Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (34 page)

Even
in this feral form his anguish consumed him. Wrapping his large body protectively
around his mate he held her in his arms. In his grief he forgot about the
little female that now moved cautiously closer to them.

Pulling
the medallion out of the leather pouch that she carried with her, Kat let the
chain dangle from her shaking finger tips. With a snarl, Teagan turned to face
her, still cradling Ava in his arms. His snarl slid from his face when he
realized what the little female held in her hands.

His
medallion. Looking at Kat in confusion, he quieted.

“Teagan,
I’m here to help you.” Kat was careful to keep her distance and kept her eyes
down cast. She wanted to make sure he didn’t see her as a threat again.

Ava
moaned and her head rolled to the side but she still didn’t wake up. Teagan
looked at the little female in his arms and the damage he had done to her.

Kat
wanted to rush to her injured friend’s side but she couldn’t. That blow would
have surely killed her had she been human. But Ava was no longer human. It was
something that Kat still couldn’t comprehend. How had something like this
happened to her best friend. Kat had been so preoccupied with her own problems
that she hadn’t been there when Ava had needed her the most. But she was here
for her now. She wouldn’t let her down again. She would get Ava out of this
mess or die trying.

She
had to make the feral understand. Kat quickly realized the feral’s biggest
weakness was his mate and her werewolf instincts moved in for the kill.

“You
hurt your mate.” Kat wasn’t sure how much he understood but pressed on anyway.
“You can’t protect her in this form. She is in danger from you. You can’t care
for her.”

Teagan’s
eyes met hers and Kat was surprised to see pain in his feral expression. Please
god, let me get through to him.

 “If
you remain in this form, you will only hurt her again. You have to put the
medallion back on.” Teagan raised his lip and snarled at her. The beast inside
of him liked being free. It raged at the thought of being caged again. He was
strong, he was powerful and nothing could stop him. He could keep his mate safe…
but who would protect her from him?

“Look
at her Teagan! Maybe next time you will kill her. Is that what you want? Is
your freedom worth the life of your mate because that is what it will come down
to. You are going to have to choose. The beast or your mate.”

Kat
dared to inch closer to Teagan, holding his medallion out to him. Hesitantly he
reached one giant arm out toward Kat. Holding her breath, she leaned closer and
dropped the medallion into his outstretched palm. 

With
a soft moan of pain, Ava’s blue eyes struggled to open and bring the world into
focus. Bringing Teagan’s dark lupine face into focus above hers she froze. The
scent of his mates fear washed over him. For a moment she struggled weakly to
get away from him. Pain shattered the rage that always seemed to hover so near
to the surface.
My mate fears me. She wants to run from me.

“Kat!
Where’s Kat?”

“Ava,
don’t move. I’m fine.”

“Oh,
thank god.” Her voice cracked with relief and tears gathered in her eyes. She
had been sure Teagan was going to harm her friend. She didn’t understand how
Kat had ended up in the clearing or how it was possible that she was a werewolf
but she was relieved to have her help. Surely between the two of them, they
could save Teagan.

Ava
looked up into her mates eyes. Responding to his pain she instinctively reached
out to sooth him. Reaching one delicate hand towards him she ran her palm over
his lupine cheek.

Teagan
closed his eyes as fuzzy images of her smiling up at him, running the palm of
her hand across his beard struggled to shatter the fog of his feral mind.

Gently
he laid her down on the forest floor. Ava gasped as the slight movement sent
sharp pain shooting across her ribs. Her eyes widened when he opened his hand
held the medallion in front of his chest.

His
black eyes looked down at her, lying broken and bleeding on the forest floor.
Holding the chain that his medallion was suspended on he took a deep breath in
and placed it around his neck.

Neither
Kat nor Ava dared to breathe as they watched the beast put the enchanted
medallion back around his neck. The celtic symbol on the medallion began to
glow a bright blue. Taking two stumbling steps back from Ava, Teagan struggled
as the power of the medallion surged painfully through his system.

Even
though he had placed the medallion around his neck of his own free will the
beast still fought the confinement. Throwing back his head the beast roared its
frustration and anger to the night sky. Snarling he fell to his knees as his
body was enveloped by a bright blue light. He fought a painful internal battle
to keep from ripping the medallion off of his neck again.

Blood
dripped from his hands as he dug his massive claws into his clenched fists.
Every muscle in his body strained in protest to his shifting.

Kat
flew to Ava’s side and tried to shield her from the power emanating from
Teagan’s dark form. The women clung to each other helpless to do anything to
help the raging beast before them.

Slowly
Teagan began to win the battle and they could see the bones of his face begin
to smooth and shift. The dark hair that had covered his body began to recede
and beneath it his golden skin was revealed. His massive body began to shrink,
returning to that of a large man again.

 Burying
his face into his hands, Teagan hung his head, panting from the pain and
exhaustion of his shift. Every muscle in his body ached and he felt as though
someone had run him over with a semi. The glow that had engulfed his body began
to fade until just the glowing symbol on his medallion remained.

A
soft voice interrupted the now silent forest. “Teagan?”

Raising
his head, two smoky blue eyes met Ava’s own tear stained gaze. Gone was the
face of the beast and in its place was the face of the man she feared she may
never see again. Ava struggled to go to him but she shouldn’t have bothered. He
was by her side in less than a heartbeat. Wiping tears out of her eyes, Kat
slid out of the way, so Teagan could hold his mate.

Cradling
her in his arms he buried his face into the curve of her neck and held her as
tightly as he dared.

“Oh
gods, Ava.”

Ava
wept softly and tried to get as close to him as she possibly could. Fisting her
hands into his hair she pulled his head back and began raining kisses all over
his face. Finally settling on his lips Ava kissed him deeply, letting all of
the love that she felt for him pour into his body.

Breaking
the kiss Teagan quickly took inventory of her injuries. Ava couldn’t bear to
see the pain in his expression as he looked at her.

“Teagan,
I’m going to be okay. It was an accident.”

“We
have to get you out of here.”

A
small forgotten female voice answered from a few feet away. “Um, well that
shouldn’t be too hard. I think the cavalry is on its way.”

Teagan
and Ava looked at Kat as the sudden roar of Lykan echoed through the forest.
Kat cringed and looked at the two of them sheepishly. “Um, that one would be
mine.”

Teagan
jerked to his feet and pulled Kat behind him as the guardians began to emerge
from the forest. Keeping to the trees, they took up defensive positions on the
perimeter of the clearing. Looking at their grim faces Teagan held his
protective position in front of the women. He almost faltered when his gaze met
the eyes of one he hadn’t seen in years. His brother was with the guardians and
from the looks of him he was one pissed off Lykan. Joseph placed a restraining
hand on the were’s shoulder, warning him not to charge into the clearing.

Kat
stepped closer to Teagan and gently place her hand on his shoulder. His tensed
muscles rippled beneath her fingers, causing a low growl to emit form the other
werewolf standing next to Joseph in the shadows of the trees.

“Teagan,
you need to stand down. They came here expecting to take down a feral. You need
to show them that you are no longer a threat.” A low growl rumbled from
Teagan’s chest. He didn’t like it but he knew that she was right.

With
a deep sigh he slowly took a knee and lowered his gaze. Cautiously, the men
entered the clearing and surrounded the trio.

“Oh
shit.” Kat lowered her gaze to the ground as Teagan’s brother approached with a
thunderous look on his face. Teagan rose to his feet as his brother walked up
and stood in front of him. His gaze softened for a moment and he lowered his
hand to Teagan’s shoulder and gave it a squeezed.

“Glad
to have you back with us brother.” He looked over his shoulder to the other
guardians and gave them a nod. The men surrounding them all seemed to relax,
lowering their weapons.

“You
too Ronan. What are you doing here?”

“Well
talk later.” Ronan turned his furious gaze to Kat and scooped her up in his
arms with a snarl.

Kat
immediately began to squirm in his grasp. “Now listen here. You have no right
to be mad at me. There was no way in hell I was going to let you face another
feral by yourself, especially not your own brother. Sending me in made more
sense and you know it!”

“Enough!”
Ronan roared at Kat and she stopped talking though she continued to shoot
daggers at him with her eyes. Ronan’s angry stride carried them into the trees
and out of eye sight.

Teagan
bent down and carefully picked Ava up. She nibbled her bottom lip and watched
the giant Lykan carrying her friend into the forest. “Do you think we should do
something? He won’t hurt her will he?”

“She
is with her mate.” He said with a bit of amazement in his expression. “He won’t
hurt her.”

Joseph
was the first of the guardians to approach the couple. His dark eyes flashed
silver for a moment as he accessed Ava’s injuries. The muscles in his square
jaw flexed before he his eyes met Teagan’s.

“Come
on. Let’s get her back to Claymore.” His look promised retribution as he turned
to lead them out of the woods.

Teagan
gathered Ava closer to his chest. Even though he tried not to jostle her as he
walked he could tell she was in pain. They still had several miles to cover
before they reached the vehicles that would take them home. They had only made
it a few feet through the dense trees when Ava’s startled gasp brought him to a
stop.

“What
is it sweet, did I hurt you?”

“Oh
my god! Teagan, you’re naked!” Ava’s cheeks flared a bright pink as several
male chuckles echoed through woods.

“I
think I should get out now. I’m turning into a prune.” Ava looked at her
wrinkled finger tips with a frown. When they got back to Claymore Ethan
insisted that Dr. Randal draw some blood from Teagan. They wanted to see if any
of Salvatore’s rogue serum was still in his system. He had agreed but wouldn’t
let them do it until after he had taken a look at Ava.

By
the time they had gotten to Claymore there wasn’t much Doc Randal could do for
her. He said that she had two fractured ribs that were already healing and the
other wounds were also healing nicely. One of the perks of being a vampire.
Assured that she was going to recover from her injuries he had insisted on
carrying her back to his room. The man was treating her like she was made of
glass and Ava was getting concerned.

He
had insisted she feed from him and then he helped her into a hot bath. The claw
marks on her ribs were still a bright angry red but now that she had fed they
were looking better by the minute. The cut on her head was almost gone too.

Teagan
sat by the edge of the tub while she soaked and she kept catching his eyes
glancing at the marks on her ribs. He had been awfully quiet too. Ava was
worried.

Ava
stood up to get out of the tub. Before she could reach for a towel Teagan had
grabbed one and wrapped her naked limbs in its fluffy warmth. Ava let out a
soft sigh of irritation as he very efficiently went about drying her off. Once
dry he slipped one of his large t-shirts over her head and carried her to the
bed. Ava bit her lip and reminded herself that he had been through hell and she
needed to be patient with him but this was getting ridiculous.

Tucking
her under the blankets, he hovered, not knowing what else to do for her.

“Teagan,
go shower. I’ll be fine.” He looked like he was ready to argue but Ava stopped
him. “Teagan we have spent the last two days in the forest. You stink, go
shower!” That finally got him moving.

“Fine,
but I want you to rest. Don’t get out of that bed.” With a growl he turned and
headed back into the bathroom. Ava relaxed when she heard the water running.
She felt a tiny bit guilty, he actually didn’t smell too bad but she knew he
wouldn’t leave her side without a push.

There
was a soft knock at the door and Ava slipped out of bed and padded over to
answer it. Joseph stood at the door with a sheepish grin and a tray of food in
his hands.