Kraven (VLG Series Book 2) (26 page)

“Have the shots permanently hindered her in any way?” Kraven’s voice came out harsh.

“No. Of course not. A lot of pack women take the same shot when they want to avoid going into heat, and have been doing so for years. But I can finally tell you the truth, Batina.” He held her gaze. “You just need to stop taking them when you wish to get pregnant or decide you don’t mind going into heat, now that you’d be aware of what’s happening.”

Bat didn’t know what to think. She was stunned. Questions began to stream through her head.

Kraven spoke up. “Bat and I will have a discussion about this later. She’s heard enough. We’re out of here.”

“One last thing, VampLycan. Is Dustina really safe?”

“She’s with my clan in Alaska. My brother will make damn sure Decker Filmore doesn’t get her.”

“Tell her mate that she doesn’t need to be fed often, but it gets worse when she’s under stress. She’ll turn lethargic and drift into a Vampiric coma if she’s starved for too long. I don’t know if it would kill her or not. We never allowed it to go that far. She’s very human, so it’s possible it could be life threatening.”

“I’ll pass it along.”

“What about the rest of your clan? Is her mate high positioned? Will they help protect her?”

“My father is our clan leader.” He suddenly reached over and grabbed a letter opener off the desk and jabbed his skin near his wrist. “Smell.”

Dr. Brent backed away and bumped into his file cabinet. His expression turned fearful.

“What?” Bat stood too, confused. She glanced between them. “What the hell are you doing, Kraven?”

“He’s strong-blooded,” Dr. Brent whispered. “That’s what he’s proving. Whatever Vampire blood he has is very strong and very old. Powerful. He also smells like an alpha Werewolf.”

“Lycan,” Kraven snarled. “I hate being called that. Say it again and I’ll make you regret it.”

“Stop it,” Bat demanded. “You’re scaring Dr. Brent.”

“He
should
be afraid.”

She turned on Kraven and fisted his shirt with both hands. “Hey!”

He stopped glowering at the doctor to hold her gaze.

“Knock that shit off right now! You heard him. He’s kept Dusti and me safe. Don’t threaten him. Stop being an asshole.”

“He could have harmed you with those shots you were given.”

“He said he didn’t.”

“Don’t argue with a furious VampLycan,” Dr. Brent hissed. “He could kill you in a rage.”

“Kraven’s not going to hurt me, Dr. Brent. Everybody please calm down!”

Kraven cupped her ass with both of his big hands. “You should take his advice, Hellion. Show me submission.”

“In your dreams. Get your gorilla-sized mitts off my ass.”

“Never. It’s
my
ass.”

Dr. Brent gasped. “You’re having an affair with him?”

Kraven snapped his head up. “Affair? Don’t insult us. She’s
mine
.”

“Stop.” Bat released Kraven’s shirt and smoothed the crumpled material with her fingers. “I get it. You’re a mega-badass in your world. No need to beat someone up to prove a point.”

“I apologize.” Dr. Brent seemed to consider his next words more carefully. “I didn’t mean any insult. I didn’t know she was your mate.”

“We need to go.” Kraven still seemed furious. “Now.” He glared at the doctor. “Don’t tell anyone we were here or what we discussed. I’ll come after you otherwise. Understand?”

“
Stop
threatening Dr. Brent.” Bat smacked his chest. “You’re such a dick!”

He lowered his gaze, eyes narrowing. “You’re asking for it, Hellion.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re going to spank me.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m shaking in my high heels.” She looked over her shoulder. “Thank you, Dr. Brent. For everything. I’ll be in touch with you soon.”

“Or not,” Kraven muttered.

Bat shoved away from him and stormed toward the door. “Come on. Let’s go. I can’t take you anywhere. You’re such a bully.”

“Wait!”

Bat stared at Dr. Brent. “What is it?”

“Can you please exit out the back? I have a patient who’s arrived. She’s pregnant.” His gaze slid to Kraven. “You’ll terrify her.”

Bat arched her eyebrows.

“Were— Lycans,” Dr. Brent sighed. “The females need to avoid high stress when they’re pregnant. The trauma of confronting a VampLycan at this stage of her pregnancy could send her into early labor. She’ll try to flee and could possibly get hurt, at the very least. Take a left out the door and after that, a right at the end of the corridor. There’s a freight elevator. It’s clearly marked. It’s how I sneak in severely injured patients if they need surgery.”

“Sure.” Kraven nodded.

“Thank you.”

Kraven led Bat into the hallway and turned left. She had learned a lot and needed to mull it over.

Her father had known her mother was a VampLycan—and her mom
had
tried to tell her the truth.

Kraven worried about his mate but didn’t say anything until they reached her car. He gently deposited Bat into the passenger side, then took the driver’s seat. “Are you okay? You’re too damn quiet.”

“I’m just thinking,” she murmured.

He put the key in the ignition but rested his hands on the steering wheel, instead of starting the engine. “Do you mind sharing?”

She looked at him. “Dad knew and accepted what my mom was.”

“The Vamp said they were in love.”

“I know but he stuck it out with her.”

“Why does that confuse you?”

“I’m impressed more. I always thought he was a good man but it takes a lot to get over the fact that the person you’re with isn’t human.”

“You’re with
me
.”

She licked her lips. “I’m not who I thought. My entire life was a lie.”

He released the wheel and reached over, taking her hand. She didn’t resist. It made him worry more. “You knew the truth about your bloodlines before we came here.”

“Yeah but it was more believable coming from Dr. Brent.”

He tried not to be insulted. She had known the Vampire for most of her life. “You’re the same woman you’ve always been. Your bloodlines don’t change that.”

Irritation showed in the way she looked at him.

“You know what I mean, Bat.”

“Yeah. I guess I do. It makes it worse knowing my mother tried to tell me and I didn’t take it well.”

“No one would. It had to come as a shock.”

“Don’t be nice to me. I don’t want to cry. Tears are for pussies.”

“Where the hell did you hear that?” The things that popped out of her mouth sometimes left him astonished.

“One of my law professors. He was a dick but he was right. Crying doesn’t do a damn thing but show others you have a weakness they can take advantage of.”

“You’ve known some fucked-up humans.”

“Yes. I have. And I happen to be one of them right now. Dr. Brent is a real Vampire. He has a spray tan.”

“I told you they exist. I’m a
Vamp
Lycan. Remember how I said we came into existence? Vampires and Lycans breeding…?”

“It’s kind of hard to forget. Why did he say you smell of a really old Vampire?”

“Are you sure you want to know?”

“Yes. I do. You definitely have my full attention now. You said Vampires and Lycans joined forces but shit hit the fan. Tell me more.”

“Here?”

“You don’t want to go back to my place and I’m not letting you take me to some shithole. It’s early in the morning. Check-in times at a decent hotel wouldn’t be until later this afternoon, unless we go somewhere that rents to prostitutes by the hour. Pass.”

“You might have a point.”

“I do. So tell me again about how VampLycans came to be now that I’m not so distracted.”

He opened his mouth.

“Skip the shit you already said. I remember. It’s kind of etched into my mind.”

“What exactly do you want to know?”

“Why do you smell old? I mean, you said you’re eighty-one. Is that what Dr. Brent meant? He looks fifty and he said he was turned into a Vampire thirty-six years ago. That puts him at around eighty-six, at least. You’re younger than him.”

“Vampires gain strength with age. A newly turned one is weak. They need to sleep during daytime; it’s a natural defense against the sun. They get an overpowering urge to go somewhere dark and safe before dawn. They lapse into a coma-like sleep until it’s safe to move around again.”

“I get it. Go on.”

“A hundred-year-old Vampire can move when the sun is up. It can still burn and kill him, but it doesn’t put him to sleep during the day. He gains strength with his abilities too. He’s stronger, faster, doesn’t require as much blood as he did before.”

She nodded.

“A two-hundred-year-old Vampire is twice as strong as a hundred-year-old one, and so forth.”

“The sun?”

“He’ll still fry, but he can take tiny amounts of exposure. He’d suffer severe burns if he had a sudden urge to streak outside from one place to another for some reason. He’d survive but it would hurt like hell, even after a short distance. He’d need blood immediately to heal or go a bit crazy from the pain.”

“How short?”

Kraven glanced around, spotting the other parking structure across the street. “Let’s say his lair was invaded and he needed to flee. He could run at full speed from this building to that one and survive. He probably wouldn’t make it much more than a city block. He’d collapse and turn to ash.” He watched her response.

She peered out the windshield. “Okay. That’s comforting.”

“It is?”

“Yeah. It’s not far.”

She amused him. He couldn’t follow her logic but it obviously made sense to her.

“So how is Dr. Brent moving around? He’s thirty-six in dead years.”

“Vamps aren’t really dead.”

“Whatever. Why isn’t he snoozing? It’s a bright, sunny day. His ass is awake.”

“He said his master was from the fourteenth century. Feedings from his master would have strengthened him. He’d have kept that strength, even after his master’s death.”

“Like a blood transfusion? Get enough blood from an old one and their abilities are transferred?”

“To a certain point, yes.”

“So Dr. Brent is as strong as his master was?”

Kraven shook his head. “No. A master would never allow that to happen. Their strength over others is part of what makes them a master to begin with. He’d have fed Brent enough blood to make it possible for him to work during daylight hours but nothing beyond that.”

“Afraid the ones he made would kill his evil ass if they could take him in a fight?”

“Yeah.” He chuckled. “Something like that.”

“Okay. So why do
you
smell old?”

“Vampires can’t have children…or at least, they couldn’t until a nest made an alliance with Lycans.”

“Yeah. You told me this. They were both being hunted by humans and thought it would be safer to band together. Get to the point.”

“The master who discovered shifters could breed with Vamps invited some of his friends from Europe when the Lycans began to conceive.”

“Why?”

“Who the fuck knows? Maybe he thought he could trade the knowledge to get his fangs invited into the vein of someone even older. Vampires can be pretty damn greedy that way, wanting to suck on someone stronger to increase their strength. It’s possible he just wanted to rub it in their noses that he’d accomplished something they hadn’t. It could have been to make alliances with stronger nests if he planned to go to Europe. I’ve heard they’re pretty territorial over there and will kill Vampires who aren’t part of their nests. Could be any reason. I’d ask him myself but nobody knows what happened to that betraying asshole. The fact is, he let some very old masters attack Lycan women. He offered them up to be raped and impregnated against their wills. My grandmother was one of them.”

Bat cringed and squeezed his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

“He ripped into her mind as easy as if she were human. Lycans aren’t normally easy to mind control. And they’re aware of the intrusion unless that Vamp is really powerful. A Lycan will fight or flee to protect themselves against becoming a suckhead’s puppet. But she didn’t stand a chance. He was too strong physically, and with his abilities…” He took a deep breath. “The bastard knocked her out and killed her mate. Then the son of a bitch convinced her that
he
was her mate. That’s how they got past the Lycan birth control. Just took over her mind, told her it was safe to get pregnant and urged her to ovulate to breed him a pup. She was kept under his control until her body complied. That’s how my father came to be. Her mind was released from his will after she was pregnant. She woke to the horror of what he’d done.”

“I hope he’s dead.”