Page 16 of Shifted Existence

“And that you have done. I would never have gone to the Conquered Realm to search for her had you not revealed her to me. I suspect you did the same with her. She is frightened and does not understand. She has caused a great deal of trouble. Trouble I will have to resolve. I will do that more easily with her at my side where I know she will be safe.”

“You will not harm her?”

Talon chuckled. Bailey didn’t like the sound of that.

“That would depend entirely on how you define harm. Will I keep her safe, sated, and loved for the rest of our days and beyond? Most assuredly. Will she feel the sting of my hand and perhaps my strap when she disobeys me? Absolutely.” Talon turned back towards the forest that lay beyond the riverbank and where Bailey was hiding. “And the longer she vexes me by not revealing herself, the harsher her discipline will be.”

“She is in need of your patience and understanding as much as she is of your loving discipline.”

The face sank beneath the surface and was replaced by the image of the tree in which she had slept the night before and which she had thought would offer her a refuge. Knowing she could never outrun him over terrain that was unfamiliar to her and was part of his territory, Bailey waited, a knife in each hand. If he thought she might acquiesce and offer herself up, he’d best think again.

As Talon approached, Bailey readied herself. She would either live free or die in the attempt.

CHAPTER10

Talon thought Artemis might have been rather proud of him. Normally, Talon let his sword do his talking for him. But how did one run through something that amounted to nothing more than a mirage? Instead, he had persuaded the entity to give up her location. He scented the air as he approached it. How could he have missed her presence? How much had she heard?

Before he could formulate any answers or any words that might persuade her to come down out of the tree willingly, she jumped from the hollow with a war cry and a knife in each of her hands. It would appear that his mate meant to see if perhaps she could kill him on her third attempt.

Talon sidestepped enough to avoid her accomplishing her goal but ensured that she didn’t land too hard at his feet. He stepped on one blade and kicked it away, then deftly removed the second blade from her grip and placed it in the belt at his waist.

“Well, at least I won’t have to explain to you the fallout from your behavior,” he said offering her his hand.

Swatting it away, she rose up from her back to crawl away from him on her hands and feet, keeping a wary eye on him. “Don’t expect me to feel guilty. You were hunting me. It’s not my fault I had to go to such extensive lengths to ensure my freedom. The same freedom I was born to before you and your malevolent forces overran our world.”

“The war was over three years ago…”

“And yet it is the women of our realm who are still paying the price.”

“True, but the women who have come to the Eclipse Province are mostly happier and they are all far better off than they were in the Conquered Realm. You will see I am right. Now,” he said, looming over her and extending his hand once more, “let me help you to your feet. We can return to our village, and you can eat, take a bath, and rest.”

“Maybe I like how I look and smell,” she said, raising her chin in defiance.

“I don’t believe that any more than you do. The fact is you stink, but you do so deliberately to disguise your own unique scent under that of others. What little I saw of your home spoke of a love of order and cleanliness. You will have those and so much more within the pack. Now, take my hand and come along willingly as my cherished and fated mate.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then you will be dragged into our village by the roots of your hair and have your rather fetching bottom bared and spanked before I take you into our home.”

“Or, I could just get away, or at least die trying,” Bailey snarled.

Talon chuckled. “I will allow neither of those to happen. You are no child and should know that when a warrior has to discipline his mate for her ill-conceived behavior, she most often finds herself taken beneath her mate to atone for what she has done. I will not lie to you; you will be claimed before this day is through—how harshly and how completely is entirely up to you.”

Talon let her be to consider her options. He didn’t relish the idea of having witnesses for her first punishment, but if that was her choice then so be it.

She stopped trying to crawl away from him, considering his words. “Doesn’t it matter to you bastards that we don’t want to be with you?”

Talon hunkered down. “It matters, but only to a degree. I can tell you there isn’t a she-wolf in the Storm Rift Pack who would choose to be anywhere else whether they come from the Eclipse Province or the Conquered Realm. I understand this isn’t what you think you wanted, but how do you really know that? You risked everything, including your own life, to leave the Conquered Realm behind. You must have believed that life would be better for you here.”

“I believed your reality was less polluted, less devastated, and there are no organized hunts, but I don’t know that life is any better… at least not for females.”

Talon nodded. “In some ways your world was better in terms of being hunted by males seeking their mate. Here,” he said using his hand to encompass the entirety of the reality, “if you are not marked by your mate, you are subject to being claimed. This is one of the reasons we keep our she-wolves close to home; we keep them safe. What we don’t do is offer them up as part of a negotiation to keep from having our power usurped.”

“What do you mean?”

“When your world was conquered, your leaders were quick to offer up your females as part of the treaty. I’m not saying it isn’t something we wouldn’t have tried for; both the New Moon Expanse and the Eclipse Province were in need of suitable females. But it is one of the first things that was offered.”

“And let me guess,” said Bailey with disdain, “at first, those in power wanted the domed cities exempted with only those from the outlying towns and villages supplying the women.”

---