No matter what happened next, she would always have that.
“Ramm!” She lifted her head, letting her tangle of hair fall away from her face.
The hunter stumbled back, his golden eyes flaring bright. “G-Gazi?” Whispers spread through the pack like a wildfire. “We thought you were dead.” His skin flared red, the sign of strong emotion.
“I am alive and well.” She took advantage of the guards’ surprise to push to her feet. “If you want to remain that way yourselves, the pack needs to let me and the Other females go.”
More shocked whispers.
Ramm’s gaze narrowed. “Watch yourself.” He had always been kinder to her than most, but he was still pack. Gazi did not speak unless spoken to. They never met pack gazes head-on. They also certainly never made demands.
Except she was done playing by Talg’s rules.
“Naja!” she snarled. It felt good. “You have killed an Other. There will be a cost. But you can still save yourselves if you let the females and me go now.”
“They have done something to you.” Ramm’s gaze traveled Nayla’s body, a mix of displeasure, concern—and lust. How had she not noticed before? She had been so lost in her own sense of unworthiness, she’d failed to realize someone could feel something for her besides pity or contempt. Until Grif.
“They have,” she agreed. “But it is not what you might expect. They have freed me.”
Surprised murmurs. A few cries to the Ancients. The pack villagers crowded closer, drawn by curiosity and fear.
“Y-you are not her.” Ramm’s gaze was dark with suspicion. “You are not Gazi. She does not behave in this way. You are something else.”
“Also true.” She’d lived so long in their shadows, scavenging for approval, shelter, and food, soaking up whatever crumbs she could—but no longer. “I am something far different than I was when I was with you. I am stronger and unafraid. I am loved—and I am not cursed.”
“Silence!” The objection was not from Ramm. The roar came from behind.
She whirled.
Talg stormed toward her, surrounded by four guards who looked small in comparison.
Her confidence wavered.
Though not nearly as tall as Grif, the male who had tormented her for so long was almost the same thickness as Sharluff and nearly as strong. Forty-two planetary rotations of struggle had honed his power and his cruelty. The tusks curling from his bottom lip were huge and thick and far bigger than any of the other males, including Ramm.
Talg was a fearsome sight.
But it was the look in his golden gaze—the pure animosity—that she remembered best of all.
“Gazi do not speak.” He reached her, his expression thick with the smug certainty. “Gazi kneel. Gazi submit. Gazi suffer.”
Her knees trembled. She had heard the same words her entire life. The instinct to drop and bow forward in supplication had been drilled into her since she was young.
She fought the urge.
Talg’s eyes narrowed. She caught the small flicker of surprise within. She knew why. She had never hesitated before, but he recovered fast.
“Gazi who dare to appear without their anazi are punished. Gazi who disobey are punished. Gazi who speak when they should be silent are punished.” He spoke loudly so that all the pack could hear. “She will be disciplined and cleansed. Order once more restored. It is the Ancient way.” He turned toward the closest guard. “Take her to the cleansing bath.”
“Do you dare allow them to touch me?” Rather than dodging the guard’s reach, she held her bare arms up and outward, making herself as large a target as possible.
The guards who had started to obey Talg’s command hesitated, their confusion obvious, their fear of touching her bare skin even more so.
She kept her gaze locked with Talg’s. “Rescind your order.” It was nice to be the one giving the commands. “Otherwise, they will have the proof that one of us lies—and we both know who that will be shown to be.”
Talg’s fangs flashed, his rage so thick it battered at her flesh, a dark, vengeful energy that proved just how personal this was between them, his guise of leadership and Ancient rituals falling away as his real, twisted hate rushed to the fore.
His lies had kept her ostracized and alone and under his control.
Now they worked against him.
“You will pay for this.” His skin flashed deep crimson.
“Your lies cannot control me anymore.”
One guard raised his spear.
“Naja!” Talg’s roar cut him off. “She is not to be killed.”
There was a moment of stunned silence. No one spoke back to the pack leader without consequences, especially Gazi.
The pack’s sense of order took a hit. A few exchanged glances.
But Talg would not relinquish his control so easily.
“The Ancients require her suffering be greater than a fast death.” He yanked at the covering draped across one shoulder. Pulling it free, he wrapped it around one fist. “I will deal with the abomination’s disobedience personally.”
He addressed his followers, once more in control. “That she has returned to us now a traitor is a clear message from the Ancients.” He looked toward the pens imprisoning the Other females. “It is time to rid ourselves of the taint before it corrupts us altogether.”
“No!”
He ignored her protest. “The Gazi and her rebellion is proof of what will happen if we do not stop them now. Our bloodlines will be destroyed. Our powers weakened. We cannot allow more cursed spawn to weaken us. We must destroy the Others.” His fangs flashed as he grinned. “Starting with them.”
“Talg has told you so many lies!” she screamed. “Don’t let him destroy the pack.”
“Go,” he roared. “Kill them now. I will deal with her.”
All the guards except the four closest to him rushed toward the pen. Ramm hesitated, sorrow flashing in his stare before it hardened and he, too, hurried forward.
“Did you think they would listen to you?” Talg’s voice was heavy with triumph. “You are nothing. Voiceless. Worthless.” He finished wrapping the covering around his knuckles, his hand clenched into a tight fist. “Whatever they did to you, I will undo. Soon you will lie at my feet, powerless as always—and you will suffer.”
He advanced, raising his covered fist. “I will always control you.”
“Harm a hair on her head and I will end you.” A new voice boomed over Talg’s.
Grif!
Her heart swelled as she smiled up at Talg. “Your power over me ended long ago.”
47
Relief and rage slammed through Grif as he caught sight of Nayla, and the squat, thick brute looming above her, fist raised.
Talg. It had to be. Covered in brightly colored garments and chain after chain of bones, the leader’s status was obvious.
Grif caught sight of Ramm as well, standing near the missing females’ pen, his giant incisors flashing bright white against the red, black, and gold of his flesh.
It was also hard to miss Cam’s body lying a few paces behind where Nayla stood.
Grif’s chest contracted. One more female he hadn’t been able to save. Even after what she’d done, he would have fought like hells to save her.