Feral Instincts (The Feral Series) (8 page)

Salvatore
had taken everything from her! She couldn’t go home to her new apartment! She
couldn’t go back to her life and her job and the friends she loved! When she
fell asleep he haunted her nightmares, attacking her and tearing her throat out
over and over! She hated him so much! What she wouldn’t do to see him
destroyed. Her hatred for Salvatore was a painful burn from deep within her
soul.

A
dull ach suddenly pulsed in her gums. Experimentally she rubbed them with the
tip of her tongue and found two sharp points where they had suddenly elongated.
Ava gasped and quickly swiped at the mirror again so she could have a close up
look at her teeth.
Oh my god! I have freaky vampire fangs!
Ava poked at
them with her fingertip in disbelief.
Oh no! Intense emotions!
Suddenly
Ava realized that more than just her teeth had changed.
What the heck is
wrong with my eyes!
Ava looked at her eyes which had gone from her usual
blue to a very strange silver color.
Oh my god! Oh my god! I’m a vampire!
Suddenly
she couldn’t seem to catch her breath.

Sitting
down hard on the lid of the toilet seat she put her head between her knees and
tried to concentrate on deep breaths. After a few minutes she began to get control
of herself again.
Okay, okay, I can do this. I just have to calm down. I am
still Ava. I am still Ava.
Carefully she stood up and splashed some cold
water on her face and dried it on her bath towel. Hesitantly she rubbed her
teeth with her tongue and found her fangs were gone. “Oh thank god!” She
groaned. She dared a peek into the mirror again to check her eyes and found
them their usual blue again. This was definitely going to take some time to get
used to.

Squaring
her shoulders she took one more deep breath and regretfully abandoned the heat
of the bathroom. Leaving the bathroom she was met with a blast of chilly air.
Hurrying over to the closet she quickly started pulling new clothes out.
Yanking tags off she began wiggling her damp skin into the new outfit. She had
to get control of herself and get dressed.

Victor
had said they were working on a plan to draw Salvatore out into the open and
that she may be able to help them. The guardians were having some sort of
meeting and she was supposed to be there in ten minutes. He also wanted her to
have a chance to meet some of the guardians that were staying here at Claymore.
He didn’t want her hiding in her room afraid of bumping into one of them in the
hallway. Honestly, that is exactly what she had planned on doing and it still
sounded pretty good right now.

Ava
took a deep fortifying breath and pulled the pony tail holder out of her hair,
running her fingers through the dark strands.
Voluntarily walk into a room
full of huge vampire men, sure no problem. They are supposed to be the good
guys, right? I have this.
Ava bravely squared her shoulders and pretended
not to notice her hand shaking as she opened her bedroom door.

It
had been twenty four hours since the raid. They had managed to take out several
rogues but Salvatore had still slipped through their fingers. Victor had called
a meeting and Teagan, Daniel and a room full of guardians sat working on their
next course of action.

Victor
stood in front of the group, half sitting on the front edge of his desk.
 Annoyance creased his eyebrows as he stood before the twelve guardians
and two werewolves. The fierce looking men were spread around the room in front
of him. Some of them stood and some sat in the two couches and various leather
chairs in front of him. The large office had been designed to accommodate the
breed guardian’s meetings but it suddenly seemed quite small. His guardians
were not exactly small men.

“We
discovered an underground sewer tunnel under Salvatore's lair that we believe
he was able to use to get past us. It wasn’t on any of the blue prints we had
for the building. Teagan and Daniel were able to track him into a neighboring
city in Lake View but his trail became lost in the population. There were just
too many other scents to single him out and pinpoint his location. We are going
to set up a schedule of patrol teams in the area until we can pinpoint his
location or pick up his trail if he decides to flee the city.”

Ethan
move to Victor’s side, his dark fatigues an interesting contrast to the clan
leaders immaculate suit. His thick arms folded across his broad chest, the
sleeves of his black t-shirt straining in protest. “You all know the routine. I
will give you your new patrol assignments. First shift leaves in twenty minutes.
It shouldn’t be long before Salvatore will begin replacing the rogues we killed
and before his army starts to feed on the population. They certainly haven’t
been discrete in the past and it should only be a matter of time before they
reveal themselves to us.”

There
was a soft knock at the door and Victor rose to answer it. The room fell silent
as Victor escorted Ava inside. Teagan clenched the arm of his chair for a
moment as his eyes drank her in. She looked stronger than the last time he saw
her but she was still too pale and had faint shadows under her eyes.

Ava
wanted to shrink under the scrutiny of all their eyes, staring at her in
curiosity. The room was full of huge, powerful men and from what she had been
told they were all vampires except for two werewolves. Not exactly something to
put a girl at ease. She felt the hard stare of one man in particular sitting in
the shadows of the corner. She wanted to crawl behind Victor and hide but he
kept her anchored to his side, with one arm around her shoulder.

She
didn’t want to meet their eyes so instead she fiddled with the hem of her
sweater that fashionably slid off of one delicate shoulder. She had worn it
over a pair of knee length leggings with a pair of ballet flats. One of
Victor’s servants had been nice enough to purchase some clothing for her. She
hadn’t known what to wear to the meeting, really, what did a girl wear to a
vampire meeting, but she had chosen the sweater since her body temperature
still hadn’t returned to normal and probably wouldn’t for a while.

“Gentleman
I’d like you all to meet Ava. She is the young woman Teagan rescued from
Salvatore’s lair in the raid. From what we understand Salvatore turned her
himself and it seems that he has taken an unusual interest in her. From conversations
I have had with Ava it looks as though he may have chosen her as his potential
mate.” Ava blushed at this but didn’t interrupt as Victor continued to speak.
“We believe Ava may be able to help us get to Salvatore. Ava has agreed to help
us in luring him out into the open.”

Ava
dared a glance up at the fierce men sitting in front of her, trying to read
their reactions to Victor’s plan. She wasn’t at all certain of her reception
here. She wondered if the fact that Salvatore was her sire would turn some of
them against her. She couldn’t blame them if it did. Part of her was afraid
they would reject her offer to help but part of her was afraid they would
accept it too.

Suddenly
Ava made eye contact with Joseph, the guardian that had brought her to the compound
her first night. She was startled at the fierce look he pinned on her. His dark
brows were drawn together tightly and she could see a muscle clenching in his
jaw.

“Bait.”
Joseph’s voice rose above the quiet in the room. “You want to use her as rogue
bait. Do you think it is fair to possibly endanger yet another innocent’s
life?” Ava took a deep breath and somehow found the nerve to speak up for
herself.

“Victor
has made me aware of the dangers involved. I know how important it is to
eliminate Salvatore as quickly as possible. If using me as
bait
will
give you any kind of edge then I think it’s worth the risk. Of course I have
personal reasons for wanting to see Salvatore stopped but I know I wasn’t his
only victim. Innocent people are dying and being turned against their will and
I am willing to do whatever is necessary to help you, no matter the risk.”

Victor’s
firm gaze locked with Joseph’s. “The decision has been made and Ava has agreed.
I understand your concerns and every effort will be made to ensure that Ava is
well protected.” With a low growl Joseph lowered his frustrated gaze to the
floor. He clearly wanted to argue more but knew by the look in his clan
leader’s eye that it was time to back off.

Daniel
looked over at Teagan in the corner, he noticed he hadn’t taken his eyes off of
Ava for a moment since she had walked in and noted his clenched fist. He could
feel the frustration coming off of his kinsman during the conversation about
using Ava as bait for Salvatore. He smirked at how transparent his future alpha
was being.

“Very
well then, we will work on a plan and in the meantime you will continue your
patrol schedules in Lake View. I would appreciate it if you gentlemen will
remember to behave yourselves and to help Ava feel at home here. I know we
don’t usually have women staying here at Claymore but Ava may be with us for a
while and had better be treated with respect or you will answer to me.” Victor
looked at them all menacingly and moved towards the office door, bringing the
meeting to an end.

Joseph
eased his large form out of one of the chairs and walked over to Ava with a
strained smile. “You look like you’re feeling better.”

“Yes,
much better thank you.” Ava smiled back at him, happy to see at least one
familiar face

“Ava,
are you sure about this? We can find a way of getting to Salvatore without
putting you in danger.”

“I’m
sure. I want to help. I need to help.” Ava smiled at Joseph reassuringly, she
could tell by the look in his eyes that he wasn’t happy about her helping them.

Ava
found it fascinating that such a huge, fierce looking man could treat her so
gently. He had been very patient with her, especially that first day that he
had brought her Claymore. Ava never would have expected it, judging him at
first glance. None of the men here looked like someone you would want to meet
in a dark alley. Never had she seen group of men that were as huge and fierce
as this bunch. They just didn’t make men like this in Eureka Springs.

As
the guardians began to file out of the room, several of them stopped and
introduced themselves to her. Fortunately Joseph stayed by her side and helped
with the introductions. Unknowingly Ava found herself moving closer to Joseph
with each of the men that she met. She just couldn’t help herself, she was so new
to this world and completely intimated by the warriors.

The
roughest looking of the men was one of the last to leave. His eyes hadn’t left
her since she entered the room and it had made Ava very nervous. Ava watched
him rise out of his chair, standing up he had to be over six foot tall. As he
moved towards the office door she couldn’t help but stare at him. She was
finally able to see him more clearly now that he had moved out of the shadows.
Focusing on his eyes, there was something so familiar about him but she
couldn’t place it. Just then the man that had been sitting next to him turned.
“Hey Teagan, why don’t we get out of here for a while and head down to
Madison’s for a couple of beers.”

Ava
gasped. That was it! Teagan! Joseph had said the beast that had rescued her was
named Teagan. Ava had fuzzy memories of him finding her at Salvatore’s lair but
she definitely remembered those eyes. “Teagan!” He paused and looked back at
her. Ava left a frowning Joseph and hurried over to the werewolf. Standing in front
of him, she just stood looking up at him stupidly for several moments, trying
to connect the man standing in front of her with her fuzzy memories of the
werewolf that had saved her from Salvatore. The beast was now a man, a very
large man. Unfortunately she knew about as much about werewolves as she did
about vampires.

Something
about his dark rugged face was so very attractive though. Ava briefly admired
his smoky blue eyes and dark shoulder length hair. Without thinking she boldly
reached her hand up to his cheek and rubbed her palm against his chiseled jaw.
Teagan tolerated her curious touch and looked down at her in confusion. His
cheek was lightly covered in just a hint of a beard. Ava liked how the feel of
it tickled the palm of her hand.

Standing
this close to him she suddenly found herself enveloped in his warm Lykan scent.
She remembered his scent and how much she had liked it. Somehow it helped her
to connect both the beast and the man standing in front of her. Someone cleared
their throat behind her, jerking Ava back to reality.

Embarrassed,
she pulled her hand back like she had been burned and held it behind her back.
Her cheeks flushed a pale pink. She didn’t know what had come over her.

Daniel
gave Teagan a sly wink. “Hey Joseph there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask
you about. Why don’t we talk out in the hall for a minute.”

Joseph
scowled at Daniel and growled. “Make it quick.” He knew Daniel was playing
wingman for Teagan.
Dam Lykae.
“I’ll be just outside.” Joseph said to
Ava while looking Teagan in the eye in warning. Joseph stepped out into the
hallway on Daniel’s heels and pulled the door halfway shut.

Ava
awkwardly didn’t know what to say next.
I am alone with an honest to
goodness real werewolf!
“I’m sorry about that.” Ava said, rubbing her hand.
“I um... I guess I didn’t recognize you. I just want to say that um… well…
thank you, for rescuing me from Salvatore. What he did to me was beyond
horrible… ” Unconsciously, Ava’s fingers came up to rub the pale pink marks on
her neck.  “…but I know that there was so much more yet to come. Thank you
so much for getting me out of there.”