Their forced luna
Chapter 61

Amanda

I grabbed Mitsi's wrist again. The woman trembled. Her eyes were so wide she looked almost comical. But it was hard to laugh when the mocking howls got closer. Maybe this hadn't been the best idea. We'd almost served ourselves to them on a silver platter. "This way, we'll get through the woods as fast as possible."

Mitsi whimpered. "Maybe I should stay here," she cried.

"No, we can make it." Besides, I couldn't let her stay behind and tell anyone which direction I went. I pointed into the thickest part of the forest. "My mates are that way." I held a hand over my heart. I wasn't even lying to her. Somewhere over there Zale and Javier waited for me.

"If he catches us," Mitsi was practically sobbing.

"If," I agreed. "But we're not going to let him catch us. We're smarter than him." I pulled her to me and gave her a small hug. Her trembling body finally calmed down. "We'll keep moving."

Mitsi nodded and followed me.

We made it to the edge of the woods in just a few minutes. The howls hadn't stopped, only gotten closer. What worried me though wasn't whatever was hunting us. No, it was that there was a strange unearthly light hovering in the trees. It wasn't the sun or the moon or anything I understood. Maybe it was a form of magic?

Wait.

Magic? Maybe this was something that Zale had left to guide me back to him.

Mitsi reached out to brush her fingers against one of the balls of light. Nothing happened to her beside the light flickering beneath her touch. "What is this?" she questioned me.

It made me feel better. Because if she didn't know, that meant this wasn't something Aren had left to trap us. But he didn't know we'd be making an escape. But Zale would. He would have to know I'd do whatever it took to get back to him.

How would he take the news I had to give him? Would he be excited or upset? And ow would my other two mates feel about it?

"We're going to follow the lights," I told Mitsi. "They were left by my mate."

"What's that like?" Mitsi whispered. I glanced back at her and she bit her lip. "A mate I mean."

"What I have with my mates is real. It's unlike anything that Aren made you or anyone else feel. I don't understand why the Moon Goddess has fallen for his lies but what he offers isn't a real mate bond."

Mitsi blinked. "Did you say mates?"

I guess that was something that was a little unusual to someone that was forced to serve just one master. "Yes, I have more than one. I've been blessed, though I'm not sure who did it. The Moon Goddess said she did, but now she wants to rip away their bonds from me." I held a hand to Zale's mark. "She'll take them all from me for disobeying her, but I won't give up without a fight."

The creatures howled again and the woods around me shook. Mitsi shrieked and curled up into a fetal position on the ground. "Run!" she screamed at me.

I wasn't about to leave a pregnant cat shifter to be torn apart by these creatures. Instead I took a stance in front of her and let my claws slide from my fingers. I didn't have Ares's power, but I could still put up a fight.

Giant black sleek dogs stepped out from between the trees. Their eyes were shades of orange and red and sparkled like precious gems. They sniffed at the air and one by one the snouts turned toward Mitsi and the growled. These weren't regular dogs, that was for damned sure. But then again, I was somewhat relieved. I had thought these were some sort of demonic hell beast. But I could handle these things.

"Stay away from her," I demanded as one of the creatures bent to sniff Mitsi. It lifted its head and watched me, its sides heaving. It cocked its head and it grinned at me. Its fangs were longer than a normal dog's and sharper too.

"You sure are ballsy to try to escape," observed the one sniffing the little maid. "Ballsy, or stupid."

I held up a clawed hand. "If you touch her, I'll rip your ears off." It would be easy to do too. They stood up from their heads like little triangular flags. I would have threatened their tails too, but these creatures didn't possess those. I supposed that someone had already beat me to that.

They kept filing from the trees until we were surrounded by a group of five. The one that had spoken to me before chuckled. "Give up and we won't rip apart the kitty. Deny us, and her blood will be on your hands." He paused and laughed. "And all over other parts of you as well."

"Don't worry about me," Mitsi squeaked. "Run, Amanda."

"Amanda," amused one of the animals. "The Master has told us in no uncertain terms to not rip you apart. We're supposed to treat you with kid gloves. But the cat?" he chuckled and shook his head, taking another step closer. "He only told me to enjoy the fresh food."

"What are you?" I demanded. These weren't regular dog shifters, I understood that, but what the hell were they? Why did my skin crawl around them?

They laughed again, caging both Mitsi and I in a circle comprised of their bodies. Flames erupted from the ground beneath each. Orange, red, blue, green, and black, one color to each creature. The fire consumed each of them and when the smoke cleared, five naked men stood watching us.

"Why did you do that?" I demanded. If they attacked me, I needed to be prepared. I looked for any weapon I could use in case they snapped on me all the way.

"You wanted to know what we were," the one that had been consumed by the black fire pointed out. "And we're here to answer that. You and your kitty cat have stumbled into a pack of hell hounds, and you should know we are fiercely loyal. Give up now before we're all forced to hurt you."