RIKA

As the elders' voices rose in caution for the hasty decision and some of them rose to walk to Elreth, there was a thump behind him. Gar turned to look for Rika and found she'd stumbled on a chair, backing away, eyes so wide he could see the whites around them, skin pale and clammy, and her scent stinking with fear.

If she'd been a puppy she would have pissed herself.

"Rika—"

"Don't touch me!" She took one step back, shaking her head, then another as every head turned towards her, every eye fixed on her. She stumbled as she turned, scrambling, panic rising in her chest.

She was here with these strange, massive people, and no weapon. Nothing. No way to protect herself.

Her eyes passed over Gar's as she turned away and his were pained and bright, pleading. But she couldn't.. she couldn't do this. She couldn't be here. She shook her head and tried to run, stumbling against another chair and tripping.

"Rika!"

"Leave me alone! I can't do this! I can't!" in her mind she was sprinting for the door, her brain screaming at her that they were all taller, faster, stronger. That she was going to die if she didn't get out from under their eyes right then. But there was a wall looming close and several men edging towards her.

Footsteps thundered behind her, and she screamed as someone caught her arm. She slipped and went down as she pitched forward, arms pinwheeling, shrieking as a hand landed on her ankle.

She rolled onto her back, kicking, and when the foot was loose, began to spider-walk backwards, as the Anima, their faces in various masks of anger and concern, began to advance on her. They were all huge, their eyes pinched narrow and—

"No. NO!"

Suddenly, a thick, broad back stepped between her and the others, his arms outspread and his dark hair quivering as he emphasized his words. "Leave her!" Gar roared, shoving a guard back and away from Rika and in the same motion he.. shifted.

Holy sheet.

Holy forking sheet.

Holy motherforking sheet balls.

He was that massive lion again, his mane so thick it trailed halfway down his back and belly. Then the beast snarled a warning and crouched in front of her, it's back to her.

Rika's breath stopped, but the animal never turned. His tail lashed back and forth and he crouched, ready to pounce, while the nearby males still in their human forms gaped at him.

The older man, Reth, the former King, put a hand out to Elreth to stop her forward motion. "He's protecting her, El. Just as you would if Aaryn was under threat. And it's exactly what I would have done for my mate, and you for yours, if things had happened this way. Think, El. Think. He's protecting her. Have you ever seen him lose control like this before?"

Rika could barely hear their voices over the throbbing of her pulse in her head. But the huge lion paced in front of her, keeping himself between her and the others, and even as her head screamed that it was FREAKING LION, something deep in her gut, behind the jabbering fear, heaved a sigh of relief.

He was stopping them from coming after her. He was standing between them.

He was protecting her.

And as she watched, trembling with fear, the seemingly endless crowd stopped advancing. Gar's mother stepped between Gar and the people and.. and Elreth, whose face was half angry, half worried. Rika didn't know what Elia said, but after only a short discussion, Elreth turned away, shooing the others ahead of her. They all looked back over their shoulders—at Gar, not her—while Elreth called at them all to meet at the Royal cave.

The white-haired male glared at Gar, but he left too, walking to the door and holding it open for everyone to pass through, except Gar's parents who hung back, then Elreth last of all.

The two of them stopped to talk, too quietly for Rika to hear from this distance. But then a moment later, Aaryn nodded and trotted back in to a cupboard in the corner, pulled out two blankets and walked—slowly—to place them over the bodies.

Rika's breathing picked up when he closer, but he didn't look at her, and Gar's beast was still prowling the space in front of her.historical

Then Aaryn muttered something to Gar and trotted back to the door, then out.

Then the lion swung its head around, its eyes fixed on her.

The adrenalin rush was instant, and jolting.

Rika's breath caught and she began to scramble backwards again until she came up hard against the wall. And still she tried to push back, but there was nowhere to go!

But the lion gave a low, groaning huff, then settled himself on his belly, his massive head on his paws.

He kept staring at her, but except for his thick chest and stomach expanding and contracting with his breaths, he didn't move.

****

GAR

When the room was quiet and still except for his parents still hovering a few feet away, whispering to each other, Gar shifted back and stood up.

Rika gasped, but only sat there, gaping at him, shaking her head.

"Rika, it's over now." He knelt to make himself smaller, then reached for her and she recoiled physically from his hand. Gar looked down and realized he still had blood on them from Marryk.

"You're crazy. You're all crazy. Killing people.. they're dead, Gar. They're dead!"

"He would have killed you, Rika! He's one of us. He would have—" He inched forward and a tiny cry broke in her throat and she pushed herself backwards, plastering herself against the wall as if she could push through it.

"Gar, I think you need to give her some space. You too, Reth," his mother said quietly, patting him on the shoulder. She'd done that thing she could do where she moved without him hearing her.

Gar was about to argue, but then he looked at Rika.

She was staring at him as if he'd just tried to bite out her throat.

It was a blade sliding into his stomach, the sight of her panicked, the abject terror on her face.

His mate was terrified.. Of him.