Page 4 of Orange Tundra
If the situation weren't so dire, I might have appreciated the irony. Here I fought to reach my own mate—one who might no longer be mine.
"Zirc! Snap out of it!" Axad shouted from below. "Nim and Sim will never forgive you for this!"
His words meant nothing. Zirc was lost within me, and I reveled in this freedom. The Purple tribe's royal heirs' disapproval was the least of my concerns.
"Why are you not helping them?" someone asked the watching Elders.
"The Elders cannot intervene when it's a matter between tribes," came the official response.
"But Lead Elder?—"
"He is right. If we break this law now, the High Council will disband the Elders."
Politics. Always politics, even as blood spilled.
I grunted as Rage landed a powerful punch to my ribs. If I were any weaker, the blow might have killed me. He leveraged his legs to dislodge me, but I maintained my grip on his throat, drawing blood.
A familiar roar sounded behind me.
Axad's beast, Blur, had joined the fray. He stood beside me, not fully transformed but ready. I didn't need his help—I could defeat them all.
But then he surprised me. Instead of attacking Rage, he kicked Rules away and tugged at me, pulling me from the fight. My surprise gave him the advantage. He blurred past the other guards, his speed living up to his name.
A new scent filled the air—Cruuvex, another friend from our inner circle. Would he betray us too? Or had Axad told him the truth about Roqs?
I allowed Blur to lead me away. He wanted us free. Cruuvex kept pace in his manasty form, his movement impressively fluid for one not transformed.
We reached a hidden cave, one known only to those familiar with the secret pathways of the mountain.
"You don't look good, my friend," Cruuvex said, studying my eyes. "Why are you hiding behind your beast, Zirc?"
I showed him my teeth, saliva dripping. I wasn't hiding. I was free.
Cruuvex sighed. "This is serious. You need to bring Zirc back to the surface."
"I think only Roqs can bring him back now," Axad panted, keeping his distance.
"What happened, Axad?" Cruuvex asked.
Axad glanced at me warily. He positioned himself just far enough away that a normal manasty wouldn't overhear. But my senses were sharper than most.
"Roqs is mated to another manasty," Axad said quietly. "A White Tribe male."
The words confirmed what I'd already sensed. I growled, a hollow ache spreading through my chest. The bond I'd shared with Roqs—the one we'd cultivated for years—had been severed by something new and unexpected.
I shook the blood from my fur, trying to clear my thoughts. Rage wouldn't be enough to sustain me now. I needed purpose. Direction.
Roqs was out there somewhere. And so was Brin, whose scent lingered in my memory—sweet and strange and somehow right. Coone, my other mate, would protect her. I needed to find Brin. Find them.
Crix would have machines that could track her. Technology beyond tribal capabilities.
"Crix," I growled, the name rough in my beast throat.
Axad nodded, understanding immediately. "He might be able to help us locate them."
Cruuvex followed closely as we darted into the shadows, his loyalty unquestioned despite everything. I moved with single-minded purpose now. I would find Roqs. I would confront this White Tribe interloper. I would discover whyhehad chosen another.
And beneath it all pulsed the certainty that Roqs wouldn't abandon Brin, not after everything they'd been through. Where Brin was, Coone would be also. And where Coone went, Brynn would probably follow.
