Page 8 of King of Forest and Fur

“Don’t give me any excuses. You can alter past events. I know you can. And you’re going to do that for me. I don’t deserve this life I have now. I should be ruling supreme. Not locked in a prison awaiting death.”

Leila found his reasoning too outrageous to do anything but tell him off. This man was out of his mind and needed help. And it wasn’t the kind she could help with.

“Sir, you need to leave. Right now.”

“I don’t think so,” he said threateningly.

It was all she could do to hold her focus and keep her demeanor. If she lost control, she wouldn’t be able to do the magic she would need to get her out of whatever mess this was.

“Listen.”

“No, you listen, bitch,” he seethed. “If you don’t do what I’ve asked then I’ll just have to remove you as a threat. Not like it would take much,” he chortled disgustingly looking her up and down. “In fact, I may just enjoy that route. What do you say? Because no matter whether you want to or not, this is going to happen for me.”

Suddenly, Leila realized why this man intimidated her. He was a shifter.

She hated that shifters could hide so easily in plain sight, even to her. Usually, she could get an aura reading or energy shift as long as she paid attention, but being caught off guard didn’t allow for that.

He stepped toward her, shoving the desk easily out of the way, removing anything standing between them.

Every time he stepped, Leila retreated until she hit the wall. There was nowhere to go. She looked up, panicked to have backed herself into a corner. The man loomed over her. She hadn’t realized how much bigger he was.

No, wait…

He was shifting!

His features began to distort terribly, first in his face.

Leila was too frightened and enthralled by watching the shift. She had never seen one before and it was beautifully terrifying.

Then, his claws were grown and he swiped at her.

Leila screamed as her situation came crashing over her with sudden reality. She was sure this was it. He was too powerful for her to overthrow, even with magic and the space too small.

The once-bald man was now starting to grow thick black fur as his paw wrapped its still human fingers around her throat.

Suddenly, her office door was kicked open with such force that it landed against the far wall.

A bear of a man came bursting through, his golden green-brown eyes full of fire as he looked around wildly until his eyes found the shifter that had Leila by the throat.

“Drystan!” the intimidating, yet handsome, man growled.

The shifter’s head turned.

The distraction was enough for Leila to react to the powers in her body that suddenly were amplified. She felt stronger than ever before, and without a moment’s thought, Leila sent out a boom of magic.

Purple light blasted through the room, erupting from Leila. The blast shot her assailant away from her with force, but Leila never heard him hit a wall.

The purple glow faded, and the walls of her office were no longer there. The whole academy wasn’t there.

Leila tried to gather her bearings. Where was she? But exhaustion suddenly overtook her. The last thing she saw was the handsome stranger rushing to her side before darkness overtook her.

FOUR

REHN

Once Rehn and his men had the academy in view, they split to cover more ground. It was a large campus and too many places to hide.

Idris remained with Rehn when the team split. They wouldn’t part until they had entered the building.

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