The wielders are coming, and they're ready for violence.
With a cub in her arms, Arietta James, a dedicated vet technician in training, flees for her life and the life of the little shifter she's ready to die to protect. Her escape lands her right i...
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A woman slipped gracefully from the brush, her gait silent and strong—something similar to that of a great cat's.
Arietta tried to calm her thundering heart. It wasn't a team of shifters here to kill her. The more she thought about it, the more she realized if they had wanted her dead, Gavriel had had plenty of opportunities already.
The woman's eyes went straight to Arietta, focusing with a sharp prick against Arietta's skin. An emotion settled over her expression; one she couldn't pinpoint.
The woman tucked the emotion under hollow concern. "What happened?"
Gavriel made a noise in his throat, a growl that sent goosebumps spiking over her skin. That was not a human noise. "We will find out," he told the woman. "Until then..." he waved a hand in Arietta and Naya's direction.
Arietta coughed, the wracking motion zapping the very energy from her bones. She sat down on the forest floor.
Glancing upward, she finally spotted it in the distance. There, tucked among the other trees, was a treehouse that all but moulded itself into its surroundings. Brown, covered with ivy, and nestled neatly into the brush, it was a large structure hiding in plain sight.
Had this been their destination?
Naya untucked herself from her bundle, mewed, and burrowed into Arietta's lap. Arietta absently stroked along the creature's ears, delight warring with the anxiety inside her as the cat purred.
From the side, Gavriel leaned against the thick, burly trunk of a large tree, his pose relaxed as he watched her. His gaze was a weighted blanket against her skin. Beneath it was the heavy stone of packed questions left unvoiced.
She'd be happy to answer all of his questions should they be about Naya. Assuming she'd live long enough to actually answer them.
The woman approached, a small pack over her left shoulder. She settled in front of Arietta, right there on the forest floor, and began pulling items out. Her movements were quick and swift in a way that spoke of familiarity. "Any pain?"
Arietta automatically shook her head and gathered Naya up. She held the black leopard cub out to the woman. "Naya first. Please." If she wasn't in the condition she was in, she'd have checked for herself. But right now, it took too much of her focus just to remind herself to keep breathing.
The woman frowned, but nodded. "Has she been hurt? Injured?"
"I don't think so. Just smoke inhalation. Please—" another cough, the sound wet and loud, interrupted her.
"Did you come from the city?" The woman asked.
Slowly, Arietta shook her head.
The woman scooped Naya up and held her tiny body near her ear for a prolonged moment. "Her heart rate is normal," the woman determined. "No signs of smoke inhalation or strain on her lungs."
