Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (6 page)

Ava
looked at the beast,
somehow she knew he wasn’t the same kind of monster
that Salvatore had been. She knew she should be terrified of him but it was
hard to be terrified when she knew she was becoming a monster herself.

Ava
stifled a giggle that bordered on insanity. At least this beast actually looked
like a monster. It didn’t hide itself behind a pretty little illusion like the
one Salvatore hid his monster behind.

Teagan
braced himself for her scream, but it never came. Instead, fighting against her
obvious pain and exhaustion, she slid to her hands and knees crawling over to
him at the side of the bed. Teagan froze in confusion as she did the last thing
he expected her to do. Swaying a little she slowly knelt in front of him. She
cautiously laid a hand on his chest like she was trying to decide if he was
real. She gasped in surprise when her hand met warm skin instead of floating
through the illusion she was sure her mind had created.

Unaware
of her newly heightened senses Ava drew in his scent. God he smelled so good. A
strange ache began to tingle in her canine teeth. She was drawn to the heat
coming from his skin and she craved it. Ava had been so cold and this creature
was radiating warmth.

Giving
into the urge to touch his hot skin, she slowly caressed his muscled chest. He
was one of the most terrifying creatures she had ever seen, but somehow she was
drawn to him just the same. She had never seen anything like him. He was huge
and scary but he didn’t feel dark and evil like the others that had brought her
here.

“Have
you come to kill me?” Ava asked, calmly looking at the huge knife he held in
his hand.

Her
sweet voice rasped in a husky whisper into the dimly lit room. Teagan didn’t
know how to answer her. Was she a rogue? They hadn’t come across any female
rogues yet. Salvatore had only been turning strong males for his army.

“What
are you?” the angel asked him in wonder.

Teagan
hesitated a moment before answering her. “I am Lykan.” He answered her with a
voice gone rough from the beast within him. It was always hard to speak in his
beast form. He was shocked that this little slip a girl had dared to touch him.
The muscles on his chest flexed in response to her gentle touch, and he
resisted the urge to lean into her wondering hand.

Looking
down at the hand on his chest he growled, “What are you?” He breathed deeply of
her scent, trying to figure it out. She smelled like a vampire but also of
human and soft female and something else… Teagan tensed, she also had a male
vampire’s scent all over her. Could it be Salvatore’s scent? Was she some sort
of new rogue hybrid? Gods he hoped not. He didn’t want to destroy her.

The
look of wonder on her face disappeared as a look of utter despair filled her
eyes. She struggled to find the words to answer his question. “I… I… don’t know
what I am.” Tears began to slide down her cheeks. She leaned her forehead into
his chest, softly crying. Looking down at her in confusion, he cautiously
wrapped his arm around her holding her to his chest. Clenching his fist he
resisted moving his hand to rub the soft skin of her back in comfort.

“I…
I’m a monster.” Her soft voice came to him in a quiet shame filled whisper.
“Like him… he… he did this to me. He infected me. Please… I can’t be a monster.
I don’t want to hurt anyone. Please… I think… you have to kill me.”

Teagan
held his breath and froze, his beast growling in protest to her words. His
instincts were telling him to protect, not destroy. He didn’t know what she was
but he sensed an innocence about her, he knew she was no monster.

“Please.
I don’t think I can’t take any more. He is coming back for me. There’s no time.
You have to do it now.” Ava lifted her tear stained face to look into the
beast’s eyes. She would rather die than be a monster like Salvatore, or worse,
slave to him for eternity. “This is why you came here isn’t it! Please… end
this… kill me!”

Teagan
looked down into her eyes for a moment as he processed everything. What was
Salvatore’s connection to her? Why was she here? Finally he let out a deep
breath and placed his knife in the sheath at his waist. Ava watched him in
confusion until he gently slid both hands around her neck. The tension inside
of her eased in response. So, he had decided to kill her after all. Ava’s
overwhelmed mind was beginning to crack. Of course, surely a broken neck would
be less painful than being stabbed. Ava felt him tense and she trustingly
closed her tear stained eyes and waited for the killing blow.

The
chain around her neck snapped in two. Ava gasped and put her hands up to her
throat. He had freed her from the chain. Quickly he picked her up and placed
her over his shoulder, not the most comfortable position but he needed to have
one hand free should they run into anymore rogues.

“No!
Wait! What are you doing?” Ava cried from her position over his massive
shoulder. Her world began to spin and she prayed she wouldn’t get sick hanging
over the beast’s back. Glittery stars swam before her eyes and her arms and
legs began to tingle and then the darkness consumed her again.

Teagan
had decided to take her to Victor. Hopefully he could sort this out. He
suspected she was in the middle of her transition and prayed Salvatore hadn’t
been able to turn her rogue yet. He sure as hell wasn’t going to kill her.
Surely no rogue could look up at him so trustingly and ask him to end their
life. This female was an innocent, of that he was sure and he sure as hell
wasn’t leaving her here.

Perhaps
she had been left behind as a distraction while Salvatore made his escape. If
that was the case it had certainly worked. His only thought now was getting her
safely out of the building.

Not
wanting to run into any more rogues with the little female over his shoulder Teagan
looked for the quickest way out of the building. They made it down the
stairwell to the third floor when he was suddenly cut off by more rogue
vampires headed up the stairwell. Teagan ducked through the door leading them
into the hallway. The hotel’s emergency lights flickered on and off for a
moment. He was surprised the building was still standing after the explosives
they had set off. Stepping over several rogue bodies, Teagan headed for a room
at the front of the building. He needed to get the female to safety.

 There
was a sound of groaning metal and then the door from the stairwell hit the
floor sending up a new cloud of dust. The rogues from stairwell stormed down
the hallway stopping several feet away from where Teagan stood.

“Stop
right there Lykan!” Bruno shouted at the werewolf holding Ava. “Just give us
the girl and perhaps we will be generous and let you live.” He sneered at him
practically snarling with hatred.

Turning
to face the threat, Teagan roared at the rogue vampires so loudly they could
feel the floors vibrate beneath their feet. Snarling he bared his fangs at them
and stretched his claws out at his side.
They dared to try to take the
female from him!
The medallion around his neck glowed brightly as the beast
strained against the magic keeping it contained. More of his beast slipped
through his control and he became larger and more Lykan than man.
Mine.

“Shit.”
Had the Lykan just gotten even bigger? If Bruno attacked the werewolf there was
a good chance the brainless neanderthal would damage the girl in the fight.

They
had barely gotten Salvatore out of the building in time and he only got him to
leave by promising to personally retrieve Ava for him. Bruno had a hard time
convincing Salvatore to not go after her himself. It had just been too risky,
the attack had taken them by surprise and there had been no time to waste. If
they lost Salvatore they would lose control of their new rogues too.

Bruno
growled in frustration, grinding his teeth. The female was becoming a
liability. Salvatore was not being sensible where the girl was concerned. He
had never seen him so attached to a female before. Bruno began to panic,
Salvatore will have his head if he doesn’t return with the girl. “Dam it!” He
had not expected to find her in the arms of a fully turned werewolf!

Even
though his beast was trying to take control and rip the vampire’s throats out,
Teagan struggled through the haze to come up with a plan. Teagan wanted to
fight but it was going to be difficult to kill the rogues while keeping the
girl safe.
Protect the female.
Quickly he looked for an escape route.
Keeping the rogue vampires in sight, he cautiously backed into the room he had
been standing in front of.

“Now
Lykae, let’s not do anything stupid. Just put the girl down. She will just slow
you down anyway. What could you possibly want with a female rogue anyway? She
belongs with us.”

With
a roll of his massive shoulder, Teagan shifted the unconscious Ava into his
arms and sprinted to the window. Wrapping himself around her small form he hit
the glass with his shoulder, shattering it. He held his breath as he made the
jump down to the ground and did his best soften the hard landing, praying it
wouldn’t hurt the woman in his arms. With a smirk he listened to the vampire
screaming his rage in the building behind him.

Ethan
had been standing outside of their makeshift base camp, talking to one of his
men when he saw Teagan walking out of the shadows with something cradled in his
arms. “Make one last sweep of the building. There must have been a tunnel or
passage we haven’t found yet.” Scrubbing his hand over the stubble of his
shaved head in frustration he watched as the guardian hurried to relay his
orders. If he had any hair he would have been pulling it out by now. Dam Salvatore.
Giving the werewolf his full attention his thick brow wrinkled in surprise.

“What
do you have there Teagan?” Ethan said, looking at the woman in Teagan’s arms.
He reached out to move Ava’s hair off her face to have a closer look but
quickly changed his mind at the menacing growl that came from Teagan who was
still in his beast form. “Dam.” He had never seen Teagan this fully shifted
before. “Easy there Lykae.” Ethan looked at the fragile girl being held in
Teagan’s brutal grasp. The claws on his hands were resting against the tender
skin of her thigh. One wrong move and the Lykan could slice her open.

Teagan
knew he needed to shift but he was having a hard time reining in his beast. He
hadn’t been this fully shifted in a long time. Gods it felt good. He was full
of adrenaline from the fight and his instincts were on overdrive with the girl
in his arms. Digging deep he fought for control, his medallion glowing, he
slowly began to change back to his human form.

“You
okay man?” Relief showed on Ethan’s face. The last thing he needed tonight was
to deal with an out of control Lykan. He had his hands full as it was.

“Ya,
sorry about that. I’m fine.” He panted from the strain of his shift and his
muscles still rippled and quivered as the power of his beast settled once more.

“What’s
with the girl?” Ethan examined her small form in surprise.

Teagan
quickly explained how he had found her.

“Well
she looks like she is in mid trans. Salvatore must have been in the process of
changing her. She isn’t fully vampire just yet but she will be by morning.”

Teagan
looked down into her pale face with regret. “She isn’t fully vampire yet. Can’t
the change be stopped?”

“No,
nothing can stop it now. We need to get her to Claymore. She is so small I’m
surprised she survived the transition at all but it looks as though she has
made it through the worst of it. Perhaps Doc Randall can help ease her through
the rest and I’m sure Victor will be interested in meeting with her.”

“Do
you think she will be a rogue?” Teagan held his breath while he waited for the
answer.

“She’s
too new to even have fed yet. I don’t think even Salvatore could force her to
become rogue this early. Hopefully they haven’t injected her yet. I think you
got to her in time.” Teagan nodded in relief. “It’s strange though. I’ve never
seen Salvatore turn a female before. She could be useful.” Ethan eyed the girl,
already calculating the possibilities.

“I
will have one of my guardians take her to Claymore. You, I need here with me.
It looks like Salvatore was here when we hit the building but he still managed
to get by us. I need you and Daniel to track him while his trail is still
fresh.”

“Joseph!
Come here for a minute.” A dark vampire separated himself from the others and
hurried to Ethan’s side.

“Teagan
found this female newborn during the raid.” Joseph looked at the pale female in
Teagan’s arms in surprise. Never had they found any survivors on any of their
raids. “Take her to Dr. Randall at Claymore, he’ll know what to do for her.
I’ll radio him and let him know she is coming. Take good care of her, she may
be our link to Salvatore. I’m holding you personally responsible for her. Have
Colin drive you.”

With
a low growl, Teagan reluctantly handed her over to the vampire. He was
surprised at the sudden feeling of possessiveness that passed through him as
the large vampire took her into his arms. As he passed her to Joseph he
realized that even though she was unconscious she gripped his shoulders
tightly, not wanting to let go. Gently he slid her arms off of his shoulders as
he gave her to Joseph. He wasn’t sure he liked this plan but Ethan was right,
he needed to get working on Salvatore’s trial. He gritted his teeth, growling
as he watched Joseph’s broad back walking away with her ebony hair trailing
over his arm.