Primal Quest Read online

  “Stop whining.” He laughed and sent an arrogant smile toward Senna. “You will get used to the way things are done.”

  Caidi had the feeling that she was in the middle of a private battle between the black-haired warrior and the petite Senna. “I am going to bathe and change. After I finish, I will find the…man and get some answers.” She turned and began walking toward the smaller living building.

  “His title is Achan. You’ll get used to saying it.” The warrior’s voice was gratingly cheerful as he stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

  “Get out of my way,” Caidi snarled. She had had about as much of this as she could take right now. She needed to relax, away from anyone male.

  “Your old room was in that building. It is no longer yours. Your things were moved to the larger building. I will take you to your new room, Acine.” The warrior seemed to know that her temper was uncertain at this point and spoke in a calm voice.

  A low growl rumbled in her throat. “Where are my things?”

  “If you will come with me, you can settle into your new room, bathe and change. Everything is waiting for you there.” The warrior took a step, but turned back when she didn’t follow.

  Caidi took a deep breath, a necessary one to calm her temper which was chancy because of the days of worry about her pack. She reminded herself that the man before her wasn’t the one who was the cause of all of these problems. That man, the man already claiming the title of Achan, was around somewhere and as soon as she was clean and properly clothed, she would find the damned Shadatai man and get some answers.

  The warrior led her into the large living complex. That caused her to raise her eyebrows. There hadn’t been enough people here to use this building before. It would have taken too much wood to heat it in the winter and they wouldn’t have filled even a quarter of the building. Apparently, the new Achan knew something she didn’t. She knew that they had used only ninety-five of the rooms in the smaller living complex and that included those used for communal gathering and the library, but then even the smaller complex was large by most standards.

  As Caidi followed the warrior through the large building, she knew for certain that the Shadatai had been here for a while. The white and gray marble floors of this complex gleamed. The walls had been cleaned of the dirt that collected during the years of neglect. Furniture had been moved into the proper rooms. Tapestries hung on the wall. The lumi-roc on the walls was uncovered and providing ample light as they passed through the hallways.

  Caidi wasn’t too surprised when the warrior led her to the stairway leading below ground level. The Shadatai Achan would want his quarters to be in the most secure part of the building. She didn’t fool herself that they had moved her things to another room and she would be allowed to be alone there. Her belongings had been put with Raven’s in his room.

  She knew that he was her mate. He knew that she was his mate. A sniff of the bedding the following morning would have assured him that it was true. Her scent would have still clung to the mattress and to his body.

  The warrior stopped before a door and gestured to it. Caidi opened the polished, heavy, solid wood door and entered the room. It was very large. Caidi had only been in this building once or twice, but she knew that there hadn’t been a bedroom this large anywhere else in this building. The bedchambers in both of the living complexes tended to be small, utilitarian. Space and grandeur in this complex had been reserved for common areas where everyone could see and appreciate it.

  Lamps and candles gave some of the light in the large room, but most of it came from the lumi-roc panels on the wall. The rock gave off a steady light without producing heat or a glare to irritate sensitive shifter eyes. The marble floor gleamed in the light, but was covered in spots by richly colored woven rugs and fur throws.

  The bed hadn’t been here before. It was large and occupied the center of one wall. It had a large, ornately carved, wooden headboard. The sheer size of it was astounding. She had never seen a bed that big. It was covered in an intriguing mixture of rich fabrics, most in shades of green, and furs. Looking away from the bed, Caidi saw a round table near the large fireplace. The chairs were cushioned and large, made for comfortable, intimate dining.

  Caidi moved farther into the room, curious about the changes they had made to the room. A partition wall provided a shield to one section of the room. She walked behind it and found a large, round, sunken cream-colored tub that would hold at least four people as long as they weren’t large Shadatai warriors. Farther back, she noticed toilet facilities. Also, behind the partition, a large, open closet with rows of shelves and pegs had been fashioned.

  From all of this, she gathered that the new Achan liked open space and private luxury. Caidi smiled. She never would have guessed that the big, rough Shadatai male would want such opulence. There were toilet chambers on each floor, at least two per floor. All that was required was to walk to them. As well, the large bathing pools were filled with warm water just waiting to be used. This private tub wasn’t necessary.

  Caidi intended to bathe in one of the pools. She had to hurry before the Achan arrived while she was still covered with trail dust. She needed to bathe in those communal pools, to savor the company of her friends and calm herself after days of worry and a hectic arrival. If she stayed in this room, surrounded by reminders of just how much Raven had already changed things, she would only become angrier than she already was.

  She found her things on the shelves, just opposite of large masculine clothing, much of it black, brown or white. Caidi unloaded her bag, leaving the crystals hidden in the bag. She would have to find someplace more secure to hide them later. She placed the bag under the lowest shelf.

  She chose a dress that she liked and knew would improve her mood if the bath didn’t. When she wore it, she always felt better, more in control. It was black with gauzy, long flowing sleeves, a high collar, a tight bodice, fitted waist and a full, silky skirt which fell in folds to her ankles. It fastened at the neck and at the small of her back, leaving an oval of skin from the base of her neck to the curving dip of her back on display.

  She grabbed a pair of black cloth slippers. Gathering her soaps, a sponge and a large toweling sheet into her arms, she turned and walked to the door. Grabbing the handle, she gave an impatient tug and was surprised when it wouldn’t open.

  With an impatient huff, Caidi banged on the door with her foot. They had locked her in the room. This was really too much. She wasn’t going to leave the Taivain. She had just pushed herself, nearly to exhaustion, to get here. “Let me out!”

  “The Achan has ordered that you are to bathe in your room, Acine, and await his arrival. He will be here soon,” the warrior guarding the door stated loudly when she stopped kicking the door.

  “I don’t want to bathe in here. Let me out.” Caidi knew that she didn’t yet have any authority over the man.

  “I can’t disobey the Achan’s orders, Acine. You must wait until he arrives to talk to him about your wishes.” The warrior’s tone was utterly patient.

  Caidi growled low in her throat and kicked the door, wishing that the Achan was in front of her right now. She knew what she would kick next.

  She had options. As thick as the door was, she could probably get through it. However, even if she managed to get through the solid door, she would then face the problem of getting through the Shadatai man who would stand in her path. That would be a real challenge. All in all, it would cause too much trouble, be too much trouble to leave the room right now.

  Angrier now than when she arrived, she knew that it wasn’t going to get any better, especially with the threat of her chalon’s, her mate’s, imminent arrival. She had wanted to be calm, to have all of her thoughts in order before the inquisition began.

  She had lived with fear for her people for over seventeen days and it had now transformed into a fury unlike any she had ever felt. She had wanted to use the time among her friends to soothe those raw emotions with the very
real proof that everyone was safe. Now, she just wanted to get her hands on that man.

  Chapter Six

  Caidi turned and stalked over to the sunken tub behind that partition. She might as well take a bath. That might take away some of the tension from her body. She would rather be out of the bath and clean when he came, than pacing around the room waiting for him, still covered in dirt and sweat from her journey.

  She flipped the levers until she discovered which one closed the drain on the tub and the one that allowed the warm water to tumble into the tub from a carved marble head. She walked into the closet and found a stool. She carried it to a wall near the pool and placed her clothing on it, the toweling sheet on top of them and her slippers on the floor. She put the soap and sponge down near the edge of the tub and undressed.

  She stepped into the water, sat and leaned back against the smooth, rounded edge of the tub. It was built to accommodate a giant. Caidi felt a little lost in the tub that had been designed for a couple’s intimate bathing pleasure. There was so much room in it that she felt like a child, sitting alone in the big thing.

  She turned and picked up her sponge and the cake of soap off the floor. She turned her attention to getting clean and getting out of this room as soon as possible. She didn’t fool herself that Raven would be a happy man when he arrived. She wanted to be in a position where she at least had the hope of being able to walk out of the room if the argument became too heated since she didn’t have the option of delaying it until after she had calmed down a little herself.

  They were both alphas and Caidi wasn’t accustomed to having to answer to anyone. Now, she had a mate—a Shadatai mate—and life had changed. This having a mate, a very large mate, was going to take some adjustment.

  “I knew that you would look interesting in there.” The deep, rumbling voice sounding directly behind her sparked instant recognition and a flare of heat within Caidi. “Although your hair was blonde in my imaginings, I am relieved that you are finally home. How long will your hair be like that?”

  Caidi spun in the water and found Raven leaning against the wall, one booted foot propped against the wall, his arms folded loosely across his chest as he stared down at her. He was just as gorgeous as she remembered. His hair was unbound and flowing around his shoulders. A frown etched his face as he gazed at her.

  His silver eyes watched her carefully as if he expected her to suddenly disappear from the tub.

  He was dressed all in black today. He wore a black vest that gaped open revealing the tattoos on his chest, deep golden skin and his flat, defined abdomen. Black leather breeches molded to his powerful thighs and hips like a second skin. She could clearly see the ridge of his hardened cock pressing against the leather. Her eyes caught sight of his boots. She should have listened to that internal warning about those scuffed boots.

  “The coloring will fade away in a few weeks.” Caidi answered the relatively safe question about her hair.

  Keeping her eyes on him, she moved to the opposite side of the tub. He wouldn’t physically hurt her, but the look in his eyes made her wary. She didn’t know him, but she could tell that he was in a dark mood. She didn’t feel any safer after she had made that move. The small amount of space she had gained wouldn’t offer any safety from him should he decide to pounce and drag her from the tub.

  “You found the note in the tavern, yet you disobeyed the instructions I left for you. You knew that those instructions came directly from me and you knew that I am the rightful Achan of this pack.” He raised a brow that demanded answers to her disobedience.

  “I had no intention of calmly placing myself and my pack in your hands. We are too different. It is blatantly obvious, even to one with as little contact with our kind as I have had. You have already begun changing things and you can’t have been here for long.” Caidi glared at him. “It was my job to prepare my people for you and I needed more time. You insisted on forcing the issue.”

  “It wasn’t the mating or me you feared.” Raven’s smile held feral intent. “You always feared the change and its effect on your people. You knew that with me there would be no easy transition. You knew that I would control the Taivain. I wouldn’t simply stand by and calmly let you do as you saw fit, while I fought and hunted.”

  Relief warred with anger and desire within him. Everything within him called for her protection above all else and she had been out wandering the worlds without any guards. He hadn’t even known where she was. That fact had given him nightmares. So much could happen to her. He was also still angry that she had walked away from him when she knew that she was his mate.

  That she had had the courage to attempt such a stunt to get pregnant infuriated him. She should have still been under her father’s care, not prowling back-worlds. His hunger for her, the unquenched lust, hadn’t cooled. His fangs, the Zarain canines, usually only present when he was in his second form, had lengthened when he had first caught her scent today. Goddess, he needed her. The instinctive urge to change his mate was riding him almost as hard as the sexual fever.

  “The duties of the Achan and the Acine in a Zarain pack were long ago determined. The Achan sees to the hunting and the warfare, the protection of the pack from danger while the Acine runs the Taivain, sees to trade, tends to the pack’s needs, and helps with the crops. All Zarain follow this tradition, this custom, except for the Shadatai.” Caidi slapped the cake of soap onto the floor at the side of the tub. She didn’t need a male interfering with the way things were done around here. “The male Shadatai control everything in the Taivain, even most of the small details. They aren’t content with the traditional male role.”

  Raven refused to be lured into a shouting match. She was finally back within reach and he wouldn’t spend all day arguing with her. “That is the way things are. You will come to like my way. It is true that things have changed for this pack. You have protection now and don’t have to live in fear of discovery. You don’t have to always be on guard. There will be more changes occurring. You will adjust to them as well.”

  “I’m not Shadatai. I wasn’t raised to ask a man’s permission to complete the minor details of pack life,” Caidi snarled at him. How could she want him so much and still be so angry with him?

  “It isn’t the minor details of life which concern me,” Raven corrected with a shrug. “The running of the Taivain is yours for the most part. As to your remark about you not being Shadatai, that is one of the things which will be changing.”

  “What do you mean?” Caidi bit out from between clenched teeth.

  “The Shadatai are harder for a reason, Caidi. We have enemies that the normal Zarain never encounter. While we will probably never be attacked by the Tsitike or the Chanori on Carait, I will always be prepared to defend you. That is why a Shadatai pack has a few rules that a normal pack never has to verbalize.”

  “Enemies,” Caidi breathed on a disgusted sigh. “And just what are these rules that you are talking about?”

  Raven chuckled. “They are simple enough. The first, you will always obey your Achan’s commands swiftly and without question. The second, as the Acine, my chalie, and a very important part of this pack, you will never put your life at risk. If you obey me that should never come into question.”

  “Wait…” Caidi held up a hand. “Obey you without question?”

  “Three, you will never endanger the pack or any of its members through your actions or orders. If you do as I say, then we won’t have any need to discuss these rules again.” Raven’s eyes hardened. “Yes, I did say without question.”

  “And what if I have doubts about whether something fits into your rules, Achan?” Caidi grated as she glared at him.

  “If you don’t know, ask me about it.” Raven’s voice was calm and even.

  Those rules infuriated Caidi to such an extent that she was tempted to jump out of the tub and attack him. She took a deep breath and decided to change the subject. “Are there any other enemies that I need to know about?”<
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  “Yes,” Raven confirmed with a smile that Caidi knew better than to take at face value. He was still angry, but there was enough anticipation in his eyes and his voice to give her warning. “The Zarain, the Feiral, the Makar, and all of the other shifters have enemies. There are a few groups that hold us all in contempt and who take any opportunity to kill whichever shifter is so unwary as to come within their territory. Do you know about any of these enemies that I speak of?”

  Caidi frowned in confusion at his question. That smile was too open and friendly. His tone was amazingly even, but she knew that he was baiting a trap. He was about to show her exactly how ignorant she had been. Her need to know of anything that would affect her pack kept her from trying to avoid it.

  “What are you talking about and who told you my real name?”

  “You didn’t think that they would keep it secret from their new Achan when he asked, did you?” Raven chuckled, but there was more satisfaction than humor in it. “You should have told me your name that first night. You should have stayed with me, but our separation did allow me to learn some interesting things about you.”

  “I couldn’t stay with you.” Caidi splashed water as her hands swept wide.

  He came away from the wall in an easy, intimidating, swift movement. “As to what I mean, you and your pack have been trading with one of the enemies all shifters have in common, the Bavaok. We won’t be trading with them anymore, regardless of exactly how much you traded with them in the past. With our arrival, we have brought many trade opportunities, not the least is among other shifters, which you couldn’t risk without protection.”

  It didn’t take her long to work out how one group of humans could be an enemy to all shifters. There were some people who hated any being who wasn’t human. Such groups had been known to kill any shifter they encountered.