Page 78 of I Married A Catman

“You would turn on your own family and fight your own blood?!” Oluina exclaimed as she watched her cousin dismount.

“You’re the one who turned on our family years ago,” Ylis said, her tone sharp enough to cut through metal. “You were warned and stubbornly chose this path. Now you reap what you sowed. That pathetic Alpha of yours drove off every good male the Pride ever had, got them killed or incarcerated. Now you don’t get to crawl over here trying to get back the truest Alpha we’ve ever had. There’s a reason why your last feast drew absolutely no one.”

She turned to stare at Moriak, examining him from top to bottom with an air of pure disgust. She waved at him before turning to her cousin.

“This is what you put above the welfare of a Pride that had endured for generations. And today, no male will want to put their lives at the mercy of that fool. Good luck attracting new blood to Nevian with your poorly trained huntresses, this sorry excuse of an Alpha, and your outdated village,” Ylis hissed. “You made the place so foul we left our home. Now leave and never come back. We both know the outcome of a duel between us.”

For the first time, I felt true pity for Oluina. In many ways, her mother turned her into this spoiled and entitled brat. According to rumors—apparently confirmed by the fact she didn’t argue Ylis’s statement—not a single male showed up at the feast they held a week after the outcome of the disastrous raid had gone public. It was rare for a Pride to be blacklisted. But it was now Nevian’s case. Unlike the other villages who had lost many males, our Alpha had known about the trap and deliberately chose to ignore it and not warn the others.

No wonder Rozel was desperate for me to return. Forgiveness from me would signal to others that the villagedeserved a second chance, and that maybe the rumors about their criminal negligence in this disaster were in fact exaggerated.

Eyes brimming with tears of helpless rage, Oluina cast one last glance filled with hatred at my mate, then one of betrayal at her cousin before turning around and walking away. Tension slowly bled out of my shoulders as I cast a grateful smile at Ylis.

Behind her, Moriak drew my attention. He was staring in turn at me and at the village with seething rage. I didn’t need to read minds to know he believed this place should be his to lead. Unable to resist, I gave him a taunting smile before winking at him. He bared his teeth at me, and I held this gaze, daring him to issue the challenge I was praying for.

I could see him genuinely considering it. He blamed me for how his life had been upended. Moriak was too much of a narcissist to acknowledge how his own actions and choices led him to this moment. At the same time, his survival instincts told him not to be even more foolish than he’d already been. A defeat at my hands before so many witnesses, especially the top huntresses of what was left of their Pride would be the final blow to his already crumbling future.

Just when he looked about to choose the wiser path and go back to Nevian with his tail between his legs, movement at the edge of my vision drew my attention. As if in slow motion, I watched Oluina spin around and throw something in our direction. Alarmed shouts resonated all around us as I stared in horror at a sharp dagger flying straight for my woman. On instinct, I shoved Ophelia out of the way half a second before the blade would have embedded itself in her neck.

I hissed at the burning sensation of the blade slicing through the skin and muscle of my upper arm. It wasn’t a critical wound, but deep enough that it would likely require a few stitches. But a blind rage took over me. I raced towards Oluina, whowas pulling out a second dagger. Simultaneously, Moriak burst into action. Their companions appeared frozen in shock and disbelief.

And then mayhem broke out.

Chapter 19

Ophelia

Ihad never been the violent type, but for the first time in my life I truly wanted to harm someone in the most vicious fashion. The mere thought of my fist connecting repeatedly with that wretched female’s face was literally orgasmic. The absolute gall of Oluina and her mother just blew my mind. In what world would Gaelec apologize to them or even consider returning to the life of near servitude and helplessness they had trapped him in? Especially considering what he had now…

But it was also her shameless cowardice that she would try to duel me that made her all the more despicable. Even the two huntresses who had accompanied her looked increasingly disgusted with her behavior. The stupid bitch didn’t know when to quit. She just kept digging her grave deeper and deeper. Although they were all relatives, I could see these two females either demanding that she step down as Head Huntress or for them to decide to leave the Pride as well.

As relieved as I felt to see Ylis return just in time to send that foul lot back from whence they came, I had not actually fearedfor my own safety. The entire village would have stepped in to keep her from assaulting me. It would have simply sucked to have the story going around about how all the males of the Gyota Pride ganged up on a huntress, beating her into submission before casting her out merely because she had wanted to challenge their matriarch. It didn’t take much to destroy a reputation. Sadly, a mere whisper often sufficed as people were usually far too lazy to actually investigate the truth and facts behind the rumors they heard.

The smile stretching my lips as I watched Gaelec silently taunt Moriak when Oluina finally decided to leave turned to shock and then horror when my mate suddenly shoved me out of the way. It was only as I fell back from the strength of the push that I finally understood what had prompted what looked like an unprovoked attack. Almost in a blur, I saw a blade flash by, right where my face had been but seconds prior, slicing through my husband’s arm in the process.

A painful gasp escaped me half a beat later as I landed hard on my butt, and a lancing pain radiated through my leg. But I cast the pain right out of my mind. Fueled by adrenaline, I jumped back onto my feet and whipped out my blaster while everyone around us appeared to burst into action. My surroundings faded, my whole world entirely focused on my nemesis as I watched her yanking out a second dagger from her weapons belt. Before it even had a chance to leave her hand, I had my blaster trained on her, and I fired without hesitation.

The shot struck her straight in the chest. The way she flew back before landing hard on the ground, you’d think she’d been hit by a battering ram. It was somewhat accurate. Her entire body began to shake, rocked by violent spasms of the powerful electric discharge from my blaster set to maximum Taser mode. I silently thanked all the powers that be that I had opened thelatch that kept my blaster secured in its holster on my hips as soon as I realized who was coming.

I liked being ready in case of foul play. And today, that might have saved a life.

Ylis and the other females of our Pride—who had been rushing towards Oluina to intercept her after her initial attack—shifted as one with an eerie level of synchronism to tackle the other two females who had come with her cousin.

But I only had eyes for my husband. Like our females, seeing Oluina out of commission, he instantly switched his attention to Moriak, who was coming at him with his spear raised. That angered me far more than it freaked me out. Having seen my mate battle the idiots who had sought to depose him, I had no worries about his skills on that front. However, duels never involved piercing weapons as they were not to the death. He should be using a staff, like Gaelec was, or settle for a fist fight should the proper type of weapon not be available. Granted, he was visibly acting on instinct to seeing his Head Huntress knocked out.

But that fight literally ended in less than a minute.

The two males, approximately ten meters apart, ran towards each other. Kazaer, Faran, and Danel were rushing Latsa and Olmar, who immediately raised their hands in surrender.

Gaelec only ran three steps towards Moriak before leaping forward like a jaguar. I’d read about Nazhrals being similar to many felines in their abilities to jump five to six times their own height. But this blew my mind. My mate shot forward like a bullet, taking his opponent by surprise, who then attempted to jump over him.

Mid-air, Gaelec twisted around, slamming Moriak’s legs with his staff just as he was leaping over him. The latter cried out as he was sent crashing onto the ground, face first. His attempt at twisting into landing on all fours failed miserably. But my man,carried by his momentum, landed into a roll and directly back onto his paws. He raced back to his rival, who was scrambling to get up. Another savage blow of Gaelec’s staff on the back of his legs had him roaring in pain.

Pressing his knee on the small of his back, my mate yanked Moriak’s head back by his mane and swiped his right hand in front of his throat. For half a beat, I thought he’d slit the fool’s throat. To my relief, his hand stopped but a few centimeters from his neck, vicious claws extruded, ready to finish him.

“I yield!” Moriak shouted, his voice filled with pain and panic.

A slow, steady growl flowed out of my mate as he continued to hold his nemesis’ head back, making him bend backward at an angle that had to be excruciating. Judging by the force with which Gaelec fisted his hair on his nape, I was surprised a clump hadn’t been torn right off.

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