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  “Are you keeping out of trouble as I told you to, Caidi?” Raven stared at his chalie and savored the welcome sight of her in front of him at last.

  Caidi spun at the sound of his voice once she realized that it wasn’t in her head. She could hardly believe that he was actually there. For a moment, she had thought that he was speaking to her through their connection again. Her eyes rounded at the sight of him standing there, so big, so real.

  She ran across the distance which separated them and luckily, it was free of obstacles and people. Her arms twined around him, holding him to her with all of her strength. Gods, she had missed him. Reveling in the strength of his arms about her, she nestled her head against his chest. She inhaled his scent, sweet to her even with the sweat and the dirt of the trail mingling with his unique musky male essence. Home. In that breath, she knew that he meant much more to her than she had ever suspected.

  Raven held her tightly against him and lowered his chin to the top of her head, closing his eyes as a wave of relief swept over him. She was safe with him now. Even with a full complement of Shadatai warriors and Teril, who knew her ways, to keep her safe, he had always been concerned that she would manage to slip past them and find some kind of trouble before he could get here.

  She had a talent for finding trouble, for walking fearlessly right into it. He had heard tales of her exploits while she had been exploring the gate path, before she had been persuaded that she should be staying closer to home as she was the Acine. He was simply glad that her traveling days in that capacity were done. She would only be traveling with him now. This woman was his life. He would strive to ensure that she was safe from harm.

  “You never answered my question, my chalie,” Raven prompted when she seemed inclined to simply stand there holding him. His hand tipped her face up to his where he could see her eyes. He inhaled her scent and immediately felt calmer.

  “About keeping out of trouble? I didn’t think that there was really a need. I thought that it was just one of your provoking questions. I was never allowed to go anywhere unescorted, certainly not outside of the camp. The only time that I was ever truly alone was when I was in my tent.” Caidi frowned at him. What did he expect to happen? He should know that she could take care of herself.

  “The Kaden Charal, Teril and Zaden wouldn’t even let me walk to the edge of the river alone. It is just over there and clearly in sight, but I had to have at least one escort.” She pointed to the strip of river near the camp.

  In Raven’s opinion, the Kaden Charal had shown a great deal of insight in that decision. “That is bad?”

  “What could have happened to me when I was plainly in their sight?” Caidi asked with a frown of remembered annoyance. “The Charal I understand, but Teril knows what I can do. There was no reason for such caution. Your friend is overprotective.”

  “Teril does know what you can do which is why he watches you so avidly. Zaden was merely doing as I asked him.” Raven flashed her an unrepentant smile. “Why don’t you tell me what you think could have happened to you? You are the one with experience with strange happenings.”

  “The only thing really strange that has happened to me lately is being taken from a market by the Bavaok. I doubt even the most strict judge would say that that was my fault.” Caidi placed her hands on his chest and pushed her upper body away from his. “Let’s go to my tent. I want to properly welcome you.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. This discussion could lead to trouble and when she returned to Carait, she was going to have a serious discussion with certain mouthy members of her pack, because someone had to have told him. She had to distract him from this path. This wasn’t something she wanted to discuss. The man had been protective before. With what he knew now, she would probably be lucky to cross the courtyard within the walls of the Taivain without escort.

  Raven smiled, but shook his head in denial. “That isn’t your tent. That is Zaden’s tent. We will go to our tent after the evening meal. First, I want to talk with you about strange things. I am sure that you can tell me about them.” Her attempt to distract him was very obvious, but, as tempted as he was to be alone with her, to strip her naked and to look at her until he was satisfied that she was whole and healthy, he needed to talk with her now.

  “Can we at least go for a walk in the forest while we talk?” Caidi gave into the inevitable with a sigh of acceptance. “I haven’t been farther than the edge of the river since I got here. I need to walk, to move.”

  “Yes, we can walk,” Raven allowed with a smile as he took her hand and they began walking toward the edge of the forest.

  Caidi glared at him when she saw him gesture to two of his men, who fell into step behind them as they entered the darkened woods. She couldn’t believe that he actually felt he would need two men to escort them. It was going a bit far in her opinion. Nothing was going to attack them, although her own thoughts toward him right now were violent.

  Chapter Nineteen

  What could happen? She wasn’t going to attack him, even if he was making her feel as if she were trapped in a room without windows or doors. They didn’t have any enemies nearby other than the small group of Bavaok who were days away from this camp. Wild animals weren’t much of a threat to a Zarain. If needed, he had his sword. They were hardly defenseless.

  “So, why don’t you begin to tell me about strange happenings, my chalie?” His lips curved into a predatory smile.

  Caidi knew that he was toying with her. “If you want to know something, you should be specific. I refuse to answer any question that general, because our view of strange happenings might be a little different. You have shown yourself to be an overly cautious sort in some areas.”

  “I think that we should start with the moacha lizard that you found in your bed when you were fourteen. You do remember that and agree that it is a strange thing to happen, don’t you?” Raven pronounced levelly. The look in his eyes easily relayed the message that he knew the facts and that he wouldn’t allow her to duck or dodge this subject any longer.

  “I remember it. No one’s likely to forget finding a poisonous creature among her bedding. That was shortly before the first challenge.” Caidi shuddered at the memory of that scaly creature. It had been the first time she had thought about her own death as imminent, not years away. “At the time, I knew that finding the moacha in my bed wasn’t likely to have happened simply by chance.”

  “Tell me why you thought that.” Raven had heard it all, but he wanted her views, her thoughts.

  “We had never before found a moacha in the area near the Taivain, much less in it. There was no proof that anyone had even been anywhere close to my room for long enough to put it there. I came to suspect that it was one of those who weren’t happy following me, one of those who later challenged me.” That incident had been the cause of so much tension during that time, not only for her, but also to any who might be suspected. Caidi was certain that it had been the catalyst behind the first challenges.

  “You aren’t certain?” Raven raised his brows.

  “It doesn’t seem like them, the way they would try to gain the power. They did challenge me and when they lost, they left the Taivain instead of staying under my rule.” She wished things could have been different. The need for answers to all of those questions still plagued her. “Then again nothing like that happened again after they all left. So, it could have been one of them.”

  “Nothing happened, but after that incident, you were on your guard, alert and the other members of your pack were watchful for anything strange as well.” Raven’s dark frown and raised brows demanded that she give the matter further thought. “The culprit could have still been among you then. They knew that if anything happened to you, they would likely get caught.”

  “I think that I am safe now. There aren’t any of the older females anywhere near the Taivain now, not in years. Nothing strange has happened within it since the last of those women who were unable to adjust to the change in le
adership left.” Caidi smiled, relieved. Grateful that he appeared to be more concerned with the strange things that had occurred in the ancient past, she tucked her hand in his. This wasn’t what she had feared he had been told when he had started talking of strange happenings. He would now be reassured that she was safe and they could move on to other subjects.

  Raven looked at her hard when the silence stretched. She seemed to be concentrating on the leaf-strewn forest floor. “Nothing has happened at the Taivain, but there is much that you don’t wish to tell me. I know of four instances when you were off of Carait. You know that I will not tolerate you being in danger.”

  Caidi suppressed a growl and tried to think of an appropriate response. “You do?”

  “There were the slavers who tried to take you, just you, out of a crowded market on a world called Evical, then there was the mob that attacked the inn where you and three others from your pack were sleeping on Reyad. On Jocan, an arrow narrowly missed your shoulder, and of course, there was the entire batch of poisoned stew that was fed to the customers on Vendal. Explain all of these strange happenings.” Raven frowned down at her. She needed to take these things more seriously. Someone was after her. “They happened well after the last older woman was gone.”

  “All of those incidents which you are taking as a serious threat were separated by long stretches of peace. There was so much time between them that it isn’t likely that they are related. If you talked to who I think you talked to, you should also know that none of those things could ever be definitively proven as an attempt on my life.” Caidi shrugged. He should know by now that she hadn’t been the protected pampered woman of most Zarain packs.

  “Explain them to me, then. How is it that you don’t see any malice toward yourself from all of these events occurring?” With lowered brows, he waited for her answer. “Have you become so accustomed to danger that you don’t see when you are the focus of a killer?”

  “It was very strange that there were slavers even on Evical, but hardly unheard of in that area. You know as well as I do that slavers have been known to look for a particular type of woman if they are paid enough. I just happened to be what they were looking for.” Caidi pursed her lips and tilted her head. He was making too much of this. Nothing had happened.

  “So it was just a coincidence?” Raven’s silver eyes pinned her.

  Caidi ignored that derisive question and went on to the second episode. “The mob attacking the inn was definitely strange. To this day, no one knows what caused them to do that, but they were broken up by some Dain. We left there rather quickly, but not because of the mob, and we are careful when we go back.”

  “It is another coincidence that you were in the very inn a mob stormed. You don’t believe that. I heard from the other women who were at that inn what the crowd had been yelling. They were shouting for the death of the shifters within the inn.” She was trying to make these events seem innocent when they were far from it.

  “The arrow, I was in a forest. It could very well have been an accident. We were never able to prove that it wasn’t a hunter, letting his arrow fly before he was certain of the prey.” That one was a hard one get out with a straight face. No hunter was that careless. That was the one occurrence that worried her most. Someone had taken a shot at her. Admitting that to her overprotective mate… That was another matter.

  “Caidi, no lies,” Raven warned. The woman needed to face the truth.

  “As to the poison at the inn being meant solely for me, that is a reach. An entire inn nearly got poisoned. There were many people there. I wasn’t the only one who could have been the real target. It has been quite a while since anything like that has happened.” Caidi rushed to put a bright note to the ending. She walked beside him, thinking. Never had she thought about them all together like that. Even she could see that it was unlikely that all of those things would have happened to her by chance.

  “There have probably been many strange things that have happened and gone unnoticed as an attempt on your life. You don’t see even those I have mentioned as an attempt to remove you as Acine.” Raven’s hand swept through the air in a decisive statement. “Someone wants you dead.”

  “I don’t think…” Caidi frowned. She could feel the anger racing through his thoughts. The man was seeing a conspiracy where there was probably nothing more than an angered customer.

  “The Bavaok leader, when I confronted him with the truth that he wasn’t dealing with mere human traders, tried very hard to convince me that he was directed to this area, to your trade. He said that a woman came to him and told him that he would find something interesting if he looked into those who produced the goods sold from Esden.” Raven was satisfied to see her stunned expression. Maybe now she would take the threat seriously.

  “But if he was told to look for us, why didn’t he attack us?” Caidi knew that if he had had any hint that they were shifter he would have attacked.

  “Greed.” Raven squeezed her hand which had gone limp in his. “When he started trading and making a steady profit with your goods, he didn’t look any further into what the woman could have meant. He said that now he knew what the woman wanted him to find.”

  “You aren’t implying that any of those now in my pack have turned rogue…that they have been trying to kill me. They would have had nothing to gain in the beginning. They were young as well. They are all loyal. They have all fought at my back and not one tried to plant a knife there.” Caidi defended her pack-mates without qualm. She knew that they were all true to her and each other. “And they’re shifters and just as likely to get killed by the Bavaok.”

  “I don’t mean the women who are with you now. Lower your hackles,” Raven clarified. “I am talking about the women you defeated and the ones who simply left. They know where the Taivain is. They knew you didn’t have any males to protect you. They also knew that you would be continuing your explorations.”

  “Why do you suspect the women who simply chose to leave of doing this? They could have stayed at the Taivain, helped us make it what it is now.” Caidi threw up her hands in exasperation as she remembered how unsure she had been in those first days. “I would have welcomed their help and guidance. I wasn’t trained to lead. I wasn’t even trained to direct the trade.”

  “One or more of those women wanted control of the Taivain and they still do. Either they lost in the dominance fight or didn’t care to try their luck and left. The problem will be finding them.” The two groups were the only ones who knew where the Taivain was, who would know what she looked like.

  “How can you be sure that any of them still want that? Maybe they gave up after sending the Bavaok to look into the trade and discovering that he’d decided to trade instead of looking deeper at who was doing the trading.” Caidi searched his eyes.

  “The Bavaok man added that he’d had another visit from the woman recently.” Raven reached up and brushed her hair back behind her ear.

  “Why would he tell you anything that you didn’t specifically ask?” she scoffed.

  “He was trying very hard to bargain for his life.” Raven arched a brow.

  “What did she want?” Caidi took a deep breath and then met his eyes.

  “He said that she came to him with a sketch this time—of you. She said that she wanted him to take you from the market when you arrived. She gave him a list of dates that you might be there,” Raven revealed.

  “How…” She closed her eyes as she realized that someone had been stalking her for a long time.

  “Yes, she has,” Raven agreed with her silent conclusion. “She paid him to take you and told him that he could do what he wanted with you as long as you never came back. As she left, she told him that she was certain he would do what was right.”

  “If he intended to kill me, then why even keep me alive and captive?” Caidi looked up at him confused by the Bavaok man’s behavior.

  “He intended to sell you to slavers. The woman counted on him discovering you were a sh
ifter and killing you, but the man who had you never knew.” Raven shook his head in astonishment. “He saw a way to get paid twice or even three times for his work.”

  “I can only be thankful for his greed.” She returned her attention to the terrain in front of her.

  “As am I,” Raven agreed. “Tell me about the women who aren’t here now.”

  “Most of the women who simply left the Taivain were younger than the women who challenged me to battle. They didn’t want to stay in a Taivain when they questioned my ability to lead them through very troubled times. Also, they didn’t want to stay in a pack without men. They were unmated and hadn’t had children yet.” Caidi kept her voice even, low as she remembered those women from so long ago. She had asked them to stay, to help her. They had all left.

  “Did any try to come back?” Raven saw and felt the hurt, the pain as she remembered that time.

  “No, I haven’t seen or heard from any of them. A few of them told me to my face that they would rather wander the worlds on their own than follow an untried cub who would probably get them killed. They were looking for mates, a new pack. There is no way to find them.” Caidi had often wondered about them, but they had chosen their path.

  “If the other shifter man brought the woman to his Taivain and she didn’t choose to give the name of her pack or even if it was unknown, it would be remembered by someone.” Raven reached over and squeezed her hand. “People have long memories when it comes to strange things. A female who gives no pack name or makes one up, that would have been a very strange thing. The elders would remember it.”

  They had gradually circled back to the large encampment. They arrived just in time for the meal. Caidi sat next to Raven and accepted the heaping plate that was given to her. She accepted the cup, but knew from the almost clear coloring that it wasn’t the wine that she was accustomed to drinking. Suspicious, she sniffed at it and frowned, aiska cider.