Head down, deep in thought, she went back inside, knowing before she did anything else, she had to help Brandon. But as she approached the living room, she could hear her mom’s voice.
“Well, the amount of teasing you have done over the past few days since Kane has got here, I’m not surprised he knocked you down,” her mom said. “Nice cup of hot tea will do the trick. And no talking for a couple of hours.” Her mom winked at Amara and she had to quickly cover a smile. She had been dealing with Amara’s brothers for so long, it took a lot to faze her.
“It was a fair fight, Mom. Brandon was too slow,” Amara said. “Is there anything I can do, or do you mind if I go for a run.”
“Sure. You look like you need a bit of freedom. Wind in your fur, do you the world of good.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you later,” she said, grabbing her purse and heading out of the door, making sure she avoided the town square, where a cheer sounded out across the village. Maybe Kane had hit his stride and was knocking another one of her brothers to the ground.
She paused. Maybe she should go back and check he was all right. No. She had to see this through. The idea had come to her, and if she didn’t go now, she would no doubt chicken out, or not have the opportunity to leave the village again for another few days.
Slipping out across the road, she took the path only days earlier she had followed with Kane. This time she ran swift and sure, not stopping even when she crested the hill and headed down into the Talamo Pride Lands.
Amara stopped briefly at the place where Kane’s father’s statue had once stood, a symbol of his power and leadership over his pride. If she went any further, there would be no going back. With a deep sense of betrayal, she took the next step, hoping her actions were not going to bring trouble to either Kane’s or her pride’s door. All she wanted to do was find out how things were in these lands. OK, so that was a lie: she wanted to see Kane’s mom and get some inside information on the man Kane would have to fight.
Emerging from the valley, she headed towards the small collection of houses that surrounded a bigger house, set in grounds filled with green lawns and ornamental lakes. She had often sat up on the crest of the hill overlooking here and wondered at the people who lived there. She had imagined a fairy-tale princess living here; having found her prince, she would be living out her happy-ever-after surrounded by these magnificent vistas. For a girl who grew up in a simple village, her pride small, inconsequential, it was easy to think whoever lived here must be happy.
Only when she was around fourteen and she’d had passed this way with her dad, had he told her about the mystery surrounding Remus’s death and how the rumours spoke of Serrif killing Remus and talking his mate, Leandra, as his own. The disappearance of the three cubs had always been a mystery too.
How could a woman live with a man who had killed her children?
And so Serrif’s story had been believed, that he had found Remus killed by an unknown assailant, that he had done his best to help him, and that as Remus lay on his death bed he had asked his friend to look after his wife and cubs. Cubs that had been spirited away in the night, never to be found.
As Amara crossed that empty plain, she wondered if she was about to find out the real truth. What if Serrif had told the truth, and the only reason Kane’s mom was unhappy was because someone stole her children. Or was she unhappy because she had been forced to live with, and endure, the man who had killed her rightful mate.
As she drew closer, she shifted back into her human form, only just in time, because two big lions were approaching and if they maintained the etiquette of other prides, they would not attack her. Still her heart beat fast in her chest and she thought she would turn and run, get away from there before she got herself into more trouble, yet she kept resolutely putting one foot in front of the other acting as though she had nothing to hide as she covered the ground between her and the two lions.
When they reached her, they slunk round in a wide circle sniffing the air, ascertaining where she had come from, but they could not tell the reason she was here, and so they turned into men. Men she would have to persuade to take her to Kane’s mom. If she was here.
Amara realised how badly this plan had been thought out, and just how much trouble she might potentially get herself into.
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