He couldn’t. Despite his standing in the House of the Cardinal.
This test of value to the Djinn wasn’t Rebekka’s alone.
Torquel landed on a branch close to where the shaman, healer, and pack alpha stood near the challenge circle. He ruffled red and black feathers as he settled to listen.
“It won’t anger the ancestors if she remains on our lands,” Nahuatl said, and Torquel smiled inwardly.
There were ties to the Djinn among the Were ancestors, just as Djinn blood ran through many of the alpha lines. It had been diluted over time, but it still manifested in the ability to speak mentally to those sharing a family bond, to shift form quickly and have greater endurance.
Addai had done his work well in convincing the shaman to listen and accept what must have seemed like the words of malicious spirits. Death didn’t necessarily change the nature of those who crossed over to live in the Were shadowlands. Troublemakers existed, those who took delight in meddling.
The alpha’s expression didn’t change but Torquel could read Koren’s tension. He worried for his son’s fate yet he was trapped by duty to the pack. “How long do you need?”
Phaedra pursed her lips. “A day, perhaps two, to memorize what’s in the journal. That assumes she won’t be called away to heal or her voice doesn’t fail her from reading the passages.”
A muscle twitched in Koren’s cheek. “Two days. She leaves our lands sooner if you finish before then. She remains longer only if it’s absolutely necessary.”
Wolf howls drifted into the clearing from nearby, a song of woe and entreaty that rose and fell without cessation to become a haunting melody.
It brought Aryck to his father’s side. “Go,” Koren said. “Choose two others and take them with you.”
Torquel let his physical form dissolve in a swirl of air that made the oak leaves rustle softly. So Caphriel’s moves in this game begin to play out.
Seventeen
ARYCK couldn’t stop thinking about Rebekka. Her scent, her heat, her soft, lush body as it lay beneath him.
He’d intended to wake in his furred form to avoid temptation and another argument about the outcast. But whether it was beast or man that initiated the change as he slept, the moment he’d awakened and felt her against him he’d wanted her more than he’d ever wanted another female. He’d felt whole, his two Earth-bound souls in perfect harmony.
It broke no laws to couple with her. The trouble lay in what could happen afterward, what lengths he might go to to keep her, and how quickly he would be made outcast because of his actions.
His stomach knotted at the prospect of facing his father or a new enforcer in the challenge circle. Of being brought to the ancestors’ attention for judgment, though he could be cast from the pack by the alpha’s word alone.
What made worry congeal in his gut was suspecting the Jaguar might not care. It hated being away from Rebekka, had raged and clawed and fought to dominate until the wolf song brought unity to human and Jaguar souls. And still Aryck felt edgy. Out of sorts.
He wanted to finish what they’d begun. He could no longer deny the need driving him, leaving him constantly hard and aching. Nor could he pretend he would be able to give her care over to Levi, not without paying the price and becoming rogue, the separation between human and Jaguar souls nearly irreparable.
When he wasn’t thinking about tearing away the barrier of her panties and thrusting into her, he was remembering her words and questioning his beliefs about outcasts. What if not all of them had been judged by the ancestors? What if sometimes they were simply the product of genetics, as Rebekka claimed?
Fear expanded in his chest at the image of her heavy with his child. That was what the Jaguar’s choosing of a mate meant. But what if their offspring weren’t pure of form?
Aryck pushed himself to go faster, trying to outrun the questions and the implications. Instead new ones found him.
Was he being tested by the ancestors? Or did they want to bind Rebekka to the Jaguars?
The pack knew of her existence only because of the ancestors. And while there were others who had the strength and ability to retrieve her, they’d ensured he was the one sent.
Deep inside his psyche the Jaguar purred in approval at the thought, absolutely convinced she was meant to be its mate. Fear lost its grip on Aryck’s heart, though there was no time for further contemplation.
The wolves came into view. Five of them paced in their furred forms while their leader stood, legs apart in buckskin trousers with knives strapped to his thighs.
They were trespassing well within Jaguar lands. It was a challenge that wouldn’t have gone unanswered previously. But coming on the heels of what happened to the cubs, their song containing such heart-felt entreaty allowed an opening for peace rather than violence.
“You dare much,” Aryck said, meeting the Wolf’s gaze and holding it.
The Wolf’s lips tilted upward in a slight smile. “As did you when you crossed our lands with a human. Had it been left to me, you wouldn’t have been allowed to pass without losing fur, blood, and possibly your life. But wiser heads prevailed. Or so it would seem. We have need of the healer.”
So I was right, Aryck thought. Crossing Wolf lands he’d felt watched. He’d wondered at the ease of doing it. “Why do you need Rebekka?”
“A family group became suddenly ill. Seven of them in all, a mated pair with three of their adult offspring and two young pups. They returned to the village and began convulsing, then quickly lapsed into unconsciousness.”
“Poison? Humans from the encampment have driven into Wolf lands.”
“Our healer can find no trace of poison. And like your alpha, ours has decided to play a waiting game in the hopes the humans will leave after they’ve finished their salvage operation. We followed the tracks left by their vehicles but found no evidence they’d done anything but look for ruins to excavate.”
The Wolf’s answer felt and smelled like the truth to Aryck. He sought his father out mentally, replaying the conversation.
Turn the healer over to them if they will agree to two conditions. She must be returned to us after she is finished seeing to their sick. And both she and the Lion outcast must be safely escorted through Wolf territory when it is time for them to return to Oakland.
Three conditions, Aryck said, fighting to keep the growl from his mental voice. I will accompany her when she goes to heal the Wolves.
A long pause filled with disapproval followed. Three, his father agreed, voice terse.
Aryck conveyed his father’s terms. The Wolf didn’t hesitate to agree to them.
“Remain here,” Aryck said. “I’ll go get Rebekka.”
He returned to the cabin given to Rebekka. Entering after a knock, a smile formed at encountering Caius’s scent mixed with that of flowers.
Delicate purple blossoms drew him to the makeshift vase on the small table. He touched a petal with his fingertip, stroked its softness, and thought of Rebekka’s skin before turning away and leaving the cabin.
Around back the fire in the pit no longer held heat, though the smell of sausage grease lingered. His smile faded when instead of heading in the direction of Phaedra’s house or the small clearing serving as both formal and informal gathering place, Rebekka and the Tiger cub’s scents went into the woods.
It wasn’t dangerous, not this close to camp, but he didn’t like her wandering with only the cub for protection. He followed, his frown turning into a pulling back of lips accompanied by a low growl when he realized their destination.
Canino. He should have anticipated Caius would seek Rebekka out and ask about the Tiger male.