Lycan's Promise: Book 3

Lycan's Promise

Chandler Dee

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2012 by Chandler Dee

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Beginning…

End…

Sample: Predator on the Rim

Other Books by Chandler Dee

Sanda nudged a piece of hot coal with her
foot. It glowed with dark orange light in the cracks from where it
popped out of the fireplace, hiding dangerous, but useful heat
within. Jurisa paced back and forth in front of her as she lectured
Sanda about her reckless decision to go after Beryx without telling
anyone in the Cold Mountains community first. Dragos stood by her
with arms crossed, frowning at his nearly frantic mate. His brother
was also present, but seemed to be paying more attention to the
quiet Mouse seated next to Garrett and Cami in the lounger,
unobtrusively waiting her turn for a lecture. Sanda stepped on the
coal beside her booted foot, crushing it into black powder and
effectively putting out any potential fire.

At least she wasn't being immediately run out
of the pack. Sanda had been afraid of what sort of reaction their
little group would receive on returning to the village several days
ago. It wasn't nearly as bad as she feared.

Jurisa’s first concern was for any immediate
political ramifications of their journey down the mountain. She
made certain they hadn’t broken any major tenets of the contract
between Lycans and humans. Jurisa was obviously relieved that the
humans in the village agreed not to speak of the incident, but
Sanda could still see the concern in her eyes when Beryx described
Sanda's first change and the havoc it brought. The Alpha didn't say
anything on the subject, but Sanda knew then that she could expect
further inquiries.

Jurisa granted everyone in their group some
time to recover from their journey. They needed it, especially
Beryx and Garrett who were both shot. Mouse used her considerable
medical skill to ease everyone's pain and encourage fast healing.
Sanda spent those first few days ensconced in bed next to Beryx,
curled around him like a protective blanket. They couldn't remain
locked away in his cottage forever. Sure enough, everyone had been
summoned to the leaders’ home for a grilling and who knew what
else. Sanda wasn't well-versed in Lycan law yet. Beryx had been in
little mood to discuss the subject during his recovery.

Jurisa stopped in her tracks and turned with
a pointed finger at Garrett. “I know you're the one who implemented
this plan.”

“I owed a debt to Sanda and the community,”
Garrett spoke up. They all knew what he was referring to, his
decision to let the human villager go without telling anyone. At
the time, Jurisa and the other Alphas were furious. Sanda was in
shock over his decision and responded with deep, deep anger. She
felt that villager was the only chance she had to get her mate back
safely. Looking back on it now, Sanda was ashamed over her
treatment of Garrett. She still harbored some anger towards Mouse
for keeping it all quiet, but could understand the woman's loyalty
towards her friend.

“It wasn't up to you to decide how to pay
that debt,” Jurisa said. She shook her head and threw up her hands
in disgust over their misadventures.

“No, it wasn't. We did get him back alive,”
Garrett said, referring to Beryx. Jurisa had banned Sanda’s mate
from the meeting despite his forceful arguments. She hadn't wanted
him influencing her decisions.

“He's right,” Dragos said, “they did manage
to bring Beryx back and no one is the wiser.”

Jurisa side-eyed her mate. It was obvious
what she thought of that statement. Dragos’ brother on the other
hand, snorted.

“If they had just waited a few days,” he
started to say before he was interrupted by Dragos.

“They didn't know if they’d have time.”

“All right, all right,” Jurisa said to the
two brothers. “I need to think about this before I decide how to
handle this behavior,” She finished, stating it for the benefit of
everyone in the room. Jurisa turned to look at each of the four
offenders. “Understand that I view this as clear disrespect and
disregard for our law,” she said, cool steel in her voice. 
With that they were all dismissed to leave the Alphas deep in
discussion.

Sanda turned on her heel and headed out the
door. She didn't feel like waiting around to talk to the others.
She wanted to get back to Beryx, to reassure herself that he was
still there waiting for her. She pulled her cloak tighter around
herself as she walked across the cold ground. Winter’s breath was
in the air. Soon they would see heavy mountain snows. Sanda never
experienced that kind of weather before, she only spent winters in
a mild valley below Cold Mountains community. She was unsure what
to expect for the coming season.

“Wait,” Mouse called after her. Sanda almost
continued going, disregarding the woman's small voice. She'd
already burned so many bridges though. Reluctantly, she stopped and
waited for Mouse to catch up to her.

“Yes, what is it?”

Mouse stopped in front of her, drew back for
a second looking as if she might turn around and walk away.
Something inside of her seemed to rebel against the notion and she
planted her feet more firmly in the ground, pulling her hood back
to reveal curly locks of hair.

“How is Beryx?”

Sanda relaxed, she'd been expecting a
confrontation. Mouse was only inquiring after her mate.

“He's well. His wounds are almost healed,”
Sanda said cordially, “that poultice you gave us has done him a lot
of good.”

Mouse nodded. “I want to check on his
progress. Will you bring him over?”

Sanda hemmed and hawed a bit. The protective
instinct was to keep Beryx ensconced in their cottage for as long
as possible. She didn't want Mouse looking at Beryx. That was
irrational. Mouse had already done a great deal for him. She just
couldn't help but feel mistrustful of the woman after the way she'd
kept silent about letting that villager go.

Mouse seemed to sense her hesitance. She
reached out to grasp Sanda's arm. “You have nothing to fear from
me,” Mouse said, “really, I only wanted to help.”

Sanda shook off Mouse's hand. “Beryx will be
by tomorrow. I'll make sure of it.” She started to walk away again,
but was stopped by Mouse’s call.

“I also wanted to apologize.”

“For what?” Sanda snapped at the woman. She
didn’t mean to be irritable, but she also didn’t have time to fuss
around in the snow all day.

“I helped a man escape our village a few
weeks ago. That man could have helped clear this entire incident up
without Garrett, Cami, or you having to go down to Ekras,” Mouse
said. She licked her lips, looking at the ground when she finished.
It was obviously hard for her to admit that to Sanda.

“You're right,” Sanda said. She looked over
at the cottage where her mate was now kept warm and safe. She'd
come so close to losing him. “But, I don't know that I can
accept.”

Mouse nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut and
exhaled. The woman’s quiet resignation over causing so much pain
reminded Sanda of the pain she caused during that first
transformation. She’d acted like a monster, almost killing two men
in a vengeful rage. Despite her disastrous first change, she was
still allowed to walk freely in the community. The others even
treated her equally, at least until Jurisa came to her decision.
The least she could do was attempt to reciprocate.

“But I can try,” Sanda said to Mouse.
Immediately, the woman's eyes brightened. She smiled at Sanda and
offered her heartfelt thanks. They spent a few more minutes
chatting a awkwardly about Beryx’s treatment. Sanda closed their
meeting with a promise to bring him over and she found herself
walking towards their cottage in a slightly better mood.

Sanda entered the cottage to find it cold and
empty. The fire had been banked. His rich scent filled the air but
Beryx was nowhere in sight. She couldn't help the brief flare-up of
panic that subsided as soon as she found his note on the table.
They contained three words, “Find me outside”.

It took a few minutes to figure out how she
could hope to find him without knowing where he went. Then, Sanda
caught another with of his scent, warm and spicy like the sap that
rose in pine trees every spring. She pulled her cloak around
herself and went outside once more, drawing in air until she caught
another whiff of her mate. The air almost felt warm, so recently
had he passed by the front entrance of their cottage. She followed
it around other scents that she barely paid attention to in the
past few weeks. As soon as Sanda had realized her sense of smell
improved along with her sense of sight and hearing she'd pushed it
to the back of her mind. Using this perception again was a novel
experience.

It was slow going. Sanda didn't have much
experience tracking with her nose. She got lost a few times before
getting back on the trail of her mate. It led out of the village
and along a well-traveled mountain path. In the distance she could
hear the rushing of river water. She didn't have to use her nose
anymore to know which way to go, but it was nice to know that she
was following the exact trail he left behind for her.

After several minutes, Sanda came out of the
woods where the path met the river. She turned upstream and walked
a short distance knowing exactly what condition she'd find Beryx
in. Her breath quickened and her body warmed in anticipation.

Sanda finally found Beryx washing in the
water. She quickened her pace and started pulling the ties loose on
her cloak to remove it. The rest of her clothes came off quickly
and were set in a small pile next to her mate’s cloak. Back to her,
he scrubbed himself with clean sand. She could see the harsh red
mark on his upper shoulder from the gunshot he received weeks ago.
It still wasn't fully healed. Familiar lean muscles drew the eye
down to firm butt and thighs glistening with water. Despite the
scarring, Beryx was a fine man.

She eased into the water moving slowly and
carefully to creep up on him. She stopped within pouncing distance,
caught up in whether or not to surprise him. Sanda didn’t want to
make his wounds any worse. Just when she made up her mind to call
out his name, he caught her off guard by turning around with a
roar. Sanda screamed as he snatched her round the waist.

“You’ll have to be quieter than that if you
want to sneak up on me,” he laughed lightly in her ear.

“I, you tricked me,” she pouted. Sanda’s
hands roved over his chest and shoulders, automatically checking
the state of his wounds. She watched his eyes for any hint of pain
or the slightest wince. He smiled fully, as if trying to reassure
her that everything was as it should be with him.

“Yes I did,” Beryx said. He nuzzled the soft
skin underneath Sanda’s ear. “Now, I have a lovely prize.”

Sanda grumbled halfheartedly. His lips
trailed down her neck and his teeth nipped at skin above her
collarbone. She knew she ought to correct him, tell him she wasn’t
some trophy to be won at the end of the day, but Beryx was doing
wonderful things to her neck with his tongue. She let it go along
with her worries about his wound. Sanda arched into him with
pleasure while his soft, wet tongue traced the contours of her
neck, collarbone, and shoulder.