Tamed (The Condemned #4) - Alison Aimes Page 0,115
is the meaning of this?” Ramm, faster to recover, shoved forward, his words a near growl. “H-how does he touch you and live? What magic is this?”
“No magic.”
Grif’s hold tightened. “What did he say? If he’s saying he wants you back, you better be telling him he can go fuck himself. You’re mine.”
She hid a smile. Squeezed him tight. Grif had done his part. Now, it was her turn.
Ramm looked even more confused.
“You have all been told lies.” She shouted so all the pack could hear.
Ramm shook his head, his doubt clear. “They have used black magic on you.”
“They have only shown me the truth.” She raised her hand and touched Grif again, straight over his heart. “Truth. My touch does not cause suffering.”
Ramm staggered back.
“Truth. There are Others who are good and kind and brave, just like among pack. There are Others who did not know we were here and who seek peace and the chance to trade and work together against those who would wish both groups harm.”
The whispers grew.
“Truth. Others cannot be wiped from this planet with a few more glowing spears. There are thousands of them and more arrive every rotation. Going to war with them will only hasten the end of the pack.”
“Lies!” Talg found his voice. “Lies from a traitorous Gazi whore.”
She turned on him. “I am not the one leading my people to doom. I am not the one so twisted by hate that I cannot see that my grief and rage has corrupted everything. You are leading the pack to extermination.”
“What I see is a traitor who has brought the enemy to the heart of our village.”
“You think only of yourself and your pain.” She turned to Ramm and the others. There was no reaching Talg. It would be up to the pack to change. “Talg wants this war for revenge. He is not thinking of what is best for you.”
“Enough!” Talg’s face was a mask of rage. “Kill them both. Now!”
A brief hesitation by the pack, where once they’d jumped to do his bidding.
Talg noticed. His voice not quite as thick with self-importance as he found himself forced to explain himself for the first time. “He is a monster. Of course he can withstand her touch. He is an abomination like her.”
“Then explain this?” Slipping from Grif’s hold, she launched forward, slamming her hand against Talg’s chest.
Shock darkened the male’s stare.
She doubted it had ever crossed his arrogant mind that she might strike out at him. He’d been the aggressor and abuser for so long, it had never occurred to him she could turn the tables.
A wail of horror from the onlookers.
Even his guards drew back, roaring with despair as they waited for their leader to collapse to his knees, his blood to boil, his flesh catch fire.
Except it never happened.
Spear raised to defend his leader, Ramm halted in midstrike.
Shock crackled in the air.
First, a Gazi had dared to cast off her anazi and challenge their leader.
Then an Other had strode into their midst, called for peace, and survived a Gazi’s touch.
Now their leader had been marked by the same Gazi and remained unharmed. His decree proven untrue right in front of their eyes.
Grif was right. Sometimes actions were required over words.
The pack’s ordered world was forever altering. Crack after crack forming in their unquestioned allegiance to Talg and his lies.
Silence descended.
“Now you know. No death. No curse.” She spoke to them all. “Talg has told many lies. His hate for Others poisoned him and all of us. Don’t let him destroy the pack. Let the Other females go. These Others mean you no harm, but they will fight if necessary. They have weapons and they have training. Negotiating a deal for peace is your best hope.”
“Lies. Blasphemy from a Gazi whore!” Talg’s booming voice tried to drown her out. “There will be no peace. Ever. You will pay for challenging me.”
He seized a glowing spear from the closest guard and, pushing past the male, raised it high, aiming for her.
In the next heartbeat, Grif slammed Talg to the ground, his rope circled tight around the pack male’s throat.
The pack wailed.
Grif slammed his boot onto the leader’s back and cinched the rope tighter. “Tell them the only reason he’s not dead is because of you.”
She spoke fast.
“Tell them the pack has given me the most precious gift I could have imagined and, because of that, I have not ground their leader to dust, but that gratitude only extends so far.”