Monsters prey, p.1
Monster's Prey, page 1
Monster's Prey
Monsters in the Mountains Book 3
Leann Ryans
Copyright © 2022 Leann Ryans
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Cover design by: Get Covers
Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Thanks
Preface
This story was previously relased in the Monsters Before Men anthology.
Chapter One
Nala
I fussed with the pillow placement again. Something about it felt… wrong.
After twitching it another inch to the left and still hating it, I yanked the pillow from the bed and tossed it off the other side where I didn’t have to look at it.
“Quit fretting.”
My brother’s rough voice made me freeze before I could dive over and pick up the pillow again. The whole nest felt worse without it than it had before, and my skin itched with the need to fix it.
Sucking in a deep breath through my nose, I blew out a slow exhale before responding.
“I can’t help it.”
A grunt was the only acknowledgement I received.
I’d hoped my cycles would end with the loss of my mate. It had been a sad thought since I’d always looked forward to having children, but I was still surprised I’d survived a broken bond at all. My heat had been muted while I was still struggling through the initial grief of his loss, but instead of dying away like I should have, I felt it coming back, full force.
My biology didn’t care that I was no longer interested in mating. That I’d already had a mate and lost him too soon.
My brother’s mate spoke from where she sat beside the fire.
“I don’t understand the big deal about nests, anyway. It’s just a pile of bedding, and a messy one at that.”
I choked back the growl that the other female’s words caused. She was a beta, and there wasn’t a single day since my brother had taken over my care that she hadn’t reminded me how put-out she was about being forced to share her home. She had no sympathy, urging my brother to find me a new alpha as fast as possible, despite my protests.
My brother rumbled at her words but spoke to me.
“Edar has another two days of harvesting to do before he’ll have time to come get you. You’ll have to handle it until then.”
As if I could control when my heat came.
“Yes, Brother.”
I climbed into my nest, careful not to disturb the pillows I’d taken so long to arrange. Reaching over the side, I collected the one I’d thrown in my fit of temper. As adept as I’d grown at burying my emotions, the more hormones that flooded my system, the harder it became.
Lying down, I fidgeted with the pillow until it no longer caused a crawling sensation down my spine each time I looked at it. I’d never get to sleep otherwise, and with instincts already making me prickly, lack of sleep would lead to a fight I had no chance of winning.
As much as I missed my alpha, I couldn’t take the constant needling from my brother’s mate, and I didn’t wish to cause my brother more trouble. He’d come to find me when word of Nearden’s death reached him, then nursed me back to health instead of letting me slip away with my alpha.
At the time, I’d hated him for it, but I appreciated his care now. The years I’d had with Nearden weren’t enough, and I had no wish to die just yet.
Nor did I want to take another mate, but I wasn’t being given a choice. My only hope was to bond with another, and perhaps find fulfillment again.
***
“I don’t like leaving you on your own.”
“I’m not a child, Brother.”
His mate stepped between us, placing her hand on my brother’s chest.
“I’m sure she’d enjoy some time to herself. She still has preparations to make, and I’m sure she doesn’t want to leave her precious nest.”
I couldn’t think of any other time she had bothered to stand up for me. She was clearly happy with my decision to stay at the cabin instead of following them to the village.
“If anything happens, if you see predators or another alpha, you are to bar yourself in the cellar.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. He was only a couple years older than me, but he’d taken on the position of protector from the day of my birth.
“Yes, Father.”
I couldn’t help the jab. This wasn’t the first time we had gotten into an argument because he thought he could order me around like I was his child instead of his sister.
A sister who’d already been mated and took care of her own house for more years than he had.
He frowned down at me, heavy brows drawn together over dark eyes.
“Perhaps you should come with us after all. The forest isn’t safe, and you’ll be vulnerable.”
My response was immediate.
“No.”
Another no echoed mine. His mate and I had both contradicted him, and his brows lowered further as he tensed. I knew if I didn’t come up with something to convince him, I’d be getting dragged to the village with them whether I wanted to go or not.
“I still need time to prepare my things before Edar arrives. If I lose a whole day going into the village with you, I won’t be ready when he comes for me.”
It was a lie. Besides my bedding and a small trunk of clothing, I had little left. My brother had sold everything from the home I’d shared with Nearden.
My brother’s mate curled into his side, pouting up at him. “You promised we could go into the village today to get those berries I like from Atta. Your sister will be fine for a few hours. You keep this whole area safe.”
I wanted to gag at her whining and the way she rubbed herself against him, but I reminded myself she was coaxing him toward what I wanted.
“I have to launder my things and pack them to be taken to Edar’s home. I also need to make adjustments to my mating gown if I’m to wear it for the ceremony.”
It was ridiculous to go through another mating ceremony as if I was some young, untried omega, but my brother insisted on it. I still had my mating gown from the ceremony with Nearden, but I wasn’t as slim as I’d been then, and I needed to let out the seams. With the signs of my coming heat getting more obvious by the day, I couldn’t put it off any longer.
My brother still looked on the verge of ordering me to come with them.
He enjoyed his peace and had built his cabin a half day’s walk from the village to be sure he wouldn’t be bothered. He usually went into the village only once a moon, and he hadn’t left either of us behind the entire time I’d been living with them.
Usually, I looked forward to the chance to escape the pair for a while. It was a joy to wander the village alone while they ran errands, but with my heat already making me uncomfortable, I didn’t want to make the long trip or be under the scrutiny of other alphas.
“Edar might get upset if I go into the village now, Brother, with my heat so close. Another alpha might get ideas…”
I trailed off and my brother growled low under his breath before cutting off with a sigh. He knew I didn’t want to take another mate, but it was unheard of for an omega to be on their own, and he didn’t have the space or resources to continue providing for me, even if his mate and I had gotten along.
“The cellar—”
“If I see so much as a bunny twitch its nose at me, I’ll hide until you return.”
Eyes narrow, he stared at me a moment longer before grunting and turning away. It took all my control not to laugh as his mate made a fool of herself stoking his ego over how protective he was.
I stood in the doorway, waiting in case he turned back to check on me, holding my breath until they disappeared around the bend in the trail. Even then I hesitated, counting breaths until I was sure there was nothing short of a disaster that would turn them back.
I let out a sigh filled with a tangle of emotions, none of which I wanted to deal with. It was a relief to have some space, and I looked forward to taking advantage of it until they returned.
I dragged my bedding from the mattress in the corner of the main room, tossing everything into the wash basin outside. The water hadn’t had time to warm in the sun, but I couldn’t wait if I wanted my linens dry in time for bed.
Nearden’s scent had already faded from the bedding, lessening with each wash until I couldn’t even remember what he had smelled like. Still, I had to be sure there was no trace of another alpha on the blankets and pillows for my mating nest.
I’d met Edar a few times in the village, and all I remembered was the stench of ale that followed him, and the paunch hanging over his belt. I knew my brother was getting a handsome reward in exchange for me, and I trusted him not to trade me to someone who would hurt me, so while I held no particular attraction to Edar, I had no real argument against him according to my brother.
Resigned to my fate, I tried to remind myself that the bond should
Hopefully, I could grow to feel the same about Edar.
Shoving those thoughts aside, I flung my bedding over the lines strung in the sun, leaving them to dry. My mating gown flapped in the breeze, taunting me, but I turned away from it. I had time before I needed to work on letting out the seams to accommodate my enhanced curves, and I had no reason to spend it cooped up inside a home that wasn’t mine.
Facing the trees, I let the lure of the shady, green space pull me forward. I’d wander for a while and enjoy the quiet freedom before facing my coming heat and new reality.
Maybe then I’d find peace with betraying my first mate.
Chapter Two
Av’dag
I didn’t like to travel so close to the human settlement, but I couldn’t let the bear get away again.
Checking the pile of dung, I judged I wasn’t too far behind him. He should want to avoid the village as much as I did, so hopefully it would be safe to continue hunting him. He was a danger that had to be dealt with, especially since the injured old bear had gone after a youngling of the clan.
Claws flexing against my thighs, I tipped my head back and scented the air. The stench of dried blood and disease lead me to him as surely as his tracks. Usually a situation like this would bring out a whole hunting party to find the animal, but with Mel’cam and Mel’ar both having mates now, a lot of the other alphas in the clan had gone in search of omegas of their own. I was one of the few who had stayed behind to protect the clan, and now, that meant following the bear and putting him out of his misery.
All I heard was the rustle of leaves and the small noises of birds and squirrels, so I moved on. It was easy to follow the paw prints and stench of decay. It was unfortunate to need to put the bear down, but since he’d lost a fight with a younger male his wounds had festered, and without a territory of his own, it was best for us all to end his suffering before he did something unfortunate.
I tracked him further down the mountain, the wandering trail a sign of his deteriorating state. He passed both food and shelter, moving ever closer to the human village.
Despite our clan leader and his brother both having human mates, we still kept our distance from their settlements, not wanting to incite panic. If the bear kept on his path, I might have to watch from a distance to see if the humans would handle him.
Growling under my breath, I increased my pace. This had been meant to be a quick trip to deal with a threat, and I didn’t want to linger in this area any longer than necessary. It would be better to catch him before he got any closer to the humans. I couldn’t trust them to beat the wily old beast.
I loped through the forest faster than a human could run, but it wasn’t long before a scream ripped through the air and told me I was too late. We were still a distance from the village, but someone must have been out wandering, and from the sound of it, it was a female.
Instincts had me sprinting, tree trunks blurring past, claws digging into the earth to propel me as fast as I could move. None of my kind were in the area but me, and no human stood a chance against the bear unprepared. Especially not a weak female without claws or fangs.
The next scream corrected my path, and in moments I was taking in the scene without slowing my momentum. A lone woman stood with her back pressed to a trunk, the old bear towering over her as he let loose a roar that drowned out her cries of fear. I spared a second to be thankful that she didn’t run and incite him further, before he raised a mighty paw as I barreled between them.
The bear hadn’t even registered my arrival before I’d caught his arm, grunting at the weight of it. I’d have preferred to deliver his death at a distance, but it was too late for preferences. I was in it now, and I wasn’t going to stop until I’d put an end to the threat.
The bear roared again, rearing higher as he fought to pull his limb from my grasp. I dug my claws in and held on, keeping him off-balance and distracted from his prey. As large as I was, he still had height and weight over me, and even with his injuries he was a ferocious opponent.
A tiny squeak behind me drew my attention to the human. I turned my head to find her still frozen against the trunk, her wide eyes locked on us. I’d lifted my lip to snarl at her to leave when her scent reached my nostrils.
Lavender and lust.
Slick, and sweet, feminine musk.
Omega.
My distraction earned me a terrible blow that sent me crashing to the ground, shoulder and chest burning from the rake of curved claws that rivaled my own. My fur had protected me from the worst of it, but even so, I felt the warm trickle of blood through the hair.
Shaking my head, I focused on the bear and pulled my legs beneath me, preparing for the next attack. I had his attention now, the human forgotten in the face of a threat, and I had to hope she was smart enough not to get in the way.
He dropped to all fours and lumbered toward me with another roar that had me flattening my ears to my skull. When he rose up on his hind legs again, I darted forward, slashing with my claws, but unfortunately missing anything vital. The blow enraged him further, and I barely escaped being mauled again.
I rolled away before lunging back toward his rear leg. I hated putting the bear through more pain, but he had left me no choice.
He turned just as I slashed, my claws catching in matted fur before sinking into muscle and tendons. If it had been later in the year and the old bear was healthier, his layer of fat would have saved him, but with his body skinny after a long winter, and then being forced from his territory, my claws did their job.
His leg gave out beneath him.
Before he could get up, I launched myself onto his back. Wrapping one arm around his thick neck, I wrenched his head to the side as my other hand drew the blade I’d strapped to my thigh. My claws weren’t enough to dispatch the great beast with the speed he deserved, but my knife could end his suffering.
Plunging downward behind his collarbone, the tip pierced his heart, and he collapsed beneath me.
“Rest now, brother. Your journey has ended, and you fought well.”
I murmured the words of the warrior’s death as his body went limp. I pitied the old bear, but such was our way of life. We all met our end eventually, and I’d done my best to make his quick and painless.
I withdrew my blade from his body, wiping it on his pelt before returning it to the sheath at my thigh. I slid from his back as movement drew my gaze over his prone form to the omega still trying to become one with the tree. My blood still pumped from the fight, my instincts on edge, and I guessed what her fidgeting was leading to. I tried to warn her.
“Don’t run.”
The words came out a growl, but I knew she understood me. Her golden skin blanched, eyes going wider as her lips parted. Chest heaving, the fabric of her covering strained to hold her curves, and the sight made my mouth water as a fresh surge of excitement spread through me.
I knew it was coming.
She couldn’t help it, and neither could I.
I saw the moment instinct overrode thought, and a feral grin pulled my lips back as the little omega sprang into motion.
Pushing off the tree, she ran, little feet pounding the earth. I rolled my neck as I straightened, loosening muscles that had gone tight during my fight with the bear.
She had no chance of escape.
I knew it, and she could feel it, but she had to run anyway.
And I had to chase.
And once I caught her…
Her scent promised things I’d never hoped for. I’d spent enough winters alone, and the gods had led me to a ripe omega in return for my deeds.
She would be mine.
Chapter Three
Nala
I gasped, rough bark biting into my shoulder as I careened off a trunk I couldn’t avoid. Running through the forest was foolish, I knew better, but what choice did I have, confronted with a monster?
