A Fox. I was a Fox.
The word hit me like a blow. Terror coiled in my chest, twisting sharp and cold. In all my desperate prayers to the Moon Goddess, never - not once - had I imagined she'd curse me this way. Not Prey, not Predator. Just other. A walking, breathing death sentence.
The crowd erupted in fury as the High Priestess hoisted me above them like some sort of sacrifice.
"Run, Cassidy, No-Clan." She whispered, voice curling into my ears. "And know that pain is only temporary."
And then she threw me.
I slammed into the stones, the air ripped from my lungs. My body curled in reflex, ribs screaming, as I gasped and clawed for breath. A sharp kick to my side spun me like a leaf, and I yowled. The sound was high and animalistic. A boot came down hard on my back, flattening me. My body broke open with white-hot pain.
It was enough. My instincts took over, shifting me back into human form. My bare skin scraped against rough cobblestone. I couldn't even raise my head before someone grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked me upright.
Killian.
Of course it was him.
And if he was here, then they were too. My parents. Somewhere in the crowd. Watching. Not stopping it.
His fist sank into my gut. I folded with a wet gag.
"Told you, Cassidy." He hissed into my ear, dragging my head up so I had no choice but to look at him. "You'd better have claws if you ever wanted to stand a chance against me. Guess what? You don't. Now I get to finish what I started, and no one's gonna stop me."
The next punch cracked across my jaw, snapping my head sideways. Everything blurred. I heard cheering. Cheering for him.
No. No, I wasn't dying like this. Not like this.
My whole body screamed, but I brought my arm around and slammed my fist, backward and low, right into his groin. His grip loosened just enough for me to slip free, stumbling away on shaking legs.
Straight into another monster.
A meaty fist rammed into my ribs. Something gave with a sickening snap, and I almost dropped right there. But I was small. Fast. I ducked low, twisting past him, protecting my side, and I ran. Naked. Bruised. Bleeding.
The crowd closed in behind me like a wave.
Hands grabbed, feet kicked, but I kept moving. They couldn't hold me, not for long. I broke through them, bursting into the empty street, lungs burning, blood slick on my skin.
I ran.
I didn't stop until something slammed into my back, driving me down. I hit the dirt and screamed.
Rocks rained down, shards of hate hurled by people I'd once eaten beside. I crawled, gasping, clawing the ground.
And then it happened again. My body shifted without conscious thought, folding into the lithe form of the fox. Smaller. Faster. My only chance.
But I was nearly spent.
I made it to the village gate. Closed, of course. Too late for sanctuary. Too late for mercy. Behind me, the mob surged.
I darted along the wall, praying for something. Anything. A hole. A way out.
Then I saw it.
A crack in the wall, barely wider than my snout. I lunged toward it, digging like mad, scraping my paws raw. A blur of movement startled me.
A rabbit.
I backed off with a frightened yip as the little creature squeezed into the hole. No, no no no! It was my way out.
But then, the rabbit kicked loose dirt, dislodging a stone. An invitation.
It looked at me once and darted away.
I dove in after it, heart racing, muscles screaming. I wriggled through, scraping fur and skin, until finally I burst free into the tall grass on the other side.
I didn't wait. I ran.
The forest loomed ahead, and I threw myself toward its shadows. The rabbit bounded alongside, guiding me. Faster, deeper, into the safety of the dark.
But my body was done.
I collapsed beneath the pine canopy, heart stuttering, pain closing around me like a shroud. I couldn't move. Couldn't shift. Could barely breathe.
The rabbit came back.
And shifted.
Into a woman.
My mother.
Tears stung my eyes as she scooped me into her arms. Her voice was choked with sobs. "My poor girl."
She carried me deeper into the forest, laying me gently on a mossy stone, hands trembling. "Cassidy, love." She kissed behind one of my ears. "Be brave. Survive."
Her voice cracked. "They can't know I helped. It's better they think you died tonight." Then she looked over her shoulder. "She's here."
A voice answered from the dark. Male. Rough, commanding. Big.
"I have it from here, Marita."
I whined, trying to shift, trying to run, but my body betrayed me again. My mother soothed me, whispered promises I couldn't understand.
"She'll be safe, Marita."
"If she's not." My mother snapped, "I'll hold you personally responsible."
Then she was gone. A rabbit bounding back to the hell I'd barely escaped.
And I was left in the arms of a stranger.
He knelt beside me, voice low. "So you're the little shifter that set a village on fire without lifting a single claw." He exhaled like he hated himself for what he was about to say. "If the High Priestess hadn't warned us, you'd already be dead."
He looked down at me, solemn. "You didn't deserve this. But no one ever really deserves the Moon Goddess' attention, do they?"
Then he gathered me up. Carefully, cradling me like something precious. "Let's get you to the caravan. There's work to do, little fox. And not much time to do it."
Warmth enveloped me, and despite the pain, despite the fear…I felt safe.
I drifted in and out, voices murmuring around me.
"Are you sure, your Highness?"
"Of course I'm sure." Came the reply. His voice. "I wouldn't risk everything for just any girl."
Risk what?
"She's essential to everything. No one will thwart the Lycan King again. Not with her in my shadow."
Lycan King?
My mind reeled.
And then darkness took me again.