Page 35 of Of Daggers and Deceit

“A prey shifter,” he clarified. I assessed his stance, his movements, any twitch or flick of his eyes for his next move as he cocked an eyebrow.

“Not a prey shifter, but something else,” I confirmed, twirling the hilt of the daggers rapidly in my hands.

He responded with a knowing smirk. “Yes. I do believe I’ve heard about you. I’ve been waiting a very long time for you to show up. Seven years, in fact. You’re exactly as he described.”

I bristled. That was the year after Jak stole from me. I knew nothing about this male, though he seemed to know me. He was a liar, trying to distract and beat me at my own game. Clever, deceptive Dominant.

Calling his bluff, I chuckled darkly, raising my daggers and modifying my stance, preparing to move. “I don’t think so, Dominant.” His lips curled upward at my refusal.

He strode forward a few steps, so casual and confident, not a sign of a weapon on him. When he was almost directly in front of me, he paused and allowed his body to fold forward a fraction.

“Don’t you, Raya?” he asked, his voice pitched low.

Shock paralysed me momentarily, and then adrenaline and rage erupted through me, throwing me into action. I lunged and swung my dagger in line with his shoulder as he dodged back, grabbing my wrist with incredible speed. I used my other dagger to stab in the direction of his throat as he leaned back and fastened his other hand around me, locking my arms in diagonals across my body. I reared back then slammed forward, trying to headbutt him, but he anticipated the move and pushed my arms back towards me, causing me to stumble my way back towards the cliff wall until my back was pressed firmly against it.

I looked up at him in fury, his dark skin a compliment to the tan of my own. His yellow eyes flashed and his nostrils flared. He leaned in and ran the tip of his nose along my jaw, breathing me in, causing my pulse to peak at a deafening roar in my ear. My stomach fluttered, his sinful mouth reaching my ear to nip the lobe.

“I like a feisty female,” he murmured.

I turned my head sharply towards him, our mouths inches apart. Disgusting Dominant. “Then this will feel good,” I whispered, my eyes meeting his.

I pretended to close the distance between us, him too arrogantly enraptured in the moment as I jerked my knee up into his crotch, forcing a rush of air out of his lungs. But the asshole never faltered in his grip on my arms; I kicked out and struggled beneath the weight of his body. He shoved my knee across me, pinning me to the wall beneath him.

“You have a choice, Raya: we can do this the easy way, where you walk with me through to Asrar, or I can pin you down and drag you through myself. Either way, I will not fail this mission.” He gritted the words out through clenched teeth, and I felt a small bit of joy at the fact that this behemoth of a Dominant was hurting. My efforts were not entirely wasted.

I smiled with a hum, leaning forward, feeling more confident. Closer to his face now, I stared right into his eerie, yellow-green eyes.

“Neither of those options seems to suit me.” I was born to challenge, and I was determined to protect those I loved.

His eyes narrowed, and his mouth opened to retort, but I’d engaged my power and disappeared to the side with him, swiftly kicking him off me whilst he was disoriented. Then, I portaled again, reappearing near the edge of the rock where he’d first arrived. I turned back and watched as he quickly scrambled to his feet. He scanned left and right and then whirled around, nostrils flaring as he seemed to locate me by scent.

His skin began to ripple as he huffed out his anger, his features beginning to contort. I stared at him for a moment in panic, acting on my gut’s instinctive cry to run. I turned and leapt off the edge, not bothering to wait for the animal to come.

I would hate to stick around for whatever it was that Dominant could shift into.

RAYA

The ground rushed up to meet me in my freefall, which had a different kind of terror coursing through me. I quickly assessed the desert below, choosing to focus on that unguarded flicker of light shining through, illuminating the shimmering narrow gateway in our shield. That was where I would be needed most, right in the thick of it, right in the action.

I would be the last barrier to prevent them from crossing with a coveted Omega.

With the wind whipping violently against my skin, I portaled closer, materialising with a thud and taking off across the landscape towards it, careful not to expend too much more of my gift. Not until I needed it.

Every step I took was intentionally light, trying to avoid my feet sinking into the shifting sand as I ran. Still, it wasn’t 100 percent effective, with the resistance adding more weight to my hard-working legs, fatiguing them. Nervous sweat coated my brow despite the crisp air around me. I listened intently for any sounds that drew closer, careful to get to my desired location without opposition. Hopefully, that Dominant did not follow me.

I swiped at the drop of sweat that trickled down my face, spying the light of the entryway much closer than before. I hoped Bodhi couldn’t see me running towards it right now. I knew he would not approve.

A hoarse, grating screech sounded directly behind me, the heavy beat of wings nearby quickening my heart rate, my breaths coming out in heaving puffs of air beneath my exertion. I risked a look over my shoulder with wide eyes and threw myself forward into the sand, copping a lump of it straight into my mouth as a flying shifter dipped low, its sharpened claws raking down my back, tearing deep marks right through my suit, exposing my skin.

I scrambled, swatting my tongue with my fingers, scraping the sand out to spit on the floor, dispelling whatever I could. With a swipe of my forearm, I cleared whatever sand had hindered my vision, my gaze jumping wildly about, desperate to find the Dominant who had attacked me.

I blinked quickly, surveying the area to find my attacker. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Damn it. I looked higher, right up near the light of the moon, where I spotted something right below it that became clearer the more I focused.

A white, speckled blur against the clear night sky soaring directly in the air up ahead sparked something familiar inside me the moment it glided in a circle with effortless precision.

I knew this shifter, this terrible, vile Dominant who, on the orders of Jakari, took the only things I truly had left of my father. His wonderful journals had inspired my passion for Celestial Mapping, made me understand and fall in love with the sky above me.

This Dominant took everything valuable from my family and left me a wrecked and broken thing in the dirt, seizing it for their vile ends. My emotions still felt as potent as the day he had stolen from me, except now, I was a woman who could wield a weapon. I was a woman who could control her power.

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