Lost Bloodline 2 - Chapter 1

Okay! So Lost Bloodline chapters will run till the end of February, then I'll need to pull them down to be compliant with my publisher for the 3.9 release date. Hope you all enjoy!
As always, these are pre-editor copies. I've proofed them but we are still waiting to get the editor versions back.

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Chapter 1

Koda was running through a mountain valley.

The familiar sights of trees and bushes whipping past him on all sides even as his hiking boots dragged heavily at his feet, trying to make him stumble over the uneven ground before him. But instincts that felt both familiar and foreign in a staccato rhythm—much like the pounding of his feet—guided him to avoid the obvious traps and pitfalls of uneven stones and protruding roots.

All around him, the scent of sun-drenched greenery filled the air as that same light caressed his skin. A gentle wind lovingly caressed his face, carrying away sweat from his brow. A tree branch dipped into his way and Koda ducked it without an issue, bending slightly lower and letting his right leg coil beneath him before using that stored strength to launch himself forward over an uneven patch of rocky dirt.

Far above him, that grinning sun sat in a field of blue so resplendent that it would put jewels to shame. Delicate white clouds decorated that azure expanse like the finest of silk draped over the tantalizing body of a lover. That vast canvas far above him held such promise, and Koda felt nothing but affection for it as he dove under another branch, this one draped with a gauzy film of hanging moss. He knew that the delicate expanse of blue held mysteries that would only reveal themselves in the velvet embrace of the night as well, which would show the other side of the vast, open sky.

In the bushes to his left, a rustling noise of disturbed branches told him that he was not alone. But Koda was not afraid. He barked out a laugh of challenge and redoubled his pace.

The fact he was moving downhill lent speed to his steps, and it felt as though he rode a veritable avalanche as his movements disturbed dust, rocks, and piled earth in this headlong charge.

On his right, Koda heard the distant crunch of stones moving, and then a grunt of challenge from that direction as well.

“Come on, then!” He called in a ringing voice, the joy of movement echoing in his tone. “Race me! Let the sky be our judge!”

Rather than responding, the crunching to his right picked up into a rumbling thunder of heavy footsteps as his companion clearly accepted the challenge. To his left, the quieter presence that was rustling the grass yipped in excitement and picked up speed as well.

Laughing breathlessly, Koda let the joy of his freedom lift up his spirit as he continued his headlong race down this mountain towards a distant, open plain. Warm sun on his face teasing him to run faster as that broad expanse of open sky challenged him with a distant and moving horizon to chase.

Warmth on his face, coupled with a warm breeze tickling his neck was what pulled Koda out of his dreams. It took some time to successfully pull him out of that pleasant realm, as the sensations meshed so well with his dream. But it was ultimately the breath across his neck that broke him out of it, as it was coming from two different directions and that confused his sleeping mind enough that he woke to figure out the source.

While the dream had been enthralling—the sheer joy of running was something Koda had forgotten about since the day he outgrew such simple pleasures as a child—what greeted him was just as pleasant.

A naked Sienna lay snuggled into his chest in a tight ball. She had her legs up with her arms wrapped around them and her tail tucked up to cover her feet. Her messy mop of short-cut red-black hair brushed against his lips, while the pointed tips of her sleep-folded ears tickled his cheek. She had her nose buried into the crook of his neck, so he couldn’t see her face, but the slow and even breaths washing over his throat told him she was still asleep.

He lay curled around her, with the slightly smaller woman tucked into his arms and against his bare chest.

It wasn’t hard to remember that he was naked, given the amount of soft flesh he could feel pressed against himself, and a slight glance down revealed the perky handful’s of Sienna’s breasts shelved between her arms as she slept on under their shared blankets.

The source of the other set of breath tickling his neck shifted in her sleep and used the arm that lay draped over Koda’s waist to pull him tightly back into her for a moment before relaxing once more with a quiet, contented grumble.

He didn’t need to turn to look at Arthene to know that the giant of a woman had her face buried in his hair. He could feel the quiet huffs of her breath against the nape of his neck as she slept. That and her massive breasts pressing into his back like a pair of the most delicious pillows ever.

If he had Sienna snuggled into his chest like a puppy curled up into a ball, he was being used as a full-sized body pillow by Arthene. And while Koda felt a bit stiff from sleeping in the same position all night like this, he couldn’t honestly complain about having his two lovers snuggled in close to him. The last several days and the amount of fighting and killing he’d done thus far had heartily cured him of any hesitation he might have felt about reveling in the love of those close to him.

Still can’t believe I had any hesitation about Sienna, let alone Arthene joining us, Koda thought with a sleepy smile. Accepting Thera’s call for help was the best choice I ever made. Sure, I have to fight to protect my people, but I can’t say that I hate the idea of letting that savage side of myself out for good reasons. It is… cleansing to be able to do that.

Thinking about Thera brought the image of the woman to his mind. Her full figure, clad in furred leathers much like Arthene favored but more lithe like a hunting cat. Black hair in the most glorious ringlets acting as a cape with the faint pattern of lighter spots to it. Wild silver eyes and an amused, teasing smirk drawing the observer’s attention to her regal and proud face that concealed ferocity beneath the surface when she smiled and then revealed the sharp fangs of a wild animal beneath them.

Memories of the previous afternoon flowed sluggishly to the surface of Koda’s still half-asleep mind. Of that same wild and regal form overlaying his mates as he claimed them by the stream. Of fantasies of bedding the goddess that brought him here to save her people. If Koda had been more awake as he thought them over or more focused when it happened, he might have questioned it longer. But Thera was a beautiful woman, and he couldn’t help the attraction he felt to the regal goddess on top of his wild Arthene and sweet Sienna.

Flowing backwards in time, he turned over the events of the last week in his mind. Had it really only been a week of time? In those short days, Koda had fought in nearly half a dozen pitched battles, killed multiple times in rather brutal ways to protect innocents, and found love in two beautiful women with that same goddess he daydreamed idly over promising more would seek him out in the future.

A brief surge of worry welled up in his chest, and his arms tightened unconsciously around Sienna. The wolf-featured beastfolk woman let out a quiet sigh against his throat and rubbed her face into his shoulder in her sleep before settling once more.

That simple gesture reassured Koda. He knew that, whatever happened and whether it was a fight or something more close to him, Sienna was his. She’d snuck her way into his heart and made herself at home there. There was nothing that he could imagine getting between them now. She even happily welcomed the advances of Arthene when the bear beastfolk had barreled into their lives, demanding to join them with the cheery exuberance of a rockslide.

Thinking about his giant lover brought another soft smile to Koda’s lips, and he shifted slightly to lean back into Arthene, which triggered another squeezing hug from the woman and the scent of sun-warmed berries that always seemed to accompany her.

Arthene was a primal spirit. Some considered her to be the progenitor of the bear beastfolk, and her attitude and personality reflected that.

The massive woman had apparently fallen for his fierce spirit when he’d charged a camp full of monsters known as Crooked in order to save her when they had started trying to trap her spirit using the bones of her last mortal incarnation.

As soon as she’d had the strength to incarnate herself again, Arthene did just that with the intent of ‘repaying’ the favor by becoming his mate. Something that had initially concerned him, but given how easily the big woman had welcomed Sienna to her side as well—and the blunt honesty with which she’d pursued him—he’d rapidly found himself falling for Arthene.

Still wonder about that. You’d think that it would take more than a few days of talking to fall in love with someone. But I can already guarantee I’d fight and die for either of my girls. Not that I’d need to. I know that in any opportunity that I might be faced with such a sacrifice, they’d be right there beside me without hesitation. Maybe that is what made me fall for them? That sort of unquestioning support does things for me.

Koda turned the thought over in his mind, shifting one of the arms that was wrapped around Sienna to lightly stroke over her bare back beneath the warm embrace of the blankets. The motion must have woken the wolf woman, as she mumbled his name quietly before pressing a kiss into his throat.

He wanted to soothe her back to sleep, but his own mind was finally waking up enough to remember exactly where they were. The quiet conversation from a few dozen feet away and the shuffling of movement while the rest of their small war party was rousing themselves also helped his new awareness. A crackle of noise from the small fire they had obviously started for breakfast told him that they needed to get moving.

“Time to wake up, love,” Koda murmured, turning his head to kiss the edge of one of Sienna’s pointed wolf ears.

The appendage flicked in response, slapping him lightly in the face. He repeated the attention, getting a sleepy giggle from the nude wolf-woman in his arms. A gentle stirring against his thighs and groin told him her expressive tail was already awake, the fluffy mass beginning to bounce as she sleepily returned the affectionate kisses to his throat.

Arthene, though, was not nearly as happy to be roused.

“Ughhhh… why do we have to get up already? The sun is barely above the horizon,” groaned the big woman, the arm around Koda crushing him firmly to her ample chest, enough that it squeezed the breath out of him just as it squeezed his head to her bounteous chest. The fact her face was still buried in his hair slightly muffled her protests, but Koda could feel them against his skin.

“Because, Arthene. There are things we need to get done, and the sooner we are up and moving, the sooner we can get them done,” Koda squeaked out when her grip relaxed enough to allow him to breathe.

“I have a thing I want done right here,” Arthene’s grumbling turned playful as she ran her hand down from his chest to cup his manhood, which was suffering from that acute state all men did upon waking, a state that wasn’t helped by the amount of plush womanly curves currently pressed into him.

“Arthene,” Koda tried to protest as she began to stroke him under the blanket. He could feel her nipples hardening against his back as well, and the soft, sweet sensation of kisses along his shoulder. “We don’t have time—”

Sienna’s giggle cut his protests off. A moment later, the wolf-eared woman wiggled free of his arms as she unfolded herself and dove under the blankets.

“Hold him still for me, Arthene. I’ll see to our mate so he can focus for the day. You can have a turn tonight, when you can take your time.” The blanket draped over them muffled Sienna’s words, but Koda felt another set of hands stroking down his abdomen and settling over his shaft, right before the warmth of Sienna’s breath washed over his manhood.

“Fair,” laughed Arthene, shifting her grip to pin Koda in place. “I know our man is just so much fun to tease and rile up. I’d get carried away. He’s all yours, sweet Sienna.”

The big woman suited actions to words and adjusted her grip to pin him against her underneath the blankets so that Sienna could get at her prize.

“Oh, you two are such troublemakers,” Koda grunted as he felt the heat of Sienna’s tongue run along him. “I love you both.”

“Flatterer,” Arthene chuckled huskily in his ear while Sienna engulfed him entirely in her hot mouth.

<><><>

The speed at which his redheaded mate was able to coax a climax out of him surprised Koda. It probably had something to do with the illicit fact that they were laying only a dozen yards from the others and, despite the fact no one seemed to care, there was still that element of arousal from the potential of being caught.

That and the utter filth that Arthene poured into his ear while she ran her claws over his skin and kept him from wiggling away.

The most that Koda had done was get a single arm free to tangle his fingers in Sienna’s hair and help guide her, something the lithe beastfolk clearly enjoyed based on her reactions.

When Sienna was done, she wiggled back up to pop her head out of the blankets and check that the coast was clear. The three of them dressed quickly, with Arthene simply crawling out of the blankets buck naked and dressing in plain sight. It was a testament to how intimidating she was that none of the others stared at her full figure while she wrapped her skirt and top around herself.

Either intimidated by her or by me, not sure which, really, Koda thought with a laugh. He only bothered to pull on his simple underclothes before joining Arthene dressing in the sunlight. Sienna, still being a bit shy of the others, dressed underneath the spread blankets before emerging fully. The three shared good-morning kisses, with Arthene promising more of the same when she had her turn that night and to both of them for that matter, before Sienna set about sorting out and folding away the bedrolls that had made up their collective sleeping space the night before.

Koda, with Arthene close behind him, ambled on over to the firepit where the others of their war party were slowly gathering together. It was gratifying to Koda to see that his trio wasn’t the last to rise. That was apparently Hans, who was still snoring on the far side of the fire underneath his blankets, the bull beastfolk sleeping right through the quiet conversation.

Then again, I think Hans earned it. Not only did he do more than his fair share yesterday dealing with the dead Crooked, he took first watch last night, Koda thought while fighting off a grimace as he remembered the previous day’s battle.

Crooked were disturbing enough to just see, let alone fight. Everything about them was just… off. Disjointed and wrong in some way or another. Their clothes always had some sort of bizarre mottling to their color, lines were never straight, weapons were never true. All their features and limbs were just… off somehow. Crooked in one fashion or another. Even their champions—those who held a similar rank to himself in the hierarchy of the Crooked force—were twisted and malformed in some way.

The single most terrifying encounter he’d had so far was with a Crooked warleader who, while not being bent in some fashion, had unnaturally long limbs with additional joints to them. That fight had nearly cost him Sienna, and even thinking about it made his anger rise.

A large hand settling on his back brought Koda out of his intensely focused thoughts to realize that the conversation had dropped off with the other hunters and they were looking at him. Glancing back over his shoulder questioningly at Arthene, she just smiled down at him.

“You were growling, my mate. I think it startled your companions.” Her simple explanation answered his question and Koda just nodded before glancing back to the others with a wry smile, getting a few in return from them.

“Sorry about that. Was remembering yesterday.” That answer got nods from all those standing around the fire, as well as a few empathic grimaces.

Seeing that, Koda was reminded that these people were just hunters and miners only a week ago, hunters and miners that had risen to the challenge of defending their home and joined him in battling the threat of an invasion of the Crooked into their lands. They’d thrown back that invasion and even counterattacked to remove the source. Now, hopefully, they were nearing the last few fights they would need to participate in before they could return to relatively normal lives.

I hope, at least. Something tells me that this is only the beginning, Koda thought as the conversation started up again. The gentle stroking of Arthene’s clawed fingers through his long, straight hair dispersed his worries as his mate started grooming him to sort out the tangles from the previous night’s sleep while they got ready for their day.