Kane shook his head, and she could see him fighting to keep his composure. “What have you done, Darius?”
“When you were a very small child, and the Prime was in its infancy, it was easy to break the law. We were all finding our feet, trying to work out how we could make a living, how we would survive and feed our families.” Darius shifted his gaze, looking off into the distance as if reliving those times. “We governed ourselves to some extent, each town, each clan, or herd, or … pride, looking to their leader for help to get through it.”
Amara remembered her parents talking about those times. The war with humans had come to an abrupt end when, over fifty years ago now, the leader of the shifters had inexplicably surrendered. At the time no one knew why, and trouble had flared as a few shifters refused to abide by the terms of the peace treaty. She could see why; having left her home to come here, she understood how hard it must have been. The shifters were fighting for equality; a thing humans were against. Some pure humans argued that it was impossible for them to live as equals when shifters were so unequal.
Being able to turn into a big cat, or a bear, or a wolf, at will, made pure humans wary of this new species. That was what shifters were called, a new species, and set on the same level as the great apes: intelligent, but not worth the same as a pure human.
When the treaty was signed, all the shifters were rounded up and sent to the Prime, part of what used to be North America up to the Arctic Circle, shut off from the rest of the world by a border. Anyone who refused to go was taken there by force. The law stated that any shifter who wanted to walk outside of the Prime, in the Otherworld, as it was now called by shifters, had to wear a silver collar, laced with copper, that stopped the signal from the brain which the body needed to turn from human to animal and back again.
That was what she wore around her neck, visible for everyone to see, much like a brand. Kane’s bracelet and Darius’s ring were made to be disguised as an item of jewellery, but their effects were the same.
“We were lucky. We had a great leader. Remus, the alpha male of our pride, was a good man. He had been rich in the world before, and had managed to strike deals before the world was split. It meant his businesses grew outside of the Prime; of course, none of it could be in his name. But the people who ran those companies for him had been long-term employees, whom he trusted.” Darius looked at Amara, and she saw the sorrow there as he went on.
“But success breeds jealousy, and a rival male, Serrif, decided to move in on the action. Not by force—he wanted to trade with Remus, he said it would make both prides stronger. That his people were starving and the lions should stick together.” Darius smiled and shook his head. “Remus always was a good man, always wanting to see the best in everyone.”
“What happened?” Kane asked, although he already knew the outcome.
“Remus liked to do his thinking in his other form. His lion gave him the space in his head to make the hard decisions that were needed. You see, he had grown suspicious of Serrif, and no longer trusted him.” Darius walked away, looking old and worn out, twisting the ring on his finger as he carried on with his story.
“I was supposed to run with him that night. We all knew it was safer not to run alone, the Prime was still wild in many ways.” He shook his head. “I let him down, I wasn’t there and he went alone. I have never forgiven myself for what happened, and it’s why I volunteered to come here to leave my home behind and live here, in the Otherworld, without the chance to ever shift again. Since that night I have never released my lion. That is my penance for not having my leader’s back and giving Serrif the chance to kill Remus and take over the pride.”
“I still don’t understand,” Kane said quietly.
“Darius left the Prime with one of Remus’s three children,” Amara said. Darius had walked away to stand looking at the black water at the end of the boat house. “At the time, Serrif declared that they would live by pride law, the law of lions. You and your brothers were not safe. Those loyal to Remus took his children and hid them.”
“Wait, let me get this straight. I am one of those children. Is that what you are trying to tell me?” Kane asked incredulously. “Because if it is, I don’t believe you. This sounds more like a fairy story than real life.”
“That’s because you have been brought up this side of the border.” Amara said. “Things are different now. But back then, there was no central law. It was like the Wild West, only with teeth and fangs.”
“So what happened to my brothers? What happened to my mother?” Kane asked.
Darius didn’t answer. He simply stared into an abyss filled with guilt, guilt he had long buried, but was now here in front of him, having to be faced.