Scent of Valor (Chronicles of Eorthe #2) (8 page)

Chapter Thirteen

Kele carried the bowls of stew to Peder. It took all her willpower not to slurp the meal directly from the pot. She hadn’t eaten since the morning of their capture. Just before her mating ceremony she’d shared a meal with— Her appetite suddenly vanished. Her parents had died. She stumbled and almost spilled their meal. Part of her didn’t believe they weren’t out there searching for her.

Peder’s eyes still held a haunted edge. Until now, he’d been her anchor. Witnessing him unravel tore her apart. He’d fought extremely well so she didn’t understand his distress.

She sat next to him and watched as he devoured his meal. It reminded her of the first evening they’d spent together at her den in the abandoned room. She’d brought him a bowl of stew, then. At the time, he’d thought the old room grand with its threadbare rug and thin cushions.

She forced herself to eat. What was life like in the Apisi den? She’d heard the whispered stories but had thought them fiction, at least until now. Omegas didn’t normally fight challenges. She’d been shocked into inaction when he’d stepped into the ring. For a moment, she’d expected never to see him alive again and the thought of losing him had stopped her heart.

Maybe this had been his first challenge? Usually when a pack member of the Payami won their first challenge, they would celebrate.

A holding cell of slaves, far from pack and home, was a poor party. But he was omega—they didn’t see the world in the same light as hunters. He’d mentioned losing control and seemed ashamed. He shouldn’t be. She’d do anything to wipe away the pain from Peder. She didn’t understand why he felt this way but she was very familiar with being a disgrace.

“When I was young and still couldn’t shift, my mother would take me out in the forest.” Kele set her half-eaten stew next to the pallet before her shaking hands made her drop her bowl.

Peder slowed in eating but still didn’t look at her.

“She’d hunt me in her feral form.” She stared at the bowl. This story was harder to tell than she thought. She hadn’t had someone to confide in before. “I was so scared and lost. I didn’t know how to track. She said if she caught me, she’d eat me.”

“That’s horrible. I always pictured your parents as doting.” Peder set his food next to hers and pulled her into his arms. They felt strong and solid around her body. His heat welcomed her to mold against his body. What was it about this male that made her ache for his touch? She never wanted to leave his embrace.

“Far from it. They loved me in their own way. They wanted an alpha and got a defective child instead. My mother thought fear would trigger my shift since nothing else worked. She did what she thought was right.” She caressed his face and lost herself in his forest-green gaze. “Just like you did.”

He shook his head and tore away from her. “No, that’s not true.” A shiver ran through his limbs as he leaned against the wall, his dull gaze focused outside the cage.

“Then tell me what the truth is and make me understand.”

He patted her hand. “Rest. The coming days will be difficult.”

“Peder.” She hated the pleading in her voice. Who was she to beg? Almost overnight, she went from potential alpha to slave—and she didn’t mean being captured by these awful vampires. She was a slave to her heart. No matter the distance, no matter the silence, no matter their social standings within the tribe, she still wanted Peder. If Nahuel woke right this moment and demanded they mate, she would turn him away so she could just sit and hold Peder’s hand.

She was pathetic. Her mother would spit on her. She’d told Kele never to submit to her mate, that she needed to show she was as strong or stronger than him. But if Peder were to ask her to lay with him so he could rub her belly right now, she would roll over without question.

As if sensing her inner turmoil, he stroked her head and offered her his arm so she could cuddle against him again. “Sorry.” He took a deep, shuddery breath. “It’s not easy for me to talk about. I just don’t want to be a monster.” He ran his fingers through her long hair. Over and over, he repeated the movement until he kissed the top of her head.

She twisted quickly then before he escaped and cupped his face in her hands. “In the cage. You said you never stopped writing me.” Inside, she braced for the worst. He’d found love in another or he thought her a spoiled Payami bitch. Last night, he’d whispered such sweet encouragement in her ear, but wouldn’t any omega do the same? She should have spent more time with the omegas of her own pack to learn their ways. How could she tell his sincerity? Duty versus love.

The haunted shadows of this evening seemed to fade from his gaze, replaced with a spark of interest. “I never stopped. Every week I placed my letters under the altar in the Temple. Every week when I returned, they were gone with no response left.”

“What? Ahote always returned empty-handed when I sent him to bring mine.” Reality sunk into her stomach like a stone. “Ahote.” She ground out his name as if it was a curse. “That meddling beast.” The hunter had been their secret messenger.

He jerked in her arms. “But it was his idea that we write to each other. He’d even volunteered to be the courier.”

“If we ever get out of here, I’ll skin him and use his hide as bedding.”

Peder chuckled and worked her fisted hands open. “You still wrote me?”

She blinked at his question. “Of course, I did.”

He entwined his fingers with hers and brought them to his lips. One by one, he kissed them. “What.” Kiss. “Did.” Kiss. “You.” Kiss. “Write.”

Mesmerized by his full lips on her chafed skin, she could barely speak. “Things.” Like prey caught in a hunter’s gaze, she couldn’t move. Goddess, every time he laid his mouth upon her skin, it sent waves of tingling sensation through her hands. Unlike prey, she wanted Peder to devour her.

“Hmm…” He traced her fingers with the tip of his tongue. “Pack gossip? Latest fashions?”

“What?” She yanked her gaze from his devious mouth. “No. When have I ever discussed such silly things?”

His small smile was teasing. “Then what?” He continued exploring as he nipped at her wrist right where her pulse raced.

“Uh, the challenges I’d won. My plans to climb the pack hierarchy.” She gasped as he bit a little hard, but she didn’t pull away. An ache developed between her thighs and she squirmed to find a less needy position.

“Did you like that?”

“Yes.” Her answer came out on an exhale as he repeated the nip on her other wrist. “Oh Goddess.” She was out of her element. Give her a fight or an illness and she knew what to do, but she floundered at the onslaught of Peder’s skill. He hadn’t even marked her yet and she was ready to take off her dress.

“No, no.” He kissed and licked a trail up her arm until they were pressed chest to chest, his mouth hovering over hers. “It’s ‘oh Peder’.”

Her lips parted with a gasp. She hadn’t enough air in her lungs for more.

He drove his kiss down onto her. There was nothing civil about it, nothing gentle or tender like Benic’s. Peder was rough, wildly dominant as he thrust his tongue into her welcoming mouth. In and in and in, he claimed every crevice. The raw hunger of his desire set her ablaze. Every nerve ending not pressed against him screamed to be stroked, bitten, and kissed.

She ran her hands over his bare chest and reveled at the sensation of his tense muscles moving under his skin. So hard and unyielding compared to hers. How many times had she pictured this moment as she touched herself in the dark of her room?

He pulled away, his breathing hard, his eyes untamed.

“Oh Peder.” She wasn’t sure what to do next. Her experience equaled one unwanted kiss from a vampire she’d thought a friend. That might actually make it less than zero.

The sound of shuffling feet caught her attention. She twisted in his arms and caught a few of the imprisoned shifters and a vampire guard watching them. Heat sizzled over her cheeks until it reached her ears. She expected to burst into flames. She sat straighter and pulled the hem of her dress down. When had it edged so high up her thighs?

Peder’s gaze followed hers. “I doubt we’ll ever get any privacy.”

She pressed her cool hands to her cheeks. The guard’s interested stare reminded Kele of the looks the omega female received after she’d shifted to civil form and gone into the slaver’s tent. How long before she was dragged to some strange male’s bed? She didn’t have delusions of being treated well in this nightmare. She hadn’t much control over her fate. “You’re right. We never will.”

He scooted closer to her and hung his arm over her shoulders. “I’m happy like this. I’m happy knowing you hadn’t forgotten me.”

“Forgotten you?” She shot the question at him like an arrow. “You’ve burned yourself into my soul. How could I ever forget?” She struck his thigh. “I wish I could have forgotten. It would have been so much easier.” Folding her arms, she turned her back on Peder yet still managed to lean against him. Dear Goddess, help her. “Why is fate so cruel? I could have been with you all this time except for that dog shit of a whore, Ahote.”

“Kele.” He sounded shocked at her words, yet chuckled.

“It’s true. None of this would have happened if Ahote hadn’t interfered with our…”

“Romance?” He nuzzled her neck and inhaled deeply as if savoring her scent.

“Instead, we’re trapped here where some greasy bloodsucker will most likely pop my skin tag like some brute. Or better yet, I’ll get sold to highest bidder so he can do it, and then I’ll be used as a whore until I go feral and they have to put me down like a rabid animal.” Her breathing had grown labored and she clung to Peder’s arms as he hugged her from behind.

“Skin tag?” he whispered in her ear. “You’re still a virgin?”

She tossed him an angry look. “Don’t sound so shocked. It happens.” Not too often. Their race was a high-strung society. Sex helped relieve a lot of those issues. She didn’t know many who remained untouched past the age of fourteen winters, and she was twenty-one. With a grunt, she broke eye contact. She couldn’t believe she admitted that. He’d never touch her again. “The Goddess hates me. There’s no other explanation.”

“Was that your first kiss?”

“No, I’m not that pathetic.” Almost that inexperienced, though. She wanted to scream and bash in someone’s head. Maybe the vampire guard still staring at them would volunteer. “Benic was my first.”

He snarled. The sound shattered her hearing for a moment, he was so close to her ear. He swung her around, his nose almost pressed to hers. “You let him touch you?”

“And how many females have you been with?” She quirked her eyebrow up. Fighting—now this she was well versed in.

“Many.” He leaned in close. “And don’t forget the males. Don’t forget what it means to be omega. It’s hard for us to say no.”

Her head spun. She had forgotten. Ever since they walked in here and he fought that hunter, she was seeing him in a new light. “You don’t fight like one.”

He flinched. The haunted look returned to his eyes. Great, she’d taken a page from her mother’s book of being a bitch.

His gaze wandered around the compound. “It’s getting dark. We should get some sleep.”

Others had already taken to their pallets. One couple a few pallets over obviously didn’t have any issues with an audience.

She rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. Close to the feces pit a few beds remained free. She was tired enough the smell wouldn’t stop her from sleeping.

Peder’s hand snaked around her wrist and pulled her back into his arms. “Where are you going?”

She pointed over her shoulder to her intended destination.

His brow furrowed. “You stay with me.” She’d never heard him sound so angry. “You’re mine.”

She’d never had a male make such a claim. If they’d been at home, her father would have put a stop to it, but she didn’t have him anymore. Her heart drummed. She actually didn’t mind Peder’s attitude.

He blushed but still held her gaze as if her equal. Definitely not omega-like behavior. Any other time, an omega would have let go and dropped their gaze. Dark moon, an omega wouldn’t have dared grab a hunter to begin with.

“To protect, understand?”

She dropped to her knees in front of him and growled, gripping his hair. “You have it all wrong, sweet male. You’re mine.”

Chapter Fourteen

On his horse, Benic followed Ahote. The shifter hadn’t been happy about stopping at his castle first until he’d offered Ahote provisions. Dried meat was the way to any hunter’s heart. Benic had needed to inform his chamberlain that he’d be going on a few days’ journey.

Ahote carried a pack on his back with spare clothes and the food Benic had provided. The shifter presently raced in feral form in great loping strides. His midnight fur was Inacio’s wet dream.

Benic sighed. His incubus had thrown the fit of all fits when he told him he couldn’t come. Inacio was great for parties and shopping, but not on a slaver hunt. The poor thing had had his share of suffering at slaver hands. Benic wouldn’t even discuss the situation with him and bring back sore memories. When he returned and had time to woo Inacio with mulled wine and fine dragon silks, he would explain why he’d left him behind.

They’d departed the forest the previous evening and were now crossing the grasslands between his home and New Berg. It had been well over a day since Kele had been taken.

“Is their scent still strong?” Benic gripped the pommel of his sword.

“Like a blazing path. They weren’t trying to hide their passing whatsoever,” Ahote shouted over his shoulder. “I guess they weren’t worried about your retaliation.”

He ground his teeth and almost chipped a fang. The last thing he wanted to do was agree with this specific male. The slavers had grown bold and he’d grown lazy.

Ahote stopped in a clearing of crushed vegetation. His nose to the ground, he circled around the area.

Benic dismounted his horse well before the clearing. The animal tolerated Ahote but that was as far as their relationship would go. Pacing the old campground, he noted fire pits. He knelt next to one of them and touched the cold coals. “They’ve been gone awhile.” Something sparkled in the sunlight a few inches from his feet. He ran his fingers through the grass until they hit a solid metallic object. He pulled out the ruby pendant he’d given Kele. He covered his mouth and sensed the blood draining from his face. One of the slavers must have dropped it there by the fireside. She’d worn it to her mating ceremony.

She’d been thinking of him after all.

He pocketed the jewelry and closed his eyes for a moment.
I am coming Kele
.
Stay strong.

“I smell Payami mingled with other shifters.” He snuffled a specific spot. “Here. Kele was lying here, and I’m pretty sure Peder’s scent is next to hers.”

Benic’s heart warred with itself. She lived but in another’s arms.
Fuck.

“I smell blood.” Ahote tracked back and forth over the area. “Just traces here, but it grows stronger this way.” He took off at a run, nose to the ground.

Benic tried to keep pace but he couldn’t compete with four legs.

A howl split the air and he drew his sword, ready to decapitate any who attacked. With his weapon held at the ready, he crested the hill and stumbled to a stop. He rested his sword tip on the ground and caught his breath.

Ahote hovered over the dead body of a young, pretty female.

“Do you know her?”

He shook his big furry head. “No, she doesn’t smell like any pack I know.” He traced obvious puncture wounds on her neck and wrists. “Savages. They didn’t have to kill her.” Gently, he closed her eyes. “Do you have a spade?”

“What? No. We don’t have time to dig a grave.” He sheathed his sword.

“We will not leave her to rot in the elements. Someone loved her.” He rose to his hind legs and crossed his arms. “She was someone’s child, sister, maybe a mother. The least we can offer is a shallow grave.”

May God have mercy on his soul for thinking this fool would be a good ally. Muscle and hormones ruled this hunter like most of his ilk. “Very well, how do you propose we dig?”

“Don’t worry, vampire.” He spat out the last word as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. “I will do it with my hands. Your soft hands don’t have to get dirty.”

Ahote pierced the soil with his claws and began to move the dirt.

“We’re wasting time. They could be sold by the time we get to New Berg.” What would Sorin do if they returned empty-handed? That alpha had the balls to breach his castle and sneak into his tower. Ahote was a fool, but not Sorin. Benic would never be able to sleep again.

“It would go faster if you shut up and helped instead.”

He unfastened his sword belt and tossed it on the grass along with his fine, leather jacket. “Move over.” He got down on his knees and dug with his fucking fingers.

Ahote slowed and stared.

“Well, don’t stop now. Let’s get this over with.” He scooped out the loose soil and piled it on the edge.

“You know Kele won’t ever consent to marry you.”

He stopped and threw a clump at Ahote. “What does that have to do with digging this grave?” Leaning forward, he met his blue-eyed wolf glare. “What do you know about love?”

He shrugged. “That it’s not worth it. Look at you, a lord on his knees digging in the dirt. Never thought I’d see the day.” He continued digging deeper and kept silent.

Good thing he did. As if Benic had never dug a hole. Granted, this was the first grave he’d burrowed with his bare hands. Next thing he knew he’d be wearing leather kilts and spewing things about pack life being the only honest way to live. He scowled.

Vampire society brought civility and knowledge wherever it alighted in these wild lands. South Amerigo and Afrika were excellent examples. If not for vampires, these places would still be torn by war. They spread peace and learning.

His gaze landed on the dead female. Some of them did, not all.

“That’s deep enough.” Ahote rose to his feet and lifted the small female into her unmarked grave. Someone had loved her and didn’t even know she’d passed into the dark. Ahote turned his back on him to brush dirt off his fur.

Benic made a quick sign of the cross over her body and murmured a fast prayer under his breath.

“You never came across as religious, Benic.” Ahote gave him a very wolfish grin.

“I’m not.” He pushed the dirt over her body. Damn it, he’d hoped he hadn’t seen. “But I don’t see how it would hurt.”

“You never sent your priests into the forest to convert us. Why?”

He shrugged. “They’re not my priests. You have your Goddess. Who’s to say you’re wrong and we’re right? Maybe they’re both the same thing.”

“Don’t ever say that to Kele.” With that, the hunter ran off. Nose to the ground again.

Benic had to run back to his horse and gallop to keep him in visual range.
Kele.
What had those slavers done to her?