Rhys watched Aura rush off, leaving her here with this bare naked elf. Or was he an elf? The man was just a wolf a second ago…and that gross transition watched. Bones popped and broke for him to take this shape. It was so unnatural to her. Her stomach flopped just thinking about it. She looked back at the naked brute. Jalen's green eyes watched her as she processed what was happening. His strong jaw, long pointed ears, and defined cheekbones were rough like a warrior, unlike most woodland elves she had met. Her curiosity got the better of her as her eyes drifted down his body. His blond hair was draped across his muscular shoulders down to his defined six-pack on his torso. Jalen had small scars running in different directions and a large, fresher scar that was jagged from the top of the left side of his chest running around to his back. Rhys stopped herself from looking lower at bare naked manliness although she was sure he was well endowed.
Jalen was surprised that Rhys had suddenly become distracted by his body after everything she had just seen. He thought about stopping her gawking, but he was fascinated that the woman who had been belittling him for weeks was admiring him. Jalen smiled internally, keeping a blank expression on his face. His eyes began studying the little dwarf woman. She was half his size with auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her eyes were a gentle gray like the storm clouds bringing spring rain, and her skin was tan like the sand of the northern beaches of Lunaris. She wore brown, light armor with fur accented on her clothing and boots. Rhys was a beautiful warrior woman armed with an ax that could cut down a mighty oak with a single swing from her. She was the guild master that his Alpha had sent him to find to help more beast shifters throughout Lunaris, so perhaps he could use this situation to his advantage.
"Are you gawking at me, Rhys?" Jalen tried to keep his voice calm to hide his amusement.
Rhys blushed at his words. She remembered this man had just been a fluffy brown wolf with green eyes. Her stomach heaved at the thought of that transformation in her mind again. "I guess, I was trying to understand what just happened." She offered.
Jalen chuckled. "You seem embarrassed." He said prostrating his bare naked body at her. Her cheeks redden deeper than before. He stood there unashamed of what was happening. "Speechless, little dwarf?"
She gave him a death glare. "You, brute! How dare you just prostrate your nakedness like a shameless slut corrupting innocent women." Rhys' hands started flying about punctuating her words. "I'd ask if you were a greedy little wolf preying on women, but clearly that is the case here. Poor Aura! She has fallen for your slutty tricks!"
Jalen walked over to the rambling woman pacing around. "Rhys," he said, sternly. She continued to rant defaming his character. He reached out and grabbed her wrists, forcing her to look him in the eye, shutting her up. She was dangerously close to him, and her face blushed again. Jalen kept a soft grip on her wrists as he stepped back from her. "Rhys, I have an explanation for everything, but first, I would like to get dressed. Do you think you can reserve judgment long enough for me to put some clothes on?"
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She nodded. Rhys wanted to put more space between the two of them to lower the heat rising in her body. She watched the brute step behind a tree, showing off his nice bare naked ass. The heat in her body was not dissipating as she desired. She wondered if his naked body would remain engraved in her mind forever. Jalen stepped back out in a black sleeveless tunic, brown pants, and black boots. He adjusted the sheath on his back, holding a single long sword.
"Feel a need to be armed, brute?" Rhys taunted.
"I am not above the notion that you may try to slay me with your ax," Jalen said, sitting up against a tree. "Have a seat, Rhys. We could be here for a while."
"Ha. Confident brute." Rhys commented as she settled sitting just far enough away from Jalen to hear him. "Speak." She commanded.
Jalen huffed. Her disrespect annoyed the hell out of him. "What you saw, Rhys, that is my natural form." He admitted.
"Natural? Nothing about that transformation was natural. Only a beast shifter can transform like that, Jalen. Maybe, a powerful wizard after hundreds of years of practice, but not a normal elf like you. Unless you are a wizard… Are you?" Rhys stammered.
"Sorry, Rhys. I am not a wizard. Not much of an elf either." Jalen said, waiting for Rhys' extreme reaction.
"Not a wizard or an elf…" Rhys repeated in confusion. What was Jalen alluding to? "You can't be a beast shifter though… You look like an elf. Beast shifters can't do that. Are you an illegal hybrid? Or did a beast shifter curse you to make you a werewolf?"
"Not a hybrid, and a werewolf? Werewolves are a myth made up after the last war to scare children because of public fear and incredulous rumors." Jalen said, flabbergasted by her acquisition.
"Sorry, brute, but I appear to be looking at the impossible since you are not any of the understandable possibilities!" She retorted. Why was he so sensitive to her words? What he said indicates that he was a beast shifter. "So, are you... a beast shifter?"
"Yes, please don't overreact," Jalen said, readying himself for battle in case she decides to attack him. He heard faint footsteps behind him. Jalen quieted himself listening to the unexpected arrivals. Rhys must have realized something was up when Jalen stopped talking. She was studying their surroundings as well.
"An overreaction, you say? Why would anyone overreact to a beast shifter in an elf's clothes?" A whiney voice asked from above them.
Jalen looked up to see a dark purple, thin ogre woman was hanging in the tree above them. 'Shit. Shit. Shit.' Jalen thought to himself. He smelt a heavy sweet aroma in the air around them. There was more than just the woman in the tree above him. They were indeed surrounded. He sniffed the air again and picked up a familiar scent. Jalen looked around to see none other than Ivy hiding behind another tree. This day was just getting more and more complicated.
"Did you hear that gang? He says he's a beast shifter." The ogre woman above them called out. Her gang popped out of their hiding spots laughing with the ogre woman. "All the more reason take your stuff and kill you, elf boy!" The ogre woman said back to Jalen, who was standing at the ready for their attack. Rhys was next to him with her ax in her hands.
"Is that really what you want to do, little dwarf?" The ogre woman challenged Rhys as she jumped down to the forest floor. All of the members of her gang drew their weapons, closing in on Jalen and Rhys.
Growls erupted around in the trees above everyone. Jalen felt a powerful buzzing in his mind. He knew those growls and snarls above him. Alpha Enoch was here. wolf Hunters were here. All these hunters were about to die at the fangs of these wolves.