He was gorgeous.
Annoyingly, dangerously gorgeous.
He had deep brown skin, sharp cheekbones, amber-gold eyes, and dark hair with pale streaks through it like sun-bleached grass.
His body was lean but strong, the kind of strength that did not look heavy until he moved.
A spotted hide sat low on his waist, and dark markings ran over his shoulders and down his arms.
He looked relaxed, but Odette did not believe that for one second.
No normal male watched a naked female from a tree and smiled like he had discovered a secret.
The hyena male’s eyes dragged over her slowly, not crude, but deliberate.
Like he was tasting the air between them.
His smile stayed, but something darker flickered behind it.
Interest.
Hunger.
The kind that made her skin prickle even though he hadn’t moved.
Odette held the hide tighter.
His gaze dropped to the way her fingers clenched the hide against her chest, then lifted again.
“You’re even prettier when you’re trying not to be scared.”
Odette’s stomach flipped.
“Who are you?”
“Not important.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“That sounds like something someone important would say when he wants to be annoying.”
His smile widened.
Odette did not like that smile.
It was too pretty.
Pretty things in this world usually had teeth behind them.
The hyena male tilted his head.
“How did you end up here, Odette?”
Her blood went cold.
He knew her name.
He knew her name.
Odette’s fingers clenched around the hide.
“Who are you?”
He watched her for a moment, and the playful look in his eyes faded just enough for her to see something underneath it.
Interest.
Not the dirty kind.
Not exactly.
Something deeper.
Like he had followed a scent and found a thing he had not expected to exist.
“You should dress,” he said.
Odette almost laughed from disbelief.
“You think?”
“I think the saber-tooth males are not far.”
That made her stomach drop.
Both of them heard it then.
Footsteps.
Not close, but coming through the roots.
The hyena male looked toward the sound, then back at her.
“Go on.”
Odette did not move.
He sighed lightly.
“You can keep staring at me if you like, but if they find you here with me, naked and alone, this resting ground will become very loud.”
That was true.
She hated that it was true.
Odette dressed quickly, never taking her eyes off him for too long.
She could feel his eyes on her the entire time — heavy, unashamed, and far too interested.
When she finally looked up, he was still watching her like she was the most interesting thing he’d seen in years.
Her hands shook only once, and she hoped he did not notice.
Of course he noticed.
His mouth twitched.
He was enjoying this.
Enjoying her.
And that made something hot and uncomfortable twist in her stomach.
“Do not smile,” she snapped.
“I did not.”
“You wanted to.”
“That is different.”
The footsteps came closer.
Odette backed away from the pool.
“Tell me your name.”
The hyena male’s eyes stayed on her face.
“Survive the road first.”
Odette stiffened.
“What does that mean?”
“I hope you can survive the road, Odette.”
She blinked.
When she looked again, the branch was empty.
Gone.
No sound.
No shadow.
No scent trail strong enough to follow.
What the hell?
Odette stared at the tree, then at the water, then at the path.
She had just woken up.
She had just woken up, and already strange males were appearing in trees and speaking her name like they had been waiting for her.
Wonderful.
Perfect.
She hurried back toward the resting ground.
More beast people were awake now.
A group of females were cutting meat near a flat stone.
Two cubs chased each other around a sleeping bear male’s paw until their mother hissed at them to stop.
A scarred female with a spear watched Odette pass and did not hide her curiosity.
Odette walked faster.
Then she slammed straight into a hard chest.
She bounced back with a small gasp.
A hand caught her arm before she fell.
Odette looked up.
Rauvan.
Of course.
Of course it had to be him.
For one terrible moment, she forgot how to breathe.
Then the memories from that night crashed into her head so violently she almost wished the hyena male had eaten her instead.
She had climbed on him.
She had kissed him.
She had begged him.
Odette wanted the ground to open and swallow her whole.
“I…” Her mouth felt dry.
“I am sorry.”
Rauvan looked down at her.
His eyes moved over her face first, then her damp hair, then the clean hide wrapped around her body.
He looked at her openly, with no shame and no hurry, and Odette felt heat climb up her neck.
Several males nearby actually stopped what they were doing.
One of them stared too long.
Rauvan’s head turned slightly in his direction.
The male immediately looked away and busied himself with his blade.
Rauvan looked back at Odette like nothing had happened.
But the message was clear.
She looked better.
He could see that.
The mud was gone now.
Most of the blood too.
Her silver-white hair hung wet down her back, black-tipped strands clinging to her shoulders.
Her skin was warm pale brown beneath fading bruises.
Her face was sharper without dirt hiding it, too beautiful in a way that made several males nearby keep glancing even after they pretended not to.
Rauvan noticed all of it.
He did not say a word about it.
That somehow made it worse.
Odette forced herself to continue.
“About that night, I did not mean to… I do not know what happened.
I think something was wrong with me.
I should not have…”
“Come with me.”
She stopped.
“What?”
Rauvan turned and walked away.
Odette stared after him.
Was he serious?
He did not even wait for her answer.
He just expected her to follow, because apparently being terrifying and gorgeous came with terrible manners.
She hurried after him because what else was she supposed to do?
Refuse the male who had crushed a baboon’s skull like fruit?
Smart.
Very smart.
Maybe he was going to kill her quietly for what she did.
That thought made her steps slow.
Rauvan looked back once.
“Walk.”
Odette’s spine straightened from irritation before fear could stop it.
“I am walking.”
“You are thinking too loudly.”
She stared at his back.
What did that even mean?
The war-pride watched them pass.
Some lowered their eyes when Rauvan looked their way.
Others stared openly at Odette, then quickly looked away when he turned.
She did not understand why being taken somewhere by him made everyone so stiff, but she guessed it was bad.
Everything here was bad in some hidden way.
Rauvan led her to a deep root shelter near the inner resting ground.
The moment Odette saw the guards outside it, she knew this place was important.
The males did not just guard the entrance.
They guarded the air around it.
Their bodies were loose, but their eyes missed nothing.
Even the females walking nearby gave the shelter space.
Odette slowed.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To my mother.”
Odette almost tripped.
“Your mother?”