Free Scent of Valor (Chronicles of Eorthe #2) by Annie Nicholas Page A

separated females from males. Her fur brushed over his. There were twenty of them crammed inside the small space. It would have been twenty-one, but the female who’d entered the vampire leader’s tent last night never returned. Seven of the shifters came from the Temple attack. The others were from another tribe, west of Benic’s land. All of them were from different packs, but under the circumstances such division hardly mattered.
    Jostling Kele with his elbow, Peder woke her from a drowse. “If you escape the city, you should head in that direction.” He pointed to a hill that crested like the moon. “Stay north until you pass the farmlands. Keep the mountains in front of you until you reach the forest. From there, you should find scent trails to lead you to Temple lands.”
    Kele stared at his hand, not where it pointed. “You think we’ll escape?”
    “Don’t you?”
    She clanked her chains. “Not with these on.”
    “They can’t keep us chained forever. How will we labor for them if we can’t move?”
    “If they don’t keep me chained, then they will get a taste of how sharp my claws are.” She extended them fully.
    Peder set his hand over hers through the bars. “Don’t. It won’t do do you any good, but it will probably get you beaten. Then I’d have to carry you home.” He winked at her surprised expression. “Can you pretend you’re omega? Just for a little while.”
    “I—I don’t know. I’ve never tried. My whole life has been about not showing weakness or fear. Now you want me to do the opposite.”
    “Sometimes meekness can get you further than brute strength. The worst thing you can do is draw attention.”
    “With this fur, how can I not?”
    He sighed and stroked her silken coat. How indeed? She was easily the most beautiful female he’d ever seen. How could he keep her safe? He saw the way vampire eyes caressed her in feral form. What would they do when she shifted to civil? Maybe all that training with Sorin in the challenge rings would come in useful after all, but only if he was free. Caged or chained, he wouldn’t have any power to protect her.
    She glanced over her shoulder. “I’ve never been to a city before. Do you think it’s much different than Benic’s castle?”
    He shrugged and swallowed the bile building in his throat, either from the sickening motion or the thought of that traitorous vampire—he wasn’t sure. Benic would stick his sword in Peder at the first chance possible. The vampire had made his loathing for Peder very clear. The way Benic watched Kele and the familiar way she spoke of him knotted Peder’s gut even more. “Had you been to his castle before he took you and Susan captive?” He gouged the wooden floor of the cage with the tip of his claw. Pretending it was Benic’s back helped his stomach.
    “No. I’d never left the forest before then.” She kept glancing back at the city. “There are a lot of buildings. I didn’t know there were so many vampires.”
    “There aren’t that many,” Nahuel replied. He sat next to Peder, his gaze pinned on Kele. “The city is filled with our tamer cousins and other types of shifters from across the ocean.”
    “How do you know?” Peder leaned forward.
    Nahuel had the build of a hunter but he’d grown quiet on their trip south. Most of the other males had roared and snarled until the vampire leader grew tired of them and shot them with darts. Only he and Nahuel remained conscious on their side of the cage. He didn’t want to start liking the male who would steal Kele from him.
    “My pack trades with a caravan that travels from this city once a month. I’ve heard many stories of New Berg.”
    “So many are domesticated?” Kele searched for and grabbed Peder’s hand. “I’ve no wish to live as a farmer.”
    “Not our people.” Nahuel shook his head. “Most of these shifters traveled from across the ocean. Their lands are full and hunting rights are tight. They’ve been under the