Read Online Running with Raiders: (Alphas of Black Fortune: Part 5) BBW Werebear Shifter Menage by Scarlett Rhone - Free Book Online
Authors: Scarlett Rhone
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Chapter 1
The tribal village was humming with tension as Cressida, Kelly and Reza were marched through the jungle and back across its perimeter, Chaiya triumphant at the lead. The chieftain’s son had his chest puffed up, his shoulders thrown back, and Cressida was having a hard time not thinking of him as a strutting cockatoo instead of a tiger. He led them to the center of the village where the chieftain’s large hut sat and there, as Sajja’s figure filled the hut’s doorway, Chaiya grabbed Reza by the arm and shoved him to his knees before the chieftain.
Cressida had not realized before that the other huts were arranged around the chieftain’s hut in rings moving outward, and that the center of the village itself was an open space between the chieftain’s hut and the waterfall. People were filling the little alleys and avenues between the huts now, murmuring to each other, and the tribe’s warriors stood like a living fence between them and their prisoners. Cressida started towards Reza, but a hand landed on her shoulder, holding her back. Kelly. He stood behind her, his presence a warm buzz at her back, and when he touched her something thrilled through her, electric. She looked up at him.
“Let it happen, love,” Kelly murmured. “If you get in the way, you might make it worse.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” she hissed.
Sajja emerged from the hut, a hulking figure, broad shoulders layered with wreaths of dried flowers and small animal bones. He wore a headpiece that Cressida thought was constructed first of scales, and thin braids of jungle vine were woven into the long, dark lengths of his hair. His tanned face was an inscrutable mask, but Cressida caught a look he shot at Chaiya and thought she saw satisfaction there, which tanked her heart right down into her heels.
Reza’s sister Kamala stepped out of the chieftain’s hut along with the chieftain’s daughter Prija, who Reza had been meant to marry. The two women stuck close together, and Cressida could see that Kamala’s cheeks were damp. She’d been crying. That did not bode well for Reza’s chances of escaping this preposterous ritual alive.
Sajja stopped just in front of Reza, who kept his head bowed respectfully low, his eyes on the grass.
“It has been a generation since a blood fight was called for,” Sajja announced, his voice lifting so that all the gathered tribe could hear. “And though we have all long believed that such a violent rite is beneath us, the betrayal that brings us here today is nothing short of just as violent. This is not a return to darker times. This rite shall cleanse the island and the tribe itself of the taint brought upon us by Reza, son of Ruang Sak.”
“What’s he saying?” Kelly asked Cressida softly. She realized that though the Jewel of So Sur was translating for her, it was not translating for him.
“Nonsense about cleansing the island with Reza’s blood,” she whispered.
Kelly nodded and Cressida saw his jaw clench angrily.
“I accept this rite,” Reza said, eyes still low.
Sajja nodded. “Then, as is customary, you shall be housed until dawn, when—”
“Great chieftain,” Chaiya interrupted, which brought Reza’s head snapping sharply up. He looked at Chaiya and Cressida felt the same dread fill her heart as she saw creeping into her tiger’s eyes. Chaiya flashed his teeth. “I respectfully request that the blood rite happen now .”
“That’s not how it’s done!” Kamala cried, coming forward, though Prija tried to hold her back. “That’s not right! Dawn! He gets a night!”
Sajja held up a hand, and Kamala quieted, but she burst into tears again as Prija hugged her close. The chieftain narrowed his eyes a little, looking from his son to Reza and back. “Why?”
Chaiya pointed at Cressida and Kelly. “He has friends and they have a boat. He’ll try to flee in the night.”
Reza hissed at him. “I’m no coward.”
Chaiya hissed right back. “Then
The tribal village was humming with tension as Cressida, Kelly and Reza were marched through the jungle and back across its perimeter, Chaiya triumphant at the lead. The chieftain’s son had his chest puffed up, his shoulders thrown back, and Cressida was having a hard time not thinking of him as a strutting cockatoo instead of a tiger. He led them to the center of the village where the chieftain’s large hut sat and there, as Sajja’s figure filled the hut’s doorway, Chaiya grabbed Reza by the arm and shoved him to his knees before the chieftain.
Cressida had not realized before that the other huts were arranged around the chieftain’s hut in rings moving outward, and that the center of the village itself was an open space between the chieftain’s hut and the waterfall. People were filling the little alleys and avenues between the huts now, murmuring to each other, and the tribe’s warriors stood like a living fence between them and their prisoners. Cressida started towards Reza, but a hand landed on her shoulder, holding her back. Kelly. He stood behind her, his presence a warm buzz at her back, and when he touched her something thrilled through her, electric. She looked up at him.
“Let it happen, love,” Kelly murmured. “If you get in the way, you might make it worse.”
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” she hissed.
Sajja emerged from the hut, a hulking figure, broad shoulders layered with wreaths of dried flowers and small animal bones. He wore a headpiece that Cressida thought was constructed first of scales, and thin braids of jungle vine were woven into the long, dark lengths of his hair. His tanned face was an inscrutable mask, but Cressida caught a look he shot at Chaiya and thought she saw satisfaction there, which tanked her heart right down into her heels.
Reza’s sister Kamala stepped out of the chieftain’s hut along with the chieftain’s daughter Prija, who Reza had been meant to marry. The two women stuck close together, and Cressida could see that Kamala’s cheeks were damp. She’d been crying. That did not bode well for Reza’s chances of escaping this preposterous ritual alive.
Sajja stopped just in front of Reza, who kept his head bowed respectfully low, his eyes on the grass.
“It has been a generation since a blood fight was called for,” Sajja announced, his voice lifting so that all the gathered tribe could hear. “And though we have all long believed that such a violent rite is beneath us, the betrayal that brings us here today is nothing short of just as violent. This is not a return to darker times. This rite shall cleanse the island and the tribe itself of the taint brought upon us by Reza, son of Ruang Sak.”
“What’s he saying?” Kelly asked Cressida softly. She realized that though the Jewel of So Sur was translating for her, it was not translating for him.
“Nonsense about cleansing the island with Reza’s blood,” she whispered.
Kelly nodded and Cressida saw his jaw clench angrily.
“I accept this rite,” Reza said, eyes still low.
Sajja nodded. “Then, as is customary, you shall be housed until dawn, when—”
“Great chieftain,” Chaiya interrupted, which brought Reza’s head snapping sharply up. He looked at Chaiya and Cressida felt the same dread fill her heart as she saw creeping into her tiger’s eyes. Chaiya flashed his teeth. “I respectfully request that the blood rite happen now .”
“That’s not how it’s done!” Kamala cried, coming forward, though Prija tried to hold her back. “That’s not right! Dawn! He gets a night!”
Sajja held up a hand, and Kamala quieted, but she burst into tears again as Prija hugged her close. The chieftain narrowed his eyes a little, looking from his son to Reza and back. “Why?”
Chaiya pointed at Cressida and Kelly. “He has friends and they have a boat. He’ll try to flee in the night.”
Reza hissed at him. “I’m no coward.”
Chaiya hissed right back. “Then
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