Amber's face became set like stone.
"Come, come. So shy," Sandoor said in a provoking tone. "Let us see if we can make it worthy of your while, then. All present here are free to challenge my son one at a time. Any who are able to defeat him may have first stab, shall we say, at the new Queen. Tonight. All night long."
Every eye turned upon me. I felt like a helpless, tender rabbit trapped among a pack of starving wolves.
"'If you are able to defeat all who wish to challenge you, Amber, you may remain with your Queen and let her have the rest you believe she so desperately needs one last night. If you can muster control of yourself, afterward." Sandoor smiled most nastily. "It may even be better for her if you did not win. A small consideration for you to chew over."
I had an unpleasant feeling, like I was missing something vital again. Then it was too late. Balzaar was pulling off his clothes. Amber kicked off his shoes and stepped out of his pants. A prickling surge of energy and they were changing, shifting, falling onto all fours, their faces distorting, heads flattening, muzzles growing, a wash of heavy fur flowing.
All the men backed away, including Sandoor, creating a wide circle fringing the perimeter of the clearing. Aquila lifted me to my feet, his grip unbreakable but not bruising, in that conscious strength that strong men used. He dragged me backward, almost into the trees. My legs quivered but held me upright. I damned my weakness.
Before my eyes, in a transformation so quick and complete, Amber became a vicious mountain lion of enormous size. His civilized facade was stripped away and lethal, razor-sharp teeth glistened as he snarled savagely in that chilling, purely animalistic manner seen only in creatures most wild. Deadly muscles rippled under that sleek, tawny coat. Yet strikingly cold intelligence glittered in those crystal-clear amber eyes. Those same eyes that had looked upon me during the heat of passion. Eyes that looked so right on the vicious creature he had become.
With a scream that curdled my blood, the big cat launched itself at the towering black bear that had risen onto his hind legs. With a roar, the bear's thick, powerful upper limbs wrapped around the cat as they rolled to the ground, with Amber's razor-sharp teeth buried in the bear's throat.
Sharp claws slashed, a heavy blow, and blood streaked obscenely in Amber's tawny coat as he tumbled away. The cat's sharp teeth had broken through his opponent's skin, but the bear's coarse, thick hair had prevented deeper damage.
It became a game of strategy: the mountain lion's speed, agility, and pouncing quickness against the bear's slower but more powerful strikes, deadly strength, and thick protective coat. Amber springing and attacking, again and again, slashing, biting, inflicting superficial but not serious damage. Balzaar defending, retaliating, landing fewer but more damaging hits that drew more and more blood.
I swallowed the cries that rose to my throat with each landing blow, knowing they would serve no purpose but to distract Amber.
Balzaar was playing a game of endurance, his greatest strength, waiting for Amber to weaken. A smart strategy, particularly when Amber's strength had already been greatly lessened by six days of slow starvation from caring for me day and night.
The sounds of battle filled the quiet night. I turned to face Aquila and was stopped by the warning press of his blade against my skin.
"Face forward, Lady, and kindly keep your hands lowered," he issued quietly from behind me.
That's right. What I'd done to Miles with my hands, branding him, had apparently frightened the men enough to have Sandoor consider cutting them off.
I shivered. We had to get out of here. Amber was fighting with body and flesh. I was too weakened to battle that way, so I would fight another way.
There seemed to be no real meanness in Aquila, no hatred of women that I could detect, unlike Sandoor. Though I did not particularly like Sandoor, I believed without doubt what he had stated. All of these men had become too powerful for their Queens and had joined Sandoor, outcasts, rogues, because there was no other place where they could go and still live.
I issued my invitation to Aquila in the barest of whispers. "All who come to me with an honest and willing heart, I will accept into my service."
Battle raged before me but it was the silence behind me that held me. I knew Aquila had heard me.
"The offer expires in twenty-four hours. Tell the others, but not Greeves or those of his ilk."
Aquila's non-answer was answer enough. He would consider it and would not tell Sandoor—yet. It was enough for now. It had to be enough. But it was damnably hard convincing myself of that when Amber, visibly slowing, gave a screaming shriek of pain as Balzaar delivered another slashing blow and charged at his tired opponent, sensing his weakness.
With a sudden burst of speed, Amber leaped over Balzaar and ripped at his unprotected rear. Balzaar spun around with a raging roar and slashing paws. Amber ducked, but instead of springing away he surged forward, slashing the bear's vulnerable face, blinding one eye and ripping through the tender nose. With a bellow of pain, Balzaar spun away and loped into the forest.
The big mountain lion stood alone in the clearing, an injured predator, flanks heaving, blood sullenly oozing from deep gouges on his left back, shoulder, and right belly, waiting for the next challenge.
With a vicious snarl, his next challenger attacked. It was a silver wolf. Teeth clashed, claws ripped, and more blood flowed. The wolf danced around the large cat, darting in and nipping at his flanks. A powerful, retaliating blow from Amber's sharp, ripping claw and the wolf was rolling away. The wolf sprung to his feet in lightning-fast movement and leaped again. They clashed in the air, heavy bodies impacting one against the other. The wolf's teeth sank deep into Amber's throat. With a cry of fury, the big cat jerked free. Tawny fur and a chunk of meat ripped away was the price of that freedom. Blood oozed but didn't spurt.
He missed the artery, I told my thumping heart, but it continued to hammer away mercilessly in my chest so that my head spun and the ground swayed. The hand gripping me became supportive rather than restraining. I ground my teeth and desperately clung to consciousness with dogged determination. I would not faint.
With a sudden pounce, Amber grabbed the wolf by the throat. With casual, almost disdainful strength, he threw the smaller animal in the air. The animal sailed for some distance—his blood did spurt—and landed ten feet away with a yelp of pain. Tail tucked down between his legs, he fled into the woods, leaving behind a trail of pumping blood.
There was no waiting in the next attack. A flash of spotted fur rushed at Amber. It was Greeves. Top-heavy Greeves, whose big head and wide shoulders looked quite natural in his other form—a massive hyena with a most frightening, smiling grimace twisting that intelligent face. His weaker hindquarters were compensated by his massive head and powerful jaws. He attacked with sly cunning, darting in with sudden lunges, teeth snapping, pulling back, circling, twisting, and lunging again each time Amber evaded those deadly jaws.
Hyenas were better known as scavengers and carrion feeders. People often forgot that they were active and skilled predators in their own right. I knew I would never forget that oft-overlooked fact as I fixed my eyes upon those vicious teeth, dark pigmented lips curled back in a sly, snarling smile.
Amber twisted and slipped on a patch of blood-soaked grass and Greeves lunged for his throat. Sharp teeth locked together like a steel trap in a deadly grip. I gasped and cried out, unaware I had stepped forward until I was pulled back and locked securely against Aquila.