FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

Tyne stood beside Chief Kachada's throne, watching smugly as the merchant and his family entered. Tyne was a strong, proud wolf, in the prime of his life, thirty years old, and very wealthy. His fur was pale gray and his eyes the palest blue. A long fang protruded from beneath his upper lip; the deformity being a silent testament to his autumn wolf heritage.

When Tyne was just eleven years old, moon wolf slavers came to his tribe and captured him, along with many other young boys. He was sent to the harem, where the moon chief at the time - Chief Kachada's father Ikronodo - left him to be trained in the way of a servant by his courtesans. It didn't take Tyne long to learn how to carry trays and pour pitchers without spilling them. When he seemed capable enough, he was sent to the great hut of the moon chief and given to his son Chief Kachada -- who was seven-year-old Prince Kachada at the time.

Tyne and Kachada were inseparable as children, lovers as teenagers, devoted as adults. When Kachada later married Iyira, Tyne kept coming to the bedroom - much to Chieftess Iyira's displeasure. But it was common knowledge among the moon wolves that their prince and later chief openly liked males, so the ruling pair both knew that Tyne was going no where.

Iyira doted on her husband and loathed Tyne. With a passion. So Tyne wasn't surprised when - one night over supper - the chieftess casually suggested that Tyne should oversea the slave trade in the moon village. He was her husband's most trusted confidante, was he not?

While the chieftess was playing out her scheme, Tyne was standing beside the chief's chair, holding a tray with a pitcher of wine. He glared at the striped female as she fluttered her lashes, toyed with her fork, and cast him sly smiles in-between her bright suggestions.

Tyne was horrified when the chief agreed to promote him - essentially setting him free from bondage. But he did not show his horror. He forced a smile and pretended the idea was wonderful, laughed, filled the chieftess' glass and even kissed her on the cheek without glaring when she ordered him to. Oh, yes, Tyne and Iyira left their bitter hatred a well kept secret. The chief relished in the idea of his wife and lover being friends, and neither of them wished to burst his bubble.

It was later in the privacy of his home that Tyne protested his new position as overseer. He and the chief were in Tyne's bed together, and the chief seemed content to ignore his protests as he trailed kisses down his chest and belly. Tyne moaned and tried to ignore the burning arousal happening below his waist.

"Your highness . . . Kachada," Tyne whispered breathlessly to himself when the chief closed his mouth on his cock.

Kachada started sucking hungrily and relentlessly, and biting his lip, Tyne glanced around his bedroom with suffering eyes. The chief came to his home regularly, almost every night. The house had been the chief's gift to Tyne once he married. Tyne had then moved out of the great hut and into a smaller - but just as lavish - house beside it.

A slave with a house. Tyne was the first slave to have a house in the moon village. Ever. Other slaves looked upon him with envy and hatred, while the moon wolves shook their heads, faces etched in disdain.

Lining the walls of Tyne's bedroom were many bookshelves and on them, candles burned into pools of wax. A large desk stood in the center of the room with scrolls scattered across it, a bundle of quills tied with ribbon. A small basin on a table held a mass of orange flame, and the light sent warm shadows through the gloom.

Tyne looked down at the chief and touched his mane as he sucked him. Chief Kachada was big and strong, and like all moon wolves, had blue fur, shimmering and vibrant. His pale blue mane was loose, tumbling around his shoulders. His crown with the horned moon had been haphazardly thrown on the bedside table, as had his ceremonial silver jewelry: his silver armbands, his cumbersome rings. The chief had a stud in his tongue, but that had been left in, and Tyne closed his eyes and shivered as the cold ball grazed his hot erection with each suck.

Being a servant and a slave up until that moment, Tyne himself had always gone about naked. But now, if he was to become overseer, he would wear scabbards for weapons, swords on his hips, crossbows on his back . . . he would have to learn to fight and shoot, something he had never learned. When he thought about it, the only thing he knew how to do was pour drinks and suck cock. He had only just recently learned to read - though many moon wolf nobles in the court considered it a scandal, a slave learning to read.

"Mm . . . mmmm."

"K-Kachada . . ."

"Mm . . ."

"Ah . . ."

Kachada sucked hard and Tyne erupted. He lay there, panting and staring at the ceiling, as the moon chief sucked every drop of cum from the head of his soft cock. Tyne watched weakly as Kachada licked his lips. The moon chief looked at him with smiling eyes - such dark, intense eyes.

"You were saying, Tyne?" Kachada said in his deep, pleasant voice. He drew near and leaned down to kiss Tyne's neck. "Mm . . . my handsome . . . handsome Tyne . . ." he whispered between kisses.

Tyne smiled and smoothed his paw down the tight muscles of the chief's back. He could feel himself getting hard again and begged him to stop. Kachada stopped and looked at Tyne in amusement, but seeing that something was the matter, he lay beside him and rested his cheek on his big paw.

"What is it, Tyne?"

Tyne looked at the chief's hard, fit body and suddenly wished he hadn't asked him to stop. "You can't . . . you can't make me overseer!"

Kachada laughed lightly and his long lashes fanned down. He rubbed Tyne's chest. "And why is that exactly? I can do whatever I want with you. You're mine. You always have been."

Tyne sighed miserably. "Your highness, if you make me overseer of the trade, I will have to go to sea all the time . . . for long months, I'll be across the sea." He glowered: which was exactly what Chieftess Iyira wanted.

"But I trust you will always come back to me," Chief Kachada answered evenly, softly.

Tyne looked at him helplessly again, looked at that handsome face, at those confident black eyes, and knew he would always, always come back. Kachada was his whole world. Kachada was all he knew. He peered at the ceiling, suddenly frightened, as he tried to imagine life without Kachada. It wasn't as if Tyne had any family he could remember. If he ever lost Kachada, he would be given away to the first cruel master - Iyira loathed him. She would do such a thing.

"Tyne . . ." the chief whispered. He cupped Tyne's cheek, and Tyne melted when he looked at him: he always felt safe whenever Kachada looked at him like that. It was the look that said the moon chief had everything under control.

Kachada kissed Tyne, tenderly and slowly. "You will always come back to me, baby," he whispered against his lips. "Always," he whispered. His kisses continued, gentle and loving. His big paw cupped Tyne's cheek, and the other . . . reached down and massaged his cock. Tyne breathed hard through his nostrils as he stiffened, breathed hard through his nostrils as they moaned through a kiss. Kachada had always been smaller than Tyne - who had been big and tall even as a boy - but somehow, looking up into Kachada's loving eyes, Tyne knew his lover had always overpowered him. Without even lifting a paw.

The moon chief carefully pushed Tyne over onto his belly. "Who do you love?" he whispered in his ear.

Tyne shivered happily as the chief's kisses continued down his neck and shoulder. "You, your highness - oh! Your highness!" Tyne sighed as the chief suddenly filled him.

"That's right," Kachada whispered. He slid his paw over Tyne's and tightened his fingers: their fingers locked as they made love. All night.

So it was that Tyne took charge of the slave trade. He was surprised when he actually came to enjoy it. After years of living as a slave, of being forced to kneel and grovel, clean up messes, take glares and sneers from snooty moon wolves - after years of living like a dog, Tyne could finally look at someone else and know that they were beneath him. He could finally command respect and reveled in the fact.

Tyne and his fellow slavers would capture slaves from the autumn wolves, from across the sea, from wandering nomadic clans even, and Tyne would not hesitate to grope, fondle, and fuck those that they captured. Females were forced to sit on his cock, males especially. He thought there was nothing like the sight of a bound, grunting male straining with his muscular body to avoid sitting on a cock.

Tyne would never forget the young teenage girl he and other slavers had shared - oh, she had been a ripe one, a shy virgin, high perky tits and large frightened blue eyes. Her fur was such a dark gray that they had suspected she and her family were from the crow tribe. He and the slavers took the girl out in the forests near the winter village. They started off making her suck all their cocks. Eventually, they got the girl on her knees and banged her every crevice while her father looked on, bound and on his knees and roaring behind a gag.

The girl's mother had been a tasty bitch as well, though not nearly as tight, and then there was the fact that she kept fighting. This inspired the girl to fight as well. When the girl finally scratched Tyne in the face, he ordered her mother killed. She screamed as a crossbow was put to her mother's temple and the trigger pulled. Her father screamed with her. But after that . . . she stopped fighting. And the father was so bereft, he fell over in the snow and stared at the blood that stained it, stared unseeing as they gathered around and fucked his daughter.

They sat the girl on Tyne's cock and another male fucked her in the ass - even while another stood over her and made her suck him. She cried nonstop.

Captives were always led on leashes, paws bound, sometimes gagged if they were the noisy kind. And all the way to the moon village they would go, where they were sold at the trade market. The old market overseer and Tyne were good friends: they grinned and shook paws, exchanged coin, and laughed each time Tyne returned.

It was a good, good life. Tyne began to enjoy the sound of coins jingling in his purse. New jewelry, fine things, and books were slowly filling his house. He loved books. Books and coins. Books and coins. Before he became overseer, he had never before seen a gold coin in his life. Only royalty, nobles, and slavers exchanged coins. The rest - commoners - made use of glass beads. But Tyne was above commoners now. Never again would he grovel! Never again would he crawl! Only for Kachada . . . His one love. His all.

"Isn't she lovely?" Chief Kachada whispered, dragging Tyne from his thoughts.

Tyne glanced at the chief and saw that he was sitting half-slouched on his throne, hard thighs open wide, muscular body powerful and imposing. He was wearing his ceremonial silver jewelry, as well as his silver crown with the horned moon. His blue fur practically glowed in the warm firelight of the nearby basins, and looking down at him as he stood beside his throne, Tyne let his mind wander to his bed, to the night before, and the warm homecoming the chief had given him after a long journey.

Chief Kachada had been overjoyed to have Tyne return safe and sound. In fact, he had made love to him in a passionate frenzy. Tyne, submitting happily beneath him, realized just how deeply he had missed his lover. But now Kachada wasn't even looking at him. He was looking at the merchant and his family.

So was Chieftess Iyira. She sat on her throne beside Kachada, her blue fur just as vibrant, her black zig-zagging stripes hugging her wide hips. Like all moon wolf royalty, she wore no garments: her silver jewelry was her garment and symbolized the wearing of the moonlight itself: silver jewelry glinted all over her body - studs in her ears, small loops in her nipples and rings on her slender fingers. Like her husband, she was wearing a silver crown with the horned moon on it, and in her lap was her son - six-year-old Prince Anokinoton.

A small blue replica of Kachada, Prince Anokinoton was a royal brat if there ever was one. He stared at the approaching merchant and his family with the same burning desire in his little black eyes. He was staring in particular at the merchant's little daughter.

All around, the chief's bodyguards stood against the wall, watching as the little family entered. Their eyes followed the shapely form of the merchant's wife, though Tyne noticed some of them eying the merchant lustily.

The merchant's name was Ayawami and his wife was Yanatiati (Tyne silently marveled that all moon wolves had such ridiculously long names). And the little girl . . . his eyes went to her now as she clung to her mother's tail. Her name was Yurisia. The merchant and his family had been to court many times now, bearing gifts for the royal family. They had been summoned by Kachada, who saw Yanatiati in the street and wanted her. Each time they came, they bore an impressive gift, but Kachada always looked expectantly upon Yanatiati, as if she should have been the gift.

"Your highness," Ayawami said graciously. He was a handsome male, Tyne thought, appraising the merchant coldly from where he stood beside the chief's throne. Ayawami was carrying a white skin of bear fur. Chieftess Iyira gasped when the merchant knelt before her and offered the skin: white bear fur was extremely rare, as it was only winter wolves who dared brave the ice far north to get it. In the past few years, it had become even more rare, as disagreements with the sun wolves had stemmed the tide of trade.

A servant stepped out of the shadows and took the bearskin from Ayawami. Aren. Tyne looked at the young male with disdain. Aren was big, muscular, and handsome, and the beloved pet of the chieftess. Tyne hated him - but quietly and secretly. He hated the fact that Kachada fucked Aren in front of the chieftess on a regular basis. He hated the very idea that the chieftess could like Aren and yet despise him so. But he smirked: Iyira only hated Tyne because Kachada loved him. Kachada did not love Aren!

Aren was also from the autumn tribe. It was nothing the male had said - Tyne avoided talking to him at all costs - but Tyne could tell by his crisp accent. Each time he spoke the moon wolf language, his words clipped.

Aren lowered his lashes and smiled, passing the white bearskin to the chieftess as happily as if her pleasure was his pleasure. He settled into the shadows behind her throne and squatted, watching dreamily as the chieftess gasped and held the fur aloft. Her son twisted on her lap, griping and complaining that she was going to shove him off.

"A generous gift," Kachada said to the merchant, but his hungry eyes were fixed on Yanatiati.

Tyne's eyes softened as he looked at Yanatiati. She was beautiful. She was one of the most beautiful moon wolf females he had ever seen! He wished he could glimpse her breasts, but even through her gray shawl, he could tell that they were high and firm. High and firm after birthing that pup beside her! She stood quietly behind her husband, her head down nervously and her long, silky mane flowing forward like water to hide her. No doubt she was wondering why she and her child were summoned again and again to court when her husband's presence alone would have sufficed. Tyne's nostrils flared. He caught a whiff of her sweet pussy and thought: That's why.

_ _

The merchant knelt humbly before the thrones, and behind him, his wife and child followed suit. Tyne looked at the girl and smiled sadly: the poor little bitch. She had no idea what the chief had planned for and her family, but she was about to find out.

"Extravagant!" Iyira squealed, hugging the bearskin tight.

Still sitting in his mother's lap, Anokinoton narrowly missed being knocked off as she appraised the bearskin. He hopped up on the armrest and rolled his eyes in exasperation. Then his dark eyes met the little girl's. He smiled nastily. Little Yurisia stiffened with fear and quickly bowed her head again.

Hugging the bearskin tight as a girl, Iyira gestured a paw. Tyne was not surprised when big Aren stepped forward and gathered her carefully in his arms. He then carried her away up the stairs. In their absence, Prince Anokinoton sank onto his mother's throne. He folded his arms and regarded the little girl again, and Tyne thought the boy was as smug as if he already owned her.

"No doubt," said Kachada, stroking his chin as he eyed Yanatiati, "you are wondering. You are wondering why you - a lowly merchant - have caught the eye of your chief. Let us finally be honest and open. I want your daughter."

Ayawami stiffened, and Tyne could tell he had almost lifted his head. But the merchant kept his composure, kept his head bowed. Beside him, his wife had stiffened with fear. The little girl trembled and clung to her mother's arm. Tyne could not see her expression: she was hiding behind her mane.

"I want your daughter," repeated Kachada, "to marry my son one day."

Yanatiati's head snapped up. "Oh! Oh, your highness - such an honor --"

"Yana!" Ayawami hissed.

Yanatiati sheepishly bowed her head again, but the chief was chuckling.

"You, Ayawami," Kachada said, "have become the only merchant I can depend on to please my wife with bearskins and trinkets. You are not afraid to venture to the farthest reaches of the known world, and thus, you are extremely valuable. I must have access to your goods as soon as you acquire them. You are to leave on the next ship with my overseer for the sun village and procure said goods for me there. You are to become my personal treasurer and merchant, do you understand?"

"Oh - oh, yes, your highness!" Ayawami said, hardly able to contain his joy. He lifted his face at last. He was beaming.

Standing beside the chief's throne, Tyne snorted. The poor fool.

The chief waved an idle paw at his surrounding bodyguards. "Escort him to the ship. It leaves at dusk, Ayawami."

"Yes, your highness - thank you, your highness!" Ayawami said happily. He and his family leapt to their feet and they hugged. Tyne watched dispassionately as Ayawami caught the little girl up on his hip and hugged her tight. She was dismayed to hear that he was leaving her yet again. She begged him brokenly to stay.

"Now, little Yuri," Yanatiati said soothingly and stroked her daughter's mane, "this is for the best. Your father has just become very wealthy and important!"

The apparent Little Yuri didn't seem to care. She shook her head furiously and buried her face in her father's neck. "Daddy, don't go!"

"But I must," Ayawami explained gently. He set the child on her feet and smiled down at her. "And you must be Daddy's big girl and look after your mother."

Yurisia's eyes crinkled up in a smile when her father tweaked her nose. "Yes, Daddy."

"There's Daddy's big girl! Now give me a kiss and a smile."

Yanatiati watched fondly as her daughter pecked her husband's cheek. Two of the chief's warriors stepped forward, and Ayawami quickly hugged and kissed his wife goodbye. His daughter clung to his leg for such a long time, Yanatiati had to pry her off.

"Daddy!" the girl wailed.

"Wait," Kachada said, and his warriors looked at him, waiting patiently. "Take the girl with you. So she can say a proper goodbye."

Ayawami gladly gathered Yurisia onto his hip again, but he looked at his wife and frowned sadly, and Tyne knew he wanted her to come with him as well. Tyne shook his head slightly. Didn't he get it yet?

"I wanna go too!" Anokinoton said and bounced up from his mother's throne.

Chief Kachada smoothed an affectionate paw down the boy's back as he leapt down from the dais. "Of course you may go - and you will mind your escort this time!"

The boy groaned. "Yes, Father." But he looked at Yurisia again and grinned triumphantly at her. The little girl looked nervously away.

"Your highness," Ayawami said anxiously, "I would like my wife --"

"Your wife," Kachada said, gesturing at Tyne, "will be more than comfortable with me."

Tyne obeyed without thinking. Going to Yanatiati, he took her paw and guided her to the chief's side. She was flustered and nervous but smiled at the chief when he smiled at her.

"I will look after your family as if it were my own," Kachada assured the merchant.

Ayawami nodded uncertainly. "Yes, your highness . . . thank you."

The warriors then moved in and led Ayawami away with his daughter. Prince Anokinoton followed, bouncing in their wake. Tyne saw the boy make a snatch for the girl's tail. The first time, he missed. The second, he didn't. He yanked. Little Yurisia yipped and glanced at the prince miserably. Tyne watched indifferently: the torture had already begun.

Tyne started to follow the others out the curtain, but the chief gestured for him to come. He leaned down over the armrest and heard Yanatiati gasp when the chief whispered, "Make sure he never comes back."

Tyne nodded grimly and straightened up.

Yanatiati began to tremble and weep. "Your h-highness," she sobbed as the chief started unbuttoning her shawl. "P-Please . . . spare my husband. I will simply leave him and I will be yours . . . but do n-not --"

"Hush," Kachada whispered and put a large finger to her lips.

She sobbed. "Your h-highness --"

"Shh . . ."

Tyne watched and felt it coming on strong as Kachada pulled the shawl away. Yanatiati stood trembling and weeping as her high breasts were revealed in the firelight. God. They were perfect. Many warriors were still in the room, and they watched intently as the chief pulled Yanatiati close and tenderly sucked her sharp nipple. She cried softly, the tears pooling. Kachada got hard, and he guided her small paw in a stroke on his cock.

"On your knees, pretty thing," the chief whispered.

Shaking and crying, Yanatiati obeyed. She stood between the chief's hard thighs, and when she hesitated, he placed a big paw on her head and pressed down. His thick cock was in her face. She stared at it, then squeezed her eyes shut, as if willing herself to submit. She slowly and miserably began to suck as all around, the chief's warriors started to get stiff.

Kachada leaned back and sighed, his big paw still on the little female's head as he forced her to suck. Her sucking became desperate, wet, and loud, as if she was eager to please him so that she could finally stop. Her tits hanging down as she sucked were exquisite.

Kachada slowly opened his eyes and looked at Tyne. "Why are you still here? Didn't I tell you to do something?"

Yanatiati's face contorted. She leapt up, sobbing and screaming, "IF YOU KILL MY HUSBAND I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" She swiped at Tyne's face and her nails scratched him. Tyne staggered back with a curse - and gave her a backslap that knocked her on her knees.

"Tyne," laughed Kachada. "That was vicious."

Tyne smiled. He grabbed Yanatiati by the neck and made her look at him - then slapped her down again. Her scream cut sharp through the room.

"Teach you to scratch me, bitch," Tyne whispered. He touched a large paw to his cheek and looked angrily at the blood on it.

Yanatiati slumped on her knees between the chief's thighs, head bowed as she wept brokenly. Her long flowing mane fell forward to hide her expression - and Tyne was glad, for she probably looked pitiful.

Yanatiati dropped her forehead on the chief's knee. "P-Please, your highness . . ."

Kachada smiled sadly and massaged the top of her mane. "Hush, pretty little thing. Everything will be alright."

Yanatiati looked up with large wet eyes. "You'll spare my h-husband?"

Kachada looked down at her and lied without flinching: "Yes. I only sent him away so I could have you. Finish what we started and you are free to go."

Yanatiati gulped her tears down and stared at the chief's cock. Tyne knew what she was thinking: if she gave herself to him, she would be free. Pft. If only it was so. Tyne hated the sight of that bitch sucking his master's dick.

Yanatiati abruptly began sucking Kachada off - wetly and loudly, gulping and slurping with a reckless abandon that made all the warriors in the room finally grunt and turn erect.

"Go, Tyne," laughed Kachada, waving. "If you succeed in this mission, you will suck my dick again. I promise."

Tyne brightened. The chief had not allowed him that pleasure the night before, but looking at Yanatiati now . . . he was determined to have it. "Yes, my chief," he said dutifully and marched from the throne room.

Eleven Years Later

"Empfh!" Tyne grunted as his thoughts were scattered by a foot to his face. His head rolled on the wooden floorboards, and his shoulders twisted as he half-turned on his back from the force of the kick. He was naked and dirty, lying in straw and filth with his paws bound before him. A leather collar was around his throat, and the tiny silver horned moon on it marked him as a royal slave.

"I said wake up!" shouted a voice. A male's voice.

"No, don't kick his face again. The chief will be angry." Another male's voice.

"Fuck the chief! If we don't return with that black bastard in custody, we'll take his place! I'll do a lot of things for her highness, but I won't suck cock. They can stone me first."

The second male laughed nervously.

"I said wake up!" snarled the first.

Tyne grunted when the male grabbed his mane and shook him hard. He wearily opened his eyes, wishing they would let him be. The slavers had been searching the sun village for days without results. Each time they failed to find Kilyan, they returned to shake Tyne and smack him around - "they" as in Wakiza, who seemed to take a personal delight in getting his paws on Tyne in anyway he could, be it violently or . . . lustily. The slavers were not supposed to hurt Tyne at the risk of the chief's displeasure, but Wakiza was losing his patience.

Wakiza was the typical moon merchant: small greedy eyes and a perpetual sneer. Much like Tyne, he was not originally from the moon village but seemed to hail from the plains. He was brown and ugly and nothing at all like beautiful Ayawami. Tyne winced. Dead Ayawami. He thought of the girl and her mother, them escaping into the storm that night little over a decade ago, and wondered if they had survived. Chief Kachada was still looking for Yanatiati and her daughter even now. He was obsessed.

"Tell us again," Wakiza hissed, "what the slave looked like! He can't be a black wolf! I've never seen one a day in my life!"

"But they exist, Wak," said the second male. He was light silver, young, and was prone to astonishment each time Wakiza grew violent with Tyne. He was a cousin of Wakiza's, new to the trade life - and to the world. His name was Kuza.

Tyne looked at Kuza and thought with a smirk that the poor boy would never last a minute in the trader world. As Wakiza had no children, his younger cousin was his apprentice and heir. When Wakiza died, Kuza would take over the family business - which not only consisted of procuring trade goods but also the business of slave transactions within the moon village. Kuza was a soft-spoken, nervous sort who jumped at his own shadow. One day he would inherit Wakiza's wealth, occupation, and the weight of competition . . . and the other merchants would eat him alive.

Tyne looked past Kuza's worried face and could see grim warriors standing in the doorway. They were in the hold of the ship and had been docked in the sun village for a week - on the pretense of delivering wares from the moon village. It was illegal to take wolves within the sun village's boundaries - especially citizens - and so the moon wolves were leading a discreet search. Tyne smiled: but they would not find Kilyan here. Kilyan had told him he was from the summer village . . . so Tyne lied and said he was from the sun village.

"Answer me!" Wakiza growled.

"Let the slave go, Wakiza, you know better," barked one of the males. He had just come down the stairs, and now he calmly pushed his way to the front of the crowd.

Wakiza glanced at the male bitterly but did as he was told: he let Tyne's mane go and backed away.

Tyne slowly sat up, glancing gratefully at the male. He was Hukida, the youngest heir of a family of famed shipwrights. He was also captain of the ship, a prominent figure in the moon village, an apparent cousin of Chieftess Iyira, and . . . very handsome. Like all moon wolves, his fur was blue, and like all males who'd had warrior training, his body was fit and toned. He wore his long straight mane loose behind his broad shoulders, and around his throat was a leather sheath with a black quill and vial of ink tucked away inside it. Under his arm he carried parchment, and he stood with more parchment in his paw, waiting patiently with a red quill to write Kilyan's description. No doubt he was going to pass the written description around for his more thickheaded warriors.

Tyne liked Hukida. He was a solemn, no-nonsense sort of young male, the sort who had been raised to fight like a warrior and learn like a scholar. Well-rounded, intelligent, and stern, Hukida had been sent by Chief Kachada to keep everything in order, make certain the mission was carried out smoothly, and that Tyne was not harmed.

Tyne knew a lot of the merchants and warriors wanted to harm him. Many of them knew him from his days as overseer of the slave trade, and thus, many still remembered his betrayal of his lover and chief. In their eyes, he was a creature not to be trusted, a traitor who had turned his back on his village for a summer wolf and a slave.

Suddenly exhausted, Tyne hunched his muscular back and massaged his aching jaw. His lip had busted from Wakiza's blow. His pale blue eyes smiled triumphantly at Wakiza and the male bristled: Chief Kachada was going to be pissed.

"We are waiting," Hukida said somberly.

Tyne glanced up at him and smiled, licking the blood from his lip. His long fang was aching. He was frightened it was now loose. "He has black fur," Tyne said, looking at their frustrated faces in amusement, "and beautiful green eyes. He's about . . . five, nine . . ." Tyne sighed.

My beautiful black thing.