Drantos (VLG Series Book 1) (32 page)

“I won’t. I didn’t really have that great of a life in Los Angeles. I’m just uncertain about this new one.”

“I promise we’ll be happy together. I won’t travel anymore on missions. Mated males stay near home. The responsibility will go to someone else to hunt down lawbreakers. I’ll be assigned duties here within the clan to keep me close to you.”

“I hadn’t even thought about that but I’m glad to hear it. I really wouldn’t want to be left here alone while you’re out of town. I don’t know anyone and I feel kind of like a sore thumb”

“You’re part of this clan. You’ll make friends and they’ll accept you. We’ll be happy, Dusti. I’ll make certain of it.”

“I believe you. I’m not uncertain about you and me. For the first time in my life, I know what home feels like. It’s here in your arms. It’s just that I don’t know about the rest of your people.”

Drantos smiled. It melted her heart.

“It’s this whole VampLycan thing,” she admitted.

“You’ll adjust. We’re not monsters. Sleep now. You’re tired. We’ll deal with all this tomorrow.”

She nodded and tucked her head against his chest again. Drantos brushed a gentle kiss on the top of her head, then snuggled her closer. She closed her eyes but worry for Bat still bothered her. Drantos rubbed her back, the caresses eventually lulling her to sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Nightmares woke Dusti a few times during the night. It wasn’t a mystery what caused them. It was tough to wrap her mind around her new mate being punished and the barbaric method used. But Drantos healed at a phenomenal rate every time she checked on his injured back. It just emphasized the fact that he wasn’t human. No normal person could recover that fast.

First his skin no longer appeared split where the whip had struck. Then scabs formed but were gone within a few hours, just leaving angry red lines. Around dawn, those marks were so faint she felt the need to trace her fingertip over them just to be certain her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.

Drantos slept heavily and she still felt anger that he’d been punished for something stupid. VampLycan laws were too foreign to her. It made her worry about what she could accidently do or say that might get him into trouble. She eased out of bed finally and decided to give herself a tour of his house. She put on one of Drantos's oversized shirts. It fell to mid thigh on her.

It was a nice place and well built. She liked the wood beams along the ceiling in the living room and the fireplace was beautiful. It looked as if he’d used river rocks, which ran from the hardwood floor all the way up to the ceiling.

She ended up in his kitchen. It was modern but she was more interested in finding something to eat than exploring the rest of his home. She settled on a bowl of microwavable oatmeal and sat at the counter. Two barstools made a nice eating area that separated the kitchen from the living room.

As she ate, she thought about her new circumstances. Her life would never be the same. She’d agreed to be Drantos’s mate and that meant having to adjust to life in Alaska with a bunch of VampLycans. It was tough to wrap her mind around the reality of them even existing.

Mom, why didn’t you tell us what you were?

There had been no reason for Drantos to lie to her about that. Decker Filmore was a VampLycan and way worse than just a shitty grandfather. He was some kind of supernatural villain. She didn’t blame her mother for running away but she should have told her daughters the truth. It stung and left Dusti feeling hurt.

Had her dad known? How could her mom hide it from the man she loved and lived with? It made her feel as if her entire childhood had been a lie.

The pain settled in deep and she wished her sister were with her to discuss it. What did Bat think about Aveoth wanting to take her as his lover? How was she adjusting? Did she finally understand that Decker Filmore was a complete asshole? Were they okay? Was Bat scared? Angry?

Frustration rose at the lack of answers. She worried about Bat. She just hoped they were safe, wherever they were.

She finished the oatmeal and washed the bowl. Her gaze traveled around the kitchen. It was her new home. She bit her lip and had to admit the roomy log home was way nicer than her crappy apartment back in California.

“Dusti?”

She turned to face Drantos. He was awake, just wearing a pair of low-hipped silky boxer shorts. His hair was mussed from sleep and the expression on his face uncertain.

“Morning.”

“You look so sad.” He closed the distance between them, studying her eyes. “What’s wrong? Tell me.”

“I was just thinking about things.”

He reached out and put his hands on her hips. “Do you regret becoming my mate?”

She didn’t have to think about it. Her feelings for him left her no doubt. “No. Never.”

“What is it then?”

“I was thinking about Bat, my parents, just everything.”

He pulled her closer until she was gently resting against his body. “Kraven will take care of your sister. He’ll send word when he feels it’s safe. We have a strong sibling bond, and he knows Bat has one with you. He won’t wish us to be concerned.”

“As if getting a message to us will be enough. I just want this mess to be over.”

“Aveoth is a skilled hunter and you heard him say he will go after Decker. He always keeps his word.”

“I almost feel sorry for the old bastard but not quite.”

Drantos arched his eyebrows.

“That Aveoth guy is pretty scary.”

“Yes, he is.”

“Can you move as fast as he did? I swear I blinked and he was somewhere else.”

“It’s a Gargoyle trait.”

“His skin changed color and texture, too. Another Gargoyle trait?”

“Yes.”

“And he flies? I heard you mention that when we were talking about the plane crash. How does that work? He’s huge.”

“It’s hard to explain.”

“I’m not going anywhere. We have time. This is my new world, I should learn about it. Those GarLycan things are our neighbors, right?”

Drantos took her hands and backed up, leading her into the living room. He had her take a seat on the couch and he lit the fireplace. She liked the way it made the room feel cozy as he sat next to her.

“Gargoyles can blend into their surroundings by camouflaging their bodies to appear rock-like, and they can harden their skins into rigid outer shells. It makes fighting them really tough when you can’t pierce their skins easily. They also become denser when they do that. I don’t know how it really works but when Aveoth sprouts his wings, his skin takes on a kind of less dense structure.”

“He sprouts wings?”

“Yes. I’ve seen him do it when we were younger. They are concealed near his shoulder blades. In human form you can’t see them. The skin seals to look perfectly normal on his back, but these flaps open and his wings elongate and expand outward.”

“That’s so strange.” She took his hands, needing that connection. “And you change forms.”

“Yes.”

“It sounds painful when you do it.”

“We adjust. It’s not the most comfortable experience at first but with time it becomes much easier. It doesn’t hurt me.”

“Are you totally you when you have hair and a tail?”

“I’m always me.”

“You know what I mean.”

He grinned. “Yes. I was attempting to tease you into laughter. You look so serious. I’m still the same person, regardless of my shape. I admit I feel a little closer to nature when I have claws. I’d never hurt you if that’s your concern. I’m able to rationally think.”

“I believe that. You seemed like you when you gave me a ride here on your back.”

“Good.”

Dusti hesitated. “What about your Vampire side? What do you get from that? I know your saliva can heal your bites, and the sun doesn’t bother you. You’re really tan.”

“Slower aging. I don’t need blood to survive and the sun isn’t a weakness. I’m mostly Lycan. That bloodline runs stronger in our family.”

“But I’m the opposite.”

“You need some blood to keep you healthy.”

“That’s still gross.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think so. Do you need me to show you how sexy it can be again?”

Just remembering what they’d done together when he fed her his blood had her adjusting her position on the couch, inching closer to him. Drantos turned her on so much. “It’s going to take some time before I stop hating the sight of blood but I guess it’s something I’d better get over.”

“You’ve been very brave about this.”

“And a pain in the ass.” She felt regret. “I thought you were insane.”

“It was annoying but understandable. I put myself in your shoes and it had to sound as if I had lost my mind when I told you about things you’ve only seen in movies and books. The information they give isn’t accurate in most cases.”

“Right. You don’t shift into a hell beast and go all bat-shit homicidal.”

He laughed again. “No. I don’t.”

She envied him his light mood. “I keep trying to figure out how I’m going to fit in here. I need some kind of job to help pay the bills and a way to retrieve all my stuff from my apartment.”

“You don’t need a job. You’re my mate. It’s my duty to take care of you. I’ll hire someone to go clean out your apartment and drive your belongings here. We have a few Lycan packs who work with us from time to time. They are related by blood to some of us.”

“I take it that I won’t be able to go do that myself?”

“No. It’s too dangerous with Decker still loose.”

“Fantastic. Werewolves are going to be packing my underwear.” She grimaced. “Okay.”

“I’m sure they’ll be professional about it. It’s the only way to get your things here.”

“I wasn’t bitching. It was more like me saying it aloud because I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.”

He laughed. “I love that you’re keeping your sense of humor.”

“I’m trying.” She paused. “I’m a housewife now? I have to warn you that my cooking skills aren’t the best and I’m not a huge fan of cleaning.”

“We’ll share the housework and I can teach you how to prepare meals. It will be fun cooking together.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m an enforcer for my father.”

“Does that pay enough to keep the lights on?”

He looked highly amused. “Yes.”

“Is it like a nine-to-five job?”

“No. We’re assigned shifts to patrol and sometimes I was sent on missions, like finding you and your sister.”

“Is it dangerous living here or something? Do bears and rabid squirrels attack?”

He chuckled again.

“I’m not trying to be funny.” She shrugged. “I’m just clueless.”

“We don’t have an issue with rabid squirrels. Bears wandering into our territory are persuaded to move on. We live in harmony with nature but we can’t exactly have them trying to get inside our homes to go after food. We keep all the dangerous predators distanced from us.”

“So that’s what you do? You scare away mean animals?”

“We also make certain no one trespasses in our territory. Humans like to do that sometimes to hunt. Nobody enjoys being shot at when a poacher mistakes us for a wolf.”

“That happens?”

“Rarely. We patrol so it doesn’t.”

“What do you do with them?”

“We scare them off. They’re told this is protected land, a sanctuary, and private property. VampLycans always try to keep the peace.”

“What if they aren’t easy to scare and refuse to leave?”

“We use our ability to control their minds and implant that they never wish to return.”

“Does that always work?”

“Yes, so far.”

“Is it a dangerous job?”

“It can be, but I’m damn hard to kill, Dusti. I don’t want you to worry when I go out on patrol.”

“You heal really fast.”

“Yes. It would be very difficult for something to sneak up on me too.”

The memory of him confronting the hell beast that had found them near the river flashed in her mind. “You’re also obviously a good fighter.”

“I am. I’ve been trained how to defend myself since I could walk.”

“Speaking of, you said VampLycans age slowly. Does that mean if we ever have kids that they’ll take forever to grow up?”

“We age the same way humans do when we’re very young, growth accelerates for a few years, then slows again once we are through puberty.”

“So we could have a baby and it’s going to want to move out when it’s ten years old?”

He laughed. “Not quite that fast. Most of our children begin building their own homes when they’re nearing their eighteenth birthdays. That’s the age of consent to take a mate. We want to make certain they are trained well enough to survive on their own. It’s just that we learn things faster than a human would.”

“Like what?”

He sobered. “I could walk at six months. Human children usually don’t do that until they’re a year old.”

“Wow.” She was stunned. Then she had a horrible thought. “Shit.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m going to grow old faster than you are.”

He shook his head. “I’m going to share my blood with you, and you already look younger than your actual age. You do have some VampLycan traits, even though they are faint. We tend to live so much longer than humans because of our ability to heal so quickly. By giving you blood, it will help slow your aging process.”

She sighed. “That’s good. I was picturing me looking ninety and you still being hot. That’s something I really wasn’t looking forward to for either of us.”

“You think I’m hot?” he asked, grinning.

She glanced at his chest. “Scorching hot.” She met his gaze again. “And you know it.”

He leaned in closer. “Show me.”

Arousal coursed through her body. She moved, straddling his lap. He leaned back and his big hands cupped her ass through the shirt she wore. Total awareness of Drantos was an exhilarating experience. Her heart raced, her skin felt as if it were super-sensitized, and the need to be skin to skin with him became almost overpowering.

The front door opened and Dusti gasped, twisting her head.

Drantos stood, lifting her with him so fast it made her head spin. He turned slightly, putting his body between her and the man who entered. The sudden appearance of bright sunlight blinded her for a second until she blinked a few times, then was able to identify their guest.