Page 23 of Rhaz’s Redemption (Shifters of Valo Prime #6)

Beatrice

My anxiety was through the roof. Not only were we forced just to wait here while Tarak organized a rescue party, but we had to wonder who might be picked next as a prize for one of Dameron’s men. We’d successfully held him off once, but I was afraid our luck would soon run out.

And then there was Rhaz… God he was frustrating.

Who did he think he was, going from denying me as his mate, refusing to be friends, to asking me how I was doing?

We were barely even speaking to each other before he left, and other than that spontaneous kiss we shared, he’d never given me any indication that he even liked me.

He doesn’t just get to change his mind like that. If I wasn’t good enough for him to claim me as his mate then why am I now, and what’s going to happen in the future? Is he going to change his mind again?

I pushed those thoughts aside as I laid down and tried to sleep. It wasn’t easy with no blankets or pillows, but I would make due. Tarak and the other guys would be here soon and then we could put this whole ordeal behind us.

I laid there for the next hour listening to the soft snores of the people around me and the wind whistling outside until finally sleep overtook me.

Tap, tap, tap . “Tarak!”

I woke up later to Gabby opening the shutters for her mate.

“Are you alright? How’s Tabby?,” the Savrix asked as he embraced his mate and child through the window.

“We’re alright, but I’d like to get out of here,” Gabby admitted.

I looked at the sky beyond the big blue body of our fearless leader, and saw that the sun was beginning to rise. It was dawn. A new day, and hopefully a lucky one. We needed all the luck we could get.

“I’ll get you out,” Tarak assured Gabby. “I have a few hunters with me and the other hunters are waiting at the wall. Get everyone up, it’s time to go,” he commanded.

Gabby and I got to work gently shaking everyone by the shoulder to wake them from their slumber. It didn’t take long for everyone in our little cabin to be up on their feet and ready to make a run for it.

“So what’s the plan?” I asked.

Tarak stood back from the window then pointed to a small fire that had been lit in the distance.

“Run toward that fire,” he began. “Zander will be there to direct you where to go next.”

“Got it,” I nodded.

“I will run behind the females to give them cover incase anyone from the village wakes up,” I heard Rhaz’s deep voice from behind me. It crackled with sleep and I had to suppress a shiver at how sexy it sounded as his voice nearly reverberated through me.

It wasn’t fair how sexy he was. I felt like my nerdy-ass self had virtually zero sex appeal, and yet he oozed with it. Whatever, it didn’t matter. The only thing I needed to focus on right now was getting out of here.

“Is everyone ready?” Gabby asked.

“Ready,” Talia and Hai whispered. The rest of us just nodded our heads.

“Alright. Let’s get out of here,” Gabby said in a confident resolute tone that gave me the boost of confidence I needed to get my feet moving.

Tarak lifted Gabby and Tabby out through the window first. She took off in a sprint toward the fire pit in the distance and then it was Talia’s turn. She waited for Sarah and then the two of them took off running too.

One by one we were all lifted out of the window until Rhaz and I were the last one’s left. He was tall enough to climb out of the window without help, and then he turned to help me out as well.

“Go Tarak. I will run with Beatrice,” Rhaz commanded and our Savrix did not hesitate to take off in a run toward his mate.

“Come, I’ve got you,” Rhaz held out his hands toward me and, although I was annoyed with the emotional roller coaster he’d taken me on, I knew I could trust him not to let me down in this. No matter what our relationship was, I knew he’d keep me safe.

I held onto him and he lifted me up and out of the window then set me gently down onto the ground.

I looked around at the quiet village in the hazy light of the dawn.

This had been Rhaz’s home once. It was beautiful here.

Even with the dusting of snow on the ground there were trees that still bore fruit.

I’d never see trees like these before, but I could imagine Rhaz as a rambunctious child, climbing to the top to grab a piece of fruit that no one else could reach.

The image warmed my heart and made me sad at the same time.

None of them deserved to be treated like this.

The self-loathing of one man had turned all their lives upside down.

“Here, take my hand and we’ll run together.” Rhaz mistook my hesitation for fear, but I didn’t mind. Despite my current feelings his presence was a comfort to me, and I was glad he was here.

“Okay.” I placed my hand in his much larger blue one and marveled at how right it felt. Together we ran toward that small light until it got bigger and bigger. No one around us stirred. The world was still sleeping except for us escapees.

“Are you the last two?” Brexl asked.

“Yes, we’re the last,” Rhaz confirmed.

“Okay, good. Let’s head to the wall and get out of here.”

The grim reaper shifter led the way and Rhaz and I followed, but the closer we got to the wall the more unease I felt. Something was wrong. Sozu and Jax were standing on top of the wall helping Sarah and Talia over it, but they stopped what they were doing to stare at something I couldn’t see.

“Mot!” Rhaz cursed.

“What is it?”

I looked again and saw something large moving in the shadows but it still hadn’t come into view.

“Gil, the big shifter I was telling you about. I think he’s here.”

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath. That wasn’t good.

Then the ground shook and a blue sirret male who looked to be about fifteen feet tall stepped out into the dim morning light.

Everyone stood unmoving as he narrowed his eyes at us in disapproval. One strong hit from this male could send a person flying. Two hits could easily kill a full-grown man.

He was big, but his features were more soft than scary. His wide purple eyes seemed curious, and complimented his proud nose and full lips. His hair was long and wild, giving him the appearance of a blue Tarzan.

“Let’s keep moving,” I heard Sozu whisper. Him, Talia, Jax, and Sarah all jumped down from the wall and out of my line of vision.

“Stop!” The big blue male said in a deep voice that rumbled through the ground.

“I won’t let you kidnap the females again.”

“Kidnap?” I heard a voice that sounded like Sozu’s.

Rhaz, Brexl, and myself all ran toward the wall and quickly climbed to the top to see what was happening.

“We aren’t kidnapping them. They belong in our-” WACK .

Gil backhanded Sozu before he could finish his sentence and sent him flying. He landed hard against a tree and didn’t get up.

Jax gritted his teeth at the sight of his best friend on the ground and shifted into his bird form. But Gil wasn’t paying attention to him. He wasn’t paying attention to anyone but Anusha.

His eyes locked onto hers and he stopped mid step as if she’d cast a spell on him. It was incredible to see such a big male so affected by such a small human.

“Come on. Let’s get out of here.” Fatima tugged on Anusha’s arm and together they started to run.

That was a mistake. Gil let out a pained howl and stepped toward Fatima and Anusha. Zander saw this as a threat and shifted in his phoenix form and started pelting Gil with fireballs formed from the palms of his hands.

Gil turned his attention on the offending male and balled up all four of his fists. He swung and one hit Zander dead on. He fell to the ground and began to crawl to get away.

Gil approached him to finish the job when Jax flew in and let out a screech that only his shifter form could unleash. I covered my ears and prayed that my eardrums wouldn’t burst. The sound he made was both powerful and awful. A deadly combination.

Gil also covered his ears and looked like he wanted to run. His eyes roamed over the landscape until he found Anusha again. He grabbed my friend in one of his four huge hands and then disappeared into the forest.

I watched as his back blended in with the trees until the big male had completely vanished from sight and realized Anusha was…gone. Just like that my quiet friend had been taken by a stranger and none of us were equipped to get her back. Not right now. Not when we were trying to flee this place.

I turned my attention back to our own people as Rhaz helped me down from the wall. Thankfully Sozu was alive, but badly hurt. Talia helped him up and Jax carried him over his shoulder.

Fatima checked on Zander who had also been knocked out, but as soon as she tried to help him up, another male burst out from the treeline and grabbed her. It was hazy and I couldn’t be certain, but it looked like Drelic.

Rhaz tugged on my hand and we were just about to start running again when a familiar red shadowy mist appeared before us. The mist materialized into Dameron.

He looked around clearing and frowned. I don’t think he had anticipated Gil leaving as quickly as he did.

The rest of our dekes was getting away. Even Zander was being carried over Axon’s shoulder toward the forest. They were too strong and too fast for Dameron’s hunters to fight them off, and he didn’t have Tabby as a bargaining chip to hold them back.

“You two are coming with me,” he growled.

Rhaz picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He tried to run, but then Dameron’s mist was enveloping us both and carrying us above the ground. It was like being suspended in air without any gravity. Our movements were chaotic and not at all useful.

We stayed like that for a few long moments before the mist disappeared to reveal a small cabin in a deep ravine.

Rhaz slowly turned as he took in the sight of our new location. The walls of the ravine were so high and so perfectly straight, that we had no hope of ever climbing out of here.

“Where are we?” Rhaz asked.

“This place is…” Dameron began and then stopped himself as he looked around too. The sun had risen above the horizon providing us with the light we needed to see things clearly.

“This place is a refuge I built for myself long ago. When I discovered what I truly was I tried to hide away from the world, and it worked until Kahina called for us to gather to choose a new Savrix. I cast my lot with the others and my talisman stood out from all the rest.”

Dameron’s shoulders slumped and even though I’d only met the male two days ago, I never thought I’d see him look as dejected as he did now.

“You never wanted to be Savrix,” Rhaz commented.

“No,” his father shook his head. “I just wanted to hide away from the world. Our people are so obsessed with everything staying the same, that the shame of knowing I was different from everyone else ate me up inside.”

“It’s not shameful to be a shifter,” I stated.

This self-loathing of his had cost Rhaz and many others a childhood of comfort and love.

None of those guys had to be exiled, but because Dameron hated himself for being a shifter he punished everyone else in the same way he believed he should be punished.

“It is shameful!” Dameron hissed. All of his rage had returned. Rhaz quickly stepped between us so his sire couldn’t hurt me.

“We are all monsters, but today marks the beginning of my new plan. You two have an affection for each other. That much is clear,” the Savrix eyed both of us and neither Rhaz nor I denied his claim.

“You will lie with her in the furs and make a child and I will raise my grandchild to be better than the both of us combined. They will be strong and pure and everything we are not.”

“No,” Rhaz growled. “I will not bend to your will, and if Beatrice and I ever make a child together, it certainly won’t be here trapped in his ravine.”

“You say that now, but I have ways to make you yield to my wishes,” Dameron vowed.

“I can handle any punishment you give me,” Rhaz shot back.

“Not the one I have in mind…” Dameron’s grin was unnerving, and I had no interest in finding out what he had planned.

“How much time do we have?” I asked. Perhaps we could stall long enough to make an escape plan.

“I’ll give you a week. I want to smell your scent on her by the time the big moon is full.”

“I will not yield!” Rhaz vowed again, but Dameron wasn’t interested in arguing anymore. He again turned into mist and vanished out of the ravine. Then we were alone, just Rhaz and me.

He slowly turned and met my gaze. “I, um,” he swallowed hard and ran his hand through his hair. “I’ll get us out of here. You won’t have to mate with me.”

And for some reason those words really hurt.

He was being completely logical and I agreed that we did need to get away from this place, but yet, it also felt like he was denying me all over again.

He’d vowed once before that we’d never be mates and now it felt like he was reiterating that stentiment again.

Whatever his reasoning was to be kind to me earlier in the cabin it wasn’t to woo me. He didn’t want me, not like that, not then, and certainly not now.