Read Online Her Warriors by Bianca D'Arc - Free Book Online Page A

a man would have a duty to withdraw.
    Mating wasn’t a game. It was a calling. A
special bond gifted by the Goddess. One did not—and should not—take
it lightly. It was serious business, with serious consequences for
those who would meddle with fate.
    Beau charged and Geir sidestepped, using
Beau’s momentum against him in a classic move. Had Beau been
overcome by his baser instincts into making such a rookie move, or
was he playing some deeper game? Was he testing Geir’s instincts
and reaction times? Or was he trying to lull Geir into
overconfidence?
    Geir was no green recruit to fall for such a
trick. Instead of waiting to see what Beau would pull next, Geir
went on the offensive. He pushed Beau back, and back again, fists
and feet flying in an acrobatic display. He threw some of his best
moves at him, but Beau countered or avoided every one. Geir was
impressed, but he hadn’t shown Beau his full bag of tricks yet. Far
from it.
    The battle progressed, each man testing the
other and getting in a few blows here and there. The surprising
result, as the battle raged between them, was that they were pretty
evenly matched. Geir was impressed again and again by Beau’s
creative moves and counterstrikes. He had a totally unique style
that meshed well with Geir’s own. If this situation weren’t so
serious, Geir would have wanted to pause and examine some of the
lightning fast punches and kicks that came at him in innovative
ways.
    As it was, Geir was put through his paces,
doing his best to keep from being clobbered or clawed. Yes, the
claws had come out and soon, they would both test the limits of
their endurance by shifting—or rather, half-shifting—into the more
deadly battle form. Only the most skilled and powerful of warriors
could hold the half-shift for longer than a few moments.
    They had danced around each other enough.
Geir called on his inner tiger and let the beast out just enough to
gain several inches in height, sprout fur and claws and gain the
strength of the tiger on top of his human strength. Battle form
amplified power, allowing both creatures that shared the same soul
to have access to the body at one time. It was painful, but it was
also incredibly useful.
    Both Geir and Beau were Alpha cats with no
Clan of their own. They were loners. Members of a Clan through
swearing fealty to another species’ leader. They weren’t leaders of
their own Clans or Packs. They ran alone, though they had formed
families of a sort with their brother soldiers. Geir felt like the
brother or father figure, in some cases, to all those he had
trained over the years. Beau undoubtedly had his own core group of
friends he considered brothers and sisters. He most likely had a
family somewhere. A mother, father…maybe some siblings, aunts,
uncles, cousins.
    All of those family—and pseudo-family—ties
made one stronger. It cemented one’s place in the hierarchy. It
gave one status and comfort. It gave one purpose in life.
    Alphas were the strongest of shifters, born
to lead in whatever capacity fate chose for them. Some led Clans.
Some led family units. Some led armies. And some led only
themselves.
    Geir was tired of being a loner. He was just
tired of being alone. Period. He wanted a mate—this mate, the
Mother of All had put in his path—more than anything in the world.
He used that desire to help him hold his battle form longer than he
had ever held it before.
    Geir was a strong Alpha at the best of
times, and he often trained his students using the battle form. He
could hold it longer than any of those he had ever trained. But
Beau was giving him a run for his money. Beau matched him. Step for
step. Swipe for swipe. Claws clashed and slashed. Fur flew and
blood spilled. And still they battled on…
    They were both weakening, but stubbornly
holding on. The first to lose the battle form would lose the girl,
and Geir was very much afraid that Beau would not give in. Geir
matched him, but he was starting to feel the