RIKA

Rika cried out as a strange, unexpected hand landed on her shoulder and she jerked away, instinctively. But before she could even finish turning to see who was attacking, an horrific sound cracked in her ear that reminded her of her father and the day he'd stood in front of her, smiling, and used a branch snapped by his foot as a metaphor for what he would do to her if she argued with him in public again. Her stomach sank as the man behind her cursed.

She recoiled, but Gar tugged her behind him in one smooth movement, snarling at the two men, both growling, one of them cradling an arm that was bent oddly. Though he still didn't back down.

Rika felt ill and her head buzzed.

He'd touched her. That man had touched her—he'd wanted to take her.

"Gar, submit! Your mate has been lying!"

What? Rika tried to think, tried to look in the direction of Elreth's voice, but the two men were so close, and Gar was half-crouched and growling. He'd hurt that man. Gar had hurt that man. But that man had been about to hurt her.

People were being hurt.

Rika's head buzzed. Her heart, which had already been racing with the suddenly fierce desire Gar had ignited in her—roared off in triple-time, making her head spin. It was hard to breathe. She was sucking in, but getting little oxygen.

She reached out for something, anything, to hold onto. Something solid in the crashing storm rolling through her body. Her hand landed on the back of Gar's shirt and she clung. But she still couldn't breathe properly.

"Gar, submit!" Elreth called again. "She's lying! We need to question her—"

"Not," Rika said through her teeth, trying to blink away the lights at the edge of her vision. "Not lying!"

The second guard, his eyes wary on Gar, stepped forward, but Gar's growl ripped into a snarl and the two faced each other, both hands held lightly before chests—a fighting stance.

Rika wanted to plead with him not to hurt anyone else, but suddenly she was scrambling backwards, away from him, as Gar's back rippled.

Another deep voice, reminiscent of Gar's echoed across the meadow. "Give him some space, he's just protecting his mate! It's instinct! Back off! She's not going anywhere!"

"Dad, stay out of this!"

"I am not King, but I am your father, Elreth. You can't jump to conclusions. Don't create fear where fear doesn't need to exist."

Rika blinked, realizing that another massive male—an older, more rugged version of Gar—prowled towards them.

"Gar, stop panicking. Think!"

Gar growled again, but the two guards took a step back, the one with the broken arm paling.

But Gar, teeth bared and still half-crouched, stopped growling. But he didn't relax.

"Gar!" Elreth snapped.

"You can't just take her, El. What happened? What changed?"

Another growl—higher and lighter, but no less intimidating broke from Elreth and she stalked towards them in the clearing, her chin down and eyes flashing.

"Rika claimed that the one who came before her found the outsiders—before she arrived. Yet, it's been almost two months. The outsiders have to have been killed or kidnapped. If they weren't, they would have sent a message and warned us. Instead, she is here! And she's drawing us back towards that portal. It's a trap, Gar. Don't fall for it!"

Gar turned to look at her, his eyes slightly wider, but she didn't see judgment or anger there, only fear. As if he was afraid of what he might see.

"N-no!" Rika snapped through chattering teeth, then sucked in another useless breath. "They didn't take any Anima, and as far as I know they didn't kill any either. They located the Anima, the Anima didn't see or hear them!" All the others in the meadow snorted, or scoffed and Rika's heart thundered against her ribs. "I'm not lying! I was here for weeks before you all knew I was here—except Gar."

"This is a much bigger area than the Canyon," Elreth snapped. "And you remained remote. But as you already pointed out, you were found. Gar found you."

Rika took another breath, forcing herself to focus. "Our technology," she reminded the Queen, "it lets us view and record movements and find things without getting close."historical

Elreth had reached the Guard's side, her eyes narrow with suspicion.

"You have to believe me, Elreth. I wouldn't even have found you all that quickly, but the canyon was flooded and I couldn't get into the valley of it. I saw the forest in the distance behind the desert and it had been a secondary mission to explore and find other populations, so I made the decision to cross."

"If the canyon is flooded, that could explain why they haven't notified us," the older man, clearly Gar's father, said quietly, touching Elreth on the arm. "Even if they knew—"

"It's very convenient story, isn't it?" Elreth snarled.

Rika glared at her. "It's the truth!"

Elreth snorted air from her nose. "I need to have her scented for truth. I should have done that this morning."

"Yes, you do," Gar growled. "And once you know she's telling the truth, you can apologize for using my mate as a vent for your frustration."

Elreth's eyes snapped to Gar and her upper lip curled. "And if I'm right, you can apologize to your Queen!"

Gar's growl puttered in his chest again. Rika looked back and forth between them, uncertain what was happening. She looked a question at Gar, but he hadn't taken his eyes off his sister, and she was the one who spoke.

"We're meeting. Now," Elreth said through her teeth to everyone gathered. "No more resting. We're checking and comparing all our sources and we aren't leaving that building until we have a plan in motion."

Everyone nodded, but Elreth wasn't done.

She took a step forward, leaning towards Gar and said firmly, "And she stays under guard until we do."

But Gar stepped forward too, blocking Elreth from Rika's view.

"Over my. Dead.. Body," Gar snarled.