Page 12

Rakshasa

I stared after the little slip of a woman, my jaw hanging so low it was practically scraping the ground. At first glance I’d thought she was a child, her happy smile and bouncy personality leading me to believe she was just an ignorant, na?ve little thing that would get us killed if we tried to protect her. Strength was paramount in Shifter politics.

Calling it politics was probably taking things a bit too far. We didn’t have councils or governing bodies. We had the strongest protecting the weak, or Nature killing off the weak to keep us strong. There was no place for a little girl.

And then I’d gotten a closer look. She was no child. Her stature may have been small, but those curves, hidden beneath layers of cloth in a strange style that covered her from her neck to her toes, was undoubtedly womanly. Her breasts were what caught my attention first. I couldn’t see much of them, but they were round, perky, and an obvious protrusion that marked her of breeding age.

That was why her personality grated so much. She was so pathetic, following around those Fae idiots like they were going to be friends or something. When she’d stormed off in a huff I’d even followed her to see what she was up to next. It really was good to have a laugh. But then those Angel bastards caught on to what she was doing and found a tunnel, flying through it and leaving her behind. She’d taken one look at them and ran the other direction.

I’d thought she wasn’t going to last long here at all, that I’d never seen something so blatantly pitiful in my life.

Oh, how wrong I’d been.

I could still feel the burn of her vines from where they’d rubbed my skin raw, the pricky sensation of my body healing bruises and a few cracked bones. She wasn’t weak at all, and she’d defeated me .

That changed everything.

Small she may have been, but she was also fierce and capable. No female had ever succeeded in knocking me off my feet, let alone almost crushing the life from my lungs. Her strength clearly didn’t lie in the physical, but magical strength was just as appealing. She was strong enough to take me on, and I had yet to find a female so worthy of me.

Whether she realised what she’d done or not, I was now hers. Her to mate. Hers to breed. Hers to do with as she pleased. My cocks stirred just at the thought and my soul screamed ‘ finally!’ but my brain was telling me to be cautious.

I couldn’t tell if she knew we were following her, but we stuck to the shadows regardless. I shifted into my second form as my serpentine body was stealthier and quieter than my feet and slithered after her newly acquired followers. The rest of my clade took a moment to decide if they were going to join me, but ultimately they did. I was their Alpha and I had just found the woman who would rule by my side. Many would challenge the tiny Human and I was looking forward to it. I wanted to see what else she could do, if she was truly Alpha Mate material or if I’d just lost my position.

The shame would be… indescribable.

We stayed at a distance so as not to spook them, keeping an eye on their movements.

‘ Alpha, what are we doing?’ Arcturus, a strong bear shifter within my ranks asked through the clave’s mental connection. I would have considered him a friend, but Alphas did not have friends. We had responsibility.

‘ Following her.’

‘Yes, but why?’

‘Because I already underestimated her once. I will not make the same mistake again,’ I hissed.

He backed down, tilting his chin to his chest in submission when my eyes flashed at him in warning. My forked tongue poked out to taste his fear, and while I could still taste it in the air it was more muted than it should have been. The little Human had diminished my authority already, and I couldn’t have that. I hissed, seething at this unforeseen turn of events. I should have been prepared for anything, and I certainly shouldn’t have been bested by a slip of a woman I’d mistaken for a child.

Shame filled me from nose to tail as I slithered after her, my rage growing into a silent and deadly thing as I watched her continue to charm the Daemons and Humans alike.

Fine. If she wanted to play, I’d play, but the next time she wouldn’t catch me unawares. I would lie in wait, study her from the shadows, determine her weaknesses, and then I would strike. But it couldn’t be quick. I needed to re-prove my worth to my Clade before they turned on me entirely, for an Alpha was worthless on his own.

I took in her bright smile with straight, white, blunt teeth. The way her hair swished from side-to-side as she walked, her hips swaying to the same rhythm. I noted the way she was more keen on the Daemon female than her own kind, and how the Humans followed her but still kept their distance.

If I could have smiled in this form I would have, because I had just found my in.

Soon, I would challenge her, and I was going to win.