Beastess

Like a tiger hiding in tall grass, Sophie crouched behind the iron railing, lying in wait for Ripley to arrive.

The abandoned magitech foundry was about as eerie as she was expecting. Stories upon stories of staircases, balconies, piping, scaffolding, catwalks, and railings surrounded a massive open atrium in the center, which housed a large central furnace and various casting stations. The only light came from the moon outside, shining through large multi-paned factory windows on the upper levels—some of them broken, most of them dirty.

Everything was made of rusted iron and dusty concrete, and in the darkness Sophie could see that the decrepit walls were covered in graffiti. If she tilted her head just right, her amplified hearing picked up the occasional squeaking of mice softly echoing in the gargantuan chamber.

Long since closed down and left to rot, the foundry was technically still the property of Gnosis Industries, but as of yet the company still hadn’t figured out how to repurpose the building. Syd had helped Sophie scout the location, and the wolf beastess had promised her that, with her alpha’s help, Sophie could use the place for this meeting. Somehow, Alpha Lea—well, Lea to her, since Sophie was just an ally to PAW—managed to get access to this place for Sophie by bribing the security. Apparently Lea “knows an executive at Gnosis”—whatever that means. Lea had also contacted her fellow alpha in the Pack of Abraxas East, Alpha Croca, and asked her to encourage her beta, Ripley, to attend this meeting with “Syd”, under the guise of it being an important meeting between two betas.

Although Sophie didn’t doubt the lioness’ extensive connections to both the elites and the underworld of Abraxas, it was still a surprise to Sophie that she was even here without any interference, just as Syd had promised.

The moon was a crescent in the sky, just a few nights after Sophie had learned that Ripley was most certainly the rat she had been looking for, the snitch who had sold out Mac … which had led to Sophie being ordered to capture her.

She was glad Mac had forgiven her for that. She was still working on forgiving herself.

Suddenly, a door on the ground floor opened just below Sophie’s position. Security lamplight briefly spilled out onto the polished concrete. A tall lanky silhouette cast a long shadow across the chamber.

“Okay, Syd,” Ripley said as she sauntered into the room, “I’m here. You can come out now, ya big bad wolf.”

The door closed behind her, and the cheetah beastess was shrouded in darkness. She kicked a rock across the room, which banged into a pipe with a clang, and idly inspected the dust on a nearby anvil.

“C’mon, Syd, quit fuckin’ around … I don’t got all night. Alpha Croca said you asked me to come here, so I came. And to be honest, I’ve been having a pretty rough week, so this better be fuckin’ important!”

Okay.

… Showtime.

“Oh, it’s important, all right,” Sophie purred. She swung gracefully over the railing, dropped down into a crouched landing on all fours behind Ripley, and stood up just as the cheetah woman turned about-face in surprise. “One might say that people’s lives are at stake here.”

“Who the fuck are …?” Ripley gasped. She squinted down at Sophie in the darkness. “Wait a minute … you’re that templar from the alley, aren’t you? The … the beastess one.”

Gesturing to herself, Sophie smirked, and said,“That’s me. Name’s Sophia Ryder. Call me Sophie. And you must be Ripley Belladonna, the beta of the Pack of Abraxas East.”

If Sophie wasn’t mistaken, Ripley looked shocked—or intimidated?—for a moment. But it quickly passed as Ripley flashed a crazed grin back at Sophie.

“You tricked me!” She threw her head back and laughed, which echoed off of the concrete walls of the foundry. “You actually fuckin’ got me! Well done, Sophie! Maybe this visit wasn’t a complete waste of my time after all …”

Still smiling, Ripley bared her fangs and dragged freshly-growing claws across the anvil, sharpening them against the iron with a horrible screech.

“Now,” Ripley said, “what exactly do you plan to do next, templar?”

“Well, actually, I was hoping we could have a chat,” Sophie said. “Cat to cat.”

“Hmmm, lemme think for a second …” Ripley tapped her chin carefully with one claw. “Nah. That sounds boring.”

The cheetah woman quickly pulled off her boots and threw her jacket to the floor. She tore off her tank top and her pants, claws violently tearing the fabric to shreds in an instant. Her already tall physique grew even taller … but as she grew, her muscles grew with her. Yellow fur covered in black spots appeared all over her body. Her entire head shifted into that of a cheetah’s, and her magitech implants auto-magically conformed to the shape of her new feline skull. A long ink-dipped spotted tail twitched behind her in anticipation.

Standing before Sophie in a matter of seconds, surrounded by the tatters of her old clothing, was a huge ten-foot were-cheetah woman.

The big beastess leaned in close, her hot breath blowing onto Sophie’s face through her long sharp fangs as she snarled at her.

[I think I’d rather rip your throat out instead.]

Ripley lunged at Sophie.

… But not quickly enough.

Sophie jumped back to dodge the were-cheetah’s claws.

[Damn, so you’re a tricky fighter, huh?] Ripley beckoned at Sophie with her claws. [Don’t be such a scaredy-cat! C’mere and FIGHT me!]

The tiger inside Sophie’s mind stirred.

Pacing. Circling. Growling.

Sophie didn’t know if she was ready for this. She had never fully let her tiger out of her mental cage before. She didn’t know if she could control herself.

But one thing was certain: she hadn’t hunted in a long, long time.

… And the mere thought of it made her feel ravenous.

“Fine,” Sophie said, carefully keeping an eye on Ripley as she took off her shoes and tossed them to the side, along with her jacket. “If you won’t listen to reason, Ripley … then I’ll just have to make you listen.”

And with that, she surrendered to her instincts.

Sophie felt an intense prickly heat all over as her skin pulsed and grew, swelling with sinew and strength before her very eyes. Orange and black striped fur coated her body in a matter of seconds. A long tail sprouted out of her spine. She grabbed a nearby steel pole with one paw, crushing it in her grasp, much to her amazement.

Her clothes lay around her in tatters. Good thing those were just some spares she—

Fuck!

She doubled over in pain as her face shifted into a tiger’s muzzle. Her body, meanwhile, was still growing. This was so much! Much farther than she had ever shifted!

Is this what she had been repressing all this time?

It felt … euphoric.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she looked down—down!—at Ripley, who was backing away slowly, a particular scent flooded her newly-feline nose. Bittersweet. She recognized it. She had smelled it so many times from her prey before.

Fear.

[Who’s the scaredy-cat now?] Sophie taunted.

The gigantic twelve-foot were-tiger roared, loud and proud, an ear-splitting roar that reverberated in the atrium of concrete and steel.

With a hiss, Ripley shook off her fear, crouched low, and said, [Let’s go, bitch.]

The two big cats pounced and collided in mid-air, slamming into the floor with seismic force. The concrete floor cracked like a spider web from where they fell. They scratched and grappled and yowled, each keeping the other’s dangerous jaws at arm’s length.

Claws dug into flesh.

Dents were left in iron railings.

At one point, they tumbled into a casting table, knocking the heavy machinery over and sending torn-off bolts and screws flying across the floor.

Sophie eventually kicked Ripley off of her and leaped into the air. She had never jumped this high before, but it didn’t matter—her new beast form adjusted her agility perfectly despite her now titanic size, and she grabbed onto the side of a balcony a couple of stories higher.

Dangling down, she chuffed in amusement.

[Here, kitty, kitty, kitty …] Sophie said.

Ripley growled and leaped after Sophie, but right before she grabbed onto the same balcony Sophie was on, the were-tigress had already jumped up to dangle off some scaffolding, which bent under her added weight. Each time Ripley tried to catch up with Sophie, she would leap away just in time—sometimes down, sometimes up, sometimes across the open space of the atrium.

[What’s the matter, Ripley? I thought cheetahs were supposed to be fast!]

[Count yourself fuckin’ lucky that it’s been a while since I charged my implants!]

[I don’t need luck when I’ve got skill. Meanwhile, you’re looking pretty sloppy. Maybe you’ve been relying too much on your magitech lately?]

[Fuck you. So what, you here to arrest me or something? Capture me? Or did the Church put a hit out on me?]

[Like I said, I just want to talk to you.]

[How in the everliving fuck did you trick Alpha Croca?]

[With a little help from my friends.]

[Friends? What friends? The Church?]

[Nope.]

[Then who?]

[Friends who want to talk with you too. Friends in the Four Packs.]

[Bullshit.]

[They know what you’ve done, Ripley.]

[… I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.]

The two of them reached the top of the atrium of the foundry, standing on opposite sides of the open chasm below, several stories up. Sophie stood atop parallel lengths of thick rusty metal piping, while Ripley was crouched on top of a large metal box, probably housing some central air system or control panel. Although they were both closer to the upper level window panes, much of the machinery up here was still hidden in the shadows, away from the beams of moonlight shining down.

[You can atone for your sins. I’m offering you a chance at redemption. You just need to stop fighting and listen.]

[Goddess above, I’m getting real sick of your mind games, templar. Tell me what the fuck is going on—NOW.]

[Like I said, I just want to chat. I need your help. WE need your help.]

[Why the FUCK should I help you?]

From out of the shadows behind her, two giant golden-furred arms the size of tree trunks wrapped around Ripley’s upper body before she could react.

[Because if you don’t,] the were-lioness said into Ripley’s mind, [I’ll have my entire pack KILL you on the spot, you spotted TRAITOR.]

Lea, standing in her full beast form as tall as Sophie but with a bit more bulk, growled and tightened her grasp on her newly captured prey.

Around them and below them, emerging from their hiding places in the scaffolding, balconies, and catwalks of the foundry’s atrium, beastess upon beastess upon beastess made their presence known, all of them shifted into their full beast form. Among the twenty or so beastesses in the foundry, Sophie could see Lexi and Syd directly behind Lea, two massive canines flanking their alpha like bodyguards. On the level directly below were Roxy, Audrey, Meg, and Sabrina, barely recognizable to Sophie in their beast forms only by certain distinctive features—a hyena with a striped mohawk, a vixen with glowing green eye implants, a grizzly bear with a bionic arm, and a lynx with a pink hair bow, respectively. They howled, they barked, and they roared—all of the beastesses vocalizing in a cacophony of primal noise and rage that filled the foundry.

There she was—Lea, the High Beastess of the Pack of Abraxas West, surrounded by her entire pack, all of them capable predators displaying their full power all at once. If Sophie were still with the Church, she would have been terrified to be face-to-face with one of the most dangerous criminal leaders in Abraxas, not to mention her entire syndicate.

From what she could smell, that’s probably what Ripley was feeling right now.

As for Sophie, though? She felt proud. Proud to have helped fellow huntresses in capturing this prey.

It was exhilarating, to say the least … like she had finally put down a heavy weight she had been carrying all these years.

God above—no, she decided, Goddess above—she felt so free! She could move again! She could breathe again!

All thanks to these other freaks like her. These other beastesses. These other … pack-mates?

No. Allies.

But perhaps …

[Hey, wh-what the hell is this?] Ripley said, almost in a joking tone. [Are you all serious right now? Are you really helping out someone from the Supreme Church?]

The ferocity from earlier was gone. She was now trying to fawn her way out of this, Sophie could see.

[Funny you should say that, Rip,] Syd said, stepping around Lea and cracking the knuckles of her paws. [I could ask YOU the same fuckin’ question.]

[Hey, big wolf! How’s tricks?]

[Cut the bullshit, Ripley,] Lexi said, also stepping forward to see Ripley better.

[Oh! ‘Lexi’, was it? You’re looking … VERY fine. Estrogen has done wonders for ya.] Ripley traced her eyes up and down Lexi’s bulky coyote body.

As amazing as Lexi looked in her full beast form—another thing for Sophie to get used to, so different from the “Alex” she once knew—Sophie thought that Ripley’s gaze was lingering a little too long on Lexi’s new body. Lexi seemed to pick up on that too.

Lexi grabbed Ripley’s muzzle and held it shut with one massive paw, fully surrounding it with her clawed digits. She turned Ripley’s head to face Sophie across the atrium before releasing her grasp.

[Sophie said she wanted to talk with you. So—start talking.]

Ripley scowled. She looked at Lexi, then at Sophie.

[… All right,] the were-cheetah said finally, [what do you wanna know?]

[I talked with Cece Dunaway this weekend,] Sophie said. [You know, Snake’s girlfriend? She told me that while the Four Packs have an uneasy alliance with the Mandrake family, all of his business dealings with the Four Packs are conducted outside of his mansion. But according to Cece, YOU seem to have visited his mansion quite a few times in the past year or so.]

[So what? The guy took a shining to me and my sparkling personality, obviously.]

Sophie crawled along the pipes, pacing back and forth on all fours, all without taking her golden eyes off of Ripley.

[Well … what if I told you that Snake had his grubby little fingers in some more unsavory business than normal? ‘Business’ such as … human trafficking? Kidnapping?]

[I wouldn’t be surprised, frankly.]

[Did you know about this?]

[… N-no. I didn’t—]

[BULLSHIT, RIPLEY!]

Sophie roared and slashed a nearby pipe open with her claws.

[Listen up!] the were-tigress said. [I’ve learned so, SO much in the past few weeks, and let me tell you, it has rocked me to my fucking core. What I’ve found out has turned my whole world upside-down, and quite frankly, I’m a bit PISSED about it!] She started counting on her claws. [The archbishop of Abraxas is a fucking trafficker who kidnaps beastesses so he can rape them. Bishop Ironside and probably the whole Church has been helping keep his secret for him, in exchange for access to his captives. Snake Mandrake has been helping the archbishop with this whole operation. And finally, Mac, a beta like you, was kidnapped—by me, under orders from Bishop Ironside—because she almost found out about all of this, and was just trying to protect her fellow beastesses!]

[So … what does this have to do with me?] Ripley asked.

[Because, Ripley,] Lexi interjected, [you’re the key to all of this. See, Sophie and I have been sharing what we learned, and we kept asking ourselves the same questions.]

Sophie continued, [Questions like: How does the archbishop find new beastesses to kidnap in the first place? Why did Snake only meet with you at his mansion exclusively, when he already had a working relationship with the Four Packs? And how did the archbishop find out that Mac was secretly investigating him when only the Four Packs knew what she was doing?] She snarled. [It all points to you, Ripley Belladonna. YOU’RE the rat we’ve been looking for all along.]

Ripley stayed quiet, staring back at Sophie. But after a moment, she laughed, which came out as more of a high-pitched chirp in her present form—like she had swallowed a bird, and it was tweeting in her throat.

[You have no proof, templar.]

[Um, actually,] Audrey said from below, [we do.]

Audrey’s eyes glowed even brighter as she used them to project a hologram into the open atrium between Sophie and Ripley. In green text on a dark background, the projection displayed an email chain. It was dated a week and a half ago, and the body of the email detailed arranging a meeting to discuss “important business matters” related to a “deal” made by the two parties. Although vague in detail, one party promised they would be arriving alone, while the other would be bringing along protection—paladin guards, specifically.

Although one email was clearly a burner account, the other one was unmistakably an account used by the Arch-Cathedral of Abraxas.

[What … what the hell …] Ripley sputtered.

[Tsk tsk tsk,] Audrey said, shaking her muzzle as the hologram disappeared. [You really should acquire better encryption software, Ripley, my dear.]

Ripley was stunned.

Then, she growled and thrashed in Lea’s grasp, furiously clawing at whatever she could and baring her teeth in a twisted snarl.

[How DARE you?! You fucking white knight bitch, I’ll—GRKK!]

Lea wrapped her massive paw around Ripley’s throat and held her at arm’s length over the central open area of the foundry.

[Here are your choices, Ripley,] Lea purred with a deceptive sweetness in her mind-speech. [I could let you go right now, and you’ll plummet down to the bottom of this foundry. I’m sure you’ll be fine if I do—cats always land on their feet, after all.] The gigantic were-lioness squeezed Ripley’s throat harder. [Although it might be a bit difficult if you’re unconscious first.]

Ripley, squirming in Lea’s mighty grasp as she tried to draw breath, looked down and wheezed a bit. Sophie took a chance at looking down the atrium as well, and got momentary vertigo from the height of the drop.

[Or …] Lea continued, [you could confess, and we might—MIGHT—let you live. So … what’s it going to be, darling? One tap I let go, two taps you confess.]

Ripley didn’t hesitate—she tapped Lea’s arm twice.

[Good choice.] Lea pulled her back into her embrace, bear-hugging the defeated were-cheetah close from behind so she couldn’t move her arms. [And don’t even think of escaping. The entire Pack of Abraxas West is fully prepared to hunt you down.]

[Fuck …] Ripley said. [Yeah, you got me. I’ve been helping the archbishop for over a year now.] She huffed. [It’s funny … I told Solomon I wouldn’t snitch on him, but you guys already figured it out, so I guess technically I didn’t break my promise!]

Syd snarled, and said, [What the FUCK, Rip? Goddess above, why would you even work with a scumbag like him?]

Ripley looked Syd right in the eye.

[I protect my own pack. At any cost. He offered protection for PAE if I helped him out.]

[So do I, but you don’t see me help kidnap other beastesses—]

[I. Protect. My. Own. Pack.] Ripley growled. [All of you in PAW think you’re so high and mighty. Thinking that beastesses are supposed to give back to a city that spits on us at every chance.] She looked at Lexi, then at Sophie. [You privileged fucks wouldn’t understand. You could hide who you were, hide what you wanted. I never got that chance. My family found out I was a beastess when I was fourteen. They disowned me. Kicked me out. The streets were somehow even crueler than they were. I couldn’t control my shifting back then, so I couldn’t hide who I was. The people of Abraxas who you want to help, like you’re guardian angels or some shit? Once they clocked that you were a beastess, they would sell you out in an INSTANT, and cheer as you were gunned down by silver bullets. They HATE us. They want to see us put down like wild beasts. That’s all they see us as.]

[You’re wrong, Ripley. My birth parents put me in an orphanage, but you don’t see me hating everyone in Abraxas just because—] Syd interjected, but Sophie shot her a look before she could finish, which surprisingly silenced her.

They weren’t here to debate Ripley’s motivation. They’re here to get her cooperation.

[Look,] Sophie said, [we need your help. We’re offering you a chance to set things right. You were protecting your pack, sure, but you were also harming your fellow beastesses. Even if you hate everyone else in Abraxas, you can’t tell me that you don’t feel guilty for what you did to your own kind.] She lowered her tail. [The archbishop rapes them, Ripley. And pimps them out to his colleagues.]

Ripley looked away.

[I don’t think what you did is right, Rip,] Syd said, [and I don’t know if I can ever forgive you for that. But … I also know you well enough that you wouldn’t have done it if you didn’t believe it was for a damn good reason. So we’re giving you a different damn good reason right now to change your mind and help us. I think deep down you know the right choice here.] The wolf woman placed a paw on Ripley’s shoulder. [It’s time to stop running away from your problems, kitty cat.]

Ripley gazed up at Syd.

Sophie looked closer. Were Ripley’s eyes watering?

If they were, it didn’t last.

[Fine,] Ripley finally said, turning to Sophie. [What do you want to know?]

Sophie was able to coax confession after confession out of Ripley. The were-cheetah told her about how Ripley, Snake Mandrake, and Pluto Sebastian were all working to help the archbishop’s beastess sex trafficking operation. Ripley told her juicy details she had picked up about what Archbishop Steele was up to, including how he had ordered Presbyter Talbot to figure out how to reverse the infertility of beastesses for his own purposes. That, along with what Lexi had discovered yesterday about Presbyter Talbot wanting to turn non-beastesses into beastesses, made Sophie’s stomach churn.

Archbishop Steele didn’t just want to capture beastesses for his own personal perversions. He wanted to use them to create a bloodline.

At one point, when she was detailing how she tracked down new beastesses to capture before the Four Packs could get to them first—through a combination of word-of-mouth, news reports of attacks, and stalking—Ripley off-hand mentioned that the only time she had ever helped capture a beastess who was already a member of the Four Packs was when the archbishop had specifically requested a bear beastess as a “pet”. Knowing her options were limited, she had decided to risk setting a trap for her fellow beta, Tanya, to be captured, by tricking the Pack of Abraxas North.

… It took five beastesses to hold back Meg from attacking the were-cheetah in a fit of rage.

She only stopped in her tracks due to a direct order from Lea, saying that Ripley was a better asset to them alive than dead. The were-bear sat on a balcony and stared down at the distant ground floor below, completely shut down, not even reacting to Sabrina rubbing her back to comfort her.

Sophie’s heart hurt for Meg. She may have lost her Little Sis to forces beyond her control, but Meg’s little sister was tricked by a beastess she knew, right under her nose. And to have her arm cut off by that same beastess … she couldn’t imagine what the grizzly bear woman was going through right now.

In any case, Sophie thought to herself, that confirmed that Zoe and Tanya were both being held captive by the archbishop. But where?

[Do you know where the archbishop keeps his captives?] she asked Ripley.

[No idea,] Ripley replied. [I only captured them and handed them over before they were taken away in a van under sedation. They could be being held anywhere in Abraxas, or even outside of the megacity, as far as I know.]

[Damn.]

Another road block.

Everyone was quiet.

Suddenly, Lexi yipped, breaking the silence.

[What if Ripley captured ANOTHER member of the Four Packs?] Lexi asked. [What if she captured one of US?]

[Great idea, runt!] Ripley said, rolling her eyes. [Just one small problem—I quit the deal already. I can’t just go crawling back to Solomon saying, ‘Oh, sowwy Sowomon! I fucked up, I’ll wowk for you again! Pwease fowgive me!’]

[I think you could convince him you changed your mind …] Syd said, [… if you offered to capture me.]

Every beastess in the foundry looked at Syd in surprise.

[What? Capture YOU?] Ripley asked.

[Think about it, Rip,] Syd explained. [The Harvest Moon Tournament is coming up. We’re both betas of our respective packs. While everyone else is focused on the fights, you could ‘get me alone’ and 'tranquilize' me, then hand me over to the archbishop’s cronies.] The huge werewolf flexed both of her biceps. [That old pervert would probably fuckin’ jizz his pants at the prospect of having ME as one of his captives!]

[We could also put a tracking device on you, or maybe on their van,] Sophie chimed in. [We can follow wherever they take you, and that will lead us to the other captives!]

Ripley grumbled and snorted air out of her nose.

[That’s actually not a bad idea,] Ripley said.

Lexi said, [… Syd, y-you don’t have to do this.] Her ears folded back and her tail sank.

Syd lumbered around Lea to stand beside Lexi. With her paws on Lexi’s shoulders, she turned the were-coyote to face her. She pulled Lexi into a warm hug, nuzzling her with her snout and licking Lexi’s nose.

[Trust me, pup,] Syd said, [this will work. I promise.] She turned back to Ripley with a wolfish grin. [What do you say, Rip? Wanna help us pull a fast one on the Arch-Dickhead of Abraxas?]

Ripley laughed again, another high-pitched chirp.

[How could I say ‘no’ to that face? Fuck it, I’m in.] She lowered her ears and looked around at the gathered members of PAW staring at her. [But, uh … could we keep everything we talked about a secret from the other packs? At least until we free everyone. I don’t know if I’m quite ready to face the music yet.]

[Lucky for you,] Lea said, squeezing Ripley slightly tighter, [the secrecy of this mission is vital to its success. Yes, nothing will leave this room—for now. Isn’t that right, my pack-mates?]

Every beastess in the room nodded. Including Sophie, much to her own surprise.

[Good,] Lea said. [I think we’re done here for tonight. Beta, please escort Ripley back to your home. Keep a close eye on her. We’ll discuss the details of this plan later.]

[Yes, Alpha,] Syd replied.

Lea handed Ripley over to Syd, without protest from the cheetah woman, as the beastesses shifted back into their human forms and began descending the stairs and balconies towards the ground floor. Sophie blushed and looked away, even as she also shifted back and joined them in their descent. Without any fur to cover their bodies, it became immediately apparent to her that she was surrounded by lots of very buff, very beautiful, and very naked women.

This probably explained why she had always felt uncomfortable changing in women’s locker rooms. It wasn’t that she was shy—she was just flustered.

Once they had reached the ground floor, every member of the Pack of Abraxas West grabbed spare sets of clothes from a storage bin hidden nearby and put them on. As she dressed herself, Sophie guessed that this must be standard protocol for meetings that called for full beast forms. Sophie grabbed her previously discarded shoes and jacket, while Lexi grabbed Ripley’s jacket, boots, and the torn remnants of both Sophie’s and Ripley’s former clothing.

Everyone eventually left the building, except for Lea and Sophie. Lea was the only one who had not shifted back into a human. She had instead gone back to her anthro form—a walking, talking lioness woman who stood a good couple of feet taller than Sophie’s human form. Lea had pulled out a black dress and heels and was just about to walk out the door.

“Um, Lea?” Sophie asked. Lea stopped and turned.

“Yes, darling?” the lioness asked.

Sophie cleared her throat. This was their first real face-to-face conversation alone. While she had been equal heights with her just a few minutes before, now the High Beastess of PAW was right here, towering over her.

“I … just wanted to say thank you. For helping me. And for letting me help your pack.”

The tall lioness lady smiled at Sophie.

“You should be thanking Syd. She was the one who convinced me.”

“I’m glad to hear that. It wasn’t easy to persuade her that I wanted to help.”

“Syd has high standards for where she chooses to put her loyalties—as do I. But, as you just saw, it pays to have a loyal pack on your side.” Lea chuckled. “Better than being a lone hunter, eh?”

… Huh.

Lea had a point.

“About that …” Sophie said, looking down at her feet, “… I’m sorry about kidnapping Mac. I promise I’ll help get your beta back, and I understand if you can never forgive me, and—”

“Oh, I forgive you, Sophie.”

Stunned, Sophie looked up at Lea.

“Really?”

“Really. Although, let me be purr-fectly clear.”

Lea leaned down to bring her feline face closer to Sophie. She curled her lips upwards into a terrifying snarl. Hot breath fell on Sophie’s face from behind the lioness’s long, sharp fangs. Sophie couldn’t take her gaze off of the amber eyes staring directly into her soul, the edges of Lea’s pupils tinged with blood red—the color of wild magic.

“I will not tolerate betrayal in the future,” Lea said with a low, fearsome growl.

From a paw the size of a dinner plate, Lea unsheathed her claws and placed them ever so delicately on Sophie’s neck and chest, which heaved up and down as Sophie’s breath rate quickened.

“Like I said, it pays to have a loyal pack on your side,” the large lioness lady said. “Pray to the Goddess of the Hunt that you don’t EVER get on my bad side again. Do I make myself clear?”

Sophie gulped and nodded.

Before she could stop herself, the words fell out of her mouth by instinct.

“Y-yes, Alpha.”

Lea withdrew her claws, lightly tapped Sophie on the cheek with her paw, and gave her a fanged smile.

“Attagirl. See you around!”

Lea—Alpha Lea—turned about-face, waved at Sophie, and walked out of the exit door.

… Goddess above. What a woman.

She could see why Mac had accepted being her beta.

Maybe Mac was right. Maybe Sophie would fit right in with PAW one day …

Sophie frowned.

Mac … Zoe … Tanya …

Her and the others were one step closer to getting them out. Soon.

She hoped they were all doing okay.

Sophie closed her eyes and silently prayed for their protection.

… But not to Father Sun.

This time—for the first time in her life—she prayed to Mother Moon instead.