The Brood:

THE PROPHECY

By

Kristina Diesen

 

 

 

 

© copyright by Kristina Diesen, August 2007

Cover Art by Alex DeShanks, © copyright August 2007

ISBN 978-1-60494-067-2

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

 

 

 

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author's imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

 

 

 

 

 

Prologue

 

"Quickly, there isn't much time left before the caravan arrives. They will take you and the boys to safety far away from here."

Irena glanced out into the chilly night, thankful that the thick clouds masked the bright full moon. Tonight she would need darkness to protect her and her family. And darkness suited her. It was with a heavy heart that she would leave this place. Her surrogate home.

"You have been more than generous to us so far, Great One, and I am forever grateful. But must we leave?"

She held her breath as the old man gazed upon her with warmth. They had taken her in here when no one else dared. They had provided a safe haven for her delivery and a peaceful period of time with her sons. She put them in danger by staying. Still she could barely stand to go.

"It is said your son will bring unprecedented change to the Tiger clan. And even though they may deny the truth to this prophecy, they hunt for your boys even now. They seek to destroy the possibility, to protect their way of life. The temple is no longer safe."

She sighed, her heart weary.

"But is there no way to prevent those events from materializing? Will I ever be able to roam amongst my family again?"

The man simply patted her hand with a soft, gentle touch as the last of her belongings were brought to the steps. He spoke with a seriousness that could not be masked by his tender tone.

"I'm afraid not, my child. You gave birth here to protect yourself and your children. In doing so, you've set the pendulum in motion. Alexei has already begun to fulfill his destiny."

They glanced towards the temple floor where two tiny kittens, one black and one striped circled the space. The leopard looked wary, having been wounded by the tiger's sharp claws once already.

"Your son has marked a leopard as his future mate. One day, Irena, he will return to claim her. I cannot predict how or when that day will arrive or even if he will realize his fate by then or not, but he will come back. And together they will fulfill this prophecy."

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One

 

Alexei was remarkable as a man.

He stalked through the dense forest brush with all the innate skill of a mighty animal. His step was light but his body driven by a powerful purpose. Every sense his body had available was focused on the task he set out with.

Today he hunted.

And she was the prey.

Anna eyed the intruder cautiously from her perch in the thick tree top. The dim light of the afternoon was beginning to fade and there was no question she could easily elude him and his rifle once night fell. She did not fear the human hunter.

Anna feared the animal she knew him to be.

Alexei sought vengeance this afternoon. Misguidedly it was aimed towards her but it was still deeply rooted inside of him. His brother had been murdered and based on the fierce passion that blazed in his sinful dark eyes, someone was going to die for it. The only question was why he wasted his effort with the human weapon in the first place.

It was the pull of the unknown that had her trailing him this afternoon. She could smell the animal inside him. She could sense the power clawing to be unleashed from its human restraint. She sought to protect herself by keeping tabs on the man but deep down she was apprehensive of the beast he could be.

A man she could strike at. A tiger would kill her before she had the chance.

There had been much talk of the brothers' return to the forest. Had they returned to claim their birth right among the tigers, to fulfill the legend that was known amongst them all? The leopards had reason to be wary. A united tiger pack held many implications. The smallest concerned their food supply. The largest meant their extinction.

But it was one of their own that had slain Alexei's brother. The tigers were evidently just as edgy about the change Alexei brought with him. They had killed to scare him away, to keep their clan status quo. She doubted they would hesitate to slay again to preserve their current way of life. So, why hadn't his animal instincts shown him that?

Graceful and stealth like, she descended from the shelter of the tree to follow the intriguing stranger. Her senses elevated on alert, she stalked the handsome man further into her territory. It had been a long time since she had enjoyed the sight of another human. And it had been even longer since she had sated her sexual appetite on such a desirable man.

Alexei might have danger written all over him. His current state of anger very well might be her demise if she wasn't careful but that didn't stop the powerful lust that drew her closer. The hard planes of his muscular body as it stalked through the forest, the scent of masculinity that enveloped him heated her in a way that had long been dormant.

She was lusting after a known enemy and the distraction would prove deadly if she wasn't careful. Slowly she lowered herself to the ground and listened. Her wandering thoughts had caught her off guard, and Alexei's path had led them to the waterfall where her ears were filled with gushing water and were distorted to other movement.

She cursed her stupid hormones.

Cautiously, she raised her head and soaked in her surroundings. She was cloaked by the thick vegetation and knew her black coat of fur blended in well with the darkening evening. Failing to capture his location by sight, she sniffed the night air and froze.

Anna smelt tiger and not tiger in human form. Someone else was hunting where they shouldn't be. Whoever that intruder was, he was far more of a threat to her than Alexei and his gun.

Of course an obvious conclusion was that the animal wasn't after her at all. Rather him. Quietly, she moved forward, climbing the nearest tree trunk to better assess the situation. There she was suddenly struck by a foreign feeling, one of protection.

She attempted to shake it off. She had only one responsibility here and that was to herself. Living in the forest meant kill or be killed and she had no intention of succumbing to the latter. So why in the world was she suddenly gripped by the need to keep Alexei safe?

She wasn't a nurturing creature. She had no family and certainly no children. No one had ever looked out for her in the wild and never had she been confronted with a situation like this. Taking a calming breath, she shook off her uneasiness. Alexei was a Siberian Tiger for crying out loud. The man represented everything that was strong, powerful, and dangerous. He didn't need any help. Certainly not from the likes of a black leopard.

His brother had died as a human though. The events surrounding his murder filtered through her already fogged mind. He hadn't been out prowling and the attack had been swift enough that Dimitri hadn't been able to shift. Alexei's fate was starting out to be quite similar.

Her hearing still impaired by the roar of the thundering falls, she inhaled once again to gather her bearings. The scent of the intruding tiger was faint now and her nostrils filled with a delicious combination of raw male and sweat. She shuddered from the intense desire that coursed through her before realizing that it was far too strong a scent to be taking in.

Glancing out, she saw her hunter in the clearing and knew before another second had passed what a foolish woman she had been. With only a split second to escape, she had only been capable of twisting herself around when the shot rang through the night air and pierced her side.

* * * *

Alexei slowly lowered his rifle once the black leopard had fallen from the tree it was perched in. The evening air was chilly and his breath clouded around his mouth with each firm exhale. All day he had hunted the forest looking to strike back at the creatures that had murdered his brother in cold-blood. Dimitri had posed no threat to their kind. They had relocated here to find solitude and start fresh, a lucrative possibility that had been stripped from his brother before it could even begin.

There was no new beginning for Alex now. He would forever live with the knowledge that his decision to move them out here into the wild had caused Dimitri's demise. He might not be able to forgive himself for what had transpired but he was able to seek vengeance on those who had done the original wrong doing.

Only in that final moment before he pulled the trigger, all his senses screamed for him to wait. For some reason, he hadn't felt his actions were justified. The leopard had looked oddly vulnerable and saddened by the next second's obvious outcome. He shoved the discomforting thoughts aside.

Today had been about vindication and he had succeeded. All that remained was to take one final look at the dead animal and know his message would be received. If you messed with a Gerbera, they would strike right back.

No amount of bullying from the animals was going to send him packing. He had nowhere left to pack up and go. His brother had needed the isolated refuge to embrace the tiger inside him without endangering any of the villagers they lived with. Alexei had simply craved the solitude.

Alex wouldn't shift. He hadn't in years and he was certain he would never need to again. Embracing the tiger was to embrace an inner violence, a power that he had never learned to control and that had nearly cost him his own life. The consequences of that day still squeezed his heart. He hadn't meant to kill her. He hadn't meant to let his animal get that out of control. But he had been powerless to stop the surge of emotions he had experienced shifting that day.

He had been attempting to protect her, his wife. Instead, in the commotion and confusion of the assault they had been under, he had slain Sarah instead. The animal side of him held no appeal. He would continue to suppress it for as long as possible. He owed it to her and his brother.

Alexei progressed faster towards where he had shot the leopard. Night was settling in and although he knew the Leopards to be nocturnal hunters, it wasn't them he was concerned about. The urge to shift came strongest at night. He ached to let go, to succumb to the change and welcome it but his mind fought back fiercely.

The struggle had been more intense lately and never before had he fought as deeply as he did out in the wilderness. It practically called to him and he was beginning to believe one day soon he would be forced to listen.

Nearing the kill spot, he raised his gun once again in case he had only wounded the creature. The last thing he needed was to fight it off him and risk shifting just for survival. Only the second he stepped beneath the tree, his heart stopped.

Quickly, Alex grabbed a flashlight out of his pocket and clicked the light towards the ground. Lying unconscious in front of him was a slender, petite woman. A bloody arm was sprawled out at her side and images of a scene still very familiar came swarming into his mind. He lowered himself next to her and swore.

Slowly, he exhaled as he saw her chest rise and fall with breath. Oddly enough, relief tugged at his insides. His mind began wrapping itself around what had happened. He had shot a shifter.

One of his own.

He shook his head violently to prevent the foreign thought from taking hold. He was foremost a human, not an animal. Quietly, he pulled some twine out of his pack and bound her feet together. He wasn't heartless enough to leave her out in the wild to die or be eaten.

Alex would take her back with him and fix up her wound but he wasn't going to risk having her attack him if she woke up on the way. Double checking his knotting, he carefully lifted her into his arms and began the long journey back in the dark, confident that now that he had one of them in his possession, he would finally start to get the answers he was searching for.

Beginning with why they had killed his brother.