The Dark-Hunters (660 page)

“Can you walk?” she asked him, panting from the strain of trying to lift his body.

“I’m trying.”

“Can you flash him inside?”

She froze at the deep sound of Fang’s voice in her ear. Looking up, she saw him in human form. Her heart pounded in gratitude as she did what he asked and prayed that Wren’s uncontrolled powers didn’t interfere with hers for the jump.

Fang turned to face the Arcadians who stared at him in disbelief.

“Well, well,” their leader said in a smug tone. “What have we here? A piece of Katagari trash that’s taken up refuge with the bears?”

Fang gave him his best shit-eating grin that was designed to anger him. “No, just a wolf who’s going to kick your ass back to whatever hole it crawled out of.”

Their leader scoffed at his boast. “And you plan to do this alone? You think a lot of yourself, don’t you, animal?”

Fang shook his head. “Oh, punk, please. Believe me, when dealing with wusses like you who have to gang up on a kid to feel powerful, I don’t need any help.”

They charged him. Fang turned into a wolf as he leapt at the leader’s throat. He tackled him to the ground. He would have ravaged him more, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the others pull a Taser. As the Arcadian fired it, Fang leapt out of the way. It fizzed on the leader who went down cursing.

Fang dove at the legs of another. Before he could get ahold of him, Dev and his brothers were there as backup. Not that he needed it, but …

The Arcadians scattered like school-yard bullies seeing a principal.

Fang manifested his human form and sneered at their flight. “Yeah, you better run home to your mama. Hide under her skirts until you grow enough balls to stand and fight.”

Dev grabbed the one who was still on the ground. “Stoooone,” he said, his tone lethal as he dragged out Stone’s name. “How many times do we have to tell you not to come here?”

But it was hard to hold on to him since Stone was shifting from human to wolf and back again.

“The tiger started it,” Stone growled out the ten and a half seconds he was human.

Dev snorted. “I somehow doubt it. Wren keeps to himself unless he’s provoked.”

“What about you?” The Dev lookalike with the ponytail sneered at Fang. “Why are
you
here?”

Fang narrowed his eyes as he took issue with the bear’s tone. “Back off, Grizzly Adams. I don’t answer to you.”

“Leave him alone, Remi,” Aimee said as she rejoined them. “He allowed me to get Wren inside and send you guys out here to deal with Stone.”

Passing an arrogant sneer at Remi that he was sure ticked the bear off to no end, Fang turned his attention to Aimee. Dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans, she took his breath away. Her blond hair was mussed with a long strand of it falling into her eyes.

Every part of him came to life.

She didn’t even look his way as she lunged at Stone.

Remi swung away from him to catch her. “Settle down, little sister.”

Aimee struggled against his hold. “Settle down, my heinie. Did you see what he did to Wren? I want to claw a piece of his skin off.”

Stone raked her with a repugnant glare. “He’s an animal, like you. He deserves nothing better than to be a hide mounted on a wall.”

Aimee kicked at Stone, but, courtesy of Remi, her foot just missed him. “You disgusting filth! If you’re the ideal of humanity, I’d much rather be an animal.” She looked at Dev with her lips curled. “You’re right, I hate wolves. They’re the most repulsive breed ever conceived. Why Lycaon picked them for his sons is beyond me. I think they should all be rounded up and executed. Filthy dogs! All of you!”

Stunned, Fang felt her words like a blow to his stomach. Dog was the worst insult that could be dealt to a wolf. It likened them to a whipped animal whose only function was to please its master. A mindless supplicant with no power, no dignity, and no sense.

But it wasn’t so much what she said, it was the sincere hatred backing those words that cut him the deepest.

She was just like the all the others who hated his species and it was why the wolves did their best to avoid the other branches of their kind. No wonder with all the different breeds living under the Peltier roof none of them were wolves.

It was all crystal clear now.

Making sure to keep his voice even, Fang stepped forward. “For the record, there’s a big difference between a dog and a wolf. The main one being, we heel to no one. Ever.”

Aimee went cold as she remembered Fang’s presence. She froze in Remi’s arms as instant regret tore through her. How could she have forgotten he was here?

She turned and saw the anguish he hid behind an emotionless expression. It burned deep in his eyes. “Fang—”

He vanished before she could finish her apology.

Aimee cursed.
How could I have been so stupid?

The problem was she didn’t include him in the same category as Stone and his crew. And up until she’d met Fang and his pack, Stone was the only wolf she’d ever been around.

Remi tsked at her as Dev took Stone inside. “Guess you hurt his little feelings, huh?”

Aimee had to bite her tongue to keep from telling him to shut up.

I can’t leave it like this.…

Without a word to her brothers, she closed her eyes and zoned in on Fang. He’d manifested not with his pack or brother, but on the lower end of Bourbon Street where he sat on a stoop looking as ill as she felt.

How strange …

*   *   *

Fang sat alone outside of a ubiquitous New Orleans row house as anger, hurt, and hatred burned deep in his stomach. He should just go home.

Yeah, right.…

Vane was being as moody as a teen Gemini on her period after he’d seen some human he was now pining for. Anya was off with her mate and Petra hissed and growled every time she saw him. Alone and lonely, he’d been wandering around the French Quarter, trying to get his bearings on their latest den.

Somehow he’d found his way back to Sanctuary.

No, it wasn’t “somehow.” He’d gone there seeking the one thing he knew he shouldn’t seek.

Aimee. All he’d wanted was just to catch a glimpse of her. He’d told himself that that would be enough to ease the ache inside him. Just one glimpse and he’d be satisfied.

He let out a tired breath. What had he really expected? That Aimee would fall into his arms, strip him naked, and make love to him?

She’s a bear.

You’re a wolf.

No, according to her, he was a filthy dog who should be rounded up and executed.

“Fang?”

He looked up at her gentle voice to see her appear on the street in front of him. “How’d you find me?”

Aimee paused at the hostile tone. “Your scent,” she lied, not willing to tell him about her powers.

“I don’t leave a scent. I know better.”

She shook her head in denial. “You leave a scent.” It’d been branded into her senses the moment he’d kissed her.

“Whatever.” He pushed himself to his feet. “Look, I don’t need any more insults from you or anyone else. I’m over my quota for the day. Just go home and leave me alone.”

She pulled on the sleeve of his jacket to stop him from leaving. “I didn’t mean what I said.”

“Don’t insult my intelligence. I’m not a dog and I heard the sincerity in your tone. You meant
every
word of it.”

She stiffened angrily. “All right, so I meant what I said. Sue me. But it was directed at Stone and his craven bullies. I didn’t even think to include you in that category.”

Yeah, right. How stupid did she think he was? “I don’t believe you.”

Aimee wanted to cry in frustration. But the one thing she knew about pigheaded men … there was no way to change their minds. “Fine. Don’t believe me then.” She let go of his sleeve and held her hands up in surrender. “I don’t even know why I bothered.”

“Why did you bother?” He moved closer to her. So close she was dizzy from it and all she really wanted to do was tuck herself into his arms and feel him hold her.

The scent of his skin filled her head. She could feel the warmth from his body.…

Every piece of her sizzled. There was no other word for it. Maman was right, there was no mistaking this. This was the quickening she was supposed to feel—the overwhelming lure to mate. That one elusive sensation she’d been trying so hard to experience with her kind.

And Fang was the only one who made her feel it.

Damn.

She ground her teeth before she answered with the truth. “I didn’t want you angry at me.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know.” But she did know and that was the most upsetting part of all. She wanted him.

All
of him.

He reached for her. Aimee stood still, wanting that touch. Needing it.

But she couldn’t.
This is so wrong.…

It would crush every person who meant something to her. Everyone she loved.

Stepping back, she bit her lip. “I need to get back and check on Wren. He doesn’t do well around other people or animals.”

“Neither do I.”

She swallowed, then forced herself to vanish.

Fang stood there in the darkness, savoring the last remnants of her scent on the breeze. He wanted to howl over it.

Most of all, he wanted to track her down and ease the pain inside him that wanted to savor every inch of her lush body.

His breathing ragged, it took all his control not to chase after her. But she’d made it clear that she was off-limits to him. He would honor that.

Even if it killed him.

Looking down at the bulge in his jeans, he decided that outcome wasn’t as far-fetched a thought as it should be.

*   *   *

“Stone was captured by the bears … again.”

Eli Blakemore looked up from the book he was reading to pin a menacing glare on his son’s second in command. What was his name? David? Davis? Donald? Dreck?

It didn’t matter. He was born of lesser stock anyway. Unlike
his
lineage, the Arcadian before him came from some unknown Apollite half-wit Eli’s ancestor had experimented on.

Eli’s bloodline came straight from the king of Arcadia himself—from the king’s
eldest
son, no less. That distinction had been impressed upon him from the moment of his birth. Theirs was a sacred duty to show the plebeians how to behave and to police the animals his ancestor should have slaughtered the moment they were created.

And he’d be damned if a group of Katagaria mongrels was going to touch his illustrious son.

Rising to his feet, he set his book down with a calmness he didn’t feel. “Have Varyk come to me.”

The wolf gulped audibly. “Varyk?”

Eli gave him a tight-lipped smile. Varyk was the most lethal werewolf ever born. A natural-born killer, Varyk would be the tool Eli would use to destroy that nest of filth that had infested his city. He was sick of those bears and all they represented.

It was time they took back New Orleans for once and for all. Sanctuary was going to burn to the ground.

And Varyk would light the match.

“Yes. Varyk. Fetch him. Now.”

CHAPTER 7

Aimee was still shaken by her encounter with Fang as she sat beside Wren’s bed. In his tigard form, he lay on his side without moving.

“What happened?”

He blinked twice before he answered.
“I took the trash out and they were waiting for me.”

“What did you do to them?”

“Nothing. I think they were waiting for any one of us to come out. I was just the poor asshole dumb enough to be there.… Sadly enough, I ignored their rampant stupidity until Stone kicked me in the back. Then it was on.”

She stroked his soft fur. As was typical, the wolves had been looking for a fight. “I’m so sorry, Wren.”

He covered her hand with one large paw.
“Don’t be. The gods only know what they’d have done had it been you or Cherise or one of the other females. I’m just pissed off I can’t control my powers enough to give them the fight they should have had.”

She smiled at him as Marvin, his pet monkey, jumped up on the bed to chatter by his pillow. When Wren didn’t move, Marvin leaned forward to hug his large tigard head and stroke one of his pointed ears. Now, that had to be the cutest thing she’d seen in a long time.

“I’ll let you rest. If you need anything, call.”

“Thanks.”

Aimee crossed the room and was careful not to shut the door too hard. Wren hated sharp sounds. She wasn’t sure if it was from his acute hearing or something bad from his childhood. Either way, she wasn’t about to upset him after what he’d been through.

As she neared the stairs, she met her mother who was coming up them with a stern glower.

“Is something wrong?”

Maman curled her lip. “That stupid tigard. I need to ask him why he attacked those wolves.”

Aimee was aghast at the accusation. “He didn’t. They attacked him.”

“So say you and probably him too, but the wolves have a different tale and there are more of them willing to swear to it.”

“They’re lying.”

Maman made a sound of supreme aggravation. “And you would take Wren’s word?”

“You won’t?”

“No.” Maman glared at Wren’s door. “He’s unnatural. Everything about him, right down to that filthy monkey he keeps.”

Then what was Aimee? A Katagari bear who became Arcadian at puberty. One with the tracking powers of a goddess who was currently attracted only to a wolf. You didn’t get more unnatural than that.

Which was why she couldn’t tell her mother the truth about herself. Yes, her mother loved her, but her mother was an animal and their instincts were to kill anything that was different.

“Whatever Wren is, Maman, he’s not a liar. Stone and his group on the other hand … when have they ever been honest?”

“They have sent over an emissary. If I fail to give them Wren, they will go before the Omegrion and say that I’m harboring a danger to all lycanthropes. Have you any idea what could happen? We could lose our license
and
our home.”

“Then give them Stone back. That’s all his father wants anyway. Tell them Wren will be disciplined by us.”