Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (11 page)

Victor
stood and held his hand out to Ava, his eyes had turned a striking shade of
silver, just like hers had done the other day. Taking his hand Ava allowed him
to pull her over to the young man. Victor placed her next to Chad on the couch
and then sat in the leather chair next to them.

“Victor
I really don’t think I can do this. What if I… what if I… become crazed, you
know, like Salvatore.” Ava looked at him with fear in her eyes.  

“You
will not hurt him Ava. Did I harm Emily? You can do this.” Ava looked over
apprehensively at the young man sitting next to her on the couch. He was very
handsome and young and he looked at her in eager anticipation. “Come Ava, sit
by me.”
What exactly had Victor said to him during his thrall
? Chad
patted the couch next to his leg. Ava glanced at Victor who nodded his approval
and waved her on with a flick of his wrist. Ava took a deep breath for courage
and stiffly moved closer to the young man. Chad covered the hand she clenched
in her lap and gave it a pat. “It’s okay, you won’t hurt me.” He smiled at her
sweetly which only made Ava feel even more guilty for what she was about to do.
This is just so wrong!

Ava
looked back at Victor. “Okay, now what.” She was trying to appear brave but
Victor still heard the quiver in her voice.

“There
is nothing to fear Ava. You will not harm him. I will be with you the whole
time. Let’s just start out slowly. Just lean into him and place your face close
to his neck. You don’t have to bite him, just take in his scent.” Victor calmly
instructed her from the chair he sat in directly across from them.

Chad
leaned a little closer to her and tilted his head to the side eagerly. Ava
sighed in resignation and awkwardly did as she was told.
Okay, I have to do
this. This is my life now. I am a vampire. I can do this.
Leaning into Chad
she placed her face in the bend of his neck. She felt ridiculous.
I can’t
believe I’m doing this.
Ava closed her eyes, took a slow breath in and…
nothing.

“Try
again.”

She
leaned in a little closer to him and gently placed her lips against the soft
skin of his neck and took another slow breath in and held it… Nothing. He just,
she didn’t know, he just didn’t smell right. She felt nothing. Ava ran her
tongue across her canine teeth, they hadn’t even descended. Ava looked at
Victor in frustration.

“That’s
okay Ava. Perhaps you should try his wrist instead.”

Chad
patiently held his hand out to her with his wrist exposed. Ava just looked at
his arm hopelessly. “Are you sure we can’t just pick up a couple of big gulps
from the blood bank or something?” Ava teased half-heartedly.

“Sorry
love. You know that’s not how it works.” The look on Victor’s aristocratic face
was sympathetic but firm. “You must feed from a live source. When vampires
feed, we form a connection with our prey’s life force, with their soul. We must
have this connection to receive nourishment from our prey. This is one of the
reasons we must never kill our prey while feeding. When we feed we are
connected to them and destroying the life force of our prey leaves a dark stain
on the soul of a vampire. The feeling that comes with it is very addictive, it
quickly leads to madness.”

Ava
was even more nervous now. “Maybe there’s something wrong with me. Maybe
Salvatore made me… wrong. What if he made me like him! I just can’t do this!”

“Ava
there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. This sometimes happens with
newborns born from violent transitions. Not all newborns are the same. Some of
them awake with a burning need to feed and others with a strong sense of fear
of the act. Give it time, it will come. You are still just too new for your
vampire instincts to compel you to feed.” Victor tried to reassure her. “Why
don’t we take a break for today? We can try again later.”

Happy
to have a reprieve from learning how to feed, Ava left Victor’s office and
wondered down the hall. She pulled her chilled fingers into the sleeves of her
buttery yellow sweater and hugged her arms around her stomach. She really
didn’t feel like sitting in her room alone but wasn’t sure what to do with
herself. She had worn a comfortable pair of jeans and tennis shoes today, maybe
she should go for a walk.  

She
quickly changed her mind, looking outside through the specially tinted windows.
The sun had just barely set and she wasn’t eager to test out her limitations
with the sun yet, especially when she was still so tired from not feeding.
Continuing to wander down the hallway she heard several male voices coming from
the next room. Curious, she walked down the hall and peeked around the corner.

Several
of the men were in some sort of media room. They were all lounging on the
oversized sofas and watching some sort of football game on a gigantic
television screen. This was definitely some sort of man cave, she should just
head back to her room. Suddenly several of their heads turned in her direction
to look at her and she knew she had been caught spying on them.
Dam.
She
still wasn’t used to being around men with supernatural hearing.

“Ava!”
Teagan’s friend Daniel boomed from across the room. “Come on in!”

Ava
considered her escape options. “No… really I shouldn’t. I don’t want to
interrupt your game.”

“Don’t
be ridiculous. Come in and sit with us. I would much rather look at you than
their ugly mugs any day!”

Ava
walked into the room and was grateful to see that Joseph was there. Joseph
smiled at her and slid to the end of the couch giving her room to sit next to
him. “Sit here Ava. You have to watch out for some of these other guys, some of
them may bite.”

“Aw,
come on. Don’t keep the pretty girl to yourself! Besides, I’ve had all my
shots!” Daniel wined.

Ava
laughed and sat next to Joseph sliding off her shoes so she could curl her legs
up underneath her. “The other guys? What about you?” Joseph smiled at her
wickedly. The guardian on her right, she thought his name was Colin, grabbed
the throw that had been under his arm and flipped it over her legs. “Newborns
are always so dam cold.” He mumbled gruffly, afraid the other guys would give
him a hard time for helping her. Daniel reached over and popped him in the arm.

“Awww.
Now aren’t you sweet.” Daniel teased him.

“Shut
up Daniel.” Colin glowered at him.

Ava
smiled and quietly thanked Colin. He was one of the less scary looking
guardians. He was still huge but had laugh lines around his eyes and a friendly
smile. He wore his blonde hair short and wasn’t wearing black like a lot of the
men did. She had been worried the vampires wouldn’t accept her since Salvatore
was her sire and was secretly touched that one of these burley warriors would
care whether her feet were cold.

Slowly
Ava began to relax. She just wanted to do something normal for a little while.
Football was normal, right? She wasn’t really a fan but at least it made things
seem normal again. “So, did anyone hit a home run yet?” Ava teased.

“Oh
my god!” Daniel groaned in pain. “I’m going to need another beer.” Ava laughed
at him. She remembered that he was one of Teagan’s men. That meant he was the
other werewolf. He had the look of a trouble maker with his bright red hair and
devilish grin. She was sure he must give Teagan a run for his money. Teagan was
the total opposite of this man. He always seemed so surly and serious all the
time.

Ava
adjusted her blanket and scooted a little closer to Joseph on the couch.
Reaching an arm around her back, Joseph pulled her into his side and adjusted
her blanket a bit, sharing his body heat. The move struck her as protective,
kind of like calling her off limits but she didn’t mind. He met her eyes for a
moment and Ava looked away shyly. Ava thought she saw more than friendship in
the look he gave her. She was really fond of him but she just wasn’t ready to
make her life more complicated than it already was these days.

Ava
was only about half way actually paying attention to the game when Teagan
walked in. He froze in mid stride for a moment when he spotted Ava sitting next
to Joseph all cozy. He walked over to the small refrigerator, grabbing a beer
for himself and tossing a fresh one over to Daniel. “Thanks man.” Daniel held
the beer up in a toast before easily flipping the cap off with one thumb.

Ava
watched Teagan’s every move from under her lashes and tensed when he settled
into the last remaining seat next to her on the couch. He caught Josephs
disapproving look and ignored him as he checked the score on the game.

“How’s
the game going?” Teagan asked.

“Not
good man.” Daniel answered. “They’re killing us.”

“Ava,
you’re a football fan?”

Ava
turned and braced herself for the full impact of his gaze and felt her heart
speed up. “No, not really.” She laughed.

“I
see.” Teagan looked at her for a moment like he was trying to figure out some
kind of puzzle before turning back to the game. Ava watched the muscle in his
jaw clenching before forcing her gaze back to the game. Outwardly Teagan was
acting as though everything was fine but something definitely had him grinding his
teeth.

Ava
quietly watched the rest of the game with them. Silently aware of every move
Teagan made next to her. The game was in the fourth quarter when the alarm on
Joseph’s cell phone went off. With a deep sigh Joseph eased himself away from
her and both he and Colin stood up, preparing to leave.

“Times
up.” He said with regret in his eyes looking down at her. “Colin and I have to
leave for our patrol shift. Do you want to see the end of the game or would you
like me to walk with you back to your room?” He offered her kindly, though he
was actually just not liking the idea of leaving her sitting next to Teagan.

“I
think I’ll just watch the end of the game. Don’t worry about me. You and Colin
be safe. I’ll probably head back to my room in a little bit.”

“Okay
then, I’ll see you later.” Joseph glanced over at Teagan and then headed out.

Daniel
watched the little drama play out in front of him, with a calculating look in
his eyes. Any fool could see Joseph wanted Ava and he knew that in spite of the
fact that Teagan was playing it cool, he was discreetly watching her every
move.

Shortly
after Joseph left, the game ended and Ava rose from her spot on the couch and
stretched, unaware of the appreciative looks some of the remaining men were
sending her way. Teagan however was very aware and just barely kept from
growling at them all.

“Thank
you gentleman, for letting me crash your football game. I think I’m just going
to head to my room now.”

Ava
heard several “no problems” and “see you laters” as she turned to leave,
unaware of their eyes following her every move. Teagan glared at them all.
“I’ll just walk with you.” Teagan stood up, blocking their view of Ava, causing
several of them to grown and grumble in annoyance as he followed her out into
the hallway.

Ava
walked along quietly next to Teagan. “Um… thanks for walking with me. My room
is just a few doors down the hall.”

“I
know.” Teagan answered her softly.

Ava
turned and looked at him curiously. “And just how do you know where my room is?
Are werewolves psychic?” Ava teased.

Teagan
just barley stifled a grin. Most people wouldn’t dare to tease a Lykan. People
with any sense of self-preservation that is, which he was beginning to think
Ava was lacking.

“No,
I am not psychic. I am the one who put you to bed when you fell asleep in the
library.” Teagan growled at her.

Ava
stopped walking and turned to him in shock. “What! What do you mean you put me
to bed!”

Teagan
moved in closer to Ava causing her to back up a step. “I mean I found you sound
asleep and alone in the library.” Teagan was becoming angry just thinking about
it again. “Don’t you understand that anyone of these men could have walked in
on you and found you lying there defenseless? You do realize you are the only
female living in a house full of male vampires don’t you.” Teagan scolded her,
backing her up and putting his arm next to her on the wall trapping her in
front of him, making sure he had her full attention.

“These
men wouldn’t hurt me.” Ava said in her defense. “What do you want me to do? Cower
under my covers in my bedroom all day long?” Ava was getting angry and didn’t
appreciate the way he was talking to her. “You know, you’re not my keeper
Teagan.”

“Ava,
you are too naive. You need to be more aware of the way these men are looking
at you.” Teagan was surprised at the way the little female was standing up to
him. Some of the fully grown Lykan men in his pack didn’t even stand up to him.

Ava
was unaware that her eyes had started to turn silver and that the tips of her
fangs had started to show. Teagan found it fascinating and felt his body
hardening in response to her anger. “You know what Teagan! You and I have
barely even had a full conversation with each other and when you do talk to me
it’s to yell at me! You can just…”

Ava’s
tirade was cut short when Teagan suddenly covered her mouth with his own. His
lips rubbed against hers sensuously in a hard and possessive kiss. For a moment
she was too stunned to respond but then a surge of pure heat had her traitorous
body melting into him. Ava groaned and responded by sweetly wrapping her arms
around his neck and returning his kiss with equal passion. Rising up on her tip
toes she clung to him fiercely.