towards me, she dropped it at my feet and sat, giving the men her version of a canine grin.
The leader finally noticed me standing outside of his men, holding a machete, for the first time. He barked a command and half of the men turned to face me, making sure they could fight me off if I decided to attack.
“Lexi.” Tamerin gave an exasperated sigh. He turned back to the leader and started talking to him in his language, the words flying from his lips. The man kept his greedy eyes on my sister until something the older man said caused him to glower at him.
The man spat on the ground, almost hitting Lexi’s clothes. Tamerin snatched them up, his exasperation clear as he pushed his way back through the circle of men, every one of them tracking his progress as he moved to join us.
“Well, they now realize we live in this area. They saw you change into something else, raising your value from being just an attractive female to one who may be a breeding advantage. None of these things are a plus for us. We will have to leave this area. I know of other caves, but they are far away. Which now may be to our advantage, given how much they now want to go after Lexi.”
He walked past and continued through the trees, pausing next to the pile of wood we had collected. He stared at it for a minute and then sighed.
“Leave this here. We can collect more once we arrive at our new home.” He barked out, his tone curt. "We don't have much time. This was just a hunting party. They will get reinforcements before coming after her again, this time to kidnap her and bring her back to their settlement." He skirted around several large trees, picking up the pace as we got closer to the place we had been living in.
“Well, Lexi. What do you have to say for yourself?” I didn't really expect an answer. First, because she was in wolf form and second because this was my sister. She did things like this all the time. She had gotten better as she had aged, but then we ran into situations like this one.
Why does Tamerin still have my clothes? If you had taken them from him, I could change back and get dressed. My furry sibling pouted.
“You know, you made this mess worse by shifting.” I replied to her out loud. Tamerin didn't even look back, used to us talking on our bond by now.
The bastard was going to take me back to their place and rape me, Soren!
I said nothing. My sister had grown into a beautiful, but headstrong, woman. Her red hair had darkened and appeared almost like gleaming mahogany with fire highlights. It fell to the middle of her back in a sheet of pure silk. Somehow, it stayed soft and untangled, swaying with her every step when left loose. Most of the time, though, she kept it in a braid twisted around her head.
Her green eyes sparkled with mischief, being one of the first things that caught one's gaze. And even I could admit that she was fit and had lovely curves. Lily was tiny and ethereal, pulling my protective instincts to the fore. But Lexi was down-to-earth, sturdy and able to take care of herself.
It was no wonder those men, who were used to taking what they wanted, had tried to kidnap her when they had seen her. Except she had a fiery spirit and would fight hard for her freedom. All Tamerin had done was to shorten the time she was in their hands. She could have escaped them at anytime, once she got over her surprise.
I was uncertain if it would have been soon enough. Lark would kill me if anything happened to his mate on my watch.
Scratching the top of her furry head, I replied, my attention on our path back. “I know, Lexi. I know.” Pausing, I searched for the right words. “I also want to go home. I want to see Lily and Holden and… Well, everyone. Yes, I want to be the same age as my mate, so we can solidify our mating bond, but this being separated is hell.”
She bumped up against me, her own feelings and desires cascading down our sibling connection. She missed our pack, but Lark most of all. This was why she had made him take her with him when he traveled the universes, learning about all the different gates. If it didn't defeat the fact we needed to age faster than them, he would be right here by her side.
Sighing, I realized we were well over the halfway point for our time here. The end was in sight.
“Pack up your things, boy. And you,” Tamerin jabbed one finger at Lexi. “You shift back now. We need to have left here yesterday.” The old man was a flurry of activity as he broke down our camp. The one we had been at for several years and he had called home for god knew how many years before that.
Feeling bad, I wanted to apologize for what had happened, even if it wasn't my fault. But there was no time. We had to get out of here. It wouldn't take those men long to come after us.
Lexi’s change was quick and smooth, and she had her clothes and backpack on almost before I had finished gathering my stuff. I had collected some mementos of this place—rocks that had interested me, a carving I had done using some strange gleaming wood, things like that. I didn’t want to leave them behind. Not yet. So I wrapped them up, my motions careful, and stored them away deep in my pack.
Noticing with one glance that we were ready, Tamerin headed out, not saying a word. We followed him, our steps silent. No one needed to tell us we had to be on high alert.
Except, he didn't go far. Several steps out of the entrance to the cave we had been using, the older man took a sharp turn and climbed up a short slope of broken rocks. He glanced back at us, his eyes conveying that we had better be quiet.
