Free Unrest by Marteeka Karland Page A

anything but. The man looked ready to kill something. Or maybe it was just Raven. He’d never seen Brandwulfr this close before, but his visage was even grimmer and more filled with hate than any man he’d ever seen. Definitely not someone Raven wanted to fuck with. Besides, Raven had the suspicion the master was just a sick enough fuck to want to see how the woman fared if she did choose Brandwulfr.
    Raven kept his gaze forward, trying to ignore the byplay, but the way Brandwulfr kept clenching and unclenching his fists, rattling his chains ominously, made it nearly impossible. Another glance in the big wolf’s direction made Raven shiver. He had no idea what kind of woman the master was trying to send Brandwulfr to, but she must either be a cold-hearted bitch indeed or she’d done something to radically piss off the master.
    “Time to clean,” the master said, tossing soap to the three of them as they stepped into the pool. Brandwulfr was the only one of them still bound in chains, but he still caught the bar deftly, snagging it out of the air with effortless ease. Raven and the other man kept their distance from Brandwulfr, not knowing what to expect from the older wolf.
    As if as a portent of things to come, the earth seemed to shift slightly beneath the water where they stood. Instantly, Raven was on alert. He stilled in the pool where he washed himself, waiting. For what he didn’t know. But something was happening.
    “Get moving!” The master snapped the whip in the air over their heads, seemingly oblivious to the movement beneath their feet. “The women will be here soon to finish your bathing and see to it you’re properly aroused. Make sure you don’t repel them with your stench!”
    Raven looked at the other two men. All looked uneasy, even Brandwulfr. The third man, whom Raven didn’t know, was already crouched as if ready for battle. The master didn’t seem to notice because he left the room, apparently to retrieve the female cat shifters who would see to the rest of their bath.
    The other wolf looked at Raven. “Did you feel that?” The question was asked quietly, barely audible. No way the master would have heard him even if he’d been in the room.
    Raven nodded.
    “It’s happening…” The wolf trailed off. Raven looked at him sharply. Brandwulfr shifted his stance, tossing the soap into the water. Even the big wolf looked uneasy. “We’ve felt it for weeks, but never this strongly.”
    “You’ve felt it too?” Raven didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried that others had felt the unrest.
    The younger wolf nodded. “Aya, the jaguar has been pacing inside her cell every rest period and she fights with a viciousness few can compete with, even during practice. It’s so bad, the master has confined her to quarters, even tempting her with male after male thinking she was in heat. She won’t talk to anyone but Zev, and he is as on edge as she.” He glanced at Brandwulfr. “We thought it was because he is slated to fight you soon.”
    “I don’t fight shifters,” Brandwulfr said. “Everyone knows that.”
    “Nevertheless, the two of them have been restless. More than restless. I’ve been feeling it, but not as long or as strongly as the cats seem to have.”
    “A storm is coming,” Brandwulfr muttered. “Everyone needs to be ready when it strikes.”
    He’d get no argument from Raven. It made finding Sina that much more critical to him.
    The master entered again, this time with the cats. To Raven’s utter shock and relief, Sina was among them. He and the young wolf were out of the water, but Brandwulfr, with his hands bound, had been unable to wash his own hair. Three women tended to that now, scrubbing the big wolf with deliberate motions, kneading his muscles and, presumably, his cock beneath the water. If so, Brandwulfr gave no outward sign of it.
    Raven and the younger wolf waited to be dried and oiled by the remaining women, one of them Sina. Raven stiffened,