Feral Awakening (The Feral Series-Book 2) (27 page)

 His rejection hurt. Especially
after all they had shared last night. She had hoped … Why did she keep setting
herself up for this pain? Kat had woken up this morning to find herself alone
in the bed… again. He had been clear in his intentions from the beginning. His
only desire was getting her to his pack, nothing more. Why did she keep hoping
he would change his mind, that maybe he would want more. There were times like
last night that he seemed like he might actually care about her but as soon as
she got her hopes up he would withdraw from her again.  Kat was so confused.

 She lost track of how
long they sat like that. Ronan left his post at the truck as Teagan emerged
from the trees with Ava in his arms. Opening the door he slid back into the
driver’s seat. Without looking at her he spoke quietly in the dark of the SUV. “Why
don’t you come up here with me and let Teagan and Ava have the back for a
while.”

 Without saying a word
Kat exited the truck moving from the back to the front just as Teagan walked up
with Ava. Meeting Kat’s eyes, Teagan gave her a wink that had her smiling and
then he slid into the back with Ava his arms.

 Ava was having a hard
time meeting Ronan and Kat’s eyes and instead decided to bury her flaming
cheeks in her mate’s chest. Their clothing was definitely rumpled and Ava had a
leaf stuck in her hair. Kat found the whole thing hilarious and couldn’t help
but laugh at her friend’s discomfort.

 Never one to leave
well enough alone, she couldn’t help but tease. “So… how was your hike?”

 Teagan grinned broadly
at her while Ava suddenly choked out an embarrassed cough against his chest. “It
was… very satisfying. Wouldn’t you say Ava, my sweet?” Ava thumped his chest in
response but started to laugh as Ronan pulled back onto the road and they were
once again headed towards pack territory.

Ava dozed for about an
hour before coming fully awake. She was always so sleepy after feeding. Apparently
it was pretty common among newborn vampires but she still found it strange. Blinking
sleep from her eyes she took a moment to watch Kat and Ronan in the front seat.

 Ronan was a curiosity.
Teagan had told her very little about him. It was hard to see all his features
beneath his long hair and beard but she could tell he was an attractive man
just like his brother. She still wasn’t sure what the situation was between him
and Kat. The tension between the two of them was obvious. As she watched him he
once again glanced discretely at the woman in the seat beside him. Kat looked
out the passenger window, oblivious to his hungry gaze. Ava could see him
pretend disinterest when he was around Kat but his body language said
otherwise.

 She would love to get
Kat alone for a little while so they could talk without the men around. She was
dying to know how Kat had ended up with Ronan in the first place.

 “Alright, I went
first, now it’s your turn. What the heck were you doing at Claymore and since
when is it that you became a Lykan and why are you with Benji?” Kat’s head
jerked around at the sound of Ava’s voice.  She hadn’t even known that she was
awake.

 Kat snorted a laugh
and stole a glance at Ronan. She shrugged at him with an embarrassed smile. She
had almost forgotten that Ava had named Ronan Benji when he used to lurk
outside of the shop. “Sorry Ronan. Ava thought you were another one of my
strays and decided to name you Benji. The name kind of stuck.”

 Ronan frowned and
looked back at the road. Apparently he didn’t like being compared to a stray
dog. “Well you have to admit he was kind of scruffy and you kept trying to feed
him.” Ava said in her defense, causing Teagan to cough out a laugh at his
brother’s embarrassment, earning him a low growl from Ronan. Actually he still
is kind of scruffy Ava thought but decided to keep the comment to herself. Ava
was surprised Kat hadn’t taken a pair of scissors to that hair hanging in his
eyes. She always did love to see the potential in everything and transform it
into something beautiful. If Ava knew her friend, she was probably itching to
get her hands on Ronan and do the same.

 Taking Ava’s focus off
of poor Ronan, Kat told her about the feral attacking her and the role that
Ronan played in saving her and then discovering that she was in fact a pure-blooded
Lykan. Ronan was surprised when she left out the fact that he had basically
kidnapped her and drug her across several states as his captive.

 Kat didn’t know why
but she didn’t want Ava thinking badly of Ronan. She had already come to peace
with the fact that if he hadn’t abducted her she never would have been there to
help Teagan and Ava and she would probably have never found out what had
happened to her friend. Of course, she wasn’t going to tell Ronan than. The man
already bossed her around enough, she would rather walk on glass than tell him
he had been right.

 It was hard to
comprehend how her life had changed so much in such a short amount of time. Maybe
once things settled down she would be able to return to some semblance of her
old life. She had no idea what the future held for her and still had so many
unanswered questions. She really didn’t have a plan past meeting the pack and
helping Ava settle in with her new mate. She knew Patrick could handle the shop
without her for a bit and she had enough money set aside to cover her bills for
a while.

 All she knew for sure
was that she owed it to herself to see where she came from, to meet others who
were like her and maybe even answer the questions she had. First she needed
answers, then she was just going to have to piece her life back together one
step at a time and see where it took her. Apparently it would be a life without
Ronan. A heavy weight settled in her chest at the thought. She didn’t think he
planned on staying with the pack for very long. Saying goodbye to him was going
to hurt.

 She was nervous, she didn’t
know what her reception would be like with the pack. Would they try to make her
stay? Would they all be as controlling as Ronan was? If they were they would be
in for one hell of a fight. She was in charge of her own life and no one was
going to try and tell her how to live it. If the pack thought she would just
fall in line and do as she was told they were in for a big surprise.

 After several moments
Kat had finished bringing Ava and Teagan for that matter, up to speed, ending
with the part that brought her to that field in the woods.

 Ava fired off several
more questions and Kat answered the best that she could. Like Ava, Kat had left
out quite a bit out of her story and she could tell by the look in Ava’s eyes
that she was on to her.

 A few minutes later
Ronan pulled off the highway so the girls could have a bathroom break and stretch
their legs a bit. Teagan stood next to Ronan while he put gas into the SUV. Both
men watched the girls walking arm in arm into the gas station.

 “So brother, why is
your mark not on Katianna’s neck?”

 Ronan sighed deeply
and rubbed his hand across his face. He knew this question was coming. “I’m not
going to complete the bond.”

 “Why the hell not?” Teagan’s
surprise was evident.

 “You know why. The
same reason I left the pack in the first place. My beast, it’s too strong. I
would not be a good mate for her. She deserves better.”

 “Ronan, that’s crazy. The
girl is clearly nuts about you. She can’t keep her eyes off of you. There is
definitely a connection there. The fact that you found her again should be
enough to tell you that she was meant to be yours. Complete the mating bond. She
is like no female Lykan I have ever met before. She is strong and courageous
and beautiful. Let her tame your beast.” 

 For just a moment
Ronan considered what is brother was saying before once again closing his mind
to the possibility.

 “No, I can’t. Teagan,
the female is not afraid of me. I lose my temper with her and she yells right
back at me. Have you ever met a female Lykan who would dare to yell at a male? After
we found you and Ava in the woods, I carried Kat out of sight of the others and
we fought. I came so close to shifting, she had me so mad and still she didn’t
back down. I am the wrong male for her. If I keep her, I will end up hurting
her.”

 Teagan shook his head
at his brother. “Ronan, she is of age. She will need to be mated to a male
quickly. You cannot tell me that you will allow her to be joined with another
male.”

 “I will return her to
the pack and then leave shortly after. I won’t be staying.”

 Ronan could clearly
see the frustration and disappointment in his brother’s eyes. With a low growl,
Teagan decided to back off. Once Ronan had his mind made up there was no
arguing with him. They were very much alike in that way. “At least stay for a
few days. Mom and dad will want to spend some time with you.”

 “I will stay long
enough to see Kat settled and to make sure she doesn’t run.”

 “What do you mean?”

 Ronan cringed, he
needed to tell Teagan the truth. “She wasn’t exactly willing to make the trip
to our pack with me. I kind of took her against her will.”

 “No shit.” Teagan
shook his head at his brother’s methods. He never was a patient man. “Well she
seems to have forgiven you. Do you still think she will run?”

 “I don’t think so, now
that Ava is here.”

 “Ya, you’re probably
right. We better warn dad to keep an eye on her though.”

 Teagan looked at his
brother with a smirk on his face. “Dam it, and here I thought I was going to be
the one to cause trouble in the pack, bringing a vampire mate home. Having Kat
around may just take some of the heat off of me. The other males are going to
go crazy when they find out she is of age and in need of a mate.” Ronan’s low
growl was the only response Teagan got to his prodding.

 He understood why his
brother thought it was necessary to give Kat up, but he sure as hell wasn’t
going to make it easy on him. Maybe with the right persuasion his brother could
be made to change his mind.

 “What does Kat think
of all of this? Did you warn her about what she was in for?”

 “No.” Ronan muttered
in rising anger.

 “What! Dam it Ronan,
are you really going to blindside her with all of this once she is with the
pack!”

 “It was hard enough
keeping her from bolting. If I had told her all of it, she would have fought me
even more than she already was. She was raised among humans and didn’t even
know what she was. It took me days to convince her she was a Lykan. There was
no way she would have accepted all of it.”

 “Have you told her of
your bond?”

 Ronan’s glower was all
the answer Teagan needed. “She was so young, she doesn’t remember. She says the
mark on her wrist is ugly and hides it with a leather cuff.”

 “Ronan, you need to
tell her. When she finds out on her own she will be hurt you didn’t tell her.”

 Ronan knew that Teagan
was right but didn’t know how to tell her. “What do you propose I say to her? I
don’t want to tell her we are bonded and in the same breath tell her I will be
breaking that bond. She will feel betrayed no matter what I do.” Ronan raked
his hands through his hair in frustration.

 “I don’t know. But
whatever you do. You need to do it soon. Hey, why is it that you couldn’t feel
the bond before now? You told me that your bond had been severed when we
thought Katianna had died in that car accident.”

 “She wore a pendant
that hid her from me. She said her mother gave it to her and made her swear to
never take it off. Once I destroyed it our bond was once again revealed.”

 “Where would she get
something like that? It sounds like Fey magic and why did her mother find it
necessary to hide her to begin with?”

 “I don’t know but I
intend to get to the bottom of it.”

 Both men’s attention
was snared as the two girls came out of the gas station. They were apparently
in the middle of a deep conversation and were completely oblivious to the male
attention they were drawing as they crossed the parking lot.

 Once the girls were in
arms reach Teagan pulled Ava into his embrace possessively and kissed her
soundly.

 “You ladies ready?”

 “Ready as we’ll ever
be.” Ava responded with a deep sigh. She was clearly nervous to be meeting
Teagan’s pack. Kat and Ava exchanged a look and then moved to get into the SUV.

 Finally alone in the
restroom Ava had bombarded Kat with questions about her and Ronan. Kat had
tried to make lite of it and basically told Ava they had had a fling but that
it wasn’t anything serious. Of course Ava hadn’t bought it, she knew that Kat
didn’t do flings. She could see the pain in her friends eyes so had decided to
go easy on her. There was definitely something bigger going on but a short stop
in a restroom wasn’t the best place to pry the whole story out of her.

 They drove quietly for
a couple more hours when Teagan suddenly turned to Ava with a smile that took
her breath away. “We’re here. We just crossed over into McLaren territory.” Teagan
was clearly happy to be home. Kat looked at Ronan and saw that the muscle in
his jaw was flexing. Obviously this wasn’t to be a happy homecoming for Ronan.