Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (31 page)

“Daniel,
don’t do this!”

“Wait,
it gets better. Having a mated Lykan ripping his little vampire mate to shreds
will surely cause problems with our treaty with the vampires. There are many of
us that were against the treaty and yet men like your father allowed the
Council to neuter us all and agreed to it anyway! Your family is clearly unfit
to rule! You weaken us and your time has come to an end.”

Daniel
nudged Ava’s head with the gun and snarled at Teagan. “Now take off the
medallion or I will blow her pretty little brains all over your face. The
medallion must come off, I’m not taking any chance this time.”

Teagan’s
eyes met Ava’s for one long moment. His eyes full of remorse, Teagan gave a nod
and dropped his hands from around Ava’s body.

“Teagan
no!” Tears ran down Ava’s cheeks as he slowly reached up to his neck to release
the enchanted medallion. Only the Lykan who was magically bonded to the
medallion could remove it. It had to be done by his hand and of his own free
will. Softly chanting the words that would release the chain, the medallion
glowed brightly for a moment and then slid from around Teagan’s thick neck.

Lowering
the gun, Daniel was quick to grab the medallion and placed it in his pocket.
With a hard pat on Teagan’s shoulder that sent shards of pain through both him
and Ava, he prepared to leave. “Well, I have to go now. I must go tell the
guardians of the sad, sad news of how Salvatore injected you with his serum
during your fight. I tried to stop him, I really did, but there was nothing I
could do. Poor, poor Ava, ripped apart by her own mate. Enjoy the full moon
tonight, cousin. I’m sure your mate will.” With a cackle of glee he dashed into
the woods and out of sight, leaving the two lovers to their fate.

Teagan
looked into Ava’s sorrow filled eyes. Lowering his head he kissed her softly,
letting all the love he felt for her pour out of his body and into her own.

“No
matter what happens tonight Ava, know that I will always love you.”

“I
love you too.” Ava clung to her mate, her heart aching for him. When she looked
back into his eyes she could see the struggle that had begun inside of him. The
lines of his jaw had started to shift and then change back to his human form
again. He was fighting it, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to hold out
much longer.

“Teagan,
what can I do?”

“We
have to get you as far away from me as possible. Brace yourself.” Teagan looked
at her with regret and braced his hands on either side of the tree. With a
shove he pushed himself from the tree, roaring in pain and ripping large holes
in his flesh as he tore himself free of the arrows. Ava screamed as the sudden
movement shook the arrows imbedded in each of her shoulders.

Teagan
quickly snapped the titanium arrows off as close to Ava’s chest as he could.
Wrapping his hands around her narrow rib cage Ava screamed as he pulled her
away from the tree and free of the arrows. Clasping her tightly to his chest in
comfort he fought another wave of rage, and struggled not to shift.

“Ava,
listen to me. I know you are injured but I need you to run as far and as fast
from me as possible.”

Ava
lifted her tear stained face to his and adamantly shook her head no. “No
Teagan. Let me stay with you. Maybe I can help.”

Teagan
gave her a hard shake of frustration. “No! Dam it! You don’t understand! I
won’t be a beast like you have seen before. The medallion always kept me from
fully shifting into my full beast form. This time will be different. I will be
all beast, no trace of the man will remain. Worse than that, I will be feral.
Maybe if I can get you as far away from me as possible I can focus the rage on
Daniel and the beast will go after him, instead of you.”

“No,
Teagan! Stay with me! Tell me how to save you! How can I bring you back!”

Teagan’s
heart broke as he looked into her desperate eyes. “I’m sorry Ava. You can’t.
Now go. Go find the others, they will know what to do.”

Suddenly
he released her and fell to his knees with a roar of pain. Clenching his head
in his claw tipped hands he continued to fight against the beast raging to be
let out. When his eyes open again, they had turned completely black. He no
longer was looking at her as a man but like a predator looked at his prey. When
he opened his mouth to speak huge razor sharp teeth were revealed and his voice
was like nothing she had ever heard before.

“Run!”
He snarled at her in a heart stopping roar.

Ava
took off at a super natural speed, her heart breaking with every step that took
her further from her mate. She had managed to put a little distance between her
and Teagan when she heard a bone chilling roar coming from deep in the forest.
Renewing her efforts she laid on the speed and sprinted through the trees.

Maybe
if she could find the others they could help her find a way to save Teagan.
With a gulp of fear she realized that if she led a feral werewolf to them they
would be forced to kill him for sure. With dawning horror she realized that was
exactly what Teagan had wanted. No dam it! She had no choice. Her decision made
she headed deeper into the woods, away from the guardians.

Ava
managed to put several more miles between her and Teagan but she could feel her
strength deserting her as she dodged trees and branches clawed at her skin and
clothing. She was in agony from the wounds in her shoulders and she could feel
herself weakening from the blood loss.

She
could no longer maintain her super-natural pace. Her bursts of speed were
continuously interrupted by her falling to her knees. Each time she fell it
took her longer to regain her feet. Sobbing she struggled one last time to pull
herself up from the forest floor. Losing her battle she lay on her side,
gasping for breath.

Another
roar shattered the silence of the forest, sending shivers of terror down her
spine. He was closer this time. With dread she realized that he must have given
up pursuing Daniel. Now, he hunted her.

Ava
drug herself through the dirt of the forest floor and struggled to prop herself
up on one of the trees. She was too weak now to even rise to her feet. Bringing
her knees up to her chest for warmth she could do nothing but wait now. Her
beast was coming for her.

Ava
knew that in any form he shifted into she was still his mate. She was wounded
and leaving a trail of blood straight through the forest and to make matters
worse she had done the unthinkable. She had run from him. His need to hunt her
down would definitely over power his need for revenge. Something Daniel had
surely known. Her running had been for nothing. She hadn’t stood a chance of
escaping him.

Ava
shivered both from cold and from fear. No longer able to run, she listened
closely to the sounds of the forest. The forest around her had become eerily
silent, as though even they feared the beast that hunted in the woods tonight.
Every rustle of every leaf twisted the tension in her body that much tighter.
Her heartbeat seemed to thunder into the silent woods and each breath she took
seemed to rumble like a hurricane into the quiet.

Ava
jumped, and peered into the moonlit night as she heard a twig break. A soft
rustling of leaves indicated that something was out there, watching her.
Maybe
it’s just a wild animal.
With a mental laugh born of stress she thought,
please
let it be a bear.
She probably had a better chance with a bear.

Ava
held her breath as her sensitive ears picked up on the distinctive sound of
breathing coming from the dark shadows of the forest. She couldn’t see him, but
she knew he was there. Her mate had found her.

Ava
began shaking as a low growl crept to her from the darkness of the trees. He
was staying in the shadows. Stalking her. Taunting her. Would he lunge at her
with teeth snapping or would he creep up on her slowly? Blackness crept in
around the edges of her vision. Her wounds continued to bleed freely down the
front of her chest.
Please, not now. Have to stay awake!
The loss of
blood combined with her dash through the forest had taken its toll on her.
I
doesn’t matter anyway.
Ava’s exhausted mind thought with a shrug.
It’s
not like I would have been able to fight him off anyway.
Briefly she
wondered if she would still feel the pain of his attack if she were to pass
out.

Her
eyes drifted closed with exhaustion for a moment.
No, no, I have to stay
awake!
Winning the struggle to stay awake she open them again and barely
stifled a scream. Crouching in front of her was the beast that even the
fiercest creatures of the Lore feared. He was absolutely terrifying. The horror
movies she had seen hadn’t done the werewolves justice. He was covered head to
toe now in hair and bits of his jeans hung from his waist having ripped open
under the massive muscles of his thighs. His face was fully transformed and no
resemblance of Teagan remained.

The
power of the beast vibrated in the air around her. Ava took shallow breaths,
and pressed back against the tree. He crouched in front of her and move his
face within inches of hers. He sniffed at her cautiously then pulled his lips
back, baring his huge teeth at her, daring her to make a move.

Slowly
tilting her face away from his dangerous jaws, Ava unconsciously leaned her
head back, exposing her vulnerable neck to him in a position of submission. The
collar of her torn shirt revealed her mating mark to the enormous beast in
front of her. He leaned in close to her exposed neck and the growl he emitted
vibrated against her skin. He was so close now his hot breath caressed her
cheek. Ava couldn’t hold back her moan, expecting to feel his teeth tearing
into her at any moment.

Beginning
to lose her battle with consciousness, Ava realized with alarm that her vision
had begun to fade again. Her arms and legs started to feel weightless and numb.
No, not now.
No longer able to fight the approaching darkness, she never
felt the powerful arms that wrapped around her and lifted her limp form off of
the damp forest floor.

Ava
woke slowly and dimly registered that the warm body beneath her cheek was
moving. Cracking her eyes open, she saw images of shadowy trees moving past
them. With dawning horror she realized she was being held firmly in the arms of
a giant feral werewolf. Frantically she wondered if she should continue to play
dead or not.

Before
she could decide the beast looked down at her and met her gaze with his cold
black eyes. Clearly he had already noticed the tensing of her muscles and rapid
pace of her heart. There would be no playing dead.

Pulling
back his lip he bared his teeth at her with a low growl. His look clearly read
“Don’t even think about it.” Ava gulped and tried to force her muscles to relax
again against his firm grip. Pushing back a wave of panic her mind raced.
Okay
Ava, don’t scream, don’t struggle.
Well, at least he hasn’t killed me
yet. That’s good right? Now what?

Ava
tried to get her bearings but it was difficult in the dark forest. She didn’t
know for sure how long she had been out or how far they had gone. Looking
through the trees she spotted the moon. Her sense of direction had never been
that great but she was pretty sure they were moving deeper into the forest and
away from any form of help.

On
second thought that was still a good thing. Any form of help for her would mean
that Teagan would possibly be destroyed in the process. Deeper into the forest
was a good plan for now.

Ava
lay quietly in his arms for a while and finally summoned up enough courage to
peek at his face. There really was no resemblance of Teagan left but she could
feel deep in her heart that he was still in there somewhere. Her bond was still
telling her that she was connected to this monster. For now at least, he had
spared her life. Maybe there was still a way to save them both.

Perhaps
if she could just keep him safe until the drug was out of his system he could
find some way to come back to her. Ava clung desperately to the hope that
swelled in her chest. It was all she had to hang on to at the moment. Yes,
somehow she would find a way to protect the massive feral werewolf and her
mate.

For
hours it seemed the beast continued his course through the thick woods until
Ava realized with alarm that she was beginning to see hints of a sunrise
peeking through the trees.
Sun! Oh no!
Would the beast understand that
she had to get out of the sunlight? If she struggled to get away from him to
find shelter out of the sun would he only become enraged that she was trying to
escape him? Although he had yet to harm her she had no doubt that he could
still end her life if she pushed him too far. The other option of frying to a
crisp in his arms wasn’t all that appealing either though.

“Teagan.”
She softly uttered him name in her most calming voice. It was the first time
since waking in his arms that she had made any attempt to communicate with him.
Glancing down at her he raised his lip for a moment and bared his teeth at her.
Well that was progress. At least this time he snarled at me without
growling.
God, what a mess.
She had to try to make him understand.