Chapter Four

Cassidy hit the ground hard, her breath leaving her body. She instinctively curled up to protect herself as she willed her lungs to reinflate. A wicked kick to her side slid her across the cobblestones and she let out an animalistic scream. Her small body didn't have time to recover before another blow came from above, a heel smashing into her back.

The shock forced Cassidy to react, her body coming out of the shift and into human form proper. She lay on the stones, naked and shivering. Someone grabbed her by her hair and pulled her to her feet. Killian. Which meant her father was somewhere in the crowd, watching. Maybe her mother too.

Killian drove his fist into her stomach, and she grunted, retching. "I told you that you better have claws to fight me." Killian hissed in her ear as he jerked her head up. "Now I can kill you and no one can fault me." He cocked his fist back again and smashed it into her jaw. Her head snapped to the side, a crunching sound blotting out any noise even though she knew that the crowd around them cheered Killian on.

She had never gone through hand-to-hand combat naked, but she sure wasn't about to die at Killian's hands without trying to put up a fight. His grip on her hair was too tight, so she couldn't headbutt his nose like she wanted to. Instead, she aimed a backfist at his crotch, hitting her mark. He grunted in pain and his grip loosened enough on her hair that she was able to dance away from him.

Right into the arms of another shifter. This man was taller than Killian. His ham fist struck her ribs and she felt the crack of bone. She used her smaller stature to slide past him, her elbow coming in to her side so she could baby her ribs. She streaked through the crowd, blows raining down from all sides on her naked body, but no one could catch her to keep her still enough to finish her off.

She burst through the crowd and into the empty village streets. Her breath came in painful gasps. She turned and began a limping run to the village gates. She couldn't go back to the castle, she would be murdered on sight. Something struck her between her shoulder blades, knocking her off center and she went down hard.

Rocks rained down around her, pelting her battered body, but still she kept going, crawling as fast as she could. Again, her body reacted instinctively. One moment she was a human girl, then next she was in her nimble-footed fox form. Shifting took most of her energy, and she was flagging as she finally made it to the village gates. It was too late for them to be standing open like they did during the day.

She could feel the crowd surging behind her, and it was only a matter of time before they managed to finish the job of ending her existence. She nosed along the wall, hunting anything that would help her. There! She spied a crack in the foundation of the village wall, just big enough that her fox form could squeeze through if she held her breath. She began to frantically paw at the dirt and stone near the crack.

A rabbit bounded up to her, and she skipped backward, a terrified yip escaping her. The rabbit squeezed into the small opening and Cassidy snarled. The animal was blocking her only means of escape. The weight of hopelessness began to squeeze her, choking her. Until dirt sprayed from the hole, a chunk of rock catching Cassidy on the end of her muzzle. The rabbit bounded out quickly, thumping the wall with a foot. Cassidy dove into the crack, forcing her way through, scrabbling at dirt and stone to make the way big enough to allow her passage.

Finally, she broke through the dirt on the other side of the wall. She scrambled into the tall grass around the walls as she ran toward the forest to the west of the village. The rabbit kept up with her, bouncing quickly across the ground, leading her into the gloom of the ancient pines.

Cassidy dragged herself into the gloom, faltering, and collapsing on her side. Her breath heaved, her broken body refusing to go any further. The rabbit came bounding back. It nudged her carefully. Cassidy couldn't move. She couldn't even find the energy to shift to her larger form. She just lay on the forest floor and wheezed helplessly.

The rabbit shifted. It was odd watching the shift from an outside perspective. Where the rabbit had been was now a human. A familiar human. Cassidy let out a low whine. "Oh, my poor girl!" Cassidy's mother gathered her into her arms carefully, picking her way deeper into the forest. Finally, she lay Cassidy down on a mossy stone, weeping bitterly. "Cassidy, love..." Her mother trailed off and pressed a kiss carefully behind one of the large ears on the top of her head. "Be brave. Survive." She turned toward the village and sighed. "I have to get back. They can't know I helped you escape. It's better they think you died of your wounds." Her mother's voice was bitter. "The Moon Goddess has blessed you, though you won't know it for a long time to come, my love."

"I have it from here, Marita." A deep voice came from the darkness. Cassidy rolled her eye to catch a glimpse of a large dark haired man, larger than even the ham-fisted shifter in the village. Cassidy scrabbled against the mossy stone and her mother shushed her. "She will be as safe as she can be."

"She had better be, Tomas, or I will hold you personally responsible." Cassidy's mother dashed tears from her eyes before shifting back into a rabbit and bounding away.

A whine escaped her throat as the man stepped closer. "So you're the little shifter that had the village in an uproar. If the High Priestess hadn't sent a messenger before your shift, we wouldn't have been able to keep you alive." He heaved a sigh. "You didn't deserve all this little fox. But then again. No one ever truly deserves the capricious love of the Moon Goddess." He snorted. "Let's get you to the caravan. We have much to do, and little time to accomplish everything we need to." He gathered Cassidy gently in his arms and loped easily through the forest.

Cassidy was warm, and though the pain was dragging her into the darkness, she wasn't sure she had ever felt as safe as she did in this moment. Cassidy struggled to retain consciousness, but she slipped in and out. At some point, they had arrived to wherever it was that the man had been headed.

Voices murmured over her broken body, "Are you certain, your Highness?" There was an edge to the tone that made her pay attention.

"Of course I'm sure, I wouldn't have risked everything for just any girl." The man's voice was grim. "She is essential to everything. No one will thwart the Lycan King again with this girl in my shadow."

Cassidy felt herself slide back into the darkness even as her mind tried to process the words. She was with the Lycan King?! But, before too many more thoughts could filter through her, darkness claimed her once more.