Drantos (VLG Series Book 1) (13 page)

“I still don’t understand why he wants Bat so badly.”

“I told you.”

“Tell me again.”

“Decker grew greedy as he aged. Now he wants to rule all four of the clans. He probably got fed up with our interference, like when he wanted to kill the humans who lived by his borders. The three clans let him know they wouldn’t allow it to happen. He can’t win a fight against us without the GarLycans fighting on his side.”

“Why haven’t the other three clans just attacked him and ended the threat?”

Drantos paused, staring at her. “Don’t think it hasn’t been discussed. It has. No one wants to fight their family though. And as I said, some of us are connected by bloodlines to his clan. The lives lost would be many. We try to avoid war.” He stabbed the raw fish onto sticks, dangling it over the fire to cook.

The smell had her stomach rumbling. She let his words sink in. It was tempting to keep arguing with him in hopes he’d see how illogical it all sounded but the smell of food distracted her. She’d rather eat. “I am so hungry.”

He finally passed her a stick. “Careful. It’s hot. Don’t burn your mouth.”

She almost drooled as she blew on the fish, taking a tiny bite. It wasn’t seasoned or the best she’d ever tasted, but it was still good. “Thank you.”

He turned his back to her to cook more. “Tell me about
your
life.”

She debated on answering but felt a little generous, what with warm food in her belly that
he’d
provided. “There’s not much to say. I work a regular nine-to-five job in an office as a secretary. I live alone. I don’t get to see my sister that much so I jumped at the chance to come with her when she said she was taking time off work.”

He glanced back. “Even though you hated who she was planning to visit?”

“Especially because of him. No way did I want her to be alone with that jack off. Bat comes off as tough as hell but she’s really not. I didn’t want him to get past her defenses just because he’s family. She expects him to be grandfatherly and I think it would hurt her deeply when she sees him for what he is. It would really mess up her head. I wanted to be there for her.”

“Weren’t you worried he’d hurt your feelings if he was still cold to you?”

“My expectations of him are as low as they can be. Nothing he could do or say would surprise me unless he turns out to be a nice guy. He wasn’t there when we needed him. Bat hired a private detective to get his phone number after our parents died, thinking he’d help us. She called him, sure he’d send us money. He didn’t. He offered to send her a plane ticket. Just one. He told her to hand me over to foster care; as if she would ever just abandon me. My sister would never do that. It made her mad but she thought he might be broke or something. But the detective said he was rich. That blew her best excuse.”

“He didn’t come after her?”

“Bat had been accepted to college and had planned to live in a dorm. All that changed when our parents died. The state tried to come in and take me. They didn’t feel Bat was mature enough to be my guardian. She’d just turned eighteen and graduated from high school. We listed the house for a lower price to get it sold within days and moved out of state. She switched colleges so we’d be a little harder to track if social services looked for me. We lived in some really crappy places but they didn’t ask for background checks. Most of the money went to her books, her classes, and I worked part time to help pay our bills.”

“That sounds difficult.”

“It was but we were together. That’s all that mattered.”

“How did your parents die?”

Dusti hated the pain that surfaced when she thought about the evening the police had knocked on their door. “My parents had a date night. They’d go out to dinner and a movie once a week.” She swallowed hard. “A semi-truck ran a red light and slammed into their car on their way home. They were both killed instantly. It had been raining and the cops said the driver had hit the brakes but skidded into the intersection.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”

She looked up at him. “Thanks. Bat was my rock. I completely fell apart but she held it together for the both of us. We were terrified when social services showed up after the funeral. As I said, they wanted to take me away but Bat knew what to do. She always does. She told them about our grandfather and lied by saying he was coming to live with us. It bought us enough time to disappear. At least he was useful to us in that way, having a blood relative who was alive.”

“Was she angry that he only offered to take her in?”

“Furious, but she said he was old. Like that excused what he did. She felt he might be afraid to take on a teenager with two years of school left, which means he’d be stuck helping to raise me.”

“She probably wanted to try to make you feel better,” Drantos guessed.

“No. She really wanted to think he was just an old man set in his ways, albeit a selfish one. It pisses me off too. She had the detective run his criminal history but he didn’t have one. That seemed to make him a decent guy to her. She believes we should make peace with him because he’s technically family since we’re related by blood. It helps that he’s rich, and she hopes he might leave us something in his will. Money is important to her.”

“But not to you?”

“It doesn’t buy happiness. My sister should know that. She gets the big bucks for doing her job but she’s miserable. She’ll deny that but she can’t lie to
me
. I know her too well. It’s as if she thinks if she makes enough money, it will make up for the past. And it represents security to her in case anything tragic ever happens again.”

“Was the loss of your parents what made her that way?”

Dusti sighed. “It was a combination of things. It was really tough after our parents died. Bat would have had to fight social services to get me back if they’d taken me away. It would have eaten up all the money from the sale of the house to take them to court. I know she would have done it though. And then living like we did until I hit eighteen was rough. There were cockroaches and the neighbors were less than stellar. The cops were hauling them off on a daily basis. They were either drug dealers, hookers, or addicts who wouldn’t hesitate to slit your throat if they thought you had money to steal to get their next fix. That’s putting it lightly.

“It made her feel guilty because we had to live that way until she could finish getting her law degree, but that wasn’t the most important reason. It was because those places made it tougher for us to be found. We moved back to California and into a nice place when she got her first job.
Then
she met someone who ripped her up.”

“She was attacked?” Drantos frowned. “By what?”

“
Who
. She fell in love with this pretty-boy type who was too charming, if you get my drift. She gave him her heart and he really screwed her over. He stole her credit cards to rack up a shitload of debt. The jerk was buying other women jewelry, taking them out to fancy dinners, and fucking them in hotel rooms she ended up paying for. She really thought he loved her and never realized he was a leach until it was too late. It was how he lived. He’d pretend to love one woman, all the while stealing from her while looking for another with more money. Like she was just a stepping stone to something better. He was gone by the time the collection agencies began calling. He’d stolen her identity, racked up a bunch of credit cards she knew nothing about until the bill collectors began to call. He'd had the statements sent somewhere else.”

Dusti still got pissed, remembering what had happened to her sister. “She felt like a fool and utterly devastated. He’s the man she believed she’d spend the rest of her life with. It took her a year to clear up that financial mess and it deeply embarrassed her. She changed after that.”

“She grew less trusting.”

“It was more than that. It turned her mean. She began going on the offense. She never allowed anyone to get close to her again. She keeps everyone at arm’s length by being a total bitch. It’s pissed some people off enough to want to lash out at her. Her law firm employs bodyguards to protect her.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Bodyguards?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Her bosses wouldn’t pay for protection while she was on vacation or they’d still be with us.”

“She really has bodyguards?”

“She defends bad guys for a living who people love to hate. It makes her a target for a lot of nut jobs. Maybe they think if she dies, whoever she’s defending at the time might end up in prison. It’s not as if she’s some sweetheart of a person who apologizes for what she does, either. She tells them to kiss her ass.”

Drantos chuckled.

“It’s not funny. Bat is too good at her job. Once trials have ended, some of her own
clients
have made death threats. That’s not a surprise, though. They’re assholes and thugs with the mentality that nobody should stand up to them, especially a woman. But you’ve met her. I think the shock of the crash has actually mellowed her out a bit. Imagine how angry my sister can make people when she’s normal.”

A smile played at his lips. “Kraven probably can.”

She didn’t smile back. “Please tell me he’s got the patience of a saint.”

“He won’t hurt her, Dusti. I give you my word.”

What is his word really worth?
She could only hope Bat was safe.

Drantos watched Dusti eat. She looked miserable and worried. “Your sister is safe,” he swore. “Kraven will protect her and make sure she’s cared for. He won’t let anything happen to her.”

She still didn’t look convinced. He ate quickly, studying the area. There had been no sign of trouble so far. That didn’t mean things couldn’t change. Decker’s men might have already located the crash site and begun to hunt for their trail. They would be able to move faster without two women slowing them down but he hoped they still had hours before they could catch up. It would help when they crossed the large body of water.

He needed to get Dusti across the river without getting her drenched. She would become cold once night fell. He scanned the sky. They had some daylight left but only a few hours. He needed to put out the fire and build some kind of raft. She could hold his clothes while he paddled her across to the other side. A few logs tied together should work.

He glanced at Dusti, wondering how she’d react when he got her home and proved that everything he’d told her was true. He’d need to shift forms and hope she didn’t see him as a monster. It might kill every ounce of attraction she felt for him if all he inspired was terror.

He stifled a groan. He wanted to get her naked in the worst way. Memories of the evening before flashed through his mind. Her responses to his touch had driven him out of his mind. Pure lust and animal instincts had taken control. His dick hardened just thinking about how she’d felt under him and how hot she’d gotten when he’d been touching her.

He couldn’t wait to get her home so he could stop fighting his desire to make love to her. He’d have plenty of time to seduce Dusti then and teach her exactly what was between them. She’d learn they were meant to be together and exactly how different from human men he really was. He wouldn’t have to hold back anything.

He just hated that he’d frightened her the night before. She had no idea how much passion their Lycan blood could inspire.

Why in the hell didn’t her mother tell her the truth?
It still pissed him off. Everything would have been so much easier if Dusti had known about VampLycans and the kind of real danger Decker posed. He wouldn’t be taking verbal abuse about his state of sanity or worried that she’d refuse to give a relationship between them a chance once she saw him shift forms.

She would fight him every step of the way until she realized everything he’d told her was the truth. Maybe shifting for her wasn’t such a bad idea. He debated it but quickly came to the conclusion he was right before; it would terrify her even more. Long term, it wasn’t worth it. She’d already endured enough trauma. It was best to allow her to think he was a little crazy, rather than her seeing him as some kind of horrific monster. She’d resist harder against her attraction to him. That was the last thing he wanted.

Time spent together would help. She’d get to know him better and he’d be able to earn her trust. He just needed to be more patient and not lose his temper when he became frustrated. He regretted swatting her ass, never meaning to cause her pain. It was a reminder that he needed to be gentler when he touched her. He never imagined his mate would be half human. It didn’t bother him but it did change things. Her skin was more delicate and sensitive than the women he had become accustomed to.

I’ll get her home and we’ll work this out. She’ll have to accept me.

He studied the moving river. That was the obstacle he needed to face next. He’d just take one problem at a time.

“Stay here and finish eating that fish, Dusti. I need to find a few fallen logs.”

“For what?”

He jerked his thumb toward the water. “To cross that.”

“You’re determined to get me killed, aren’t you?”

He closed the distance between them and crouched. She flinched when he reached out and brushed his fingers down her cheek but didn’t totally pull away. She grimly held his gaze.