Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (29 page)

His
timing would have to be perfect. Landing a carefully placed kick to Teagan’s
chest, he knocked the beast off balance then brought his elbow crashing down on
his shoulder, driving him further off balance. He knew the blows would not do
much damage to the werewolf but he now had him were he wanted him. With a flip
he landed on the other side of the beast.

Sharp
claws grabbed Ava as she was spun around and held against Salvatore’s chest
with one arm around her neck and the other digging painfully into her stomach.

With
a roar Teagan charged Salvatore, intent on saving his mate. Ava gasped in pain
as his claws penetrated the skin on her stomach, causing blood to run from the
punctures.

“Ah,
ah, ah werewolf. Unless you want to watch me eviscerate your mate you won’t
come any closer.”

Teagan
froze and with a growl lowered his hands to his sides. He carefully watched
every move Salvatore made, every twitch of every muscle, every breath, waiting
for some kind of opening.

Ava
clenched her teeth at the pain the claws imbedded in her stomach were causing
her. She didn’t dare cry out for fear of distracting Teagan. “Ava, Ava, Ava.”
Salvatore crooned into her ear. “Do you see now what you have so foolishly
bonded yourself to? A snarling, slobbering dog. What can he possibly have to
offer you? I could have given you everything but instead you threw that all
away for this!”

Salvatore
removed his claws form her stomach only to move his hand under the hem of her
shirt and up to her breast. He watched in glee as Teagan took a step forward,
barely able to restrain himself.

 “Ah,
Ah, Ah. Back up beast. I could tear through the wall of her chest and rip her
heart out before you could even blink.”

Teagan
took one stiff step backwards but he had begun to pant with the amount of
energy it took to restrain himself.

“Good
boy. Now stay.” Salvatore cackled in glee. How he loved to play. Ava’s sweet
voice interrupted his moment of pleasure.

“Salvatore,
please, you are right.” Her voice was surprisingly calm, almost seductive. “I
don’t want to be mated to a slobbering dog. I never wanted his mark on me to
begin with. I was just using him to feed from. Werewolf blood is just ever so
much better than human. The stupid beast took so much pleasure from my bite he
lost control and branded me. I have been stuck with him ever since.” Ava tried
to force her body to relax in his painful hold. She heard Teagan growl at her
words but she didn’t dare meet his eyes for fear she wouldn’t be able to continue
on.

 “Please
Salvatore, you can’t be mad at me for something I had no control over. If you
kill him, it will break the curse he place on me.”

Ava
squeaked as the hand around her neck tightened. “Ah Evangeline, how I love that
you think you can play the game with me. You are lying sweet.”

“Salvatore,
no matter how much I hate you, I hate being bonded to that more. Let me prove
it to you. If you fed you would be strong enough to kill him. He is already
injured. Feed from me Salvatore and then you will have the strength to kill
him.”

“Ava
no!” Teagan roared in frustration.

Salvatore
raised an eyebrow in surprise. He was intrigued at the turn their little game
had taken. Blood seeped rapidly form the deep wounds the Lykan had given him.
Feeding from her would at the very least give him the strength he needed to
escape the Lykan and possibly destroy the beast. He had thought to merely use
her as leverage against the werewolf but this idea was ever so much more fun.

Sensing
that he was warming up to the idea, Ava ever so slowly attempted to turn in his
fierce grip. Allowing the movement, Salvatore held her tightly to his chest.
Flipping her hair over her shoulder with a toss of her head, Ava tilted her
head to the side, exposing the length of her bare neck.

With
a chuckle, Salvatore met Teagan’s tortured gaze with glee. “Very well sweet,
have it your way.” Stupid whore. He would drain her in front of her mate and
then make his escape before her body had even cooled. She would pay for her
betrayal.

With
a snarl Salvatore sank his sharp fangs deeply into Ava’s tender neck his eyes
not leaving Teagan even while he fed. Ava couldn’t help her moan of pain as a
small trickle of blood ran down her neck.

With
a roar, Teagan sank to his knees, his hands pulling at his hair, unable to tear
his eyes form the horror playing out in front of him. If he tried to tear her
from Salvatore grip he could still easily snap her neck and rip her throat out.
His mind raced in a panic, he was out of options. With barely contain glee, Salvatore
savored the beast’s pain as he fed from his mate.

Suddenly
the sick pleasure that was lighting Salvatore’s face was replaced with a
horrified expression of pure shock. Teagan watched in hopeless confusion.
Salvatore released his large fangs from Ava’s slender neck. Looking at her face
in confusion he released her from his deadly grasp and stumbled back.

With
a sob Ava staggered back from the horrible red eyed vampire. Teagan wasted no
time in scooping her in his arms and placing some distance between them and the
rogue vampire.

 Salvatore’s
face had turned a sickly gray color, shot through with blood red veins. He
staggered forward several steps and then fell to his knees, no longer able to
stand. It was then that Teagan could clearly see the handle of one of his
knives protruding from the rogue’s back. It was imbedded in the vampires black
heart.

A
gurgle of blood welled up in Salvatore’s throat and leaked down his chin. His
hands came up to claw at his throat as he fought death’s steely grip. His broken
mind struggled to comprehend how fate had so suddenly turned on him. It was
incomprehensible that he had so grossly underestimated his little Evangeline.

Carefully
placing Ava on her feet Teagan approached the dying vampire. He was amazed that
his gentle little mate had found the strength to take the life of the monster
that had once taken hers. Furious blood red eyes met his as he reached down and
grabbed a fist full of Salvatore’s hair.

“Burn
in hell, you piece of shit.” Teagan growled as Salvatore’s eyes widened in
fear. With a final slash of his claws, Teagan removed the head of the rogue
vampire. Ava, cried out in horror as Teagan threw the decapitated head across
the room and Salvatore’s headless body fell forward to the floor. The sadistic
bastard would never hurt anyone again.

Turning
to face his mate, Teagan slowed as she backed away from him. He knew he looked
like something out of a horror movie. Blood ran from his wounds and his claws
still dripped blood from taking Salvatore’s head. A fully shifted werewolf was
a terrifying sight to even the strongest of warriors and here his tiny female
faced him alone.

He
wished he could shift but there was no time and he didn’t dare if he had any
hopes of getting her out of there in one piece. They still had Salvatore’s
rogues to get through and he couldn’t take a chance of running into one of them
when he wasn’t in his beast form.

“Ava.”
He tried to say her name gently be everything came out harshly in his beast
form. Dam it, it was going to be impossible to sooth her like this.

“Ava,
it’s okay.” Getting down on one knee he tried to look less intimidating. He
knew he could just over power her and carry her out but for some reason it was
important to him that she come to him on her own.

With
a shake of her head, Ava began to come out of the protective daze she was in.
Slowly coming out of the self-induced fog she realized she was looking into the
face of her mate. The pained look in his eyes was almost her undoing. He
thought that she feared him and it clearly hurt, though he was trying to hide
it.

With
a sob she ran to him and threw herself into his arms. Teagan growled with
surprise and relief as Ava’s slender arms wrapped tightly around his neck. One
day he would learn to stop underestimating his tiny mate.

Ava
was crying uncontrollably now and didn’t care. “Oh God, Teagan. I thought I
would never see you again! I’m so glad you found me!”

Teagan
was careful not to crush her as she cried all over the front of his bare chest.
He let her scent calm him and savored the feeling of having her back in his
arms for a moment before scooping her up. “Easy, sweet. We still have to find a
way out of here.”

“Are
the others with you?”

“Yes,
they are not too far behind us.”

Carrying
her out into the corridor Teagan headed in the direction that he had come in.
Sounds of fighting could be heard echoing through the tunnels. Teagan suddenly
froze and covered Ava with his body as an explosion shook the underground
tunnels. The sound of the blast deafened both of them for a moment. Small rocks
rained down from the tunnel above them and dust filled the air. Letting Ava’s
feet slide down to the floor he held her close to his chest and pulled the
radio from his belt.

“Ethan
are you there?”

“Ya,
I’m here.” Ethan coughed into the radio for a moment.

“I
have Ava. Salvatore is dead. We need a way out.”

“Copy
that. The main entrance is blocked, you are going to have to find another way
out through one of the other tunnels. Just get Ava out. The rest of us will
follow once we sweep the rest of the tunnels.”

“Will
do.”

Teagan
put the radio back into the leather holster on his belt and circled back the
way they had come. Thankfully they were moving away from the sounds of the
battle. Once he was clear of the dust he closed his eyes and scented the air.
Having picked up the scent of fresh air he swept Ava into his arms again and
made a left down the next tunnel.

“Teagan,
you don’t need to carry me, I can walk.” Teagan simply clenched her tighter to
his chest in answer and continued his fast pace through the tunnels. With a
sigh, Ava held on to his neck as he continued to twist and turn through the
musty old tunnels.

It
seemed as though they covered miles as they looked for a way out. Ava lost
track of how many turns they had made, she never would have been able to find
her way through the maze of tunnels on her own. Hopefully the other men could
follow Teagan’s scent when they were ready to leave.

Up
ahead the tunnel began to get brighter and Ava could see moonlight peeking
through the darkness. Slowing, Teagan carefully scented the air and moved
cautiously from the tunnel. Stepping out into the dark night air he finally let
Ava slide to the ground but still kept her small hand inside of his larger one
while he took in his surroundings.

They
had exited on the other side of the mountain from where they had come in.
Unfortunately, they were miles away from meeting up with the other men at the
entrance. They were going to have to walk completely around the mountain to
join the others.

 Ava
peeked up at Teagan. “Well, it’s a beautiful night for a moonlight hike.”

Teagan
chucked and looked up at the full moon. The moon was so bright tonight the
trees around them cast shadows as though it was a bright summer day. Shoot,
even the humans could see in the dark on a night like this.

If
not for the medallion at his neck he would not be able to appreciate the beauty
of the full moon. Instead he would the kind of monster all the horror movies
portrayed them to be. He was grateful that instead he got to look up at the
full moon standing beside his mate.

“Should
we wait for the others?”

“No.
We need to get away from the tunnel. It’s just as likely a rogue will come out
of the tunnel as it is one of the guardians. Come on, let’s get moving.”

They
walked several miles before Teagan let Ava stop to catch her breath for a
minute. “You should have let me carry you. You are still weak from his bite.”

“I’m
fine. Besides, you’re still healing from your injuries. You have carried me
enough.”

Teagan
sighed. He could easily carry her but didn’t want to argue. They were far
enough from Salvatore’s lair. Let the stubborn female walk if she wanted to.

Walking
over to the creek they had stopped at, Teagan washed his hands and face in the
icy water. He carefully wiped at the deep scratches Salvatore had left on his
chest. They were already closing and would be completely gone in just a day or
two.

Ava
walked to the water and shivered as she too plunged her hands into the icy
liquid. Quickly washing her face, and neck she shook as much water off of her
hands a possible and then wiped them on her ruined jeans. Everything she had on
was going into the fire as soon as she got back to Claymore. Hopefully they
were not too far from the meeting point. Fall was in full bloom and it was going
to be a chilly night.

Not
sensing any rogues in the area, Teagan let himself shift from his beast form
back into that of a man. His medallion glowed as his body was transformed. Ava
watched the transformation in fascination, her eyes following every twitch of
every muscle as he changed before her very eyes. Finally he remained partially
shifted with his eyes glowing and sharp claws but he was mostly back to Teagan
size.