Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (16 page)

After
using the restroom, Ava stood at the mirror washing her hands. She looked at
her reflection in the mirror while she washed. Funny, she felt like so much had
happened and felt like she was changing in so many ways but when she looked in
the mirror she was always surprised to still just see Ava. She really needed a
girlfriend to share what she was going through. She would love to be able to
tell Kat that she was okay.

She
had talked to Victor again about the possibility of going home after they had
eliminated Salvatore. He had said it would be very difficult for her to go
home. She was now a part of the Lore and her life would never be the same. She
would need to start over again. She couldn’t risk her secret being exposed to
the humans and she would have a hard time hiding what she was. Ava was torn.
She knew she couldn’t have things back the way they were but surely it wouldn’t
hurt just to let them know she was a live. She could make up some story about
why she couldn’t come home for a while or something.

Ava
dried her hands and left the bathroom. As she headed towards Teagan she passed
by the edge of the bar and saw a phone sitting on the back corner of it. Did
she dare? Victor would be mad. Ava paused for a moment. The more she thought
about it, the more annoyed she got that everyone was making all of her
decisions for her. Dam it, she was not a child and if she wanted to call her
friends she should be able to decide for herself.

Adrenaline
started to rush through her as she casually walked closer to the phone. Before
she had a chance to talk herself out of it she picked up the phone and quickly
dialed the number to Serenity. They were probably closed but it was only a
little after eight and Kat and Patrick usually stayed a bit, cleaning up and
closing the register. After two rings Patrick answered the phone.

“Serenity,
this is Patrick.” Ava felt tears gathering in her eyes at the sound of his
voice. “Hello?” Ava thought about quickly hang up but she may not get up the
nerve to try again if she didn’t talk to him now.

“Patrick…
it’s Ava.”

“Ava!
Oh my god! Ava! Girl where have you been! We have been worried sick about you!
Are you okay? Oh my god! We thought something horrible had happened to you!”
Ava couldn’t get a word in for a moment, Patrick was talking so fast. She
smiled as a tear rolled down her cheek. She looked up trying to get her
composure back and made eye contact with the little red headed bartender. She
was afraid she might give her a hard time about using the phone but she just
looked at her in concern but didn’t say anything. “Patrick, calm down. I’m
alright.”  Ava reassured him.

“Girl,
we didn’t know what to think. You just went missing! Kat has been going crazy
worrying about you. First you didn’t show up for work and then you were not
answering your phone. Kat knew right away that something was wrong. We went to
your house but no one was there and your car was gone. We went to the police
but they said you had to be missing for forty eight hours before they could
help us. So forty eight hours later we were finally able to get the police
involved but girl, let me tell you. They were no help at all. The said you may
have just taken off for a while and that we should call them if we heard
anything but that’s all they did for us. Kat and I knew you would never do that
though. Kat had been all over town putting up flyers for you and showing
everyone your picture to see if anyone had seen you. Honey where have you been?
Do you need me to come pick you up or something?” Ava laughed when Patrick
finally paused for a breath. God it was good to hear him rambling on again. Ava
looked up to see Teagan frowning at her from across the room. She needed to
make this short.

“Um,
listen Patrick. I’m okay but I am not going to be able to come home for a
while. I can’t really explain right now but I just wanted to let you and Kat
know that I’m okay. I don’t have much time, do you think I could talk to her
for a minute?”

“Oh,
sweetie, Kat isn’t here. That girl has been acting so strange lately. When she
isn’t looking for you, she has been spending a lot of time at her place. She
mentioned something about going hiking today to take some pictures in the woods
by her house, I don’t know, becoming one with nature or some nonsense like
that. Well that part isn’t so strange I guess. That girl has always loved being
in the woods but she just hasn’t been herself. I just figured it was stress
from worrying about you but now I’m not sure. I told her she should really talk
to a professional. You know I dated that psychologist that one time. I told her
she should give him a call but I don’t think she did. I told her to take some
time off until she gets her head back together. I brought my cousin in to help
out at the shop for a while since both you and Kat were gone. But girl, don’t
you worry about me, I can run this place with one hand tied behind my back. You
can try to call her cell but you know she doesn’t get reception out in the
boonies where she lives. I can’t wait to tell her you’re okay though. Maybe she
will feel better once she knows you’re alright and then things around here can
get back to normal again.”

Patrick
had been talking pretty fast but Ava had managed to keep up with most of what
he said. Ava sighed sadly. No, things could never go back to normal for her.
She was worried about Kat though. Something was definitely wrong with her
friend. Dam it, she should be there for her not at some crazy vampire bar. She
really wished she could have talked to her but Ava really needed to end the
phone call before Patrick could get going again.

“Listen
Patrick, I have to go. I’m not sure when I will be able to call again. You and
Kat take care of each other and I will try to call again when I can.”

“Ava,
honey wait. You never told me…” Ava hung up the phone. There was really nothing
else she could say. She couldn’t tell him about anything that had happened to
her the last few days and she had a hard time lying to Patrick. She may never
be able to talk to him again. She could never return to her old life. Not as a
vampire. Ava let her head hang forward hoping the fall of her hair would hide
some of the tears that had escaped down her cheeks. Ugh! She hated that she was
such an emotional wreck these days! She was never like this as a human. Dam
vampire emotions.

Ava
was startled to feel two strong arms wrap around her enveloping her in a
familiar scent. Joseph had walked out of Liam’s office and had spotted Ava
hanging up the phone at the bar. Alex, the red headed bartender, looked on
helplessly, not sure if she should comfort the girl crying at the end of the
bar or not. She watched in surprise when the dark, menacing vampire wrapped the
little female in his arms and gently, comforted her.

“Ava,
you know you should not have called them. Victor will not be happy.” Joseph
looked up and saw Alex watching him. She approached them hesitantly and handed
Ava a napkin from the bar. “Heads up you two, that werewolf is on his way over
here and he doesn’t look happy.” Alex, quickly made her retreat, Liam had
warned her about the werewolves and she planned on giving him plenty of room.

Joseph
looked at Teagan defiantly and was in no hurry to release Ava. “Ava.” Teagan
growled her name. Ava looked up at him startled, not having seen him approach.
He was definitely not happy to find her in Joseph’s arms. Ava stepped away from
Joseph’s embrace, not wanting to cause a scene. “Are you okay?” Teagan looked
at her in concern. She would have loved to dive into his arms but restrained
herself.

“Sorry,
I’m fine now. Just, having a moment. Joseph, how did your meeting go?” Ava
wanted to change the subject. If there were repercussions for her calling
Patrick she would deal with them later.

“He
is willing to help us. There have been a number of attacks in the area lately
but he hasn’t seen any of Salvatore’s men in here yet. He said he would keep
his eyes open for us and let us know if anyone starts poking around asking
about Ava.” Actually Liam had gotten pretty mad when Joseph had mentioned
Salvatore’s name. It seemed like he may have his own personal reasons for
wanting the vampire dead. Joseph was curious but Liam had shut down and didn’t
seem to want to talk about it.

Teagan
led Ava back to the pool table where Colin waited. He would have preferred to
walk out the front door with her but it was too early to leave. Being this
close to her was driving him nuts. His beast hovered just below the surface,
wanting to snap at any man in the bar that let his eyes linger just a little
too long on her.

Gods,
what hell was wrong with him? He had never reacted this strongly to a woman
before, not even to the few purebloods that were in his pack. Maybe if he just
gave in and had one night with her he would be able to get her out of his
system. Unfortunately he had a bad feeling one night would never be enough and
Ava didn’t strike him as the kind of girl you had a one night stand with. She
deserved better than that.

Joseph
watched the way Teagan never took his eyes off Ava. He shook his head, poor boy
had it bad. The Lykan guarded her as though she were his mate. He hoped Ava
knew what she was doing. Joseph settled himself at the bar again and looked up
as a fresh glass of Basil Haden magically appeared before him. Joseph’s dark
eyes followed the curve of the graceful hand holding the glass and he found
himself looking into the face of Liam’s little human. She really had the most
amazing eyes, they were a kaleidoscope of colors. He had hoped Liam would tell
him what the story was with Alex but he had been unusually tight lipped about
the girl. He seemed surprisingly protective of her too. She was the first to
look away and moved down the bar to begin washing glasses. It looked like
Liam’s days of chasing busty blonds were over.

Ava
walked quietly by Teagan’s side on the way to her room. They had stayed at the
bar for a couple more hours and Ava had played several more games of pool.
Badly. Luckily no one had gotten hurt. Ava didn’t know how much more time they
would be spending at the bar trying to draw Salvatore out but at this rate Ava
would be a professional pool player in no time. Okay, well maybe not
professional but she was definitely improving. Okay, maybe not improving very
much but that last game she had kept all of the balls on the table. Not only
was she a terrible pool player but now she had freaky vampire strength powering
her shots. It was really a very dangerous combination.

Teagan
stopped her outside of her bedroom. He put his hand on her door preventing her
from opening it. Ava looked up at him wondering what he was up to. Teagan
reached up and trailed his hand across her cheek and down her neck. “I believe
today, is day three, isn’t it?”

Ava
could feel her heart begin to speed up. “Um.. I thought it was day two.”

“Well,
it is after midnight so technically that makes it day three.” Teagan looked at
her like a cat that had just caught its mouse.

Ava
looked up at him from under her lashes. “Well I um, kind of smell like
cigarettes from the bar and all…” Ava fiddled with the front of her red dress
in nervousness which only managed to draw Teagan’s eyes to the bit of creamy
skin swelling over the swooping neckline.

Teagan
cut off her excuse, his voice suddenly rougher than it had been a second ago.
“Shower and then meet me in my room in fifteen minutes. Don’t make me come
looking for you.” Teagan growled at the thought of finding her still in the
shower. Turning the door knob he opened her door for her and then turned to
walk down the hallway to his own room.

Was
he serious? She had been worrying about the next time she would need to feed.
He had been really adamant about her coming to him and no other but now he
almost seemed… like he… wanted it.

“Oh
my gosh!” Ava flew into her room sliding out of her smoky dress as she went.
She showered quickly, finding it hard to hold onto the soap with her hands
shaking.
Got to calm down. This is no big deal. I’ll just go to his room. Bite
his neck.
Ava felt a pool of heat flood her at the thought of taking his
neck.
I am a vampire. This is what vampires do. Right? It’s no big deal.
Riiiight.
The little voice in her head just wasn’t convincing tonight.

What
if he wanted more than her bite? The last time Ava had bit him the bite had
followed the most amazing kiss Ava had ever experienced. Is that what he
wanted? Would he want more than that? Ava had never had sex before. Now there
had been some serious kissing and petting but that’s where she usually ended
things. She knew it was odd at her age but she had never dated anyone that made
her feel like Teagan did. None of them had ever made her burn like he did.

Then
there was her mom. The last few years her whole world had revolved around taking
care of her mom and there hadn’t been much time for much else. Even if there
had been time she had felt guilty leaving her mom at home alone while she had a
good time. She just couldn’t enjoy herself knowing her mom was sick and home
alone.

Before
that, she had had a few boyfriends but at the end of the night she had always
been content to end things before they had gotten to that point. Needless to
say there were a couple of guys that dumped her pretty quick when they saw that
she had no intentions of casually sleeping with them. Seeing how quickly they
would take off when they weren’t getting what they wanted made it hard for her
to trust. What was it about Teagan that was so different? Could it just be her
new vampire libido at work or was it something more?