Page 40 of Alokar
The moment I felt certain Yaard was far enough away not to overhear, I wriggled frantically out from under the weight of the decaying elk hide, gasping as relatively fresh air filled mylungs. Then I rolled across the cave floor, ignoring the sharp stones that bit into my flesh, until I found a rock with a jagged edge sharp enough to serve my purpose.
I positioned my bound wrists against the stone’s edge and began scrubbing the leather bindings back and forth. Each movement sent fresh waves of agony through my shoulders and spine, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop.
I needed to get free. Ewok would come for me—I knew it with every fiber of my being. And when he arrived, I was going to help him kill that bastard Yaard.
Chapter 16
Ewok
I could feel myself changing. My blood pumped molten steel through my veins, muscles swelling and rippling as they readied for battle. My father, Daicon, told me once that fighting for one’s mate strengthens you. This was no longer a fight for vengeance or to deliver justice. Yaard had dared to touch Hannah. He would die for it.
I followed Hannah’s scent through the forest, catching precious snippets of it on the leaves of small bushes or the rough bark of the trees. She was marking the path for me. My brilliant, brave mate.
I tracked her for miles as she ascended the mountain. Leaving the dense foliage behind for jagged rocky crags and sharp outcroppings. Hannah’s scent was sweet, but acrid with fear, and it made my heart clench with rage. I’d lost the faint whiff of Yaard’s scent I’d caught before, but the smell of rotting carrion remained overwhelming. Without a doubt the bastard had my mate.
When I arrived at an area riddled with small dens and caves, Hannah’s scent completely evaporated, leaving only the suffocating musk of animals and decay to fill the air. Despite her essence fading, something deep in my bones told me she wasn’tfar. It was more than intuition—a magnetic pull that seemed to vibrate through my very core, an invisible thread connecting us. Every nerve ending hummed with the certainty of her presence.
“Hannah!” I roared her name. I knew Yaard hadn’t killed her yet. No, he’d want to do it while I watched, savoring my anguish.
The only answer I received came in the form of birds shrieking as they took panicked flight and the frantic scamper of tiny feet as small animals fled the upcoming carnage.
Then the forest went quiet. Too quiet. As if the wilderness held its breath, dreading the battle to come.
“Ewok!”
Hannah’s scream shattered the silence, my attention jerking in her direction just in time to see Yaard leap from behind a pile of boulders, swinging a massive bone like a war club.
I dodged his swing easily thanks to the warning from my mate. Yaard had not trained as a warrior, but he was desperate and cornered, which made him a deadly opponent.
He swung again, and I rolled to the side as Yaard’s bone club smashed into the ground, sending rock fragments flying. He stood almost as tall as me, his massive frame casting a shadow across the rocky clearing, but size meant nothing if you couldn’t land a hit.
“Little princeling, all grown up. You will be the one who dies today.” Yaard snarled, spittle flying from his yellowed fangs. “And then I will feast upon your mate!”
Rage flooded my veins. I lunged forward, claws extended, aiming for his throat. Yaard swung the club in a wide arc, forcingme to duck low. The bone whistled over my head as I changed my tactics and swept his legs, sending him stumbling backward.
He recovered faster than I expected, bringing the club down in a vicious overhead strike. I caught his wrist with both hands, our muscles straining against each other. His breath reeked of rotting meat and madness.
“She will watch you die,” he growled, pushing down with all his weight. “And I will taste her flesh.”
“You will be the one who dies today,” I promised.
I twisted sharply, using his momentum against him, and drove my knee into his ribs. The satisfying crack of bone echoed through the clearing. Yaard roared in pain and fury, backhanding me across the face with his free hand. Stars exploded across my vision as I stumbled.
The club came at me again. This time I wasn’t fast enough. It caught me on the shoulder, sending me sprawling. Pain shot down my arm, but I rolled away just as the club smashed into the stone where my head had been seconds before.
“Ewok!” Hannah’s voice rang out, a mix of terror and determination. I swung my gaze to her, only for a second, but long enough to catch her rattled appearance and notice the bruise forming along the side of her face.
Yaard dared to touch her... to hurt her.
I sprang to my feet, blood trickling from cuts on my face and hands. Yaard circled me like a predator, the bone club dripping with my blood. I studied him the way my father, Daicon, had taught me, watching his movements, even the cadence of his breath. I could see it now—the slight favor hewas giving his left side where I’d broken his ribs. The way his breathing had turned ragged.
Time to end this.
I feinted left, then dove right as he swung. My claws found their mark, raking across his thigh and opening four deep gashes. Yaard screamed and stumbled, dark blood streaming down his leg.
“My turn,” I growled.
I grabbed a jagged rock and hurled it at his face. He raised the club to block it, and in that split second of distraction, I was on him. My claws sank deep into his chest as we crashed to the ground, rolling and clawing at each other like the wild beasts we were.
