PrimalPursuit.pdf

An Ellora’s Cave Romantica Publication

www.ellorascave.com

Primal Pursuit

ISBN 9781419918827

Edited by Nicholas Conrad.

Cover art by Philip Fuller.

Electronic book Publication October 2008

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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales

is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

P RIMAL P URSUIT

Rebecca Airies

Chapter One

Gatehouse on Simion

864 Neshan Calendar

Achan Zaden Felinian wanted to get out of this overheated place and into the forest

surrounding his home on Cordares. The memory of the cool breeze and the brisk scent

of the trees only made the longing more intense.

He waited in the line formed on the platform in front of the glossy black oval of the

travel gate. Only a few days’ travel away from Cordares, he was anxious to return

home. Two groups had a place in front of him. At the front of the line, five people in

long brown robes gathered together directly in front of the gate. Judging by their stature

and concealing dress, they were either women or young boys. They carried staffs and

not swords. Probably women. The next group, a rough bunch of men, tried to push the

front group forward, jostling and grumbling as their impatience built.

He looked to his right and saw Ranal, one of his Terchal, or honor guard, watching

those within the gatehouse. Zaden turned his attention to Varon. The dark-haired man’s

hand rested just above the hilt of his sword. Alert to the possibility of an attack in this

crowded building, Varon didn’t drop his guard.

Zaden walked across the platform to give the gatekeeper their destination. He

strode past the women just as the gray, hazy mist formed in the oval gate. A sweet,

feminine scent wrapped around him, stopping him mid-step.

The Zarain within him raised its head as recognition struck. Mate. Exhilaration rose.

He’d found her, finally. A heavy ache throbbed to life in his groin. He turned just in

time to see the last of the women enter the gate. His eyes narrowed and a growl rolled

through him.

His mate was gone.

She wasn’t escaping from him. He wouldn’t lose her.

He turned and strode to the Gatekeeper. The thin, slightly balding man busily

moved crystals. It took him a few moments to realize that someone was waiting for his

attention. He looked up when Zaden’s shadow fell across the large pedestal that housed

the crystals.

“Where did you just send those five people?” He watched the man’s face, impatient

for the answer.

“To Deral.” The man’s eyebrows raised in an inquiry, which Zaden ignored. “They

wanted to go to a very lightly populated world.”

Primal Pursuit

Zaden cursed silently. Acine Caidi had been very specific when she’d explained

about traveling through the worlds accessible from the gates along this path. Going to

Deral wasn’t a good idea at any time. The gate didn’t work for part of the year.

There wasn’t a choice. Even knowing the risk, he had to go after her. He wouldn’t

walk away from his mate. As long as she was on that planet, she’d be in danger. He

needed to be with her.

We’re going to Deral. One of those women is my mate. He relayed the new plans silently

using one of the psychic paths connecting all Shadatai Zarain. He turned his attention to

the gatekeeper. “Send us to Deral.”

He stalked back to the center of the platform and stood with Varon and Ranal. The

gate on Deral could stop working at any time. Part of him feared the gate wouldn’t

work even now. He wanted only to get to his mate and get her off the planet. All of the

details—who she was, what she was doing there—would wait until he was certain they

were safe.

He waited as the men in front of them walked into the gray mist. The mist faded

and the Gatekeeper began switching the stones around on the pedestal. The gate

formed. The hazy fog swirled within the black ring. Zaden led the way into the tunnels.

He stepped out of the dense cloud, taking several steps forward even as his eyes

swept the deserted gatehouse, looking for the women. He saw the rough, weathered

gray planks of the door lying on the floor in front of the rectangular opening. Leaves

littered the stone floor and the gray walls were grimy. Light streamed into the large

room from holes in the roof. This gatehouse had been badly neglected.

He took a deep breath, finding his woman’s scent among those of the other four

females. Following the lingering traces to the doorway, he walked out onto the grassy

field just outside of the building. In a bare patch of ground just beyond the doorway, he

found prints leading away from the gatehouse, but none reentering it. They hadn’t left

the planet.

Varon and Ranal stepped up beside him. They looked at the prints on the ground

and then back to him.

“We’re going to find those women and get off this planet.” Zaden looked toward

the line of trees on the other side of the field. The women had gone in that direction.

* * * * *

Tara Sedai looked around the area without enthusiasm. She’d seen too many

worlds in the last few weeks to get too excited about a place at first glance. This one

didn’t garner enthusiasm even at second glance. She doubted this place would suit their

purposes at all.

The gatehouse had been in horrible condition. After leaving the building, they’d

started walking down a winding, cobbled path into the forest. Just from the grass

growing between the stones, she knew that this path wasn’t traveled very often.

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