Fantasy Lynxed [Teeth, Nails and Tails] - Brynn Paulin

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Lynxed - Teeth, Nails and Tails

 

By Brynn Paulin

 

[Book 1 in the Mounted in Alaska series]

 

 

Prologue

 

Orange fingers of flame reached toward the heavens as seven shadowy figures twisted and turned around it. A wordless, guttural chant rose from their throats as they ducked in and out of the flickering light, the perspiration on their naked bodies reflecting the fire’s glow. Mika Andu fought his body. The lynx inside him struggled to come forth, but he would not shift. Not yet. They’d all make the change in unison, sending their power and supplication to the gods. This was the mating dance, and he must do it right. The way of their people forbade them going to civilization to find mates; the women must come to them, and by that, all would know the unions were ordained. His growl threatened to rip free and disturb the chant. The old ways frustrated him. He wanted to search out his mate, not wait passively for her to come to him. It wasn’t his way. A glance over at Bar Ra, his friend with whom he’d share the woman, showed Bar struggled with the same.

His feline eyes glowed with the truth. Tonight, they would break tradition if need be and hunt for their destiny, their mate. Mika spun once more, feeling the heat from the flames bathe his body as he breathed in the pungent wood smoke. “Send her!” he cried out. “Great maker, bless us with mates!” The words echoed around him as the others took up the call, but Mika could no longer speak. His back bowed. His hands curled as he yowled. The cracking of his bones mingled with the sounds of the bonfire as his body re-formed. His skin stretched and reshaped along with his skeleton as he dropped forward and landed on paws, not hands. Whitish-beige fur erupted along his skin. The pain ended as quickly as his body took its new shape, yet he yowled into the night, speaking his fury and need in a language only he could understand. We’ll find her. At Bar’s telepathic words, Mika looked to his left and saw his friend had also shifted. They all had. Together, the seven lynx shifters continued their dance and called into the night, blending their feline voices with the human pleas that had gone before.