Kane rested Mjoldr against his shoulder again, the head still wet.

"Then we keep moving. Two days. No fires at night. No unnecessary noise. If Marisa already saw us coming, Grathak will have more than one restless bear on the outer paths."

Kessa rose, wiping a fleck of blood from her cheek with the back of her hand.

"My brother’s settlement is still a day and a half from here. If the packs are this tense already, the deeper roads will be worse."

Kane glanced at her.

"Will he welcome a barbarian?"

"No," Kessa answered without hesitation. "But he will welcome me. And I will take you both."

Kane’s mouth curved.

"But don’t kill the beasts," she added, striped tail flicking once.

"You are strong, but these beasts are obsessed with finding stronger prey. A mutant might find us."

"And what makes you think I can’t kill a mutant?"

"Nothing. You can. But you will tire yourself."

Kane processed that in silence while they started walking again.

He knew exactly how the Beastworld worked.

Even one-shot kills cost Rage and stamina. A string of them would leave him slower when the real threats appeared. Mutants were not ordinary bears.

They were the ones that had survived long enough to grow wrong and hungry.

"Let’s move," he said.

They kept a steady pace through the green twilight.

Griselda scouted high when the canopy allowed, dark wings silent between the branches.

Kessa ranged ahead and to the flanks, nose constantly testing the air. Kane stayed in the center with Mjoldr loose in his grip, the Empress’s new marks still warm under his skin.

The day stretched. They crossed two shallow streams and one ridge where the trees thinned enough to show distant, darker peaks.

No more agitated beasts showed themselves, but the forest never fully relaxed. Something larger further in kept the smaller predators restless.

By the time the light began to fail, they found a shallow cave set into a rocky outcrop.

The entrance was narrow enough to defend.

Kane checked the interior while Griselda and Kessa cleared the immediate perimeter. A short hunt produced a young deer. They skinned and roasted enough to fill themselves, then banked the small fire low so the smoke stayed thin.

Night settled hard under the canopy.

Kane sat with his back against the stone wall near the rear of the cave, Mjoldr within easy reach.

Griselda stood at the entrance for a while, yellow eyes watching the dark. At one point she glanced back at him. Something flickered across her face, surprise, then a clear flush of heat that colored her pale cheeks. Her wings twitched.

Without a word, she stepped out into the night and launched upward, dark feathers vanishing between the trees.

Whoosh.

Kane stared after her, genuinely confused.

The hell?

Then the scent hit him.

Kessa walked out of the deeper shadow of the cave. Her body radiated heat. Tiger stripes stood out sharply against flushed skin. Her face was pink, pupils wide, breathing already deeper than normal.

She stopped in front of him and looked down.

"I’m in heat."

Kane met her eyes.

"We didn’t do it for a long time."

Kessa nodded once. She dropped to her knees, pulled his trousers open with both hands, and freed his cock.

It thickened immediately under her touch. She didn’t waste time with teasing. She straddled him, guided the thick head between her slick folds, and sank down in one long, unbroken motion until he was buried to the hilt.

"I wanted to," she said, voice already rough. "You were so busy."

She rolled her hips, slow at first, then harder. Her striped tail slid up and wrapped loosely around his neck, the soft fur brushing his jaw. Kane’s hands settled on her waist, feeling the strong muscle under warm skin, and pulled her tighter against him.

"You made Griselda fly away in panic."

Kessa leaned down and kissed him hard, sharp canines grazing his lower lip.

"Good."

She started riding him in earnest. The wet sound of her cunt taking him filled the small cave. Her breasts moved with every drop of her hips.

Kane thrust up to meet her, one hand sliding up her back to grip the base of her tail while the other stayed locked on her hip.

Kessa’s breath came in short, needy pants against his mouth.

"Deeper," she demanded.

"I’ve been holding it for months. Don’t make me wait more."

Kane answered by driving up harder. The angle forced the head of his cock against the deepest point inside her. Kessa’s tail tightened around his neck.

A broken growl left her throat.

She braced both hands on his shoulders and fucked herself down onto him with short, desperate strokes, chasing the release her heat demanded.

"That’s it," Kane muttered against her collarbone. "Take what you need."

Kessa came first with a sharp, muffled cry, cunt clamping down in strong pulses. Kane kept thrusting through it, feeling every ripple.

When the worst of the tremor passed, she didn’t stop. Heat made her greedy. She kept moving, grinding, rolling her hips in tight circles while her tail stayed looped around his neck like a living collar.

Kane let her set the pace for another stretch of time, then took over. He gripped her ass with both hands, stood in one smooth motion without pulling out, and pressed her back against the cave wall.

Kessa’s legs locked around his waist. He fucked her hard and deep against the stone, the wet slap of their bodies echoing softly in the enclosed space. Her claws pricked his shoulders. Her canines scraped his throat.

She came again with a full-body shudder, denser this time, and the tight flutter of her cunt pulled him over the edge with her.

He buried himself to the root and emptied inside her in pulses. Kessa held on through it, tail still wrapped around his neck, face pressed to his shoulder while she shook.

For a while neither of them moved. The only sounds were their breathing and the distant night noises of the forest.

Kane eventually eased her down. Kessa’s legs were unsteady. Seed leaked down the inside of one striped thigh.

She looked thoroughly used and thoroughly satisfied, the sharp edge of the heat dulled for the moment. She rested her forehead against his.

"Better," she murmured. "Much better."

Kane brushed a thumb across one of the darker stripes on her hip.

"Next time you feel it coming on, tell me before Griselda has to flee the cave."

Kessa’s laugh was low and tired.

"No promises. Watching her panic was funny."

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