Cherishing Destiny (A Dangerous Destiny) (25 page)

When they were inside warming up, after their naked roll in
the snow, Stephan said, “I tried to catch up to you yesterday, but the snow was
coming down and you don’t leave much for a scent trail.” Ryan would have been
beaming with pride if Stephan hadn’t sounded so serious.  “Right after you left
yesterday a scout from another pack came in with some news that concerns you. 
He said that a
Were
named McPherson sent a message to his pack telling
them that he had dealings with Alexander Lake in Syracuse and that Lake knew he
was a wolf, didn’t tell the Vamp in charge, and wanted McPherson to keep an eye
on the Vamp in charge.  He asked to have him followed, see who he talks to and
the like because Lake is leaving to go back for his wife.” 

Aurora’s breath caught in her throat when she heard that. 

Stephan didn’t even pause. So McPherson agrees to do a
little spying and he finds the ViC, a guy named Gates, meeting with a
Were
-panther
merc.”

“Gates!” Aurora said at the same time Ryan said, “Mercs!”

“Yes.  Gates and mercs.  Can I continue?”

“Sorry,” they both said.

“Anyway Gates meets the panther, a tracker they call the Chief,
and then the panther starts following Lake around.  McPherson puts another wolf
on Gates --he never told Lake about the others. Good Lad.-- and he follows the
panther following Lake.  Lake leaves town and presumably is headed here.  The
Chief passes Lake after a couple of days and is also presumably headed here. Not
sure if he knows exactly where here is, but it looks like he is trying to get
here before Lake.”

Ryan quickly calculated in his head. “So, we have a couple
of days at the least,” he said.  

“At least,” Stephan echoed.

“The snow is on our side.  It will have covered our tracks
and scent before morning much less two or three days from now.  We need to move,”
Ryan said.

“The Alpha and the L.T. won’t like it if you bring a
Vampire to the settlement.  The location is supposed to stay secret.” Stephan
shrugged apologetically at Aurora.

“I know where to go,” Ryan said. “Let’s get everything
together.”

“How will Alex find us?” Sara worried.

Ryan spun her around and steered her toward the supplies.
“I will find him. Now pack.”

Twenty
-six

Alex wasn’t making good time in the deep snow.  He had to lead
the horses, and he had to use the snowshoes to walk.  He was about a half mile
from the cabin when he heard an animal scream.  He could hear some kind of commotion
echoing through the trees, but he could not go any faster.  He cursed and
pushed on as quickly as possible and still it took him over thirty minutes to
get to the cabin in the soft snow. 

He left the horses a short distance into the trees and
approached the clearing carefully.  He could see and smell fresh blood on the
snow in front of the cabin.  He listened but heard nothing.  When he emerged
from the trees he could see that the fresh snow had been torn up by some kind
of struggle, and there appeared to be partial animal tracks in the chaos. 
There was a lot of blood and a trail of it led into the trees opposite him.  He
let himself into the cabin, but it was clear Aurora and the others had moved
on.  There was little left in the place, and the fire was completely cold.  No sign
anyone had been there in days except for whatever had just happened out front. 

He wanted to worry, the classic frown on his face already,
but logic told him that the others had moved somewhere, not been injured or taken. 
Otherwise, they would not have packed up everything and taken it with them.  It
was going to be dark soon, and the snow was not stopping.  He wasn’t bothered
much by the cold, but the horses were struggling in the weather.  He brought
them to the cabin.  They shied and snorted when they smelled the blood and the scent
of the animals that had caused it.  He calmed them and led them inside the one
room cabin.  He lit a low fire to warm the room and let the horses rest inside
out of the weather.  He took the stool that was left and put it outside the
front door to sit and keep watch for whatever had been there so recently. 

Sometime early in the morning, with at least an hour or two
left before dawn, Alex thought he saw a dark shadow moving in the trees.  It
was only one shadow among other shadows, and while his vision was excellent at
night, the blowing snow made it difficult to make anything out.  He watched
until he was sure that there was something moving, and he stayed frozen, where
he was.  He was covered with a light dusting of snow, and he knew it would make
him difficult to spot.  The shadow moved across the clearing, near the bloody
battleground, which was no longer showing much in the fresh snow.  Then
whatever it was stumbled and fell.  It was not moving at all, but Alex waited
for some time before he approached.  He found an enormous black wolf lying
still in the snow.  He could see there were nasty wounds on the animals
shoulder and back.  He was sure by the scent that the wolf was Ryan, but he
couldn’t carry him into the cabin in wolf form.  Even if he could carry the enormous
creature the horses would panic.  He needed Ryan to shift back; he needed him
to wake up.  He wanted to slap his face, but where on a wolf muzzle could you slap
to wake him.  He tried shaking and yelling, but nothing was working.  Finally,
he thought, I’m going to regret this I’m sure, but he extended his fangs and
bit the wolf on the nose.  He let go immediately and sat back, which was lucky
since the wolf roared awake and struck out instinctively.  The huge mouth full
of razor sharp teeth snapped closed less than an inch in front of Alex’s face. 

“Ryan, It’s Alex!” he shouted. “Shift back! It’s Alex!
Shift back!”  The snarling wolf was right in his face, and he thought he was
going to have to fight for his life.  His hand wrapped around the hilt of the
silver sword at his belt.  Just then the wolf abruptly backed off and dropped
his head.  Alex got to watch the transformation up close for the first time and
a little slower than usual.  Fascinating, he thought as he watched the hair
recede into the skin of the man as if growing in reverse.  As soon as the change
was complete the man fell back into the snow where he was sitting.  Alex
grabbed him.

“Ryan,” he called.

“Alex,” Ryan’s speech was slurred and he was squinting at
Alex. “Congrachoolashins” Ryan managed and passed out again. 

Alex carried the
Were
into the cabin, now that he
was in human form.  The others hadn’t left much in the cabin, and he had to use
a horse blanket to lay Ryan on.  As he put the young man down, he noticed the
blood on his hand when he pulled it out from under Ryan.  He remembered the
wounds he’d seen on the beast and he rolled Ryan over so he could examine the
damage.  Like Vampires,
Weres
also healed fast, but these wounds were horrible. 
Alex could see Ryan’s ribs showing between the gaping edges of a slice down his
back.  His shoulder wasn’t much better, and there were dozens of smaller
wounds.  He could see that Ryan’s body was struggling to heal, but he’d lost so
much blood.  Only the smallest wounds were trying to close and even then, they
weren’t healing very fast.   

Alex bit the fleshy part of his own palm and held the wound
open until his hand was full of blood.  He never tried to heal a
Were
before, and he didn’t know if it would work.  On top of that, his healing
powers were diminished.  He saw how long it took when Aurora used her blood on
Sara in the walnut grove. 
Here goes nothing.
He smeared his own blood
directly into the gaping wound down Ryan’s back.  Immediately, red strands of
muscle started to cover over the white bones that had been showing in the
wound.  The progress was slow, but it was working and the bleeding was slowing considerably. 
He repeated the process on the shoulder wound.  He watched the flesh slowly
knitting, and he made his finger bleed and drew little lines of blood over all
of the small cuts he could find on Ryan’s skin. 

It was mid morning before Ryan regained consciousness for a
little bit.  He was still pretty out of it.

“Ryan, can you hear me? How are you feeling?” Alex was
leaning over him looking in Ryan’s face for a sign of recognition.

“Alex?”  Ryan’s voice sounded harsh and scratchy. Alex made
a mental note to melt some snow for water.  Ryan reached up and touched Alex’s
face hovering over his. “Alex yer sssooo  dammm bootifall.” 

Okay then, he’s got the euphoria, so I guess
the blood works pretty well on Weres. 
The Vampire blood Alex had
given Ryan to heal him had a similar effect as the saliva from a Vampire bite. 
It had a tendency to make the recipient euphoric and kind of horny.  Alex
chuckled. 
It’s a good thing he’s not likely to remember this, or he might
hate himself when he wakes up. 

“Yes, Ryan, I’m a sexy man.  Now close your eyes and get
some more rest.” Alex said still laughing quietly. 

Alex woke Ryan just enough to give him a little water in
the afternoon, but then Ryan slept until nearly dawn of the next day.  Alex was
dozing, sitting up against the wall next to Ryan’s head, when Ryan woke up fully
for the first time.

“Alex? Where are we?” Ryan’s voice was like sandpaper.

Alex snapped awake. “We’re in the cabin.”

Ryan was trying to push himself up to sit against the wall
next to Alex.

“Take it easy.” He helped Ryan sit up and held his shoulder
to steady him. 

One of the horses snorted in the middle of the room.  Ryan
looked at it and blinked his eyes a few times to make sure he was not seeing
things.  The horse chose that moment to drop an impressive load on the hardwood
floor with a huge plop.  Ryan looked at Alex and gave him that signature Ryan
smile. “Holy shit, Batman! Aurora’s going to kill you.”

Well he is obviously feeling better.

Ryan was laughing at his own joke, “Oh c’mon now.  You have
to admit that was a little funny.  Vampire… Batman… get it? Oh my god! You are
a hopeless sourpuss.”

“I got it,” Alex said. “You are a laugh riot, especially
after you nearly bit my face off as a wolf and then tried to bleed out all over
my cabin floor. That always puts me in a humorous mood.”

“You mean bleed out on your barn floor from the looks of it,
and I vaguely remember that you were the one who bit my face. Hmm?”

Alex cracked a smile. “Okay, Okay.  You got me.  I did bite
you, and the whole thing was a little comical, especially when you told me how
beautiful I am.”

“What?!  I never !”

“Oh, but you did.  Yes, sir, it was very touching.”

“So I guess that means I don’t get to tell Aurora about the
horse shit on the floor.” Ryan pretended to be disappointed.

“In all seriousness, Ryan, what the hell happened to you
out there? And, if it’s not too much trouble, can you tell me where my wife is?”

“Oh, buddy. Have we got a lot to talk about.  I’m going to
need a little something.  I left a pack out by the trees to the west of the clearing
when I got here, yesterday.  I don’t suppose you could find it?”

Ryan felt better when he had his clothes on again and took
a nip from a flask he dug out of the pack. 

“Just something for the cold,” he said.

“If you’re all comfy and cozy now, do you think you could
tell me what’s going on?”

“Before we waste a lot of time, I heard about where you’ve
been recently,” Ryan said. “So, I’m going to assume you know about most of
what’s happening out there.  What you don’t know, I think you might want to sit
down for.”

“Chrissakes, Ryan! Spit it out!” Alex’s patience was worn
thin.

“Aurora’s pregnant.” Ryan paused and waited.

“What did you just say?”

“Aurora is preg-nant”

“That’s not possible.” Alex sat down on the stool with a
thud.

“It is now, and she’s not the only one.  I took her and
Sara to a lodge near here. They are safe.” Ryan said.

“What lodge?”

“About half a day to the Southwest of here.

“I think I know it.” Alex felt like his head was spinning. 
“Wait, what do you mean, she’s not the only one.”

“Apparently, at least four other Vampires in the villages
are pregnant.” Ryan shrugged.

“That is insane.  I need to see Aurora as soon as possible
and get back to Syracuse to investigate the meaning of this.” Alex stood and
started pacing.

“Whoa. Slow down. I think you better hear the rest of this
before you decide to go rushing back.”

“What else?” Alex stopped pacing.

“A few days ago, I understand you met a
Were
by the
name of McPherson.”

“Yes, I did.  But, how did you know that?”

“Never mind that for a minute.  McPherson started following
your buddy Gates around, and Gates met with a panther merc.”

Alex said. “Gates is not my buddy, and I asked Mac to check
up on him.  He told me that Gates was meeting mercs.” He waved his hand
impatiently gesturing for more.

“McPherson followed the panther from the meeting.”