In Season by Allie Ritch

Author:Allie Ritch [Ritch, Allie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Liquid Silver Books
Published: 2013-06-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 4

Miksa couldn’t believe she’d been so foolish. After all these seasons of being trapped in one body, how could she still hold out hope that she’d be able to shift? Apparently in rekindling her dreams of a mate and possible children, Gilby had revived a yearning for her birthright too.

She didn’t know what to say as he turned his hounds around to head back to the village. Fortunately, he didn’t expect her to fill the silence. He always seemed to have a steady stream of words, and his manner was so relaxed he put her at ease. If she’d still been agitated, she never would have noticed the faint odor on the breeze.

“There’s a spear-toothed cat nearby.” She sat up straighter and looked at the tree line off to her left.

It was hard to say exactly where the animal was since it must have passed downwind of them on their way out of the village. Miksa wasn’t concerned at first. She’d encountered the huge cats before and had never had any trouble with them or with any of Jensen’s other predators. Although she was trapped in the form of a woman, her shifter scent was strong enough they usually avoided her.

It occurred to her, however, that Gilby’s scent now covered her entire body, disguising her own. She’d always traveled by herself before this, not in the company of a clawless villager and his hounds. It was winter, and prey was lean this time of year, especially away from the water.

She could tell Gilby became instantly alert behind her. “Can you tell where it is? We’re not far from the edge of the village. The beasts don’t usually come this close to us, and the whole community hunts them or runs them off when they do.”

Miksa lifted her nose and drew several deep breaths to track the scent. She had to get past the smell of the two hounds in front of her and her mate at her back. It didn’t help that the canines tainted the air with their anxiety as they too became aware of the predator.

“I think the cat is circling us.”

A sound behind her made her crane her neck. She saw Gilby withdraw a large knife that had been strapped to the back of the sled, and she had a brief moment to admire his ferocious expression and posture. Then her world tumbled upside down.

Miksa didn’t realize she’d been thrown from the sled until her left shoulder and hip hit the snow. Everything went dark as the fur blanket landed on her head, and she was deafened by a feline scream before Onnika and Halle’s barking drowned out everything else. By the time she disentangled herself and sat up, the battle had already begun.

“Stay behind me!” Gilby shouted.

He stood between her and the spear-toothed cat with nothing but his bloodied knife for protection. The sled was overturned, which explained why she’d tumbled, and there were claw marks in the side of the basket. Since she’d been lowest to the ground and easiest to reach, the cat must have lunged for her first.

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