Feral Awakening (The Feral Series-Book 2) (22 page)

 “Sending Ronan is a
horrible idea. I think that it is safe to assume that if Ava is with him and
unharmed at this point then he recognizes her as his mate and doesn’t want to
deliberately harm her. So the problem with this feral is that he is protecting
his mate. He isn’t going to let any male within miles of her, brother or not. He
may however let a female. He will be less likely to see me as a threat.”

 “Finally, Ava knows
me. We are like sisters and when we team up on things we are unstoppable. I may
not even have to get the medallion to Teagan. If I can get it to Ava, she can
work with us to get it back on Teagan. Frankly I think you guys are
underestimating the power of a little female persuasion here. If you go at him
with guns blazing he will respond in kind and people will get hurt. I think Ava
and I are your best shot here.”

 “Kat, you do realize
if you are wrong, you will be no match for him. You would be dead before you
even realize what hit you.” Ethan’s tone was grave but at least he hadn’t said
no yet.

 “I understand.” Kat
held her breath, she didn’t know Ethan well but surely Victor’s top soldier
would see that the odds of success would be better if they let her handle this.
When he still didn’t answer she decided it was time to play hardball.

 “Look, I’m not giving
in on this. I’ll ditch this radio and hunt down Ava and Teagan myself if I have
to. We don’t have time to waste here. This will go a lot faster if you just
work with me.”

 Kat could just imagine
what the men on the other side of the radio were saying. She knew how much it
must be driving the alpha males crazy that she was daring to defy them. Kat
tilted her chin up a little higher at the thought. Ha, it will be good for
them.

 Ethan finally broke
the radio silence. “Okay. Let’s do it.” Ronan’s roar echoed over the radio
waves before Ethan could pull his finger back off the button. Kat could only
imagine what was going on while she waited for Ethan’s directions. Several
tense moments passed by before Ethan came back on the radio. He sounded strange
though, like he was winded or something. Kat could imagine what had him winded.
One enraged Lykan.

 “Alright Kat. I want
you to take Y-10 East for twenty seven miles. When you get there I need you to
pull off the road and take the truck into the woods next to the road if you
can. We don’t want any good samaritans pulling over to help you and getting
themselves mixed up in this. You’ll be on foot from there. Hope you’re up for a
hike.”

 Kat smiled at the
last.
Ethan, you have no idea.
“Not a problem.”

 “We are going to continue
to close on your location. You’re going to need to hurry; we are running out of
time. Now that night has fallen, Teagan and Ava are on the move again. He has
changed direction and is headed due north with her, there is a campground
directly in his path. We are going to have to intercept him before he comes in
contact with any civilians.” Kat could hear the unspoken
“or else”
in
Ethan’s voice. If she couldn’t stop him, they would.

 Kat had hidden her
truck on the side of the road like Ethan said and then called in so he could
direct her to Teagan. The men had made up quite a bit of time and wouldn’t be
too far behind her. She could imagine how much faster they were moving than her
poor old Ford had been. It didn’t really matter though. She needed to do this
alone.

 She alternated between
running and walking through the dense woods.  She was amazed at how well she
could see in the dark of the night. She was going as fast as she could but
sometimes the undergrowth slowed her progress. For now she focused on the trail.
If she let her mind wander to what she was about to do she would become
paralyzed with fear.

 Ethan’s voice broke
through the silence of the woods. “You’re doing great Kat your about two miles
from intercepting them. Stay on course and you will soon come to a clearing in
the woods. I believe at the pace you are moving, you should cross their path
there. We will maintain radio silence from now on.”

 “Understood.”

 Kat continued to run the
last two miles and then came to a bone jarring stop as she suddenly found
herself in a large clearing. Dam, Ethan’s directions had been dead on. Kat silently
cursed the new supernatural speed that had her skidding into the clearing with
little warning. Quickly recovering, she frantically scanned the clearing in
front of her.

 There, across the
clearing from her stood an immense feral werewolf, he was crouched protectively
in front of a small dark haired woman. “Ava.” Kat gasped in relief. This was
it.

 God, the feral was
just as terrifying and enormous as the last one. He was staring right at her
and snarling in rage.
Oh God, he’s going to attack me! I need more time!

 Kat could see Ava
desperately grab the back of the feral, trying to hold him back. Kat almost
snorted at Ava’s puny attempt to stop a feral.
Oh sweetie, you and I both
know that will never work but thank you for trying.
Kat knew that she
needed to look the part of the submissive female and immediately lowered her
eyes to the ground. Slowly she sank to her knees before him, hoping the gesture
would keep him from charging. 

 Ava clung to Teagan’s
back. She could feel the rage radiating from the beast in front of her. He mind
struggled with what her eyes were seeing. It was Kat! How was this possible? How
could her best friend be the Lykan that had been sent to help Teagan?

 Teagan scented the
air, the female’s scent was strangely familiar. She smelled of Lykan, she
smelled of… his brother. It was a trap. There was no way this female could be
bonded to his brother. The raging beast roared to life from within Teagan’s
chest. He wanted her to leave. He wanted her to run.

  He threw his clawed
hands out to his sides and roared his rage at the female werewolf. Ava longed
to cover her ears but didn’t dare let go of him for even a second.

 Poor Kat had lowered
herself to her knees and bowed her head. She looked so small and defenseless,
Ava was terrified for her friend. Kat obviously knew her way around male Lykans
as she had placed herself in a submissive and nonthreatening position. Ava
could see her brave friend’s hands shaking in her lap.

 It wasn’t working, Ava
realized as terror shot through her system. Teagan wasn’t backing down and
instead was becoming more enraged that his roar hadn’t sent the little female
running. To her horror, Ava could feel Teagan began to snap.

 The feral’s roar had
left Kat’s hands shaking and yet she held her ground.  She knew he was probably
trying to get her to run. She knew better though, never run from a Lykan, they
loved the chase. Fear splintered through her veins like shards of ice when Ava
suddenly screamed as the beast broke free of her desperate hold and charged
straight at Kat.

 Time seemed to freeze
and then tick by in agonizingly slow motion, one frame at a time.

 
No!
Kat’s
instincts told her to fight but there was no time. She could do nothing but
wait to feel its razor sharp teeth sinking into her flesh.

 Watching the scene
play out in front of her, Ava didn’t think she just reacted. Just as the
massive feral werewolf reached his prey a small body collided with his, trying
to come between him and his target. He reacted instinctively and swatted the
obstacle out of his way with a slash of razor sharp claws. Reaching his prey,
he drew back his claws, ready to attack and froze. The warm vanilla scent of
his mate’s blood flooded his senses.

 Immediately he turned
his cold black eyes towards the scent and roared with pain. His mate’s tiny
form lay broken on the hard forest floor. Blood poured from four large gashes
across her ribcage. Her small body had been carelessly thrown next to a large
rock and blood ran freely form a cut on her head.

 Abandoning his
quivering prey he raced to his mate. Gathering her limp body into his arms he
threw his dark head back and howled at the waning moon.
He
had done this
to her. It was his mate’s blood that stained his black claws. Blinded by the
rage that constantly threatened to consume him he hadn’t realized it was his
mate that had come between him and his target.

 Even in this feral
form his anguish consumed him. Wrapping his large body protectively around his
mate, he held her in his arms. In his grief he forgot about the little female
that now moved cautiously closer to them.

 With shaking hands Kat
pulled the medallion out of the pocket of her jacket, she let the chain dangle
from her shaking fingertips. With a snarl, Teagan turned to face her, still
cradling Ava in his arms. His snarl slid from his face when he realized what
the little female held in her hands.

 His medallion. Black
eyes watched her with caution as he quieted.

 “Teagan, I’m here to
help you.” Her voice shook with nerves. Kat was careful to keep her distance
and kept her eyes downcast. She wanted to make sure he didn’t see her as a
threat again.

 Ava moaned and her
head rolled to the side but she still didn’t wake up. Teagan looked at the
little female in his arms and the damage he had done to her.

 Kat wanted to rush to
her injured friend’s side but she couldn’t. That blow would have surely killed
her had she been human. But Ava was no longer human. It was something that Kat
still couldn’t comprehend. How had something like this happened to her best
friend? Kat had been so preoccupied with her own problems that she hadn’t been
there when Ava had needed her the most. But she was here for her now. She
wouldn’t let her down again. She would get Ava out of this mess or die trying.

 She had to make the
feral understand. Kat quickly realized the feral’s biggest weakness was his
mate and her werewolf instincts pushed her to move in for the kill.

 “You hurt your mate.” Kat
wasn’t sure how much he understood but pressed on anyway. “You can’t protect
her in this form. She is in danger from
you
! You can’t care for her.”

 Teagan’s eyes met hers
and Kat was surprised to see pain darken his feral expression.
Please god,
let me get through to him.

 “If you remain in this
form, you will only hurt her again. You have to put the medallion back on.” Teagan
raised his lip and snarled at her. The beast inside of him liked being free. It
raged at the thought of being caged again. He was strong, he was powerful and
nothing could stop him. He could keep his mate safe… but then who would protect
her from him?

 “Look at her Teagan! Maybe
next time you will kill her. Is that what you want? Is your freedom worth the
life of your mate because that is what it will come down to. You are going to
have to choose. The beast or your mate.”

 Kat dared to inch
closer to Teagan, holding his medallion out to him. Hesitantly he reached one
giant arm out toward Kat. His black claws unfurled as he opened his hand. Holding
her breath, Kat leaned closer and dropped the medallion into his outstretched
palm. 

 With a soft moan of
pain, Ava’s blue eyes struggled to open and bring the world into focus. Bringing
Teagan’s dark lupine face into focus above hers she froze. The scent of his
mates fear washed over him. For a moment she struggled weakly to get away from
him. Pain shattered the rage that always seemed to hover so near to the
surface.
My mate fears me. She wants to run from me.

 “Kat! Where’s Kat?”

 “Ava, don’t move. I’m
fine.” Kat longed to look at her friend but didn’t dare to take her eyes off of
Teagan.

 “Oh, thank god.” Her
voice cracked with relief and tears gathered in her eyes. She had been sure
Teagan was going to harm her friend. She didn’t understand how Kat had ended up
in the clearing or how it was possible that she was a werewolf but she was
relieved to have her help. If there was one person in the world she could count
on in a moment like this it was Kat.

 Ava looked up into her
mates eyes. Responding to his pain she instinctively reached out to sooth him. Reaching
one delicate hand towards him she ran her palm over his lupine cheek.

 Teagan closed his eyes
as fuzzy images of her smiling up at him running the palm of her hand across
his beard struggled to shatter the fog of his feral mind.

 Gently he laid her
down on the forest floor. Ava gasped as the slight movement sent sharp pain
shooting across her ribs. Her eyes widened when he opened his hand and held the
medallion in front of his chest.

 
His
black eyes looked down at her, lying broken and bleeding on the forest floor
and then focused once more on the shimmering medallion. Holding the chain that
his medallion was suspended on he took a deep breath in and placed it around
his neck.

 Neither Kat nor Ava
dared to breathe as they watched the beast put the enchanted medallion back
around his neck. The celtic symbol on the medallion began to glow a bright
blue. Taking two stumbling steps back from Ava, Teagan struggled as the power
of the medallion surged painfully through his system.

 Even though he had
placed the medallion around his neck of his own free will the beast still
fought the confinement. Throwing back his head the beast roared its frustration
and anger to the night sky. Snarling he fell to his knees as his body was
enveloped by a bright blue light. He fought a painful internal battle to keep
from ripping the medallion off of his neck again.