Blood Vow (Blood Moon Rising) (27 page)

Abruptly she found herself at the edge of camp. She stopped, not wanting Rafe or Lucien to see her like this. Today was a day of celebration for them. Her mood would bring them down. She turned back toward the low rolling hills and when she was far enough out of eyesight, she stripped and set her clothes aside, then shifted.

She ran hard. She ran from her life, her past, and what waited in her future. As much as she dreaded the rising, she looked forward to it more. Everything came down to that one night. The night that the Blood Moon would rise over the battleground just over the swell of the foothills.

The fresh scents of the north invigorated her turbulent heart. The salt of the sea and the rich earth mingled creating a euphoric perfume. She loved the raw beauty of the area and the untainted scents. She continued to run west to the sea where, if she were braver, she would jump in and let it take her away. Away from the inevitable heartbreak, she would cause the men she loved.

And there was the real issue. She could deal with it because of the child she carried, but Rafael and Lucien would be left with nothing but contempt to warm them each night for the rest of their lives.

She could not bear to see their shock followed by disgust, then ultimately their bloodlust to destroy her. Oh, when had it become so complicated? Why could they not see that despite the hatred, the two factions could be bridged by love? Her gut summersaulted when she thought of her parents. How could Layla fall in love with such a man and bear him two daughters? How could Thomas Corbet, the villain of every Lycan nightmare, fall in love with a Lycan? Love her enough to forsake his clan for all these years? But not enough to refrain from destroying her people?

Abruptly, Falon reached the edge of a steep embankment. To go any farther she would be swimming in the cold gray Bering Sea below. It would be easy to fling herself into the freezing water. But her baby would die, Rafael and Lucien would mourn her for the rest of their lives and in the end, the nation would fall to the Slayers.

In a finite snapshot of clarity, Falon understood her destiny. Her destiny had been to reunite the brothers, walk with them into the valley of death, and emerge victorious on the other side. What happened after was inconsequential because her purpose would have been served.

The rising was to pit one faction against the other and the strongest would survive. There would be no room in the new world of either Lycan or Slayer for a hybrid. There could be only one pure race. Which one it would be would be determined in less than a month. And what would she do after?

She stood on the edge of the cliff. A precipice. The cold sea air tore through her fur, a reminder of what was to come. How long she stood there gazing across the moody sea she did not know. But the biting wind felt good against her face.

Falon!
Rafael called.
Return to me!

She shook her head at Mister I’m-in-Charge-of-Everyone.
I’ll return shortly.

Where are you?
Lucien demanded.

I’m safe.

She ignored their continuing calls. She was in no danger and despite the turmoil in her heart, she felt better.

Slowly she backed away from the edge and turned toward the place she would always call home. That place where Rafael and Lucien were. The wind shifted, and her hackles rose. Turning, she saw them. A large pack of genuine wolves. And behind them, pack Ivanov led by the great silver alpha Sasha. Falon didn’t panic. She didn’t show fear. At the very least, she could easily outrun them, but that would be the cowardly thing to do.

In well-rehearsed formation, the wolves moved around her, the big gray male snarling as he trotted toward her, his head and ears down.

I am not your enemy,
she said to him.

He shook his head. His mate, a charcoal gray female just slightly smaller than the alpha, moved in beside him. Her golden eyes reminded her so much of her Luca.
Take your mate away now or he will die today,
Falon warned her.

Heeding Falon’s warning, the she-wolf snarled and nipped at her mate’s flank. Snarling, he shook his head. The she-wolf nipped him harder. He turned on her in a vicious display of power. She yelped when his fangs caught her muzzle, drawing blood. She backed away with her head down, showing her submission.

Falon’s rancor rose that he would show such disrespect to his mate. She snarled and moved straight toward him. At once, the pack swarmed. But Falon kept her eye on the prize. The alpha. When he went down, the pack would be confused and she would give the she-wolf the opportunity to move out of harm’s way.

The gray alpha was no match for Falon. She leapt onto his back, sunk her fangs into his furry neck, and flung him like a sack of flour into his oncoming pack. Like a bowling ball, he slammed into them and took most of them out.

Tell them to stand down,
Falon said to the she-wolf.
Or they all die here.

The she-wolf snarled and nipped at the pack as they regrouped. The big alpha stood up on shaky legs and growled at Falon, but he didn’t make another offensive move. She stalked toward them as they backed into Ivanov. Sasha shifted to human form but his pack remained wolf.

“You, who are not even full Lycan, have divided the nation,” he charged. “The council has commanded me to exterminate you.”

His words hit her with the velocity of a Mack truck. It was a lie!

Falon shifted into her human form, not caring when she stood naked before a pack of horny Lycan. “A lie!” she challenged.

Sasha’s crystal eyes glittered in the afternoon sun as they raked her from head to toe. His men moved anxiously behind him. Their testosterone levels were high, and she suspected many of them had hopes of finding a mate here amongst the entire nation. She knew from her own constant arousal around Rafe and Lucien, Lycan were highly primal. It was the cause of much infighting.

“You have the body of a whore and the heart of witch!” He sneered. “You have disrespected my name and my daughter’s chance of greatness!” He shook with uncontrolled rage. “Your presence is a blight to the great Lycan nation.”

He stepped toward her, allowing his pack to form a half circle around him. “Before you die the true death, whore, you will experience the terror my daughter experienced at the hands of that deformed wolf Fenrir.”

“Why not get a piece of me first, Sasha,” she cajoled. Falon lifted her chin a notch and held his glittering stare. When he refused to take the bait, she tossed out more. “Or aren’t you alpha enough?”

He snarled taking a step toward her then another. “I am more than alpha enough to make you scream,” he boasted. The instant he reached for her, Falon brought her knee up, and viciously caught him under the chin straightening him. She shoved him so hard with her hands, he bowled back into his pack. They scattered like bowling pins as she shifted and leapt into the bulk of them, ripping and shredding skin, crushing bones, and drawing blood. Leaving a swath of shredded Lycan, Falon leapt from the fray, not stopping to admire her handiwork, and ran for home.

As she looked over her shoulder to see if they gave pursuit, she stumbled and fell. There, standing on the rise of the foothill, was her father. Would he have come to her aide had she been overcome?

She doubted it. He raised his sword as if saluting her job well done. Shaking her head, she slowly rose, not wanting to feel anything for him except contempt. When he would not break his stare, Falon turned and ran.

Halfway back to the camp she was met by Lucien and Rafael and—her heart swelled.
Angor?
And behind him, more of the three-hundred-pound Berserkers! Rafael’s mutant superwolves. Had her packs arrived?

Did they know about the
arrangement
? Would they embrace the power of the three or reject it?

Falon shifted to human just before Rafe and Lucien did, but it was Angor, the protective Berserker who’d tried to kill her the first time they met who she threw her arms around and hugged.

But her joy was short-lived.

Lucien grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. “You smell like wolf,” he said dangerously.

Twenty-six

“I CAME ACROSS a pack while I was out running,” Falon hurried to assure him. She reached down and grabbed her clothes from where she had left them and hurried to dress, hoping that would mask some of the scents. She didn’t want to involve either of her alphas in something she considered handled.

Lucien was having none of it. He grabbed her hand and held it up. “Where did the blood come from?” He sniffed it and snarled. “Fucking Ivanov!”

“What happened?” Rafael asked, softly but deadly.

Falon yanked her hand from Lucien and dressed. She didn’t want to make an issue out of what happened. Not because she was afraid for Rafe or Lucien, but because she knew what they would do to the alpha and they needed every Lycan if they were going to survive the rising. Besides, she’d handled him.

“It’s nothing.”

Rafael’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t lie to me, Falon.”

She avoided both of their angry stares as she pulled on her boots. “I’m not lying.” It was nothing. And now it was over.

Lucien shoved his hands through his hair, and turned toward the direction she had just come from. His nostrils flared as he picked up more scents. “I’m going to fucking tear him apart.” He shifted and took off.

“Lucien! No!” she screamed as the wind caught her plea, carrying it away.

“Stay here, Falon,” Rafael said furiously, then shifted and went after his brother.

As if she were going to let them go without her. She shucked her clothes and looked to Angor. “Come, my friend, let’s make sure they don’t get into trouble.”

With the mighty Berserker at her heels and the rest of his pack closely following, they took off after Rafe and Lucien.

But it was over when she arrived. Sasha Ivanov lay torn in pieces at Lucien’s feet. His remaining pack circled anxiously, whining and sniffing at their dead alpha. As Lycan do when their alpha has died a true death, the others revert to their human form. One by one, the pack shifted to human and each one lowered their head and haunches in submission to Lucien.

He was magnificent, like a gladiator of yore. Tall, muscular, naked, and proud. Falon caught her breath when he turned those blazing golden eyes on her. She stopped in her tracks, unable to tear her eyes away from him. He threw his head back and howled triumphantly. Her body flared with heat as his beast called to her. He stepped over Sasha’s body, and strode toward her. Her breath hitched high in her throat as she stared at his blood-smeared body glistening in the afternoon sun.

His eyes never once wavered from hers. Not even when he caught her up in his arms and yanked her hard against his chest and kissed her. Her head swirled and her body shook with emotion.

He was claiming her for the world to see, and God help any one of them if they disrespected her. They would end up like the Siberian alpha.

Caught up in the primal moment, Falon dug her nails into Lucien’s back, pulling him harder against her. Her beast snarled for release, wanting to mate, to mark and reestablish that this man belonged to her and she to him.

“Ivanov!” Rafe’s voice thundered behind them. “Your alpha has paid the ultimate price for his transgression against my chosen one! You now belong to Vulkasin!”

Falon turned in Lucien’s arms as Rafael and the Berserkers herded pack Ivanov past them back to the camp.

When they had passed she looked up into Lucien’s blazing eyes. His beast lurked just behind the flames. “Lucien—” she breathed.

“Don’t ever lie to me or Rafe again,” he snarled, then pushed her to the ground. She fell on all fours. He was behind her, grasping her hips and plunging deeply into her before she realized his intent.

Breath locked in her lungs as energy blasted through her. Falon threw her head back as Lucien withdrew, then slammed into her again. She cried out in unadulterated pleasure, wanting him harder, faster, deeper. He did this to her. Made her crazy for more. Her wild, wicked, out of control, Lucien.

The raging beast within him broke free.

Her beast snarled in response. Her sweltering cunt fisted his cock, and in the most primal way a man could take a woman, they fucked.

And when it was over, their bodies refused to unlock.

* * *

ON HIS KNEES, balls buried deep inside of Falon, Lucien fought to control his enraged beast. He wanted to hurt Falon for lying, for scaring the shit out of him, for having the power to wreck him heart, body, and soul.

Her sweaty body twitched and contorted beneath his as waves of energy continued to spark after their climax. But it wasn’t enough. He wanted her again, then again after that. He wanted to get so deep inside of her she would fall apart from too much cock, too much sensation, too much fear, pain and the same gut-wrenching ache he experienced each time he touched her.

He moved against her. She moaned. He threw his head back as his cock swelled inside of her. God she was hot, tight, and so wet.

“I’m sorry, Luca,” she sobbed. “I didn’t want to cause a problem.”

Slowly, he withdrew, mindful of her cries for him to stay. He smiled triumphantly. For all that she loved his brother, Lucien knew when it came to fucking, he was the one who made her weep. He slammed back into her. He was the one who obliterated her mind. He withdrew.

“Luca!” she screamed.

He slammed back into her, pulling her hips so hard against him she cried out in pain.
He
was the one she screamed for.

“Do you like that?” he demanded, withdrawing.

“Yesss,” she hissed.

He thrust into her. “Does that feel good?”

Her body constricted around him. “God, yes.”

He bent over her back and bit her shoulder drawing blood. “More, Luca,” she begged. “More.”

He pulled completely out of her and rolled her over onto her back and stood. Her dazed blue eyes flickered as she licked her dry lips. A smug smile twisted her lips.

“You like it when I’m rough with you?” he hoarsely asked.