Warrior by Cara Bristol Page B

drawing his attention to the way the male uniform molded her hips and thighs.
    He did not think she did it deliberately to distract him, but he would have to guard against female machinations. “You should not put yourself in a position where you could be taken by surprise,” he chided.
    She tossed her head and glared at him. “What do you want?”
    He wanted to kiss the sneer off her lips, embrace her with relief that he’d found her safe and sound, shake her until her head rattled on her neck for scaring him, and then spank some sense into her. Finally, he would secrete her away where no one could reach her—not Qalin, not Marlix, and, for sure, not Ilian. “To keep you safe,” he repeated.
    Her shoulders slumped before she shrugged and rocked on her heels in defiance. “I am safer within Qalin’s circle than I am outside of it. He will not think to search within his sphere of command.”
    Urazi could not argue with her logic—her strategy was something Marlix would have done. But she was not an Alpha, merely a female with a bounty on her head.
    “Qalin’s command has expanded,” he said grimly.
    “Then it is true?” Anika looked up at him. “Commander Dak’s province has fallen?”
    “Yes.”
    “I had heard—but still, I had hoped….” She kicked the ground. “We are going to lose the war.”
    Urazi stiffened. “A setback. That is all. Marlix and Ilian will prevail.”
    “Like Commander Dak? Did he not have forces similar to Marlix and Ilian? Were they not allied? Now that Commander Dak is dead—”
    “Dead? What are you talking about?” He stared.
    “His province has fallen.”
    “But he is not dead.”
    “You know for fact he lives?”
    No. He had no word of Dak. Had had no contact with anyone from the allies since he’d left Marlix’s domicile. Dak could be dead. An Alpha would fight to the death to protect his territory and command, and clearly Dak had lost both. His province was overrun with Qalin’s guards—and many of its citizens had analyzed their options and thrown their allegiance to Qalin.
    “No. I am not certain.” Urazi sighed. “Who told you he had died?”
    “One of Qalin’s men with whom I am traveling.” She nibbled on her lower lip. “But I did not hear the village bells.” When an Alpha passed, each town rang its bell, picking up the toll when they heard it and transmitting the news to the next hamlet.
    Urazi shook his head. “You would not. Many villages have been razed, others abandoned before Qalin could burn them. Few remain to toll the bells.”
    Anika pivoted and walked several steps away, drawing his attention to the sway of her hips, her rounded buttocks so much more prominent clad as they were. Still facing away, she halted. “What are your plans?”
    “I do not know.” Locating her had been his single objective.
    She spun around. “I will not go to Ilian. I will fight you.”
    “You do not need to. I will not turn you over to Ilian.” Even if his feelings had not been involved, given the change in wartide, she would not be secure in Marlix’s province, or Ilian’s, and, for a certainty, not in Dak’s. Urazi wished he’d kept his PCD—so he could have had news direct from Marlix. The Commander would give birth to a bovine calf if he saw his female sibling strutting about as an alpha. But Urazi liked how the pants outlined her legs, molded her buttocks. He’d enjoyed that glimpse of her backside. Anika cut a striking figure—except for the flatness of her—
    “What did you do to your mammary glands?”
    Anika patted her chest. “I bound them so they would not betray my gender—although perhaps it was unnecessary. I have discovered few look beyond outward appearances.”
    With talk of gender and breasts, Urazi’s manhood began to awaken. “Nay, it was necessary. Your mammary glands are too bountiful to be left unrestrained. To carry on the ruse, I mean.” He cleared his throat. “I could not believe my eyes when I observed you