Home > Tarian Outcast (New Tarian Pride #3)(13)

Tarian Outcast (New Tarian Pride #3)(13)
Author: T.S. Joyce

“Katy, I’m trying to protect you!”

“From what?” she demanded, struggling to get free. She couldn’t see Kannon and Abel from the edge of the dark woods behind the hotel.

A roar bellowed through the trees, and another answered. They were so loud Katy stilled in Sora’s steel grip. “They’re really lions,” she murmured.

“I’m trying to protect you from what he is,” Sora whispered. Her eyes were gold and raw as she searched Katy’s face. “It’s not how you think. It’s—it’s—”

“It’s what, Sora?”

“It’s awful what is happening out there. Shhhhit,” she said, dropping her gaze.

“Sora?”

“Give me a second…” Sora looked out at the woods. There were onlookers gathering along the edge, their phones up, video running on their screens. What they were taping, Katy couldn’t tell. It was a full moon tonight, but the lions didn’t sound that close. Katy couldn’t see anything. Sora gritted her teeth and released Katy’s shoulders. “You should see him. You should see everything. You should know what it’s really like for Kannon before you make a decision.”

Sora grabbed her hand, and Katy gasped as the petite, surprisingly strong woman yanked her down the stairs. She dragged her through the crowd and into the woods, not even bothering to look back. A bold man with his phone up followed them, but Sora turned suddenly and let off a terrifying snarl.

The man froze and then backed away as Sora began dragging Katy into the woods again.

Katy didn’t know how Sora saw where she was walking. The thick evergreens blocked out any moonlight. She stumbled a dozen times, but Sora was relentless, never slowing. The snarling was getting closer and closer, and fear welled up in Katy’s chest.

Her hand was clammy in Sora’s, and she was shaking bad from terror and the cold wind that whipped her too-thin sweater against her body.

She staggered behind Sora into a clearing and gasped, locking her legs. The moon cast the field in shades of blue, and the calf-high grass waved in the wind. In the middle of it, two enormous lions were locked onto each other, their roaring constant. Claws dug deep into each other’s hides, teeth sinking in and releasing, sinking in and releasing.

One lion had a full, dark mane, and the other was lighter brown. She couldn’t tell who was who, even when they disengaged and circled each other. One moment of rest, and they charged again, manes twitching with the force of their contact as they blasted into each other.

“Which one is Kannon?” Katy whispered thickly.

“Black mane,” Sora answered, not taking her eyes off the fight. Her chest was rumbling.

Here, in the field, under the full moonlight, Katy could make out some of the fight. Kannon wrapped his powerful front legs around Abel and forced him to the ground so hard the earth trembled on impact. Kannon latched onto Abel’s neck, but Abel pushed him off and raked a claw down Kannon’s leg, tearing the skin all the way down with his claws. The fighting was so loud that Katy wanted to hide at the sheer violence of it, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t run, couldn’t take her eyes away from Kannon for a single second.

That lion was the man she cared for. Only her brain couldn’t put them together as the same creature. This beast was terrifying, powerful and relentless. His rage was infinite. She could feel it against her skin, feel his wrath unfolding around her like a fog.

Abel backed away. He was clawing half-assed, playing defense as he retreated toward the woods. He would run a few paces and then spin to absorb Kannon’s attack.

Tarians didn’t care about white flags apparently. Surrender didn’t deter them.

She was watching the man she’d fallen for show no mercy. He lunged and barreled into Abel, slammed him to the ground and latched onto his throat. The other lion fought viciously to escape, raking it’s claws down Kannon’s sides, but Kannon didn’t seem to feel it.

She could see his tawny hide growing wet and dark from here. She had to do something. Had to stop the injuries to him. “Kannon,” she whispered, stepping forward.

The effect of his name uttered so softly was immediate. Kannon released Abel and rounded on her. He was panting in the blue moonlight, eyes gold as fire and fogged over with fury. Abel slunk away into the woods, belly low, looking like he’d just gone through a meat grinder, but Kannon just stood there, mouth partly open, blood dripping from his long canines. Ears erect, he was staring at her.

He lowered his head and limped toward her. It looked painful to walk.

“He’s coming closer,” she whispered to Sora.

“Eeeeeasy,” Sora rumbled in a deep, gritty voice. That voice was fading, though, because Sora, her protection, was backing away from her.

“What are you doing?” Katy whisper-screamed.

“If you’re his, he won’t kill you.”

“And if I’m not?”

Sora just shook her head as she disappeared into the shadows of the woods.

What was it she’d learned in school about how to face a predator? Oh, right, nothing! Because humans weren’t supposed to tangle with giant predators. Now, at the moment, she could list everything she’d learned in sex ed class, could even recall the horrifying pictures of STDs she’d had to look at in a crowd of giggling male classmates. But for the friggin’ life of her, she couldn’t think of a single thing to do to survive a lion attack.

Run.

No.

Hide? Pretty sure he would sniff her out. She smelled like sweat and fear. Oh, Lord, he was so close now.

Grab a stick and gouge the eyes out? Good thing there were no stupid sticks anywhere close to her. Thanks for nothing, healthy trees!

Just close your eyes and pretend you are back in the hotel eating a steak and not about to be the steak. There. Solution.

Clenching her trembling hands, she squeezed her eyes closed just as Kannon was a few feet away. “I’m yours, I’m yours, I’m yours,” she chanted under her breath because, honestly, hearing her own voice actually made her feel better right now.

She’d just seen him nearly murder another massive lion so what chance did she have against him? She didn’t even know how to throw a punch!

“Yours, yours, yours,” she squeaked out over the sound of his snuffling. She could feel his breath on her hands, her thighs, her belly, her butt, her boobs… “Whoa now, saucy lion.”

The big cat shifter made a chuffing sound that reminded her a little of laughter, so she eased one eye open, and there he was. Almost eye to eye, looking so massive close up that another wave of terror locked up her legs.

“Don’t. Move,” Sora advised her from the woods somewhere.

“Great advice, Sora, like I could move even if I wanted to.”

The lion’s pupils dilated as he searched her face, but then suddenly he rubbed his giant hairy head against her side so hard, she plopped over.

“He’s eating me!” she shrieked.

Did Sora just sigh? Or was that the sound of Kannon digesting her? He smushed her into the dirt with his head. Over and over, he ran his head along the length of her body as she patiently waited for his digestive juices to start burning her up. It didn’t really hurt, though. He put pressure on her, but he wasn’t biting her or anything. Katy took stock of her body. Oh my God, she was curled in the fetal position, whimpering, but over the sound of Kannon’s purring, Sora’s laughter echoed through the woods.

Katy didn’t find a single morsel of this even remotely humorous.

Kannon’s tongue ran up the side of her face and through her hair. It was like sandpaper against her skin. Like a sandpaper kiss. He laid on her, wrapped his front legs around her, and licked her again.

“You smell a little bit like murder,” she muttered, staring at the dry grass right in front of her face.

A smattering of pops and cracks sounded, and with a final short roar from the lion, Kannon was there on his knees, eyes still the color of his animal’s and reflecting oddly in the moonlight. His frown was so deep as he clenched his fists on his bare thighs.

He parted his lips to speak, but whatever she expected him to say, it wasn’t a hoarsely whispered, “Sora.”

“I know,” Sora said from somewhere in the woods. “Everything will be okay.”

Kannon swallowed hard and stood, his body covered in claw marks, puncture wounds, and streams of red. She couldn’t take her eyes off the drip, drip from his fingertips to the grass as he strode away. Even mauled, he looked powerful.

“W-where are you going?”

“To track Abel,” he said gruffly.

“But—”

“Come on,” Sora whispered from right beside her.

Katy startled hard. Geez, the woman could be quiet when she wanted to be.

Katy allowed Sora to pull her up, but when she looked for Kannon, he was nowhere to be seen. Shifters were really, really fast, and she was learning they had much more power than she’d ever realized.

“But…we can’t leave. He’s hurt,” Katy whispered as Sora tugged her in the direction from which they’d come.

“He’ll survive.”

“If he finds Abel?”

Sora shrugged. “No force on earth will stop a male Tarian on the hunt, Katy. Lesson number one about dominants. They are servants to their animals. Abel stalked you, so it’s Kannon’s right to punish him.”

“How did he know Abel was here?”

“Because I called him.”

“Okaaaay. How did you know?”

Sora sighed and turned in the dark. The full moonlight speckled her face in blue thanks to the branches above them. Her eyes were still the gold of her animal, but relaxed and earnest. “I spent time with the Old Tarians. I was one of the queens for their Alpha, Cassius. I knew Abel, and he’s cruel. When Rose said he was still alive and spoke to you, I knew he would hunt you.”

“How?”

“Because Kannon was the one who scarred his face. In the war. We thought he was dead. Like I said, male Tarians won’t ever stop a hunt. Especially the Old Tarians. Come on.”

   
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