Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (7 page)

“Don’t
worry, I’ll take good care of her.” Joseph said over his shoulder in response
to the Lykan’s low growl. His long legs quickly covered the short distance to
the SUV. “Dam, who knows what kind of hell she went through inside Salvatore’s
lair.” Holding her chilled body close to his chest to keep her warm, he looked
down and was surprised to see crystal blue eyes rimed in smoky lashes. Dam,
this
raid just got much more interesting.

Joseph
could feel the little female’s eyes on him as he eased his large form into the
waiting SUV and settled her in his lap. “Don’t worry little one, your safe now.
No one is going to hurt you.” Joseph could see her fear and confusion and could
feel her start to tremble in his arms.

Ava
looked up at a face that was either that of an angel or a devil, she couldn’t
decide. Dark hair was pulled back in a low pony tail and hung half way down his
back. His golden eyes held strength and power, the planes of his face were lean
and strong with a full slightly smiling mouth.

“Who
are you? Where are you taking me?” Even though she was obviously in pain her
voice was soft and melodic, soothing to his ears. The harsh expression on his
face softened as he tried to find the words to reassure her.

“My
name’s Joseph. I’m taking you someplace safe where we can get you some help.”

Ava
was suddenly filled with panic at his words. “No you can’t! No hospitals!
Salvatore… he did something to me. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Joseph could
hear her heart speed up and she began to struggle uselessly in his hold.

“Easy
little one, no hospitals, but I will take you to someone who can help you.”
Joseph fought the smile that threatened the corners of his mouth. This little
slip of a vampire
didn’t want to hurt anyone
. She was as ferocious as a
wet kitten right now in her weakened state.

Ava
quieted, having worn herself out and settled in against the warmth of his broad
chest. She was just too tired to process everything right now and decided to
just rest her eyes for a little bit. Joseph grit his teeth at the little flip
his heart did when she settled against him. She was asleep in seconds.

Joseph
took his time studying the small female in his arms. Her features were
classically beautiful and delicate. Thick sooty lashes rested against her cheeks
and her wavy ebony locks lay in sharp contrast to her pale skin. She was small
and yet still curvy. He could definitely understand why Salvatore had taken
her. Hopefully they had gotten to her before Salvatore had a chance to carry
out all of his plans for her. Joseph grit his teeth in anger at the thought of
this helpless female in the hands of a bastard like Salvatore. He had seen
firsthand what the rogue was capable of.

A
short time later Ava woke up as she was being placed on a padded medical table
of sorts in some kind of official looking medical office. Startled, she reached
up and held onto the front of Joseph’s shirt. “No wait! You said no hospitals!”

“Easy
little one, you’re not in a hospital.” Gently Joseph pried her fingers from his
shirt. “You’re at Claymore. It is our headquarters. Dr. Randall is stationed
here to help the men who are injured.”

Ava
tried to calm down but she was still not sure if she was truly safe with these
men. All she knew was she had at least gotten away from Salvatore’s evil
clutches. Ava lay back on the exam table as the room began to spin, she was
still feeling too bad to sit up for very long.

“I’m
Dr. Randall. You have nothing to fear here.” Dr. Randall looked too young to be
a doctor. His expression was sympathetic and kind while he looked at her. “I
can only imagine what you must have gone through at Salvatore’s hands. I’m glad
Joseph was able to bring you to us.” Ava looked away, no longer able to look
him in the eyes as memories washed through her. Gulping back her tears Ava
struggled to focus on what the doctor was saying. “I know Salvatore bit you and
that he gave you his blood.”
Oh God
,
he understands! Maybe he can fix
me!
Before she could speak he continued.

“You
are in transition now. I’m sorry but I cannot change what Salvatore has done to
you.” He looked at her sadly. With that, Ava’s brief spark of hope was
extinguished. “We will talk more about what is happening to you but first I
need to see if you have any more injuries we need to see to.” Dr. Randall exchanged
a look with Joseph and seemed to communicate something with his gaze. Joseph
nodded briskly as though he understood.

“I’m
just going to step outside the door for a bit while the Dr. examines you.”
Joseph scowled at the floor, no longer able to meet her eyes.

“No
wait, please don’t leave me.” Ava didn’t want to lose the only person she was
at all familiar with in this strange place, everything was happening so fast.

Joseph
smiled at her reassuringly. “No worries, little one. I’ll just be outside the
door.”

Time
seemed to creep by while Joseph waited. Dr. Randall stepped out of the exam
room and caught Joseph pacing with a fierce scowl on his face. “Well?” He
practically growled.

“I
don’t believe she has been raped at least. I didn’t want to upset her further
with an invasive examination she has been through enough.”

Joseph
unknowingly released a sigh of relief and rubbed his hand over his face.

“She
had a contusion on her forehead that must have been bad at the time but it has
mostly healed due to her transition. She has a few lingering bumps and bruises
but nothing to worry about. He tore her neck pretty badly but in time it will
completely heal with no scar now that she is vampire. I gave her some pain
medication and a light sedative. I want to keep her calm until we can help her
understand what is happening to her. She is resting now and we can go ahead and
get her settled into a room. Physically, she has survived the worst of the
transition and she should be feeling much better by tomorrow morning. I don’t
foresee any complications at this point.”

“Good
then, I’ll just check on her. I don’t want her to think I left her.” Joseph
frowned defensively at the knowing look Doc Randall gave him.

Joseph
quietly opened the door to look in on Ava, expecting to find her asleep. Ava
lay on her side looking at him with heavy eyes. “Thought you would be asleep by
now.” He mumbled gruffly.

“Joseph?”
Ava asked sleepily.

“Yes?”

“What
happened to the beast that found me?”

“You
mean Teagan?” Joseph felt a brief flicker of concern that she was asking about
the Lykan but it never showed on his face.

“Mmm…
yes. Teagan.” Ava answered groggily.

“Don’t
worry about Teagan, he can take care of himself. You just rest now and we will
get you settled into a room in a little bit.” Joseph began to ease away from
the bed but was stopped by the chilly finger tips that reached out for his
hand.

“Don’t
leave me alone.” She whispered already half asleep. Joseph looked at her small
hand in surprise. No one had ever sought him out for comfort before, especially
not a female.

With
a squeeze of reassurance he released her hand and pulled one of the chairs next
to her bed. Propping his boots up on the foot of the bed he settled in to watch
over her as she slept.

Ava
reluctantly emerged from the steaming hot bath. Both her fingers and toes were
wrinkled up like prunes. Dr. Randall was right though, the hot bath had warmed
her up and soaked away some of the lingering achiness in her muscles. She kept
the heating lamp on above her head while she took her time rubbing in the
lightly scented vanilla lotion.

She
had been given a beautiful room, decorated in soft sage and toffee colors. It
even had its own bathroom, thank goodness. Sharing a bathroom with a house full
of men would have been very uncomfortable. It appeared that she was staying at
the headquarters of the men that had saved her from Salvatore. Apparently not
all vampires were monsters like Salvatore. She had so much to learn about this
new world she had been thrust into.

She
had been too tired to explore much of the mansion but what she had seen so far
had been impressive. On the surface it had the appearance of an elegant mansion
but when you looked a little deeper it was every bit of a high security
fortress.

This
day had speed past her in a blur. She had awoken this morning, feeling much
better but still not quite herself. At least the pain was almost gone and she
wasn’t nearly as tired as before. She had spent some time with Dr. Randall
earlier this morning. He had thrown a lot of information at her about her
transition and some of the changes she could expect. It had taken some time but
he had eventually convenience her that she wasn’t going to turn into a blood
thirsty killer at least.

Her
head was still spinning. She was now a
VAMPIRE
. Vaaaammpire.
I am a
vam… pire. This isn’t happening. I’m must be going crazy, losing it, yep.
The
old
SANE
Ava would have laughed at him and argued that there are no such
things as vampires, had she not personally had one rip out her throat. Ah yes…
and then there was the horrible pain that followed. That was real enough too.
The new
CRAZY
Ava believed every word of it.

After
her meeting with Dr. Randall she had met with Victor, the vampire clan leader.
Meeting Victor was surprising to say the least, he was not at all what she
expected a powerful vampire to look like. The way he had looked at her she knew
that he was aware of her surprise and found it rather amusing. He said he would
mentor her during her transition. He was an intimidating man but he seemed to
genuinely want to help her and he had patiently answered all of her questions.
They had talked about Salvatore for a while too. Victor suspected that
Salvatore had been drawn to her because of her resemblance to his mate.
Evangeline had died mysteriously many years ago before Salvatore had become the
monster he is today. It was rumored that Salvatore may have killed her himself.

Ava
shivered and wrapped herself in a fluffy terrycloth robe, she was reluctant to
leave the warmth of the bathroom. She wiped the mirror with a towel to see her
reflection. Funny, she didn’t look any different since becoming a vampire. She
looked at her neck where Salvatore had attacked her and shivered rubbing the
red marks that remained on her skin. Memories of her attack tried to push their
way in and she fiercely tried to ignore them. She had been told that vampires
heal quickly and the marks would completely fade in the next day or two.

Ava
tilted her head back to look at her teeth. Nope, no fangs that she could see.
Dr. Randall had said they would emerge during extreme emotion and when she
wanted to feed.
Bleck!
Was she actually going to be able to drink blood?
This whole thing was nuts. Two days ago she didn’t even know vampires existed
and today she was one herself. Sometimes Ava feared she was holding onto her
sanity by a thread. It was all just too much to wrap her mind around and she
was afraid she may be on the verge of a complete mental breakdown. She could
just see herself wrapped up in a white jacket, spouting craziness about
vampires and monsters.

Dr.
Randall’s crash course in vampire 101 had been overwhelming. Ava hoped she
could remember it all. He said that vampires become more powerful and stronger
as they get older. Being a newborn it would take time for her vampire
characteristics to develop.  He said she will become increasingly stronger
and faster and that her senses will become more sensitive. She will be able to
see, hear and smell things that she never would have been able to as a human.

There
were definitely negatives though, being a newborn, her skin would burn in the
sun and bright light would hurt her eyes. Apparently older vampires didn’t have
that problem though. Ava had never been a sun worshiper to begin with. With her
pale skin she used to sunburn pretty quickly. It was depressing though that she
would now have no choice in the matter.

Fortunately
she would still be able to eat food if she wanted to and her body would
tolerate it but food would no longer completely sustain her. Ava felt her
stomach protest at the thought of food. She really had no interest in eating
right now anyway.

The
worst part was that she would have to have blood in the next three days. The
very thought of having to drink blood had her pacing quick circles around the
bathroom. As a newborn she would have to feed every three days to sustain
herself. If she didn’t feed, after the fourth or fifth day she would become
increasingly tired and then her body would shut down. He did say though that as
she got older, she would be able to go much longer without feeding but that
would take time. 

How
was she going to be able to do this! It was impossible not to be overwhelmed by
it all. Dr. Randall had told her to just focus on one day at a time. It was so
hard to do though when she felt so alone. She just wanted to go home, she
thought with a pang of sadness. If only she could call Kat.

Poor
Kat and Patrick must be so worried about her. They probably thought she was
dead. She would give anything to be able to tell them everything that had
happened. She would probably never see them again. Ava sniffed and angrily
wiped a tear off her cheek. It was against “the Council’s” rules to let
outsiders know of their existence. She wasn’t even sure what “the Council” was
exactly. If Kat or Patrick knew about them it would put their lives in danger.