I lay curled against the stone, drifting in and out of consciousness, hunger and thirst making my thoughts fuzzy and indistinct. The cold had seeped so deep into my bones that I no longer shivered, which should have worried me if I had been coherent enough to worry.
A voice cut through the haze.
"Hey. Female. Hey."
I dragged my eyes open, blinking against the dim light filtering through the cave mouth. A figure crouched before me, and for a terrible moment I thought Aeric had returned.
But this was not Aeric.
She was beautiful in the way of birds of prey, all sharp angles and fierce grace. Her hair was the color of autumn leaves, copper and gold and burnt orange, cropped short and tousled as if she had flown through storm winds. Her eyes were amber, large and intelligent, framed by dark lashes that made them look almost too big for her face. She wore leather armor that left her arms bare, revealing toned muscles and skin that held a faint golden sheen, as if she had been dusted with pollen.
She was a hawk female. And she was smiling at me with something that looked almost like sympathy.
"I saw you," she whispered, her voice low and urgent. "When Aeric brought you here. I watched him drop you like a fish he had grown tired of playing with. And when he left, I waited. Then I snuck in to see you."
I stared at her, my brain struggling to process. "Who..."
"Alara," she said, pressing a finger to her lips. "Daughter of the Sky Lord, second only to Aeric’s clan in power. And I am here to help you, if you will let me."
She produced a waterskin from her belt, and my hands trembled as I reached for it. The water was warm, slightly metallic, the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. I drank until my throat stopped burning, until I could speak again.
"Why?" I croaked. "Why would you help me?"
Alara’s expression softened, the sympathy giving way to something more vulnerable, more aching. "I have loved Aeric since we were children," she said quietly. "Since we were fledglings learning to fly together, racing through the clouds, dreaming of the future. He was always arrogant, always proud, even then. But I saw past it. I saw the boy who shared his prey when I was hungry. The boy who nurse my wing when I fell."
She pulled dried fruit and strips of meat from a pouch at her waist, pressing them into my hands. I ate without tasting, my body desperate for sustenance.
"But he grew into a man who thinks he can have any female he wants simply because he is beautiful and his clan is strong," Alara continued, her amber eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "He has rejected every match his father arranged, every female who has offered herself, because none of them were good enough for his perfection. Including me."
She laughed, but there was no humor in it, only the sound of a heart breaking slowly over years.
"And then he saw you. A land beast. A creature so different from everything he knows. And suddenly he wanted you. Rejected all of us, rejected me, for a female who does not even have wings."
She looked away, her jaw tightening with old pain.
"I want to break his arrogant nature," Alara whispered. "I want him to learn that he cannot simply take what he wants and face no consequences. That the world does not bend to his beauty. But more than that..." She turned back to me, and I saw the hunger there, the desperate hope of a woman who had loved a boy and watched him become a stranger. "I want him to remember me. To remember what we were. Our fathers betrothed us before he decided he was too good for our arrangement. If he cannot have you, he will be forced to fulfill his obligation. To form the mate bond with me. To make me his queen."
She looked back at me, and I saw it clearly now; not ambition, not cruelty, but love twisted into something sharp by years of neglect.
"Help me help you," Alara said. "I have already sent word to your mates. I found their trail in the forest below. Told them where you were. They should be climbing even now. When Aeric returns, we will be ready. And he will have no choice but to accept that you are lost to him."
I stared at her, this strange, fierce woman who was using my rescue to reach the man she loved. "Why should I trust you?"
Alara smiled, sharp and sad. "Because I am your only chance, little female. And because I want to break Aeric’s arrogant nature, teach him humility. And because as frustrating as Aeric is... as proud and stubborn and blind..." Her voice broke slightly. "I still want him. I have always wanted him. Even when I wished I didn’t."
We waited.
The sun moved across the sky, visible through the cave mouth, painting the stone in shades of amber and gold. Alara paced, restless as the wind, her eyes constantly darting to the opening. I ate slowly, gathering my strength, watching her with wary gratitude.
Then we heard wings.
Alara moved fast, pressing herself against the wall near the entrance, hidden in shadow. I scrambled to my feet, my legs unsteady but functional and positioned myself near the back of the cave where the light was dimmest.
Aeric landed with a flourish, shifting smoothly, his copper hair gleaming in the sunlight. He carried nothing this time, no offerings of food or water, just his own arrogant confidence.
"Little female," he called out, his voice echoing off the stone. "I have returned. Have you reconsidered my offer? Have you decided that life is preferable to starvation?"
"I have decided," I said, stepping forward, "that I would rather eat rocks than look at your face."
Aeric’s smile faltered. Then his eyes tracked past me, to the shadow where Alara stood, and his expression transformed into something murderous.
"You," he snarled.
"Me," Alara said, stepping into the light, her chin lifted in defiance.
Aeric strode toward her, grabbing her arm with crushing force. "What are you doing here? Spying? Plotting? Did your father send you to interfere with my claim?"
"I came to see your prize," Alara said, her voice steady despite the pain I could see in her eyes. "To see what could possibly be better than the mate your father chose for you. Than the female who has waited three years for you to honor your word."
Aeric laughed, cruel and dismissive. "You? I will never be your mate, Alara. Not if she rejects me. Not if every female in the world rejects me. I would rather take no mate than be chained to you."
Alara’s face went pale, then flushed with fury. "You arrogant—"
"She is the one I want," Aeric interrupted, gesturing toward me with a sweep of his arm. "Look at her. Fierce. Beautiful. Unbroken even in captivity. She has fire you could never possess. She has spirit you could never understand. You are nothing compared to her. You are a sparrow pretending to be a hawk."
Alara’s hands curled into fists. For a moment, I thought she would strike him. Instead, she smiled, and it was terrible in its satisfaction.
"Then I hope you enjoy your last moments with her," she said softly. "Because I did more than spy, Aeric. I found her mates. I brought them here. And they are climbing even now."
Aeric’s head snapped toward the cave entrance.
Too late.
Ravin appeared first, his massive form hauling himself over the ledge with a roar that shook dust from the ceiling. He was in his half-form, lion claws extended, fangs bared, his eyes fixed on Aeric with murderous intent.
"You," Ravin growled, the word barely human.
Behind him came Leon, swift and silent as death itself, his lion form lean and snarling. Then Soryn, fifty feet of serpent rising up the cliff face, scales gleaming, hood flared with fury. And Caelion, wet from the climb, his sea-glass eyes storm-dark with rage.
Aeric shifted instantly, wings bursting from his back, but Ravin was faster. The lion beast man lunged, catching Aeric’s ankle before he could take flight, dragging him back to the stone with a crash that echoed like thunder.
The fight was chaos.
Aeric was a skilled warrior, his talons slashing, his wings beating with force that could shatter bone. He raked Ravin’s chest, drawing blood that splattered across the cave floor. But Ravin did not flinch. He grabbed Aeric by the throat, lifting him off the ground, his other hand drawing back to deliver a blow that would crush the hawk’s skull.
"Ravin, wait!" Alara screamed.
Ravin paused, his arm trembling with the effort of holding back, his face twisted with the desire to kill.
"You cannot kill him," Alara said, rushing forward, her hands raised in surrender. "Please. You found her because of me. I led you to your mate. I showed you the path. If you kill him, you dishonor the debt you owe me."
Ravin’s grip tightened on Aeric’s throat. The hawk struggled, wings flapping uselessly, his golden eyes wide with the realization that he was about to die.
"I want him," Alara whispered, her voice breaking. "I know he is dumb, full of pride. I know he is arrogant. But I have waited three years. My father has negotiated. My pride has been sacrificed. If he dies, I am nothing. My clan is nothing. Please."
Ravin held for a long moment, his chest heaving, blood dripping from his wounds. Then, slowly, he lowered his arm. He dropped Aeric to the stone, where the hawk gasped and clutched his throat, his perfect face purple with bruising.
"If I ever see you again," Ravin said, his voice low and terrible, the voice of a man who had nearly committed murder and was still considering it, "I will kill you. If you come near my mate again, if you touch her, if you even look at her from the sky, I will find you. I will tear your wings from your body. I will feed you to your own kind piece by piece. Do you understand?"
Aeric nodded, his arrogance shattered, his eyes wide with genuine fear.
"Go," Leon snarled, his lion form bristling. "Before we change our minds."
Aeric scrambled to his feet, shifted, and dove from the cave, his flight erratic, his wings beating desperately as he fled into the distance.
Alara watched him go, her expression unreadable. Then she turned to me, and her smile was sad but genuine.
"Thank you," I said.
"Do not thank me," Alara replied. "I used you as much as you used me. But... I hope you find happiness with your beasts. And I hope..." She looked at the sky where Aeric had disappeared. "I hope I find a way to live with what I have chosen."
She shifted, a hawk smaller than Aeric but no less fierce, and flew away into the blue.
I stood there, trembling, as my mates surrounded me. Ravin pulled me into his arms, his blood smearing against my skin, his heart hammering against my ear. Leon pressed against my side; his lion form warm and solid. Soryn coiled around us, his serpent body a wall of protection. And Caelion, my beautiful merman, took my face in his hands and kissed my forehead with reverence.
Then I saw them.
My cubs.
They were huddled at the cave entrance, wide-eyed and frightened, held in a bubble of air that Caelion must have conjured for the climb. I broke free of my mates and ran to them, falling to my knees, my arms open.
They cried, tumbling out of the bubble, rushing to me.
I gathered them close, cradling them against my chest, breathing in their scent, feeling their small hearts beating against mine. I cried then, great heaving sobs of relief and terror and joy, my tears falling into their manes as they clung to me.
"You’re safe," I whispered, over and over. "You’re safe. Mama’s here. Mama’s here."
Leon came up behind me, his hand gentle on my back, stroking up and down in a rhythm that soothed my shattered nerves. His voice was soft, barely audible over my crying.
"Let’s go home," he said.