He shifted and felt some muscles had gone to sleep. He stretched his legs out to get some feeling back into them.
He shifted Poppy’s weight. She barely weighed a thing. She was tiny. He was a big man, and most Damari—male and female—were tall and built strong.
Poppy Ellison of Earth was small and fine. Over the last week, she had been suffering through the Damari transformation, and it had taken its toll. She’d lost some weight, despite the healers feeding her intravenously.
Brodin looked up at his second in command. “Annora.”
His First Claw stood nearby, her brow creased. She was tall, lean, with long, black hair—which she usually wore braided, or in a sleek ponytail, like today.
Her steady, near-black eyes assessed him. She never pulled her thoughts, or strikes in training or battle.
“You’ve been in here for two days.” Annora shot an unreadable look at Poppy. “You don’t even know this woman, and we have a warlord sent by your father skulking around, abducting our people.”
Brodin bit back a snarl, his grip on Poppy tightening. He knew very well the danger they faced. He’d set up extra patrols around the city and the safe zone in the forest. He met Annora’s dark gaze. She held it for a second before looking at the floor.
“I promised Rhain and his soon-to-be queen that I would take care of this woman.”
A few weeks ago, Mallory West and Dr. Poppy Ellison had tested some experimental space travel technology. Their test had gone wrong. The women’s ship had been flung through a wormhole, and into the Sarkany system. They’d crash landed on his brother Rhain’s planet, Zhalto.
Rhain had rescued the feisty and dangerous Mal, and fallen in love with her in the process. Despite the circumstances, Brodin felt a spurt of amusement.
Unfortunately, Poppy had ended up in the not-so-tender hands of the warlord Krastin.
Krastin had been sent by their gorr-ridden father, Zavir.
Zavir ruled the planet Sarkan. Thanks to strategic marriages, he had a son on each planet in the system. Their third brother, Graylan, ruled the planet Taln. The three brothers didn’t worry about the half part of their relationship, and were united in their hatred for their evil, power-hungry father.
Zavir wanted his sons by his side. Not out of any sense of love. No, he wanted their abilities.
He was sending warlords from his allies, the Zhylaw. The Zhylaw scientists pushed the limits and would cross any line for a paycheck. They loved to create beasts that ripped and tore, and mindlessly obeyed orders.
Rhain had defeated Krastin, but not before the warlord had experimented on Poppy—infecting her with Damari blood. People on Damar were wolf shapeshifters. Not many survived a forced transformation.
“Brodin,” Annora said, an edge to her voice.
His temper spiked, but as he’d learned to do as a stubborn, volatile teen, he wrestled it under control. When he did lose his temper, it was never pretty.
Annora was smart, strong, and often impatient. He respected her and her skills, and she was one of the few people he allowed to push him and question his judgment.
“Is there anything you can’t handle?” He arched a brow.
He would never let down his people. They lived with the wild wolf inside. Without strength and a steady hand to rule them, he was aware many Damari would surrender to their animal instincts. To the need to hunt, tear, and kill.
Brodin always reminded them that they weren’t just animals, not just predators. Protecting the Damari, even from themselves, was a vow he’d made to his mother.
Annora sighed and sank into the chair across from him. “No. There’ve been a few sightings of Candela. My team ran them all down.” She growled. “There’s been no recent sign of the gorr-ridden witch.”
Candela Salix. Brodin’s lip curled. The Zhylaw warlord was ruthless, and known to torture her test subjects.
“Do we have any more missing hunters?” he asked.
His First Claw shook her head. “People are jittery, though.”
“Good. It will help keep them safe.”
Damar was a forest world, teeming with wildlife. They were part wolf, and hunting in the forest was a biological imperative they couldn’t ignore. They needed to shed their civilized skins, and run and hunt and let the animal free in order to keep it in check.
Sometimes they hunted in packs, sometimes alone.
Candela had targeted lone hunters. Several were missing. One, Brodin knew for certain was dead. He’d been used to infect Poppy.
Poppy made a faint sound. Brodin studied the soft curve of her cheek. She was very pale at the moment, although he could see a golden undertone to her skin. She probably tanned in the sun. Her lashes and eyebrows were shades darker than her bright golden hair.
Ever since he’d brought her here to Accalia, the forest city of the wolves, he’d felt a strange, protective compulsion.
Poppy Ellison unsettled him. At first, he thought it was just because he’d promised Rhain and Mal he’d take care of her.
But over the days, watching her grit as her body fought the transformation, he felt a pull he didn’t understand, and didn’t want.
He had a planet to protect. People who could be dangerous, if he didn’t keep complete control.
And he had a father who would burn it all to make Brodin bend.
He couldn’t afford a distraction.
His gaze dropped to Poppy again. He remembered how she’d touched him in her delirium. His jaw tightened. No, Poppy Ellison was a weakness he didn’t need.
She’d heal, then she’d go back to Rhain’s world of Zhalto.
There was a knock on the door. Tolf, one of his cleavers, strode in. The man was tall, broad, with short hair in a silver-gray color common to some Damari.
“Emperor.” The elite Damari fighter nodded. “First Claw.” He glanced at Annora. “Another hunter has gone missing.”
Annora hissed.
Brodin ground his teeth together. “Who?”
“Fillian. He’s young. Barely out of training.”
“No one is to be hunting alone,” Brodin said.
“He was with a friend at the edge of the safe zone. They were separated for a few minutes.”
Long enough for Candela to get her claws on him.
They’d set up the safe zone after it was confirmed Candela was on the planet. It was an area of forest close to the city, patrolled by cleavers and with sensors embedded at the perimeter. It gave Accalia’s residents a safe area to indulge their wolves.
Clearly not safe enough. His gut tightened.
“Increase the patrols.”
Annora nodded, her gaze hardening. She had a sister just a little younger than Fillian. Then his First Claw’s gaze dropped to the human woman in Brodin’s arms.
A part of him didn’t want to leave Poppy. A muscle ticked in his jaw. He’d promised her that he wouldn’t.
But he had a duty to his people. He had to find Fillian. He gently set Poppy back on the bed. She stirred restlessly.
“Shh,” he murmured.
She settled, and he stroked her golden hair.
Cassanra, the head healer, entered. She was a few years older than Brodin, with sharp cheekbones, and dark hair pulled up in a bun.
“Watch her,” he ordered.
The healer nodded.
With one last glance at Poppy, Brodin followed Annora out of the infirmary.