Page 21 of Night’s Bride (Ragoru Origins #3)

Vrel snuggled deeper into the fur pressed against his face. With their mingled scents he was not immediately sure if it was Nash or Vikt he was cuddled up to, and after several days of actively breeding their mate as the Withering Nights stretched on, he doubted he would have even cared anyway. But as the room was colder than normal, he burrowed against them with a content sigh. His ears flicked, chilled by an icy breeze, and he frowned.

When was there ever a breeze in the den?

He opened his eyes and blinked as he lifted his head, his nostrils flaring with curiosity as he sniffed the air. Smoke? With a yelp of alarm, he sprang to his feet and looked around. Vikt was gone—likely out checking his traps—but Nash and Emily remained deeply asleep and unaware of the danger. Dropping back into a crouch, he shook the alpha’s shoulder.

“Nash. Nash, wake up,” he chanted in a panic as the big male rolled toward him and blinked up at him sleepily.

“Vrel? What—” The male stiffened as he caught the rapidly thickening scent of smoke and bolted up from the nest, dragging Emily into his arms as he straightened. His head whipped around, the numerous braids their mate had tied in his mane catching the erratic movement as they swung around him. “Where is Vikt?”

“Outside, I think,” Vrel replied as he also stood, taking care to keep close to the male’s side as they made their way to the door. “He always checks his traps early in the morning.”

Nash nodded as he adjusted Emily’s weight in his arms, clasping her firmly to his chest as they exited quickly into the hall. The smoke was thicker there and Vrel gagged a little as they ran toward the central room. Emily began to cough in Nash’s arms, but the male’s grip merely tightened as she began to instinctively struggle.

“Shh, shh,” Vrel murmured, copying the soothing sounds she often made to the best of his ability. “There is a fire somewhere, rya. We are getting you out of the house.”

“A fire?” She gasped and unsuccessfully attempted to bolt upright.

“Yes,” Nash grumbled, and the male’s ears flattened as the first wave of heat rolled over them as they exited the hall into the central primary chamber. “The den is burning. The fire is coming from the rear.” He tipped his head toward the smoke rising in thick black clouds from the kitchen.

Vrel stopped in his tracks and stared in dismay. The kitchen was gone. All the food they stored, all the memories of cooking in the kitchen together, even the little wooden carvings that he had sitting on a storage shelf with the plan to trade them among the clan for little treats for their mate—it was all gone.

“Keep moving,” Nash rasped. “We need to leave immediately.”

Vrel nodded, his heart heavy. Somewhere at the back of the house, something groaned and collapsed with a crash and his ears pinned back sorrowfully. The den was groaning—dying.

“Vrel,” Emily coughed. “Come on!”

His head swiveled toward his mate and he rushed to catch up, his feet carrying him swiftly over the floor. Then his eyes widened on the door just ahead of them. Why was it open? Nash noticed it too. The male drew up short, his head whipping around wildly as his peripheral and primary eyes worked together, looking for another potential avenue for escape. There were none. The only other exit from the den was currently engulfed in flames. They could try throwing themselves against the windows, but the house had been constructed with the large wildlife that roamed the northern woods in mind, and while numerous were constructed too narrowly for even Emily to safely fit through if they were even successful in breaking the glass.

Nash met Vrel’s eyes grimly. “Through the front. Run. Find Vikt. We will be right behind you.”

Vrel reluctantly nodded and sprinted forward. He could hear Nash behind him, and he increased his speed as he bolted out the door and into the clean, cold air of the night. The wind and snow stung his face but still he ran, slipping through the trees. A loud snap echoed through the night air, and Vrel drew to an abrupt stop, his blood chilling as he turned in time to see a short metal stick strike Nash directly in the chest. Emily’s mouth opened in a scream as the male went down. He hit the snow hard, his body turning at the last moment so as to not crush Emily beneath him. Vrel took several hurried steps toward the male, his heart hammering in terror, but skidded to a stop as a heavily cloaked human stepped out from the trees and stalked over to the fallen alpha.

The male raised a strange weapon and fired another metal rod into the male. Nash jerked, his blood spilling over the white snow as Emily’s screams grew more frantic. Vrel took several steps forward, his ears flattening as he considered his options for attack as the human bent and grabbed their mate, dragging her from beneath the weight of Nash’s limp arms. The alpha’s head rolled in his direction, his yellow eyes boring into Vrel in a silent command.

Get Vikt.

Vrel swallowed and nodded. He hated it, but he understood. The huntsman was a male who had brought down Nash, and who had not only eluded Hazhel but the entire clan hunting for him. Nash had known exactly what he was running out into. It was why he told him to find Vikt. Vrel was fast, possibly the fastest Ragoru in the clan, but he would not last even a moment against the huntsman without help.

But Emily… his eyes turned toward her worriedly. The male was holding her but, as of yet, was making no move to harm her. Perhaps he would not harm her. She was human. Trish said that her brother had sent huntsmen with the promise to rescue her. Perhaps he believed that he was rescuing Emily as well.

Vrel clenched his jaw at how sick the entire situation was. He wanted to blame Trish—it was hard not to—but the female’s remorse had been genuine. She honestly had not believed that her brother would actually do it. Despite her initial feelings about the Ragoru, she had not wished for anyone to be harmed—and it was clear that was exactly what the huntsmen intended to do.

Spinning away, unable to watch for even a moment longer or risk losing precious moments in which something could potentially happen to their mate, Vrel bolted into the forest. His brother set his traps in predictable spots far from the den where wildlife would not be frightened away by their activity and scent. Unfortunately, it meant that Vikt was probably unaware of anything happening at the den, but the scent of smoke was spreading as the fire devoured their home. It would not go unnoticed long, even in Vikt’s hunting grounds.

The trees sped by him as he ran, the dark of the night not so impenetrable to Ragoru eyes to prevent him from navigating them safely. He rushed between the trees, his breathing labored as he fought to maintain his speed, his eyes searching for any hint or sign of his twin until suddenly a shadowy body plunged between the trees and collided with him with such strength that they both dropped into the snow.

Vrel lay there for a moment, wheezing as he attempted to regain control of his breath. At his side Vikt’s familiar face popped up, snow sliding off him as he gave Vrel a wild look.

“What are you doing here?” his twin demanded, struggling to his feet. “We need to get back to the den. I saw signs that the huntsman had passed through the woods some distance from here and alerted Hazhel. He went to gather the hunt while the trail was still fresh but told me to return home to alert Nash.”

Vrel shook his head as Vikt bent and helped him to his feet. “Nash knows,” he choked out, and his twin stiffened, dread filling the male’s eyes. “He sent me to get you. The huntsman… Vikt, the den is on fire,” he rasped. “Do you not smell it?”

Vikt lifted his head and scented the air curiously. It did not take long for him to take note of the smoke drifting through the air. He snarled and looked back at Vrel frantically. “Where are Nash and Emily?”

“Nash is lying in the snow, bleeding. Emily… the huntsman has her,” Vrel replied as he spun back in the direction of their den. “We need to hurry. Nash is alive, but I do not know how much longer that will be the case. And there is no way to know what the huntsman has in store for Emily, but she was unharmed when I left.”

Vikt nodded grimly as the male broke into a run to keep up with him, and they raced back through the woods. Even with the two of them, Vrel was not confident that they could take down the huntsmen, but they would try. He would do whatever it took to save his family.