جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

"Not so tough without father around, are you Cass?" Killian's rough voice hissed in her ear, his fetid breath whispering across her cheek. Cassidy folded tighter in on herself and attempted to blend in with the stone parapet behind her. Normally, if she wore a sufficiently cowed expression, her older brother would leave her to her own devices. Of course, that was assuming that she hadn't just completely embarrassed him, yet again, during hand-to-hand training. Under their father's watchful eye, She could never bring herself to do poorly. She had always strived harder to earn his love and respect than his other children. She had much more to prove. "Killian..." Reena whined from the courtyard, "Leave the bastard alone. We should be getting ready to host the Shift tonight, not torture the help." Their oldest sister's voice always carried a nasal whine and a petulant tone when she spoke of Cassidy, leaving no doubt in her mind that Reena believed she was nothing more than an insignifica

The walk to the village was much shorter than she was prepared for, the eager shifters around her flooding out to fill the wagon-rutted road. Everyone was much too excited about the First Shift. It was when the younger generation was considered to be adults, able to make their own decisions. Prey shifters, as they grew, were first given menial positions in the households they were whelped within. Running errands, cleaning, handling the chores that even the adult drudges didn't want to handle. Once they were able to go through First Shift, then they were allowed to leave their nest. Plenty of the newly adult shifters would be looking for better positions to bring honor to their clans. Deals would be brokered, new apprentices taken on, and new paths forged. It was an exciting time, and she understood the haste most of the crowd had. Cassidy was the only person in generations that had a predator father and a prey mother. Those relationships were frowned upon. She was sure there must be

Cassidy's world was on fire. Every breath was agony, the angle her teeth met felt wrong, each jostling movement of the wagon she was in sent a scorch of flames through her body. She longed to sink back into the oblivion of the darkness, but she kept clawing back to consciousness, fear and worry making her sick. "She's bleeding all over the blankets." A dark voice observed. She couldn't see who was speaking because her eyes were too swollen to open. "Don't you think we should stop at a healer my Liege?" "We can't afford to, not while she is still in fox form." The man from the forest answered. His voice was deep and decadent, like the cake her mother would sneak into her room on her birthday. She would shiver in pleasure if she wasn't in so much pain. "We will have to wait until we make it to the hold in Tyrrim, where Garth can have a look at her." "I still don't understand, why a fox?" The other voice replied, and Cassidy bristled at his dismissive tone. "She is no longer of any im

Cassidy stared blankly at the door the Lycan King exited. He was...overwhelming would be an appropriate word, she decided. His arrogance and blatant disregard of her as a person made her angry. Anger was better than fear. Anger could be used, shaped, molded into something sharp and dangerous. Her ire was a weapon she would forge in secret. "Not that there is any useful application." She whispered to the silent room. He was the High King of Lenerum, a Lycan berserker like his father before him. The old king had been feared throughout her village. No one spoke his name, afraid to summon his shade from the abyss. There were whispers that the Lycan King had to put down his father. The old king was so gone in madness that he had ripped the head of a visiting dignitary clean from his shoulders. Her mother had loved to tell that tale at the hearth, when it had been time for the prey shifter children to sleep. She told of the handsome young Lycan rising against his father. How he had ripp

A weighted silence descended on the table, but Cassidy would not take the words back. She glared at Derek in challenge, daring him to respond. A sudden laugh made her jump, and her gaze turned to the man directly at the King's right hand. "She certainly is the spitfire you said she was." Blue eyes assessed her critically. "Slight build is a plus, but something will have to be done about her hair. The color is too striking.""No." The King answered swiftly. "Her hair stays as it is.""An assassin has to be able to blend in. She will be too noticeable, too recognizable with that dark fiery hair." The man responded, frowning at the King."I said no." The King's eyes moved to her and quickly darted away. "She needs to be a deadly flower. One that draws in her prey before dispatching it swiftly. My decision is final."Cassidy felt her cheeks color. Being discussed, as if she wasn't in the same room, made her decidedly uncomfortable. Her hand lifted to finger a lock of her hair, twisting i