Mating Rights (4 page)

Jaxon halted his horse
and swung down off its back. He raised his arms, lifting her off the saddle and
setting her on her bare feet. Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her to the back of
the wagon.

“Welcome to the lion’s
den,” he said without looking at her face.

“Don’t you mean wolves’
den?” she asked, lifting the flap on the back of the wagon. She was looking
forward to the company of other women of her kind. She’d never had the chance
to be around girls her own age. Actually, she’d never been around anyone her own
age. The occasional delivery of supplies to her home didn’t count in her mind.
Sheltered didn’t begin to describe the sum experience
of her life.

He gripped her hand,
supporting her as she climbed inside. “Yeah, that’s right,” he muttered,
dropping the flap and disappearing from her view.

Lion’s den
. What could he mean by
that sarcastic statement? She wondered.
If he
was as ornery and rude to the other women as he’d been to her, they’d probably
given him hell too.

Mali stood on the back
of the wagon, feeling trepidation creep through her as she took in her new
surroundings and companions. The driver called to his horses and snapped the
reins, sending the wagon into motion. Her knees buckled, threatening to send
her careening backward outside. She caught herself on the framework, gripping
the post tight as she held her footing.

A dozen lovely youthful
faces met her gaze as she righted herself and stepped further in. Cushion
covered benches ran the distance on either side filled to the brim with women’s
bottoms taking every available seat. Beneath the benches were tapestry bags she
presumed belonged to the women.
They’d been
allowed to bring belongings. The fact that she’d been uprooted from her home
and allowed to retrieve nothing, not even her shoes, sent a fresh outrage
shooting through her.

“Can I have a seat?”
she asked the crowd in general.

She received no
response to her question.

Mali looked them over,
but no one seemed willing to scoot over enough to give her a place to sit, and
she didn’t feel like instigating a fight. Shrugging, she sat on the floorboards
amongst their feet.

Someone snickered.

Mali trained her eyes
on the source, finding a brunette with startling green eyes staring down her
pointed nose at her.
Mali glanced side to side
and decided the girl’s snobbish attitude was definitely directed towards her.
Mali frowned, hugging her knees to her chest as the wagon rocked and swayed
down the road. “What?”

“You look like a little
dog begging at my feet,” the brunette said, spurring the others into laughter.

Mali’s jaw dropped
before she remembered to shut her mouth. “Excuse me? What’s your problem?”

The girl flipped her
long silky hair off her chest to rest behind her back then pointed down at her.
“You. Look at you. Is this the best you have to offer a mate? Your hair is a
tangled rat’s nest. You have no shoes, and your clothes are…” She wrinkled her
nose. “…dirty and old. You smell like a wet dog. Have you been rolling in the—”

The girl didn’t get to
finish her sentence.

Red filled Mali’s
vision. Her heart pounded with viciousness. She launched herself from the
floor, grabbing two handfuls of the bitch’s hair as she yanked her head down to
the floor and kicked the air out of her gut. The girl gasped for breath then
screeched. She clawed at Mali’s hands, but Mali had a death grip. She wasn’t
letting go unless hair turned loose from the bitch’s scalp.

“Stop!” she screamed.
“My hair! Somebody get this bitch off me!”

Mali couldn’t talk.
Words eluded her. She knew if she was going to survive the group, they had to
either fear or respect her. She’d take fear any day.

Half-hearted blows
landed on her back. Another woman yanked her hair, but Mali had a tough scalp
and bloodlust giving her the strength to ignore the nuisances.

“Adolpho! Jaxon!” the
brunette shrieked, clawing into Mali’s hands.

“Get off her!” someone
else yelled.

“Someone stop the
wagon!”

As if realizing they
weren’t having a simple disagreement, the wagon rocked violently to a halt. Mali
and the brunette pitched forward, landing on the floor in a tangle of arms and
legs. Mali rolled on top, slamming the girl’s head into the floor.

“Bitch,” she hissed,
gouging Mali’s arms until blood dripped from her skin in little rivers. The
crescent shaped holes healed slowly, leaving dried stains on her skin.

Fine slippers stomped
the floor boards as the other women scattered and jumped out of the way of
their rolling bodies. Dust rose, choking Mali. She coughed, releasing a hank of
hair to punch the girl repeatedly in the face. She thought if she flattened
that pert little nose maybe she wouldn’t be so quick to look down it at her
again.

“What the hell?” A
masculine voice ripped through the dust storm clouding Mali.

Strong hands encircled
her waist, hurtling her through the air and out the back of the wagon. The mob
of women piled out, surrounding Mali, Jaxon, Adolpho, and the brunette. The
other guards wisely remained seated atop their horses, watching the fray with
smiles on their faces.

The brunette lunged to
slap Mali. Jaxon lifted his forearm, blocking her strike.

The girl launched into
pitiful princess mode with the men watching her. She pouted and cried, though
no tears fell from her eyes. “She ripped my hair out and ruined my nose! You
need to beat her!”

Jaxon stood between the
combatants, hands on his hips and feet spread wide. “You’ll heal, Angelica.”

“What about my hair?”
Angelica shrieked, holding up the frazzled ends of her hair.

Mali dared a grin at
the girl, earning a glare in return.

“It’ll grow back,”
Jaxon muttered, tight lipped as if hiding a smile. “Now, who started the
fight?”

Angelica pointed at
Mali. “She did. She can’t take a joke.”

Jaxon glanced at Mali.
“Is this true?”

Mali crossed her arms over
her chest, lifting her chin. “I’m not going to take abuse from anyone. Her mama
should have taught her not to taunt a caged beast.”

Jaxon stroked his rough
jaw, tilting his head as he studied over the women. “We can’t have you two
tearing each other apart on the ride to the festival.”

“Well, I’m not riding
with her back here. None of us are. She’s an animal!” Angelica said.

“Figured as much.
That’s as good a solution as any. Come on, you can ride with me, Mali. Everyone
else back inside the wagon. We need to make some good time. We’ve had enough
delays,” Jaxon said, giving Mali an admonishing look.

Mali widened her eyes,
attempting to appear innocent. She couldn’t help the fact that the other women
had formed a clique and shut her out the moment she stepped foot under the
canvas.

Everyone piled back
inside. Adolpho took his seat at the front, and Mali walked ahead of Jaxon back
to his horse.
She’d rather ride with the asshole
than a bunch of vipers any day of the week.

Jaxon lifted her onto
his horse. When she was settled, he stuck his foot in the stirrup and launched
himself up with a soft grunt. From his action, she could see his knee pained
him.

The trees shook their
limbs, sounding like baby rattles. Dead leaves whirled across the road. Her
mood seemed reflected in the dark gray clouds roiling through the air above,
turning the sky to slate.

“I thought it was going
to rain. My knee’s been acting up,” Jaxon said, settling behind her on the
horse and taking the reins in his hands. The bay horse’s skin twitched with the
change in weather. He clicked his tongue and shook the reins, urging the horse
forward. The small caravan followed suit.

She’d never ridden a
horse before, and the beast’s nervousness made her own nerves react much the
same. “What’s wrong with your knee?” she asked.

Jaxon snaked a hand
around her waist, holding her tight against his chest. “Got taken by the Bear
Clan. About ten years or so ago.”

Mali frowned. He wasn’t
very forthcoming. “That’s it?”

“I don’t like ta talk about
it much,” he said.

“Well, it’s not like we
have anything else to talk about.”

He sighed. “Bear Clan
came up before Nicodemus had finished walling in Capitol City. I was captain of
the guard then and responsible for everyone’s safety. We took down the first
wave with silver tipped arrows, but then the Grizzlies and Kodiaks came. The
arrows hit them like mosquitos. A squad of our men were surrounded with no way
to get out. I went in with another squad to break a line for them to escape,
but managed to get myself captured instead.”

Mali put a hand on her
chest, glancing at him over her shoulder. His face looked like stone. “What
happened?” she asked, her tone soft.

“They slaughtered most
of us. Held me for weeks as an example, torturing me. They fed me wolf’s bane
to keep me from healing or shifting. That’s why my face looks like hamburger
and I’ll never win any races with this knee of mine. I also lost my mate Jen.”

He said it
matter-of-fact, but there was an undertone that spoke volumes of the pain he’d suffered.
She wanted to question him more, but sensed she’d drawn as much information out
of him as he was willing to give.

They rode for a while
in silence as the weather deteriorated around them. She watched the trees twist
their branches as if bound in some bizarre, magical dance. Mali regretted the
fight with Angelica now that she had to endure the weather with the men.

With only a few hours
distancing her from her family, she already missed the soft, comforting warmth
of her mother’s bosom and lap. Grown as she was, she still enjoyed resting her
head on her lap and having her mama comb and braid her hair.
Sadness permeated her thoughts.
Her eyes watered. She rubbed them with the backs of
her hands before grabbing the pommel again.

As if he could see her
face, he said, “You shouldn’t antagonize the other women. They’ll make it bad
for you at the festival.”

“I’m not crying about
them. Though I do wish I could ride in comfort. That would never happen back
there. They know I’m different—not one of them.”

“Being different has
its perks,” he said.

“Oh? Like what?”

“When I figure that
out, I’ll tell you,” he grumbled.

Mali couldn’t stifle
the laugh that erupted from her. “I think you’re trying to cheer me up.”

“Why would I do that?
You haven’t been anythin’ but trouble for me.”

“Somewhere beneath that
scarred, hard exterior, I think there’s a soft heart. You wouldn’t have risked
your life for your men if there wasn’t.”

Jaxon made no response.
Mali wondered if she’d offended him, then decided she probably had. The man was
as sensitive as an achy tooth and just as worrisome.

Wind whipped through
her hair, bringing the first stinging pellets of rain. “Wonderful,” she said,
looking up at the ferocious sky.

“Hang on. Hold these,”
he said, handing her the reins.

Mali accepted them,
feeling a moment of terror to have control of the horse. She gripped the reins
tight as he dug in a side pouch off his saddle and withdrew a brown cloak. He
whipped it around his shoulders.

“Get inside,” he said,
holding the edges open for her.

Feeling silly, but
wanting shelter from the rain, she leaned close to his chest until her back
melded to the sculpted plains. He closed his arms around her, allowing her a
small hole for her to poke her face through to breathe.
She chuckled to herself, imagining that they must look like some two
headed monster, but she welcomed it for the rain began to pour in sheets.

“Can’t we stop and take
shelter?” she asked.

“Not if we’re going to
make it in time for the festival. I thought we’d get to hunt for fresh meat by
noon, but we’ll probably wait closer to nightfall.”

“How long will we be on
the road?”

Mali felt him shift as
if working a kink from a muscle. “Until tomorrow at the earliest. Are you eager
to find a mate?”

She wrinkled her nose, holding
the edges of the cloak closed against the rain. She moved her head back,
peering from inside the waterproof fabric. Inside, his masculine scent filled
the air creating a heady perfume that intrigued her nose. Her body warmed with
the matching heat of his. Something niggled in her belly, making it cramp with
his nearness. Mali chose to ignore the strange, unfamiliar feeling.

“I don’t want a mate.
I’m only going because you’ve forced me to,” she said, wondering if he could
hear her muffled voice.

He grunted. “You’re the
only one then. The others are out to get the wealthiest members of the clan.”

“I just want to go back
to my home.”