Karis Read online

  Karis

  War Cats, Book 2

  Grace Brennan

  Contents

  Other books by Grace Brennan

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Coming Soon

  Other books by Grace Brennan

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  KARIS

  Copyright 2018 © Grace Brennan

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is a crime punishable by law. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded to, or downloaded from file sharing sites or distributed in any other way via the internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in, or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior permission of Grace Brennan.

  Cover Design: Tracie Douglas of Dark Water Covers

  Other books by Grace Brennan

  Rocky River Fighters

  Heart of a Fighter

  Fighting for Keeps

  Fight Song

  Fighting to Win

  Red Moon Shifters

  Unexpected Mates

  Temporary Mates

  Forever Mates

  Bear Claw Shifters

  Starry Night Sky

  One Sunny Day

  Misty Autumn Morning

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  Chapter One

  Arya Nikolai smoothed her tunic over her hips, excitement filling her belly. Finally. She was finally allowed to wear something other than a sari in public, and the relief of being in a tunic and pants almost matched the giddiness she felt as she looked at herself in the mirror.

  Almost. Nothing had ever felt as exciting as wearing pants and a shirt in public, and she was sure nothing could top this feeling.

  Pulling open the door to her bedroom, she bounded down the stairs, heading to the kitchen. Judging by the smells coming from within, her mom was already hard at work. Stomach rumbling as she took in the scents, she walked in and headed straight to her mom, kissing her cheek in greeting.

  Caroline turned with a smile that faded as she saw Arya’s clothes, concern filling her blue eyes. “This quickly?”

  “It’s time, Mama. It’s well past time. The laws have been officially changed, so what’s to hold me back?”

  “Maybe you should wait a little. See what the other women are wearing today, at least.”

  Arya shook her head as she moved to set the table. “When have I ever followed other people’s actions? It could take the other women years to come around to the rule changes. I’m not going to wait that long. And maybe they’ll follow my example if I jump right in.”

  Lips tightening briefly, Caroline put breakfast on the table. “Maybe it’s too much, too fast. You’ll probably be the only woman not wearing a sari today, Arya.”

  “Kelly won’t be wearing one.”

  That quieted her mom. Caroline didn’t know how to take Kelly, and Arya loved watching her mom’s reaction to her new friend. Kelly was different than anyone here in Durga Valley. She had no filter and said whatever popped into her head. She was also sweet and kind, but no one here saw that. They only saw her quirkiness.

  Honestly, it hadn’t won her many friends. Conformity was the name of the game with the War Cats. They didn’t appreciate different, and the fact that she came here as an outsider hadn’t helped. She was a tiger shifter now like the rest of them, and pledged her fealty to Kian, their alpha. And she was mated to Zane, who was royalty and next in line to be alpha.

  But none of that mattered to the War Cats. She still initially arrived as a human, an outsider, and with her tendency to say whatever came into her head… it put her on the fringes of their society, new princess or not.

  Arya breathed deeply, trying to control the rising anger she felt. Bunch of stuck up, arrogant, blind—

  “Something smells good in here.”

  Her father’s deep voice snapped her out of her mental rant, and she turned to smile at him before taking her seat. She watched as he gave her mother a kiss, squeezing her hands affectionately, before taking a seat.

  That right there was why she hid any time a male wanted to find a mate, and the females were rounded up for inspection. She wanted a true mating. One with a man her tiger chose, not a mating based simply on the man’s ego and desire to reproduce.

  True matings were rare here, and many of her childhood friends had been equal parts fascinated and horrified by her parents’ open love and affection for each other. Arya loved it, though. She wanted what they had, and she wouldn’t settle for less, even though she wanted to be close to a man in the worst way.

  Patience. You’ll have that one day, her tiger said peacefully.

  “Already in your tunic and pants, I see,” her father said approvingly. “That’s good. Start the way you mean to go on.”

  Caroline shot him a look. “Don’t encourage her, Mikhail.”

  “Don’t discourage her either, Caro. We’ve always encouraged her to be herself, to test limits within the rules if she so chooses. The tribe rules have changed, but that has not.” He paused, his face softening as he reached over and put his hand over her mother’s. “I know you’re worried. I can’t say I’m not, as well. But if this is what she wants to do, we should encourage her. She’s a smart girl. She knows what she’s getting into.”

  “You’re right, of course. I’m sorry, Arya. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “I know, Mama. And I know what I’m doing. It’ll be okay.”

  Her mom’s smile couldn’t mask her worry, but she didn’t say anything else. They went silent for a time as they ate, and they were almost finished when her dad spoke up.

  “So what are you up to today, Arya?”

  Here goes nothing. “I’m going to Kelly’s, and then we’re walking to the palace. I want to put in for one of the houses Kian opened up to the women.”

  Caroline gasped. “But—”

  Reaching over, her dad took her mom’s hand again and squeezed. “Are you sure you want to do that, Ar?”

  “I’m sure. I’ll be okay, I promise. I can take care of myself. And most women leave the house and live alone much younger than I am in other parts of the country. I’m twenty-three. It’s time, don’t you think?”

  “If you think you’re ready for this, we’ll support you in it,” Mikhail said firmly.

  Pushing back from the table, she went fi
rst to her father and kissed his cheek before doing the same to her mother. “Everything’s going to be okay. You’ll see, Mama.”

  Caroline let out a shaky breath. “I hope so. I really hope so.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you guys later.”

  “Keep your gift reined in today, Arya. And good luck,” her father called.

  Like she needed the reminder to keep her gift tucked away, today of all days. All shifters had a gift, something they were good at, or just something a little extra. Some were mental, some were physical. Arya’s was almost like a supernatural form of ADHD. She could be extremely laser focused on something, and she was also on the hyper side.

  The problem came with the fact that if she wasn’t careful, her gift could affect others. She could amp up a crowd of thousands without even trying. But she couldn’t control what they were feeling when she did it, which could be dangerous. And with the change in rules and laws, the whole village was on edge, with a lot of negative feelings. No way was she amping anyone up right now. Starting a riot wasn’t on her list of things to do today.

  Running upstairs to put her money case in her pocket—she had pockets now!—Arya then went back downstairs and paused at the front door, taking a deep breath. Find Kelly, go to the palace, hopefully be first in line for a new home, and then finish off her afternoon the way she always did—watching the warriors train. Always her favorite part of the day.

  She’d wanted to be a famed War Cat warrior for as long as she could remember, and she’d spent a couple of hours watching them train almost every day since she was a small girl.

  Who knows? Maybe with the rule changes, becoming one of them could actually happen now. It felt like the world was suddenly at her feet, and as hard as the inevitable whispers, stares and ridicule would be, she couldn’t bring herself to care.

  This was her time. To finally be herself. To finally have a purpose in life. To finally live.

  A grin crept across her face as she opened the front door, stepping into her independence.

  Karis Sanderson growled deep in his throat as he watched the two young tigers training in front of him. Their inexperience was glaringly obvious. Trevor kept leaving his throat exposed, which would be a problem except Carter was too stupid to use it to his advantage and win the fight.

  A commotion came from behind him at the same moment both tigers looked in that direction. Watching with a sense of disbelief as they ran head long into each other, he marched forward and grabbed them by the scruff of their necks.

  “If this is the caliber of warrior we have to look forward to in a few years, we can expect the whole tribe to be wiped out,” he said tightly, struggling to rein in his temper. “What the fuck are you two thinking? You don’t look away from your opponent in battle, ever. Change back. Now.”

  Giving their necks a shake, Karis backed up as he waited for them to shift from their tiger forms to their human ones. Clenching his hands into fists, he fought the urge to deck them. Damn, he was getting too old for this. His patience for the young warriors in training was thinner than it’d ever been in the past.

  Because we’re not whole.

  Fuck, again? They were as whole as they’d ever be, and his tiger needed to figure that out, or it was going to be a world of misery for them both when nothing changed.

  “Karis, we were distracted by—”

  Holding up a hand, Karis silently counted to twenty as Trevor wisely stopped speaking. “I don’t give two fucks about what distracted you. Whatever it is, you ignore it and focus on your fight. If that had been a real battle, you’d both be dead right now. And Trevor, you would have been dead at the beginning of the fight. You leave your neck exposed almost constantly. If you ever move up to the next level or fight a more experienced tiger, the fight will be over two seconds into the match. You both better spend every minute of the evening practicing, because if I don’t see improvement tomorrow, I will kick both of your asses before demoting you a level. Now get out of here before my patience snaps and I do the ass kicking now.”

  Nodding, they both turned away with their shoulders slumped. Bunch of pussies. In their shoes as a young warrior, he would have fed the fire inside him and walked away with his head held high, determined to come back better the next day. He honestly didn’t understand the newest generation of warriors trying to make their way up the ranks.

  Maybe Carter and Trevor would be better off becoming tradesmen of some sort. But if that was the case, so would seventy-five percent of the warrior trainees. Feeling a presence beside him, he nodded toward the departing trainees.

  “Were we ever that bad? Maybe it’s old age, but I can’t remember it.”

  Jameson laughed. “When we were ten, maybe. The new warriors can’t fight for shit. Yet. You’ll whip them into shape. And you’re thirty-five, Karis. Not exactly old.”

  “And yet I feel ancient. Maybe I’ve been doing this too long. It might be time to step down as head warrior, let someone fresh with more patience take it over.”

  “Do you really think any of the other warriors could lead and train as well as you? The tribe will be truly fucked if you don’t enter the challenges this year. No one can beat you, because you’re the best. That, and your experience, is what the new warriors need. Not some new tiger on an ego and power trip because he’s head warrior and above the rest.”

  “Days like today make it hard to believe I’m the best one for the job. But I’ll still be entering the challenges, because you’re right. No one else here is as good as I am.”

  “Humble, too,” Jameson replies with a chuckle. “You need a vacation. Or a night in bed with a woman. You could visit Greta. You know she always has her door open to the higher-ranking warriors.”

  Karis shook his head with a snort. “You know I don’t visit her. I’m not much keen on the idea of sleeping with a woman who’s slept with every warrior in Durga.”

  “They had a reason to be distracted, you know.”

  “What?” he asked, glancing at Jameson with eyebrows raised.

  “Carter and Trevor. They had a reason. And she’s headed your way. I’m gonna get out of here, because the determination on her face doesn’t look like good news.”

  “Coward,” Karis muttered as he watched Jameson walk away.

  He’d known Arya was there from the moment she arrived. He always knew when she showed up to watch them train, and not only because of his warriors’ reactions to her, much as he wished that was the only reason.

  The sound of her footsteps carried to his sensitive ears, and he did his best to brace himself before he turned around. Even so, the sight of her was enough to knock the breath from his body. His eyebrows rose, and he quickly marshaled his expression. She was wearing a tunic and pants, not a sari. He didn’t know why this surprised him. He knew Arya well. Her father had been his mentor growing up and was his close friend now. He knew how stifled she felt, knew that when the rules changed, she’d be the first one going with the changes.

  But surprise him, it did. In all reality, she was more exposed in a sari, but for some reason, this outfit felt more daring, more sensual.

  He snorted, barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes at himself. What the hell was he even thinking? He sounded more like a twelve-year-old boy than a warrior in his mid-thirties. But damned if she didn’t look just as gorgeous covered up as she did in her sari.

  Her black hair was braided as usual, the thick rope pulled over her shoulder, the tip teasing her waistline. She was of Russian descent like he was, and it showed in her pale, creamy skin. Her eyes were the color of a cloudless sky, and her full lips were wide. When she smiled, which was often, it took up her whole face.

  She was smiling now, but it wasn’t the cheery smile she usually wore. Jameson was right. She had determination written all over her face, from her smile to the glint in her eyes. Uneasiness stirred in his chest, but he forced it down as she approached.

  She was so tiny. Graceful and delicate, the top of her head barely reache
d his shoulder. But looks could be deceiving. He’d seen her fight in tiger form just a couple of weeks ago, when a former member of the tribe tried to kill Kelly. And she’d been fierce and magnificent, even though she had no training, easily beating the other shifter.

  “Hey, Karis,” she said brightly, coming to a stop in front of him.

  His body stirred at her nearness, and he let out a slew of curses in his mind. He was a damned pervert, to notice a girl twelve years younger than he was in this manner. Fuck, what would Mikhail think if he knew Karis was feeling lust for his only daughter?

  Woman. She’s a woman now, his tiger purred in his chest.

  What the fuck. More disturbed than he could ever remember feeling, Karis crossed his arms over his chest as he cleared his throat.

  “Arya. You almost caused injury to my warriors when you showed up, dressed like that.”

  Eyes narrowing, her smile faded as she glared. Hell, why did he say that? He was all for the women having more independence and being able to do whatever they liked. But he just came across like he disapproved, when he didn’t in the slightest. He was acting like a dick. Why did she affect him like this? And it seemed to get worse the older she got.

  “First, they need to get used to seeing me, and any woman who chooses to do so, dress like this. Second, they’re not really warriors if they let anything distract them from their match, especially when it’s just me.”