Kraven (VLG Series Book 2) (10 page)

“He’ll protect her with his life,” he rasped, looking sincere. “Release me and I’ll get up.”

She regretted it deeply but unlocked her legs from around the back of his thighs and lifted her hands from his back. He almost reluctantly withdrew from her body and eased his weight off until they no longer touched. He rolled away, looked elsewhere, as Bat sat up to adjust her clothing.

Her skirt was not only wrinkled but now had grass stains. She rose to her feet. Her hands dusted the thing frantically to push it down her thighs and remove the bits of grass that stuck to it. Kraven stood and fixed his pants, closed the belt, and they faced each other.

“We
are
going to talk, Bat. Prepare for that.” His solemn gaze held hers. “But not right now. Let’s go.” He opened his arms. “I’ll carry you.”

“Forget it. I’ll walk.” She took the lead, watched the ground for anything sharp to avoid stepping on it. She paused when they reached the fire.

She’d just turned to Kraven when a horrible, scary sound fractured the woods.

Birds overhead took flight, their wings flapped frantically. Kraven’s features paled.

“Was that a bear?” Terror gripped Bat.

“No.” Kraven snarled the word, his voice startling her badly at how vicious he sounded. “Stay here. Don’t move.”

He sprinted off rapidly before she could respond, running faster than she’d ever seen a person move. She stood there in stunned silence until another gut-wrenching roar filled her ears.

Panic struck. Kraven had just abandoned her in the woods.

She debated on rushing after him but didn’t want to get lost. A feeling of helplessness brought tears to her eyes before she bent to grab a rock. It was small enough to fit in the palm of her hand, but it was a weapon. She took a few steps in the direction where Kraven had lunged away, her gaze frantically searching for him.

“Come back,” she prayed aloud.

Another horrifying animalistic noise rent the air and she inched closer to the fire, grabbing one of the sharpened sticks Kraven had used to cook the meat. Whatever it was, it sounded big and deadly. The crazy idiot had run right in the direction the sound came from.

“I knew he was nuts.”

She strained her ears, listening for any other sounds. Time seemed to drag by as seconds turned into minutes. Every bad scenario ran through her head. He could get killed. She’d die without him. She really needed Kraven to come back.

Kraven hated leaving Bat alone but he had to get to his brother. He jumped up on a fallen tree and scanned the woods. He spotted an enforcer within seconds. The wind blew and he inhaled. The scent wasn’t familiar.

Enemy.
His instincts screamed it.

He quickly removed his clothes and leapt off his higher spot. He was partially shifted as he hit the ground running.

The enforcer was tracking something, his nose to the ground. He didn’t see or hear Kraven coming at him until it was too late.

Kraven slammed into his body hard enough that the impact hurt even him. It sent the enforcer rolling into a tree. Kraven was on him before he could recover. He let his claws dig into the man’s back, using his weight to pin him down. He grabbed him by the side of his neck as the stunned enforcer tried to draw breath. He bit hard enough to draw blood but not rip out his throat. It was a warning.

Kraven opened his jaws. “She’s
mine
,” he grumbled. “You aren’t taking her.”

The guy under him snarled and tried to buck him off.

Fury filled Kraven. “Go home or die. Last warning. Decker is wrong.”

The enforcer tried to buck him again and twisted his head, attempting to bite into Kraven’s face. He reacted fast by flinching away. He dug his claws in deeper and when the enforcer’s body seized from the pain, he lunged. His teeth latched onto the enforcer’s throat and tore into flesh.

The enforcer under him shuddered and finally grew still.

Kraven paused, listening to the enforcer take his last breath. He opened his mouth and shoved off the other man. He stood, his body coated in blood where it had splashed on him. He’d killed to protect Bat.

He returned to skin, not wanting Bat to see him in shift. She’d run for her life, surely believing he would attack.

Motion to his left drew his attention as he saw another enforcer in the distance. He wasn’t close enough to be a threat to Bat unless he changed direction. Kraven was downwind so the beast probably wasn’t aware of him yet. He moved fast to hide behind a tree, tracking the enforcer with his gaze.

The other male paused, looked around, then shoved his nose down on the ground. Decker’s man was searching for the women, or perhaps trying to locate the other enforcer, since he had to have heard the fighting. Those first roars hadn’t come from the one Kraven fought. Those he’d identified as Drantos. It meant his brother had been found.

Kraven crouched and kept low.

He felt torn between loyalties. Drantos was in trouble but Bat was alone. She’d be defenseless without him sticking close. He dropped to his hands and knees, staying low to keep from being seen until he reached a thick line of trees. Then he straightened, running fast to reach the woman he’d left behind. She was his priority.

He’d almost made it back to Bat when he caught an unfamiliar whiff of yet another enemy. He moved toward the scent with stealth until he spotted motion.

The shifted enforcer leapt over a fallen tree, moving fast toward where he’d left Bat.

The bastard must have caught her scent, or that of the fire he’d started to cook her meal. Kraven’s claws shot out from his fingertips and his fangs elongated as he moved to intercept the threat.

Decker’s enforcers were well known since they liked to show up at the clan from time to time to make threats, but this wasn’t one Kraven had ever met or smelled before.

The male snarled low, probably telling him to move out of his way.

Kraven curled his lip to flash his fangs and held his ground. He decided to try reasoning with the enforcer. “Don’t even think about it. Do you know who I am? I’m Velder’s son.” He hoped the threat of his father would be enough.

The male’s eyes narrowed as he softly growled.

Obviously not
. “You don’t want to fight me. It would be a mistake. That woman is mine. Do you understand me? She’s my mate. You
will
die if you try to take her.”

“Decker wants,” the enforcer hissed.

“Decker can shrivel up and go fuck off. He’s gone too far this time and you know it. He isn’t going to stop until he starts a war. Is that what you want? Clan fighting clan? To see the bodies of friends and family pile up? To watch women mourn the loss of mates and children?”

The enforcer just stared at him but Kraven saw emotion flicker in his eyes. His tense body also slightly relaxed. It encouraged him to keep talking.

“How many would you kill to protect
your
mate? Is Decker worth dying for? You aren’t touching what’s mine.”

The shifted beast backed up a few steps, indecision in his narrowed stare.

“I’m giving you a chance to live.” Kraven flashed his fangs again as he allowed some of his humanity to slip away, the bones in his face shifting. “I’ve already killed one of you. Big one with black spots on his coat.”

A pained whine came from the enforcer.

“You were close to him?”

“Yessss.”

“Take him home to his loved ones.” He jerked his head toward where he’d battled the other VampLycan. “Don’t die on a fool’s errand. Decker can’t win. Aveoth will never be leashed and controlled as your leader’s pet. He’d more likely attack him to make an example of what he does to his enemies. Decker is making your entire clan an enemy of the GarLycans.”

Kraven didn’t really believe Aveoth would slaughter innocents, but it could happen that way.

The male’s stance relaxed and Kraven did the same, but staying on the alert in case it was a deception. “Get your friend and take him home.”

The male turned directions, sniffed the air, and tracked Kraven’s footsteps to the clearing. Kraven followed him, not willing to trust that he wouldn’t go after Bat. The bloodied body lay where he’d left it. A whimper came from his enemy. Remorse for the loss of a life softened some of Kraven’s rage.

“I had no choice.”

The VampLycan shifted into a boy barely out of his teens. Disgust toward Decker rose once again. It seemed the clan leader not only sent women to do his bidding, but barely full-grown youths as well. Kraven seethed.

“Why do you follow that son of a bitch?”

The boy turned to face him, his shoulders stiff. “It’s a matter of honor.”

“He
has
none.”

“I know.” His gaze lowered to the ground. “My father’s pledged to him. I must make my family proud by doing his bidding, to keep our honor, whether or not I agree with Decker’s orders. My father is a strong supporter. I am not. This was my best friend.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

The teen looked up and held Kraven’s stare until he turned to gently lift the body of his comrade. “He’s got to be stopped. Decker leads us with terror and kills anyone in our clan who voices dissatisfaction. He ordered us to retrieve his granddaughter. We either do what he says, or he’d have us killed on the spot. I’ll die if I go back without her.”

It was a plea for help. “Go to one of the other clans and wait it out. Repeat what you’ve told me. Decker has gone way too far. We’re heading home and will tell the other clans of his plot. Aveoth won’t be happy to learn your leader planned to blackmail him. No one will allow this to pass without punishment.”

“Most of us will be relieved if Decker’s no longer in power. We don’t want a war with you.”

The kid was flat-out telling him the clan wanted Decker removed from position. “How many feel that way?” He wanted to know how their clan was split.

“Just the first generations will have a problem with Decker being gone. We’re forced to abide by their decisions.”

Kraven understood. Sons and daughters were bound to do as their elders ordered, and they were following Decker. It wasn’t honorable to go against one’s elders. Few would challenge and kill a parent to take charge of their family. But the dynamics of the clan would change if Decker were gone. The elders would have to follow the new leader. “Is there one amongst you who would be able to lead, and who doesn’t share Decker’s power lust? A name would help.”

The kid hesitated, glancing around first before he whispered, “Lorn. He refused to be an enforcer but Decker didn’t kill him. Lorn’s father is Decker’s chief advisor, but some think that’s not why his son was allowed to live. The enforcers tread lightly around Lorn.”

They feared him. That’s what the kid wasn’t saying. “Lorn doesn’t like Decker?”

“No.”

“Is he sane?”

The kid nodded. “He says he has no tolerance for bullshit and keeps to himself most of the time.”

Kraven liked him already. “Do you think your clan would be better off with Lorn leading it?”

“He’s only got one flaw.”

“What’s that?”

The kid glanced around again and lowered his voice. “One of the enforcers was sent into the human world, and he had a child with a human. He brought the baby home with him after the mother died. Lorn protects her.”

“You see that as a flaw?” It disgusted Kraven. The kid in question was probably weak like Bat and her sister, unable to defend herself properly.

The kid hesitated and shrugged. “Decker thinks it is. She’s still alive because Lorn goes after anyone who threatens her. He practically castrated a few guys who thought she might be fun to fuck with once. He took them on by himself and left them bleeding in the dirt. I saw him fight. He could hold the clan if he wanted to. Most fear and avoid him.”

The teen rushed away in the next instant, taking his fallen clansman.

Kraven felt the weight of the world on his shoulders. The new information would help them take out Decker. He just needed to get Bat safely to his village and call the three other clans together to hold a meeting. They also needed to learn more about Lorn. It would be hell to help him gain control of that clan, only to later find out he would be a bigger problem than his predecessor.

He checked on Bat, keeping his distance so she wouldn’t spot him. He hadn’t retrieved his clothes yet or cleaned up. It amused him seeing her by the fire. She held a rock and a stick. He scanned the area, sniffed, and then decided to quickly check on Drantos. It would only take a few minutes. Bat was safe for the time being. He trusted that the teen wouldn’t return.

He’d almost reached where he’d picked up Drantos’s scent when the wind blew in his face. He froze as the scent of enforcers filled his nose. There were at least two of them.

He spotted them in the distance, moving fast and heading right toward Bat and the fire. He regretted building the damn thing. He should have caught fish and made her eat it raw.

He spun, rushing back to Bat. He needed to get her the hell out of there. Those weren’t enforcers from his clan.