Shadowed Flame by RJ Blain

Author:RJ Blain [Blain, RJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pen & Page Publishing
Published: 2016-05-14T05:00:00+00:00

All of my life, red had been gray, and I had a difficult time figuring out what exactly red was despite my eyes telling me the color wasn’t gray. It was bright, and it was different, and I struggled to make sense of it. My wolf was just as confused about the color as I was, which didn’t help matters for me any.

What else was the darkness hiding? What would I see when the sun finally rose? Excitement, hope, and dread warred within me, and I found it difficult to tear my gaze away from the coffee maker’s light.

What if Ryan was wrong?

What if he was right?

“I’m going to turn it off if you don’t eat,” Ryan warned, nudging me with his elbow. “Eat. You’ve gone too long without a good meal.”

The entire kitchen was overrun with food, and the other Fenerec were tearing into the meal like it was their last. I hungered, but it was hard to focus my attention on my plate with my dream of seeing a world in color almost in my reach.

“I’ll unplug the maker until she’s eaten enough,” Dalton said, pausing in his feeding frenzy long enough to pull the cord.

I scowled at the darkened display.

“I’ll turn it back on once you’ve eaten. The sun’ll be up soon, and we can do some vision tests to see how your sight is coming along.” Ryan put my fork into my hand. “This can be your first lesson about Fenerec in groups. We’re not in a pack, and our guests are in a pack. In situations like this, it’s best if there are no hungry Fenerec. Hungry Fenerec operate on instinct, and hungry Fenerec hunt. Let’s not prey on our guests.”

“Fenerec prey on each other?” A chill ran through me. “Are you serious?”

“Not like that; we aren’t cannibals. We do, however, get territorial when hungry. You’re still recovering from ritual sickness, so those instincts are starting to come to the forefront. It isn’t uncommon for fights to break out between rival packs. It’s one of the reasons I’m an authorized rogue. I don’t get into fights with the locals—not usually.”

“Ryan’s submissive,” Dalton explained.

I had a feeling the first thing to come to mind wasn’t what Dalton meant, although my wolf was very intrigued by the idea of making Ryan submit. “Ryan’s what?”

Dalton laughed. “Submissive. If he isn’t suppressing his natural instincts, other Fenerec are typically driven to protect him. Ryan’s unique in that he can force certain dominant instincts, which he uses to his advantage. It’s also the reason he was willing to let us into his home. If he were dominant, he wouldn’t have even considered it without a fight. It’s what makes him a really good peace keeper, too. Packs tend to fall in line if they’re worried about hurting a submissive wolf, and Ryan’s submissive enough it lets him get away with things a dominant simply can’t.”

My wolf was as confused as I was. “I don’t understand.”

“You’ll get a better feel for it once you’re ready for a hunt and a dominance contest.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.