A Cast of Shadows: An Araneae Nation Story by Hailey Edwards Page A

have me leave with her?”
    “Just because you leave doesn’t mean you can’t ever come back.”
    Longing tightened Brynmor’s gut, but duty came first. “I will remain until you’re well.”
    “She stayed this long,” he reasoned. “She will wait a few days more if you ask her to.”
    “I’m…not as certain as you.” Brynmor patted his friend. “I’ve already asked much of her.”
    “Your hesitance betrays your desire, brother.” Errol leaned into his touch. “You want her.”
    “Wanting her has never been in question.” Brynmor laughed softly. “Having her…”
    “Your mind has been made up.” Errol’s teeth gleamed in a smile. “You have only to accept it.”
    “Rest now.” Brynmor watched as Errol’s eyes slid out of focus. “You and I will talk later.”
    “I will be here later.” His eyes closed. “But will your female?”
    Daraja might remain if Brynmor asked her, but to what end?
    Obligation had snuffed the bright spark from Isolde’s eyes. Daraja would not suffer the same fate. She would not be caged by him. She would not be bound to him or to his will. She would go if she wished and return if she wanted. He would not ask her to stay. The choice was hers alone.
    Once he had ruined the female he loved, stripped her of all the things she prized most.
    This time would be different. This time he would be different.
    He would not be responsible for silencing the song in Daraja’s heart.
    After a while, Errol’s breathing evened and his paws began twitching in the type of peaceful sleep only children and animals experience. One day Brynmor would work up the nerve to ask if the alpha chased cottontail lepus while he slept. Until then, he slipped from the den into the night.
    Concern for Daraja caused his gaze to wander from the darkening sky to the still woods. He brushed off his sense of unease, the budding panic that she might not come back. That she might keep walking until she reached the city or bypass Cathis and veer toward the winding river bend.
    Before doubt sent him searching for her, a lullaby reached his ears.
    Drawn by the breathy tune, he left his vigil and tracked the music to its source.
    Daraja labored to sing and keep a pack slung on her shoulder. The front of her shirt bulged, making her abdomen appear swollen. Brynmor stood over her scowling before she noticed him.
    “What happened?” He pointed at her distended stomach.
    Her laughter was tired as she leaned over and sniffed him. “Is that fear I smell?”
    “Fear?”
    “We spent one night together and I return to you swollen with…” Her shirt began to writhe. A low whine was his only warning before dainty teeth pierced the fabric of her shirt. “…a pup.”
    “A pup?” He stared as the teeth disappeared.
    “Do me a favor.” She set the pack down and tugged her shirt from her pants. “Catch.”
    A bundle of dark fur tumbled into his open hands. “Jana?”
    “Yes.” Daraja patted his flushed cheek. “I suppose this means you aren’t so potent after all.”
    Longing tightened his gut. “You didn’t give me a chance.”
    Frozen somewhere between surprise and an expression he dared to name arousal, Daraja let her tongue sweep across her full bottom lip before she answered. “Some chances must be taken.”
    “And sometimes,” he said softly, “the sweetest surrenders are given freely.”
    Tilting her head in consideration, she gave him a hesitant nod. “Yes.”
    “Yes?” Back he slipped into echoing her comments. He couldn’t help it. Daraja scattered his wits until only confusion remained. Single words became hard to produce while in her presence.
    “After last night…” She took his hand, smoothed her thumb across his knuckles. “I want you, once more. Like this, skin to skin.”
    Much to Brynmor’s chagrin, he failed to produce even a single word in response.
    He did, however, manage to nod.

Chapter Nine
    Fire, I was playing with fire, and Brynmor’s gaze burned me. Instead of cooling