usual way.”
“I wonder if perhaps the Fang Kindred are trying to send us a message.”
“You mean that they are threatening both our peoples?”
“It seems a likely theory. They could have killed both of you, but they chose not to. I believe they had a purpose in leaving you alive, and that it was intended as a warning.”
Katara considered that. “My people cannot stand against the Fang,” she said. “We are too solitary in our habits, and our Prides too scattered. If they really intend to declare war, my people will be destroyed.”
Hart frowned. “My people are in danger as well. The Fang are more numerous than we are, and brutal fighters. If they attack in force, they may be able to take our keeps and our villages.”
“I cannot believe your people are in any real danger, with your magic walls and your technology. Surely you can easily stand against the Fang.”
Hart shrugged a big shoulder, and his gaze dropped. “We are not accustomed to fighting, and we do not ever kill. It is not our way. I do not know that we could stand against an attack.”
“My people will not shun a fight, but we tend to fight alone,” Katara said. “There is little interaction among the various Prides. All the more reason I need to return home. I must warn my people of this possibility, so that they may join together if necessary.”
“Do you really believe your people will listen?”
Katara hesitated, thinking of her fierce, stubborn mother. Even in her human form she rarely took the counsel of others. In her lioness form she was even less likely to listen to a young female. The other Pride Leaders were similar—haughty, arrogant, and unlikely to pay heed to warnings uttered by a young, litterless woman they still thought of as a cub.
“I doubt it. But I must try.”
“I have a better idea,” Hart said. “We need more information. I suggest we work together to spy on the Fang. Then we can go back to our respective peoples with facts, rather than speculation.”
Katara lifted an eyebrow. “What thinks your monarch of this idea?”
“He knows nothing of it. I doubt he would approve. The notion of working with a Claw, for any reason, would appall him.”
“Is this why you followed me? To convince me to work with you?”
Hart shrugged. “I am not a hunter, nor are any of my people. The Claw are much more capable of subtlety than we are.”
“You claim you are no hunter. Yet you tracked me more readily than a Fang pack could have.”
“I used this.” He held up the metal object. “There is a tracking device in your collar. It enabled me to follow you easily enough.”
She wasn’t sure what a tracking device was, but guessed it was another piece of the magic the Antler wielded. But the mention of the collar reminded her of something else.
“Your idea is interesting. But I dare not approach Pack territory. I have no hope of defending myself against the Fang in this form.”
“I realize that. I will remove your collar if you give me your word not to attack me.”
The desire to be free to change, whenever the mood took her, struck her again with an almost physical force. She had never before realized how important shifting was to her, how much she valued the ability to shift to her animal form whenever she wished. She would promise almost anything to be free of the cursed collar.
At any rate, what he was asking for was very little. Only the veriest fool would attack Hart in his animal form. It would take a full Pride working together to pull him down. By herself, she doubted she could injure him even if she took him by surprise, leaping on him from above, and she would likely be skewered in the attempt. And he could shift so quickly that it would be nearly impossible to successfully attack him in his human form.
“I promise,” she said.
“Very well.” Hart took the
“I wonder if perhaps the Fang Kindred are trying to send us a message.”
“You mean that they are threatening both our peoples?”
“It seems a likely theory. They could have killed both of you, but they chose not to. I believe they had a purpose in leaving you alive, and that it was intended as a warning.”
Katara considered that. “My people cannot stand against the Fang,” she said. “We are too solitary in our habits, and our Prides too scattered. If they really intend to declare war, my people will be destroyed.”
Hart frowned. “My people are in danger as well. The Fang are more numerous than we are, and brutal fighters. If they attack in force, they may be able to take our keeps and our villages.”
“I cannot believe your people are in any real danger, with your magic walls and your technology. Surely you can easily stand against the Fang.”
Hart shrugged a big shoulder, and his gaze dropped. “We are not accustomed to fighting, and we do not ever kill. It is not our way. I do not know that we could stand against an attack.”
“My people will not shun a fight, but we tend to fight alone,” Katara said. “There is little interaction among the various Prides. All the more reason I need to return home. I must warn my people of this possibility, so that they may join together if necessary.”
“Do you really believe your people will listen?”
Katara hesitated, thinking of her fierce, stubborn mother. Even in her human form she rarely took the counsel of others. In her lioness form she was even less likely to listen to a young female. The other Pride Leaders were similar—haughty, arrogant, and unlikely to pay heed to warnings uttered by a young, litterless woman they still thought of as a cub.
“I doubt it. But I must try.”
“I have a better idea,” Hart said. “We need more information. I suggest we work together to spy on the Fang. Then we can go back to our respective peoples with facts, rather than speculation.”
Katara lifted an eyebrow. “What thinks your monarch of this idea?”
“He knows nothing of it. I doubt he would approve. The notion of working with a Claw, for any reason, would appall him.”
“Is this why you followed me? To convince me to work with you?”
Hart shrugged. “I am not a hunter, nor are any of my people. The Claw are much more capable of subtlety than we are.”
“You claim you are no hunter. Yet you tracked me more readily than a Fang pack could have.”
“I used this.” He held up the metal object. “There is a tracking device in your collar. It enabled me to follow you easily enough.”
She wasn’t sure what a tracking device was, but guessed it was another piece of the magic the Antler wielded. But the mention of the collar reminded her of something else.
“Your idea is interesting. But I dare not approach Pack territory. I have no hope of defending myself against the Fang in this form.”
“I realize that. I will remove your collar if you give me your word not to attack me.”
The desire to be free to change, whenever the mood took her, struck her again with an almost physical force. She had never before realized how important shifting was to her, how much she valued the ability to shift to her animal form whenever she wished. She would promise almost anything to be free of the cursed collar.
At any rate, what he was asking for was very little. Only the veriest fool would attack Hart in his animal form. It would take a full Pride working together to pull him down. By herself, she doubted she could injure him even if she took him by surprise, leaping on him from above, and she would likely be skewered in the attempt. And he could shift so quickly that it would be nearly impossible to successfully attack him in his human form.
“I promise,” she said.
“Very well.” Hart took the
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