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moved further away and called again. This time, Priina let herself answer. A mournful howl rippled through the forest, and she quickly snapped her mouth shut as relief ran through her.
    He sprinted back as the echoes of her cry reverberated through the woods. He sniffed again and looked left and right in an effort to see her.
    His ears must have pinpointed her precise location, because he searched every nook and cranny of the clearing below. She sat amused as he even turned over some turf that she had stuck her claws into.
    His frustration was becoming visible in his motions. His head jerked and swivelled as he tried to catch a glimpse of her.
    It was entertaining, but he was too focussed on the current location. It was too close to her for her to move. She mentally crossed her fingers, and his head moved again. He was tracking her thoughts!
    She thought of nothing, and he snarled before stalking out of the clearing. He was nearby, that she was sure of. Now that Rhanos knew she was nearby, he wouldn’t give up.
    Priina shifted silently and identified a new tree to land in. It had plenty of branches and a sturdy trunk, so it would hold her weight.
    She started to run again, moving from tree to tree, but now she knew that he was close she was a little less careful. She misjudged one of her jumps and her claws dug into the trunk while she skidded to a halt. With careful moves, she worked her way back up to her target branch, but her cover was blown. The noise of claws on wood brought Rhanos at a run.
    She started to jump faster, faster until the canopy was a blur and her reflexes were keeping her up and mobile. She was moving at quite a clip when suddenly, she ran out of forest.
    Damn it.
    Her momentum had carried her to a lone tree standing at the edge of a precipice. She could either climb down or wait for him to come and find her. Decisions, decisions.

Chapter Eight
    H er claws worked pretty well on the stone of the cliff. She descended to the valley floor below and jumped into the river. It whisked her downstream, and when she had covered enough ground, she exited the river with a bit of extra effort.
    She shook herself violently and looked up at the sun for the time. It would be two more hours until dark.
    Priina shifted back to her normal form and stretched in the sunlight. Balen was a lovely world, and she could imagine how lovely it would be in full bloom when the plant growth had had time to anchor in and become part of the world.
    The rocks and rivers made an excellent start to a planet that had so much potential. She could feel the heartbeat of Balen under her feet.
    She finger combed her hair while the sun dried it. The moment that she had one hour left, she turned to shift back into her furred form, and she ran back toward the cliff.
    A howl came to her on the air, and her beast answered it before she could stop it. It was a worried howl, and she didn’t want him to worry.
    Priina moved faster until the ground and shrubs passed in a blur. She scaled the cliff and was almost to the top when she saw the male hunting her. He extended his clawed hand and lifted her by one wrist.
    She expected to read his triumph in his mind and body, but he crushed her to him in relief.
    Together, they shifted back to skin, and he covered her face with kisses.
    She let him work out his worry, and when he kissed her lips, she stroked his cheeks, neck and shoulders, soothing him the way that only contact could.
    He shuddered in her arms. “I thought you had fallen.”
    “Of course not. I am unstoppable. It was something that the Citadel healers noticed. No matter what damage I sustained while training, I simply would not die. It is baffling. They can’t find which of my genes is triggering the repair, and it becomes more perplexing when the permanent damage of my scars is thrown into the mix.”
    He sighed. “You could have told me that.”
    “When? Our contact has been a matter of attack and respond. There has never been much of a