She made sure she kept enough distance between them that he couldn’t catch her, but he couldn’t lose her either. Amara knew every twist and turn of this path, and also the places to hide. Once more, she turned a corner and hid, only to jump out at him, landing on his back, before leap-frogging him and tearing off again. This time she got a howl of rage, which made her feel sick inside. She didn’t want him to hate her, would he understand what she was trying to do?
The third time she hid, she had to wait. And wait. She was sure he was still behind her, that he hadn’t given up in a rage and gone back down to the village. After fifteen minutes, the longest of her life, she moved out from under the bushes she had used as cover. Slinking along, low to the ground, she peered back down the path. He wasn’t there.
“Looking for someone?” he asked.
She physically jumped backwards, and had to crane her neck to see him sitting in a tree, looking very pleased with himself. In an instant she had transformed, and stood looking at him, with a smile on her face.
“Well … I thought this stray lion was following me.”
“And you would what? Jump out on him?” Kane asked, jumping down from the tree.
“That might be what I had in mind. But it was all for a good cause,” she said innocently.
“Really, and what cause would that be?” he asked, walking over to her, his eyes ravishing her body, and she wished he would touch her, make love to her.
“Haven’t you worked it out?” she said.
“No, why don’t you explain it to me,” he said, his lips hovering over hers. She closed her eyes and waited for him to kiss her, and then he was gone. “Payback,” he called, and she laughed as he turned lion and ran away from her. He had learned the lesson too well and turned it on the teacher.
Amara had set out to encourage him to learn to anticipate his opponent. Now she had to chase him down, because she wanted that kiss. She changed into her lioness and ran after him, her head down and heart racing as he cleared the trees and set out across the sloping plain.
Only when they had covered a lot of ground did she realise where they were headed, and she wanted him to stop, but he had the thrill of the chase in his head, and went on and on. Using her strength, she powered forward, trying to cut him off.
He ran on, a headlong rush down the other side of the rocky gorge. Something had taken over him, and she had a sneaking suspicion she knew what it was. There was a stream cutting through the valley below, and he followed it, splashing through the water. He hesitated, sniffing the air, and then ran on.
Panic rose up inside her. This was no longer her pride’s territory, and although it was rightfully Kane’s territory, until he beat Serrif, they were both trespassing on the lands of the Talamo Pride.
Then, to her relief, he stopped. Staring at a tree with white blossom on it. It stood at the head of the valley, before it opened up into the gently sloping meadowlands.
Amara rubbed her head against his, and he turned and nuzzled her. This was the tree he had asked Frasier about. And next to it, was the rotting stump: all that was left of the statue of his father.
A shiver passed through her. Coming here had changed him; she could see it in the sorrow in his eyes as he relived some old, forgotten memory. The man who had betrayed his father, who had murdered him in cold blood, was about to be a hunted man. Kane, rightful heir to the Talamo Pride, had felt his ancestors stir inside him, and his mate would stand by his side until the bitter end.
“This is it, where I come from,” Kane said, as he changed from beast to man. He went to the broken statue and touched it, as if it was a talisman that could transport him into the past.
“Yes,” she said, standing beside him. “The Talamo Pride Lands begin over there to the north and follow the line of the hill.”
“Where does Serrif live?” Kane asked.
“Kane, let’s not do this now,” Amara said.
“Why not? I’m not going to fight him, but I need to see,” he said, setting off down the valley, following the stream.
“Kane, no,” she said following him down.
“I have to,” he said.
“No you don’t. We can just walk away, go back to my village and live there,” she said and knew she sounded desperate.
He spun round and moved back towards her, taking her in his arms and holding her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and cried, big sobs that spilled out of her until she could hardly breathe. “I don’t want to lose you,” she said when she could finally talk.
“You won’t,” he said. “I won’t fight him until I know, with confidence, I can beat him.”
“Promise?” she asked.
“I promise,” he said,
“Because I felt like I’d lost everything once, when I had to leave the Prime. I don’t think I could lose everything again,” she said.
“You would still have your family. The contract is paid, you wouldn’t have to go back,” he said.
“You don’t understand, Kane. You are everything to me,” she said.
“And you are everything to me,” he said kissing her head. Then he took a ragged breath and told her something she had never considered. “I’m scared if I don’t do this we will live in fear our whole lives. He killed my father and took my mother, what if he came to your village and did the same?”