Wild Magic Three: The Shade of the Earth- a M/M fantasy shifter romance

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*****Enjoy! Sami does have a... unique voice, doesn't he? He was interesting to channel lol

I like Arms by Christina Perri as Robert & Sami's song, but I'm not 100% convinced it's their song, you know? What do you think? (This is very important stuff, doncha' know?) ;)*****

ROBERT—

"Mate."

I flinched and took a step back, my eyes wide as I took in the sight of the man before me. The entire courtyard that had been bustling and loud just moments before fell silent as they all turned to stare the short man down. The man that had moments before been a dark-furred bobcat.

And he was small. Barely a handful of inches above five feet, at most, he looked as if he would be a few inches shorter than even Edon, whom I frequently teased for his size. Starved and malnourished, he stood naked and trembling as he stared up at me with huge, almond-shaped eyes nearly half the size of his face.

His hair was dirty blonde, maybe a very light brown, curling and messy around his face, his skin deeply tanned from a life in the sun, and his eyes looked as if the gods hadn't been able to decide what color to paint them, so had mixed them all into one vibrant pool. The colors shone and swirled in eyes with pupils slitted like a cat's.

The first men I'd met who openly showed their attraction to other men were Captains Dasan and Nibley. I'd been young and stupid and ignorant, and desperately wanting to fit in with the other soldiers. Wanting to prove myself a man. Born the youngest of five boys, I'd had a lot to prove, and joining the Emperor's army was the way I'd chosen to prove my masculinity.

I'd laughed at the pranks the other soldiers played on the two men, called them "the faggot captains" along with everyone else.

And then I nearly died and was saved by those men. Those men who had seen me laughing, heard me use slurs to refer to them, hadn't even hesitated in risking their lives to save my own.

I was young and stupid, but I wasn't a complete moron. Whatever benevolent higher power there may or may not be out there had very clearly slapped me on the back of the head and pointed out two men who were better than I deserved to have as friends.

But I latched on anyways, and they took me in like a little brother— as if I didn't have enough brothers. They helped me train, laughed with me, fought by my side, and showed me what true loyalty and, yes, love was. I loved them both, they were my family. Was I still uncomfortable when they kissed or shared little, sweet touches? Yes. I wouldn't deny it, and they knew it. They thought it hilarious.

Did that mean I wanted them to stop kissing and sharing loving touches? Fuck no. The shit they'd had to deal with in their lives, they deserved the peace and quiet they'd found now in Prince Lhiam's employ.

But just because I was friends with men— a growing number of men and women, it seemed, really— who looked at sexuality differently than I, didn't change the way I personally felt about it. It didn't make me open to that kind of sexual exploration.

Hell no.

Captains Dasan and Nibley had just finished explaining to me about the bobcat that had likely saved their lives, Cain's life, the Emperor's life, and the lives of the Emperor's guards. The small group had left Teren Keep only half a day before, on their way back to the Emperor's Palace, when they had been set upon by mercenaries. Just when they had been pushed to their limits, a bobcat had come out of the trees and aided them to victory.

It had been only an hour before Dasan and Nibley had all but dragged the survivors of the raid through the keep's walls that a cougar had jumped through the same gates with the Emperor on its back. Within seconds of the keep's guards noticing the Emperor on the animal's back, only after having released a volley of arrows at the approaching figure, the creature was gone, replaced by a very irate, now-injured Cain.