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MORGAN I came to know the impeccably dressed slender man with blond hair and pale eyes – the one whose carriage we rode in and was in fact a werecat! As Tristan ScarClaw. I had never met a werecat before and was intrigued. I had only read about them. And really what a name! – Like, just wow. His name reminded me of a strong male character from a romance series I was reading. Rich, powerful, handsome, and saving the damsel in distress. I could tell he was wealthy by the way his home was lavishly decorated. Margarita always brought me magazines that showcased the latest trends in the city and on the market. From clothing to furniture and jewelry. I wasn’t allowed to read the local paper. My father didn’t want me to know what was going on in the outside world, but Margarita and Gregorio would always tell me the latest gossip or what was being said about King Orion. “So, what’s it like being a werecat?” I ask Tristan stupidly. He chuckles at my idiocy “What it’s like being a witch?”
14 YEARS AGO HUNJI I woke with a start. My body was heavy like it had been crushed by a boulder. I rubbed my eyes and then my temples, trying to piece together what had happened to me. I reached out for my wolf, but he was quiet and nowhere to be found in my head. “Good you are awake.” I glanced around looking for the owner of the voice and found my father seated in a lounge chair, the shadows of the night hiding him. He leans forward bracing his arms on his knees and resting his chin on his knuckles. His dark hair catches the moonlight making it look almost blue. It dawns on me that I am in my room. I hadn’t left for Ishmel yet. And I hadn’t seen Divya yet, it was all a horrible bad dream. “I had the worst dream, ever.” I groan, laying back still trying to gather my wits. “What are you doing here father?” I ask him. It’s not like him to be in here, especially not this late at night. It was a strange occurrence and had me feeling a little on edge. “It was no dream Kian,” He start
HUNJI “Because I have no use for your gift of sight nor any other great gift the gods have bestowed upon you.” I leaned back in my chair, waiting to see if she would tell us or not. I wouldn’t blame the witch if she didn’t trust us enough. In her position, I don’t think I would trust us either. I took her in, thoroughly, as she sat and pondered whether she could trust the two strange shifters males. She is beautiful, even if her face was swollen and bruised. I could still see her delicate features underneath the harsh blue marks on her face. Her skin, so pale, reminded me of the moon’s light and the ivory tusks of the elephants in the Bashenstan jungle. Her white-blond hair was long and braided - the color of snow under the blazing sun of the Mint mountains. Rosy cheeks were rounded and childlike. Her turned-up dainty nose over her pouty thick lips – thicker now because of her carelessness, still couldn’t hide her beauty. My eyes wandered lower, to the swell of her breasts that squa
MORGAN I pursed my swollen lips watching Hunji hurriedly leave the room. He had been staring off into space. At first, I thought he was looking at me and that I was the cause of his arousal, but it seemed his mind was somewhere else and instead of looking at me – he was looking through me. “Is he always this grumpy?” I asked Tristan who chuckled. “He has always been serious. We met nine years ago; he stayed in Andora for about a year until he left. Haven’t seen him since… well until yesterday. I can say, however, that the man I met those many years ago was a good man. Smart too. You mentioned Mint earlier, he once mentioned he was from the mountains of Mint, or at least that is where he had come from. Hard to say really. He never was forthcoming about himself, but I did manage to pick up little pieces and here and there.” Interesting. I thought. “What about you Tristan? Are you from here?” The day had been long, and my body was exhausted and even so, my mind was too excited to eve
HUNJI “Stop!” Every muscle in my body tightened and stiffened when I heard that voice. My wolf paced and snarled, ready to spill blood. He hated the owner of the voice just as much as his brother. Where there was one the other was sure to be close. I believed Morgan when she said we needed to run. The fear in her voice told me she knew something - had felt something. I was not going to ignore her gifts. Whether I fully trusted her or not, I knew she understood the importance of getting out of this city and away from King Panja’s soldiers. No sooner had she said something than that voice sounded out. I slowly turned to see the face of Abbas. Farid’s younger brother. My older brother by two years. Farid and Abbas were two peas in a pod. Two evil and deceitful peas I would gladly crush. I wanted to kill him where he stood and Ruda, my wolf, was encouraging me. Thankfully my logical side kicked in. I couldn’t take him on. In seconds his men would descend upon me. Then this quest would
13 YEARS AGO HUNJI I had been left for dead. Unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the Selselon Desert, far from the kingdom of Eririat. Visions of Rostam holding my sister Sonia as she collapsed and cried when I was sentenced, flitted through my barely conscious mind. I no longer felt Ruda. He had been called back to the moon Goddess. I was so close to death I could smell my own rotting flesh. Six months later and my body was still healing. I walked on shaky legs with the aid of canes. My arms were still wrapped and fighting the rot that had settled into the bones. “You are doing well Kian,” Mahati said, a girl who was studying here at the sanctuary to become a healer. She was my physical healer. When I wasn’t with her, I was carted off to the great hall where books upon books lined the walls and then some. “Have you read anything interesting lately?” she asked me. “No.” I gritted through my teeth, taking another painful step. “Oh well maybe I can come read to you later, I a
MORGAN It had been two days on the train, I could see Hunji was restless. It must be murder for a wolf like him to have to sit still for more than a couple of hours. I could imagine he was the type of person who always liked to keep busy. I assumed this because of the way he tapped his feet impatiently. Constantly! I, however, was loving the shit out of it. Traveling by train was a phenomenon for me. I was seeing so much of the outside world. Granted it was mostly vast landscapes, but every so often we would pass by small villages and towns. Each time I would ask my wolfman where we were or what that town was. And each time he would answer me. He was very knowledgeable and highly intelligent too. I had figured him to be ignorant and unsociable, but in the past 24 hours, I have come to the conclusion that I was wrong about my first impression. As long as I stayed away from subjects that leaned more on the personal side, our conversations were full of life. I even had him laughing a
11 YEARS AGO HUNJI “AGAIN!” Chakor shouted, bringing the stick across the back of my legs once again. The bite of the sting buckled my knees, and I growled out with frustration. I was a fighter and a damn good one. I trained warriors – I was the best in our kingdom. It had been almost three years since I was brought to the sanctuary. My wolf had been returned to me and when he had, all my pain and injuries healed. It took a few weeks, but my body righted itself and started to become stronger again. The only thing that didn’t heal physically were the scars that littered my body. Mentally, I had managed to overcome my vengeance and hatred, putting all my efforts into training and learning. Hours upon hours and I read scrolls and books, prophecies, legends, and lore. Poured through countless pages of history and then trained, becoming stronger and faster each day. So, when Chakor’s stick hit me once again, I lashed out. I spun around twirling my Bo staff and swinging it at him in rag