Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (18 page)

Ava
gasped at the sudden intensity in the man above her. His hands suddenly gripped
her little tighter. His body became heaver as he pinned her to the mattress. A
groaned escaped her as his hands tightened on her hips to the point of pain.
Suddenly he grabbed both of her wrists and pinned them above her head in a
tight grip. 

Ava
felt a twinge of fear, concerned that he was losing control but still she ached
for him. He kissed her deeply, his tongue sweeping inside to mate with hers.
Ava could hardly catch her breath but she didn’t care, she ignored the tingling
sense of danger, lost in the moment. Releasing her lips, Teagan moved his head
to the sensitive skin of Ava’s neck, his eyes glowing a bright Lykan blue.
Bite
her! Mark her! She is mine!
Teagan’s beast clawed its way to the surface.
Shaking his head, Teagan tensed above her.
Mark her! Bond her! “No!”

Ava
could sense a change in Teagan. She could no longer ignore the danger she felt.
Something was very wrong. “Teagan?” Abruptly Teagan snarled and released her as
though she had suddenly caught fire. As he lept out of the bed she could see
his eyes glowing with their unnatural Lykan glow and could see the flash of his
claws as he took several steps away from her. He had started to shift! “Teagan
what’s wrong?” Ava was stunned at the abrupt change in him.

“Cover
yourself!” Teagan snarled at her. Feeling suddenly very embarrassed by her
exposed breasts, Ava searched for her lost tank top. Finding it she quickly
pulled it over her head and climbed out of bed to face Teagan.

“Teagan
what’s going on?” Ava wrapped her arms around her stomach, chilled at the
sudden loss of his body heat. Teagan backed up, keeping his distance from her
as she moved past the bed. The muscles of his chest flexed and shifted in the
dim light and his breaths came hard and fast. His eyes flared brightly and he
could feel his fangs elongate as he looked at her.

“Ava,
you need to go!” He growled at her. He had to get her out of his room before he
hurt her.

“Teagan?”

“Go
now!” He snapped his teeth at her.

Ava
looked at him in sudden fear and confusion. What had she done to make him so
angry? His harsh demand that she leave hit her like a blow to her stomach.

“Just
get away from me!” He hated the hurt he saw in her eyes as he practically threw
her out of his room. He would try to explain later, for now he just had to get
her safely away from him.

Ava
backed to the door, keeping her eyes on him as she moved carefully across the
room. With tears in her eyes she left his room quietly closing the door behind
her. Wrapping her arms around her stomach protectively she slowly walked back
to her room. Humiliated and rejected she entered her room, her hands shaking
she closed the door behind her. Once in the safety of her own room she leaned
against the wall. Sliding down to the floor, she sat with her chin resting on
her knees and finally gave into the tears she had been trying to hold back.

Ava
pounded the punching bag in the training room. Colin and one of the guardians
who was spotting him at the weight bench exchanged curious looks with each
other. Something had clearly pissed off the little female. Spinning around Ava
landed a fairly accurate kick to her imaginary attacker. Victor had been right
about her new abilities. With a little instruction from the guys she was
improving rapidly.

Ava
had spent most of the day yesterday moping around her room and wallowing in her
depression. She had been disappointed and hurt when Teagan didn’t come around
to offer an explanation about what had happened that morning in his bed. Now he
was clearly avoiding her. Well that was fine with her. Two could play that
game.

 She
was sure she had done something wrong but didn’t know what. He is a werewolf.
Maybe something about being in bed with a female vampire had disgusted him. She
had seen him shifted before. She had seen him angry before. However, she had
never been on the receiving end of his fury like she had been that morning. She
hadn’t meant to fall asleep in his bed like that. Maybe he just woke up and
responded to a female body in his bed and then when he realized he was making
out with a vampire and he had a change of heart. Dam it. Victor had tried to
warn her about being with a werewolf, guess she should have listened.

Maybe
she had done something that was considered offensive to a Lykan. She was
driving herself crazy coming up with different scenarios of what she had done
wrong but wasn’t sure if any of her theories were anywhere close.

She
had spent most of the day feeling sorry for herself and blaming herself for
what had happened. Then she got mad. Thank God. She wasn’t the sweet old Ava
that she used to be. She was stronger now. She had somehow survived being
murdered by Salvatore and changed into a vampire and dam it she was still here.
The new Ava didn’t need dark brooding werewolf hunks to take care of her. The
new Ava could take care of herself and you know what?
He
had sought
her
out that night. Not the other way around. She had given him a chance to change
his mind but he had growled at her and held her tightly as she had fed from
him.

Ava
gave the punching bag two more hard kicks, working out her frustration. Why
would he suddenly be repulsed by her? He had kissed her before and had seemed
to like it. He had seemed to like touching her in his bed before he suddenly
went all werewolf on her and kicked her out. Her cheeks flushed, Ava pulled her
damp t-shirt off and tossed it on the floor so she could continue her work out
in her sports bra and shorts. Ava was unaware that her eyes had started to glow
and her fangs showed when she bit her lip readying for another attack. She was
oblivious to the admiring stares she drew from the other guardians in the training
room, she focused on the punching bag which in her mind was beginning to look a
lot more like Teagan.

Ava
held tightly to her anger. Being angry was definitely better than feeling sorry
for herself. She was afraid if she slowed down that she would go back to
feeling depressed again. Yes, angry was good.

Ava
was so focused on her workout that she didn’t at first see that Teagan had come
into the training room. All the breath went out of her when she suddenly saw
him stomping his way directly towards her.

“Teagan.”
There was no joy in her face at seeing him. She could feel her heart plunge
into her stomach. In spite of the anger Ava had wrapped herself up in, the hurt
immediately seeped back.

Coming
to a stop directly in front of her, Ava forced herself not to take an
instinctive step back from the scowling Lykan.

After
the close call he had with Ava that morning, Teagan had come to a painful
decision. He was simply going to have to stay away from the little vampire. He
had been kidding himself with her. Never had a woman affected him like this. He
had come so close to marking her. She was just too much temptation and it would
be best for both of them if he put some distance between the two of them.

That
had been the plan at least until he had caught her vanilla scent as he entered
the training room. Dam it, he had come here to work off some of the frustration
Ava had created. Instead he was standing directly in front of the source of it
all.

Teagan
drank in the sight of her. She was breathtaking in her anger. Looking at all
the creamy skin her work out clothes were revealing, Teagan clamped down on a
growl. What the hell was she thinking standing her half naked in front of the
other men. Glaring over his shoulder at the two men who had obviously been admiring
her curves too, Teagan swept up her discarded shirt for her and held it out for
her.

“For
god’s sakes woman, cover yourself.” Teagan demanded in a throaty growl.

With
a look of disbelief, Ava stood stiffly in front of him. She jerked the shirt
out of his hand and stepped around him to leave. Why the hell would he care if
she was covered up or not? He made it clear he didn’t want her. She absolutely
had no patience for his supernatural mood swings right now. She could barely
keep up with her own. Teagan was faster though and grabbed her elbow, stopping
her. “Ava, we need to talk.”

With
a sharp, irritated jerk of her arm, Ava freed herself and took a step back from
him. Trying desperately to hold onto her anger Ava struggled with her
conflicting emotions. “Not now Teagan.” She could feel her lip begin to quiver
when she spoke to him. Ava knew her emotions were too volatile right now and
didn’t want to break down in front of him. She refused to humiliate herself any
more than she already had. She had to get out of there, and quick.

Teagan
watched the sway of her hips as she retreated from him. She still hadn’t put
her shirt back on and he knew she did it deliberately. He fought the urge to
follow her and insist she hear what he had to say but the pain he had seen in
her eyes had been his undoing. He would let her have the space she seemed to
need right now. He at least owed her that after the way her treated her
yesterday. He couldn’t leave things the way they were between them. He still
planned on keeping his distance from now on, no matter how much he hated it,
but at the very least she deserved an explanation.

Teagan
paced his room restlessly like a caged animal. All night he had been forced to
watch over Ava and yet he had been unable to talk to her. She had managed to
avoid him for a day and a half after he had found her in the training room,
furiously hitting the punching bag as though she wished it was his head. Maybe
he should have just let her take a couple of swings at him. At least he would
have her attention then. He had figured she would no longer be able to hide
from him once they left for Howler’s. He had been wrong.

He
had hoped for a chance to get her alone to talk to her but the other guardians
seemed to always be around. All night, Ava had deliberately made sure she was
never alone with him. Smart girl. It had worked. He had barely contained his
frustration while she had spent quite a bit of time with Joseph tonight. The
asshole had decided to teach her how to play darts. Teagan could do nothing but
glare at them while he and the other guardians had watched the room for signs
of Salvatore’s men. He knew he had no rights to her but it still killed him to
see her with Joseph.

He
should have gone to her to explain right away the day he had lost control.
Apparently he had waited too long and now she wouldn’t talk to him at all.

Teagan
clenched his fists as he remembered the way it had felt to wake with his body
pressed intimately against hers. She had responded so sweetly to his touch. His
senses had been filled with her warm vanilla scent. He had thought to just have
a taste of her but he had quickly lost control. He thought that perhaps if he
gave in and had her just once, that he could put this obsession with her behind
him but his beast had other ideas. He had been so close to claiming her, he
didn’t know how he had found the strength to stop. He could never let things go
that far with her again. There was no way he would be able to be with her
without marking her neck and claiming her as his mate.

He
had known at the time that having any kind of relationship with her would be
selfish, knowing that he would be leaving her behind once they destroyed
Salvatore but he couldn’t help himself. The idea of her sleeping in his bed
through the night had been too tempting.  When he had awakened with her
small form pressed tightly against him, his instincts had taken over. He should
have moved her to her own bed for the night.

Dam
it, they were both adults and she knew going into this that there could be
nothing long term for them.
Ya, I’m pretty much a bastard.
His
conscience wouldn’t allow him to put any of the blame on Ava. If she was smart
she would stay away from him. Teagan hated the thought that she may finally be
afraid of him.

She
would need to feed soon. Had he not forced her away she would have come to him
tonight. Would she feed from Joseph instead? That asshole had offered himself
to her before. He had also kissed her. The thought of Ava with Joseph filled
him with rage. With a snarl he slammed his fist into the wall, punching a hole
through the drywall, clear into the bathroom.

Breathing
hard he surveyed the damage to his room. He needed to let her go. Teagan paced
around his bedroom for a moment. The walls seemed to close in on him. He had to
get out of there. He needed trees, woods, wilderness. He needed to be outside.
He needed to run.

“The
fools. Do they really think I would fall for their little game? It’s insulting
really.” Salvatore faced his now fully healed second in command.

“Of
course it is an obvious trap sir and completely beneath your intellect.”

“It’s
amusing, really, how they believe they are hunting me.”

“Do
you wish me to take some men to Howler’s and teach them a lesson sir?

“No,
no, it’s just too easy. I think it’s time that we teach them who the hunter
really is. Let them play their little game, our time is coming.”