The Sanction (11 page)

“
That – that is not
possible,” he offered hoarsely. “You – you will be mated to a
Hunter, as it has been for centuries. You are mistaken. You cannot
-”

Her touch was warm and tender, and she
cupped his face with her hands to look deep into his eyes. “I see
him Papa.”

Macer did not want to acknowledge the
truth he read in her water-logged eyes. He did not want to think of
the consequences she would have to face at the decision of the
Elder upon their return. Anger replaced confusion, and he hauled
her against his side as he swiftly darted to his feet. When next he
spoke, his voice lost all tenderness. “The Elder will see that this
by-product you carry is dealt with.”

Horror masked her face, and with
strength he had not expected, she pulled away from his grasp and
stumbled back. “Papa, please!”

“
You did this to her!” He
stepped forward again, regaining his hold on her even as he pushed
her deftly behind him and closer to the Hunters. An accusatory
finger was directed to the silent perpetrator. “You made her a
shame to our race!” In a flash his sword was drawn. The steel
hummed and flashed beneath the waning moonlight. Weres from all
directions hastened in to form a tight circle around their leader.
The Hunters flanked him as one.

“
Are you insane?” This from
Silas. There was an unfamiliar trace of panic in his tone. “We are
outnumbered three to one. Let us take her and leave this
place!”

“
She does not carry a
scent…” Vilirus’ voice trailed off in disbelief as a gentle wind
lifted. He considered her thoroughly.

“
You will pay for your
insolence!” Macer charged, yet to adhere to his brother’s
advice.

“
Papa please!”

“
And you!” He retraced his
steps and grabbed her upper arm with a vengeance .Her cry of agony
was ignored when he shook her fiercely, violently. “This little
indiscretion of yours will earn you the trashing of your
life!”

Someone moved in the crowd behind him.
Macer freed her before directing his attention to the Weres once
more. When she fell at his non-too-gentle release, it was Vilirus
who hastened to help her to her feet.

The bastard stepped through the line
that was formed to protect him and had the audacity to advance. All
the while he was silent. Several paces from Macer’s stiff from, he
stopped.

“
I have upheld my end of the
bargain,” he said. “I could not foresee the possibility of this
happening. It is unheard of.”

He said it with a finality that did
nothing to soothe Macer’s temper. “You rutted with my daughter. I
will dismember you for that alone!”

“
I took from her what Fate
decided belonged to me.” Macer’s gasp did not drown out the words
that followed. “You have paid her ransom, and I have returned her
to you. Now, I offer her asylum.”

****

For a stunned moment, the only sounds
that were heard were the snicker of a distant horse and the heavy
gasps the Hunters sucked in. Graeme had no idea why he said what he
said. Then again, maybe a part of him knew all along that he would
offer her an option. This decision had ridden him for two long,
antagonizing days. What happened to the ruthless leader of the
horde who wanted her to be a stench in the Covens’ nostrils, he did
not know. All he knew for certain was somewhere between hating her
because she was a vampire, and utterly detesting the fact that he
was mated to her, Graeme somehow developed a tenderness toward her.
That tender part of his heart could not bear the thought of her
being tortured – or the seed he had planted in her womb ripped
away.

Amongst the elite of the scouts, he had
hand-picked the few who now accompanied him on this mission – Weres
who trusted his word as law, Weres who would not question whatever
decision he made. Weres whose trust he desperately needed to see
his plan succeed.

And it all depended upon her
reply.

He tilted his head to the left to get a
glimpse of her stricken expression. Eyes wide, she was now as pale
as the glow of the moon above.

“
You are senile,” her father
forced out of his constricted throat. “I will die before I let her
return to you!”

A series of throaty growls rumbled at
his back. Graeme’s eyes lowered a fraction. “Do not be so hasty to
speak, old man. I may yet grant you that request. Let her decide
what she will.”

“
Let her decide?” the man
ranted uncontrollably. “Let my naive daughter who believes herself
mated to a dog decide? Every Coven across the land shall hear about
your impertinence, and you will be tortured and impaled for
dishonoring her!”

“
She is my mate. According
to our law, I can kill you for holding her against her will if that
is what you intend to do.” Graeme lifted a hand and gestured to the
Weres behind him. Slowly, slowly, they started to fan out and blend
into the surrounding trees. The Hunters backed into each other,
eyes and ears alert for the coming attack. “Let her
decide.”

There was nothing but blood-lust on her
father’s face, but Graeme did not care. He had seen the fear in the
depths of her eyes the moment the confession of their union fell
from her lips. The threats her father promised in retribution
proved too much. He would not have her beaten – he would not risk
her life, or that of their unborn child.

“
According to vampire law,
she cannot be mated to a Were!”

“
You forget; you are not on
vampire territory. Our law holds sway here.”

“
The law of
animals!”

His left eye ticked. “You will be
butchered long before you make it to your horses, and I will string
your innards around the borderlands as a warning to those who may
try to venture.” Graeme felt his patience slip with each word he
spoke. Features contorting, he could withhold the change no longer.
Much procrastination was done – but not anymore. Either they
allowed her to choose, or he would give the order, and kill them
all.

“
Then a butcher it shall be,
beast!”

“
Papa please!” Amarinda’s
voice was panicked and high-pitched. She lunged forward, trying to
escape her brother’s grasp.

“
Get her out of here!” her
father continued, snarling. The Hunters scanned the surrounding
trees, looking for an exit. Graeme felt his teeth elongate, felt
the layer of hair on his flesh lengthen, and reveled in the
uninhibited tremors that raked his form. He stretched his neck back
and heard a crack, then focused his now amber eyes on the livid
vampire before him. Her father brought his sword at eye level, his
hand steady.

“
We are surrounded on all
sides,” the flaxen-haired Hunter said.

“
Find a way out!” he
bellowed.

“
We will be killed!” A young
Hunter with flaming blue eyes backed closer to her father’s
stationary form. “Even if we do break the circle, we will never
make it home alive. It is a lost cause.”

“
I will not leave her with
him,” he said tremulously. “I will not allow this to
happen.”

“
Papa?”

Graeme was not foolish enough to break
his gaze. Hunters were precise, and their blow with a sword as
fatal as their bite. If he allowed himself to become distracted, he
could very well loose his head.

“
Papa…please Papa…” Her
brother unlocked his arm from around her midsection reluctantly.
With swift soft steps, she approached. Fat teardrops fell from her
eyes. Pale fingers were pressed to the thick, dark cloak she wore
to ward off the biting cold. “Papa, I cannot fight fate. No one can
fight fate. Please understand…”

“
Understand? That I am to
trust your life to this beast? Look at him! He is no better than
the hounds at the manse.”

Graeme’s hands curled into fists at his
sides. Still, he waited.

“
No matter what he is, we
are mated. If you take me back, the Elder would not spare the
child.”

“
Child?” His eyes met hers
in shock. “That thing is a monstrosity!”

“
Enough of this.” Graeme had
yet to raise his voice, yet its authority carried well in the
tension-filled air. Her father’s inferno gaze returned to his. He
blocked her body with a staying arm. “What will it be Amarinda? If
you stay, the child will be as safe as I can keep it. If you leave
with them…” He let that hang there, eyeing her intently. “Decide.
Quickly.”

She whimpered and took a slow look
around, pain etched on her face. “My family…you will spare
them?”

“
No!” This from a raging
Macer.

“
They will be given safe
escort to the borderlands and fair warning never to return,” came
his throaty promise. He could see the hesitation in her eyes long
before she braved a step forward. Graeme opened his palm in a
silent command. Her attempt to advance was stalled when her father
back-handed her to the ground. The breath Graeme was not aware he
held was forced out of his lungs. With a roar of rage, he pounced.
The movement around him was blurred, so swift was the attack. The
Weres assaulted the small group with brutal force. Graeme flung the
weight of his upper body against her father’s chest and sent him
pitching backward. He connected with the icy stream violently.
Amarinda’s voice penetrated through the thick fog of fury that
clouded his mind. He noted the moment her father leapt from the
water and her haphazard run toward the Hunter who fought with all
he was worth against the three Weres that had somehow succeeded in
pinning him to the ground.

Only a fool would come between a Were
and a kill. In the frenzy, she stood the chance of being murdered.
Fear of losing her consumed him. Breaths wheezing, he bellowed a
command for the attack to cease and forced his legs to propel him
forward. She was swept into his arms and out of harms reach. Her
father’s rapid advance was stopped short the moment he spun around.
The sword that was wielded was slashed through the air. Graeme
flung himself back, his arms locked around her body, securing her
to his chest. The sharpened tip of the blade missed her delicate
throat by a hair’s breath.

His back connected with the cold dirt,
and as soon as he rolled her away with a definite thud, he was on
his feet again. Horror had crossed the vampire’s face, and Graeme
seized the opportunity. The sword was knocked away and with grip of
iron clamped around her father’s neck, he did nothing but
struggle.

“
Graeme!” Amarinda’s voice
echoed amidst the snarls and growls and the cries of pain. Someone
was hurt, Graeme did not know who. So long as it was not his mate,
he did not care. Her icy fingers were upon him, trying in vain to
break his hold. “Please do not kill him! Please!”

Graeme curbed his instinct, curbed the
desire to crush every bone in his corpse-like body, and tossed him
as if he weighed not more than a fly. He fell heavily before the
Hunters. They moved as one to help him to his feet. The Weres still
growled and prowled, agitated.

“
Get off my lands,” he
commanded in a deadly undertone, breathing hard. To his left,
Amarinda trembled violently. In the scuffle, she had lost her fur.
She touched her fingers to the lips that were being bitten
mercilessly. The Hunters backed away. Her father looked at her,
distressed. Even across the distance, Graeme could see that he
fought the flood of tears that made his smoldering gaze
glassy.

“
Papa…” she whimpered. He
turned away and, assisted by another, made his way, limping up the
hill.

“
Rhys!” Graeme heard him
approach from the sidelines. “See them off.”

Rhys gestured to the others, rumbled a
command and was followed on silent feet. Graeme, temper somewhat
dampened now that she was at his side, directed his attention
toward her. She stood unmoving, considering the Hunters as they
became lost in the darkness. One of the Weres brought the horse
forward. Graeme mounted, more man now than beast. He offered his
hand in expectation, and felt, for the first time in his life
butterflies erupt within his stomach when she took it.

Chapter Nine

She could not stop shaking. The route
to the stronghold through the secured mountain pass was isolated.
He drove the mount on violently, her mate. In his body, she felt
tension and anger rage, like the threat of a devastating explosion.
Whether from the coldness, her heartache or the raw energy he
emitted, she trembled.

By the time they made it into one of
the baileys at the back of the fortress, she was numb from head to
toe. Someone came forward to attend to the mount. He slipped to his
feet in a flash and collected her into his arms. Amarinda felt
tears burn her eyes. The effort to control the desperation for
release weakened her. With urgency, he took to the gate and narrow
staircase. Too distraught to observe exactly where they were, she
sank her fingers into the material of his shirt and allowed the
first racking whimper to seize her body. There came an impatient
growl from his throat as he hustled toward the familiar door. After
two attempts to lift the latch on the bolt, he finally succeeded.
She was taken to the bed and deposited there.