Savage King: New Worlds - Milly Taiden Page 0,11

shot through him. That part of him didn’t exist any longer. It died along with everyone else he killed. But his mate was in that two-legged form.

No, not even for her could he go back. It had been too long. He doubted the magic that once lived in him was there. He gave up that privilege when he abandoned that life. He wouldn’t know what to do in Gnoleon fae form. His tigron was his life until the goddess had mercy on him.

His vision had started to clear. At least he could see her one last time. She refilled the leaf and poured it over the wound from the spike. When she repeated the action twice, the last time with a frustrated huff, his tigron smiled. She was so delectable. He wanted to pull her to himself and never let her go.

He saw her hand touch his fur.

Fire ripped through him, burning his insides. He roared with pain, joints pulling apart and snapping back together. Flesh tearing and re-mending. His muzzle pushed into his face, whiskers sucked in. All his fur was retreating as if trying to hide from the world. After a short time, he lay with his Gnoleon head on the creek pebbles where his tigron once was.

Everything in him hurt and throbbed. What the hell happened? He looked down at his body. His brown skin once again saw the light of day. Something he vowed he would never let materialize again. So much for that. Obviously, the Mother had been merciful, forgiving him for his unpardonable act.

That, or this was her way of making him suffer more. Was his mate a hellion?

A cramp in his stomach jackknifed his body. He rolled onto his knees as liquid spewed from his mouth. Red slime mixed with water made a puddle before him. His body was cleansing the poison from his system.

Now he understood why he was alive. When his body changed from one form to the other, the foreign material was removed. He’d thrown up the toxins just then. The only other question he had was why had he changed. Even with fighting it, he couldn’t stop it, and it hurt like hell. He had been his tigron much too long.

He dragged himself the short distance to the creek and washed his mouth out then sipped on the refreshing water. Seeing mud on his forearm, he licked it and realized his mistake. Yes, he’d been in tigron form for so long, that he’d forgotten how to be a Gnoleon fae.

He splashed water on his tongue to wipe the mud off then onto his arm to clean it. This was going to take some getting used to until he could shift back. Right now, he hurt too much and was too weak from the poison to change. Relaxing here to gain back his strength seemed like a good idea. But what about his mate?

His tigron roared for him to get his Gnoleon ass up and find her. Thinking of her thrilled him, but he didn’t know what to do with a mate besides the obvious. He wasn’t even sure if that part of himself worked. It’d been two hundred cold moons. Fear and shame rushed through him. No, maybe he was better just waiting here.

Looking around he saw something he didn’t recognize. He scooted over and grabbed it and sniffed it. This belonged to his mate. Her smell wrapped around him, reminding him how at peace he was when she was there beside him. He’d never felt that calmness in his heart. That was what his mate did for him. Gave him the courage to believe that he might be forgiven one day.

He had to get this back to her. Maybe it was important. The thin flat material was squishy and the stretchy things at one end were of strange material. He had no idea what it was for. But that didn’t matter. He needed to find her and give it back.

Remembering the terror on her face when he roared from his body beginning the shift, he wasn’t sure how she’d react to him. His tigron scared every creature he’d come across. Especially the damnation kappies.

On his hands and knees in the orientation his body was used too, he realized, again, he wasn’t in tigron form. Gnoleon fae walked on two feet. Holding his mate’s possession in one hand, he climbed to his feet. Straightening, his head began to spin, and his balance was thrown. He stumbled to the side,