Valiant Heart (3 page)

Chapter Four

A Loyal Champion

“Ariana, sister, you haven't showered yet.” Melonie, a Huntress newer to our tribe, stood in the open doorway of the suite across the hall, motioning me into her room. “Some of the women have already ventured over to the Hunters' quarters. You should hurry.”

I nodded but said nothing as I slipped into the room without a glance behind me. Lance would no doubt still be recovering from my attack, perhaps thinking about coming after me for revenge. I felt a twinge of regret and pushed it aside. No, he'd deserved it—what had he been thinking? Attempting to bond me despite the fact that I'd told him in no uncertain terms that I wanted no part of bonding. After leaving him to writhe on the floor, I'd quickly dressed in my blood-encrusted clothes, my weapons in their sheaths looped around my arm and exited his room. Melonie had opened her door almost simultaneously, had taken in my appearance, noting my wet hair to be sure and then had declared I needed to come inside.

“Is Greer still in consultation with their leader, Kelly?” I asked as I started to disrobe, not caring in the least that I was baring myself to Melonie. She'd seen that and more in her time with our tribe.

Melonie shook her head as she turned toward the mirror, adjusting her hair slightly, sweeping her bangs to the side before shifting her gaze to look at my reflection. “I'm not sure. I was helping Ella mix a potion. Had to run into the woods to get her a few ingredients.”

“A potion?”

“Yeah, a lust potion.” Melonie winked as her lips curled into a smile. “Greer thought it would be a good idea to add a little something to the refreshments, get the boys very receptive to our charms.”

I sighed. “Okay, so no idea where Greer is now?”

“I haven't seen her. We just got back here about twenty minutes ago.” She turned and motioned to the other side of the room. “I grabbed your knapsack from your bike on the way back.”

I nodded my thanks and went to retrieve it. We always kept a couple of packed bags with the necessities ready for any sudden wardrobe changes. In our line of work, that happened frequently.

“Paige and her team just arrived from disposing of the beasts. They're showering in the next suite. Apparently, they found a Hunter's body among the carnage. Paige was on her way to inform Greer and Kelly before she gets cleaned up.” Melonie nodded toward the door. “If you don't need anything more from me, I'd like to head downstairs and scope out the main attractions for the evening. A house full of Hunters, sister. Fine, honed warriors in need of some female attention I'm sure. I plan to enjoy myself.”

I nodded. “See that Paige doesn't require further assistance before you tend to your physical desires with the men.”

As was custom, Amazon heritage encouraged sexual reward after a successful battle. Festivities, mutual pleasure, with Hunters even more so. A union that had the potential to propagate our race of warriors, the semen of the Hunter line was paramount to any other sexual encounter. Another directive of our mission here: Bed the men. Single Hunters, unmated and available, were the most desirable to the Huntresses. Sadly, I'd hit the jackpot with Mr. Wonderful here. Finding my mate had not been part of the agenda and despite my orders, I would not be repeating any fucking with that man. No need to encourage any bonding hopes.

“If the Hunters have truly lost one of their own, they'll need some comforting. Just warn the women to be wary of any feelings that appear to be stronger than then the norm,” I warned.

Melonie gave a knowing nod before exiting the room.

Stronger feelings indeed. Where Lance was concerned, I should have known better. Should have met his needs while on my knees and nothing more. I rubbed the spot on my chest where he'd begun the bonding mark, the vow like a curse in my ear. I'd been recruited into my tribe by Queen Val herself, found in a time of helplessness, weakness and pain. She'd rescued me. Enlightened me. Made me feel worthy for the first time in my life. I owed her everything I was and I'd be damned if I was going to let a man get the better of me ever again.

I showered and dressed quickly, opting for no make-up in favor of getting to Greer faster. I wanted to give her a piece of my mind regarding her unfair order to keep Lance busy and fill her in on what that had almost cost me. If Lance had succeeded in forming the bond, she would have lost me. It was hard to deny the pull I felt toward my Hunter, one that I hadn't expected would make me question my vows to Queen Val in the slightest. It was dangerous magic, the Hunter/Huntress union. It would have made it impossible for me to part from him willingly. I wanted to get clear of the Order compound and Lance as soon as possible, the idea of such a betrayal to my tribe making my skin tight with discomfort.

I found the meeting still in progress in a study off the main hall. Greer motioned me in with a nod, a look of tempered satisfaction on her face. I'd known her long enough to recognize that look. She was succeeding as she so often did. Manipulating Kelly with Talia's stolen powers was not in the realm of possibility at this point either.

Greer's ability to siphon another Huntress's powers was very temporary, unless she was willing to go all the way and kill the other women for it…and to my knowledge, she'd only done that once. An action she heartily regretted every day. So whatever triumph Greer was on the brink of, was purely her own doing. No magical trickery, although perhaps wit and verbal play was in the works.

As I entered, I noted that Lance was still MIA and felt something close to remorse. I'd nailed him good with my grip, his sensitive balls probably all the more tender after pumping me full of his come.

Kelly looked up as I entered, a forgotten coffee cup, half full, balanced on her lap. The woman looked exhausted, worn to the point of collapse. “Where's Lance?”

“I left him back in the suite.” I shrugged. Not a lie. “He needed some time to recover.” Also not a lie.

Greer smirked, Kelly winced. Ah, I'd hurt her. How strange. A bonded Huntress with feelings for another Hunter. I knew her story of course. She was the reason why we'd come. Her Hunter, Andrew, former leader of the Order, had been taken by what was left of King Lazarus's pack. A huge security risk, one that we needed to rectify immediately. Kelly was our mandate; get her on board with our mission so she could help us track the wayward Hunter and then neutralize the risk and terminate the threat.

“Back to what I was saying,” Greer said with a subtle wink in my direction. “We are aware of the current state of the Order. The weakness in ranks, and with your mate missing, your growing fatigue, loss of powers.”

Kelly sucked in a deep breath and lowered her head. “I'd never admit this to anyone but you, a fellow Huntress. The Order, they needed strong leadership after Andrew's capture. When I came out of the coma, everything seemed fine. I was so angry…” She gulped as she looked back up at Greer, eyes glistening with tears that she hastily wiped away. “Andrew had become a different man, he'd abused our bond. The anger fuelled me for months. And then I started to feel the loss of him so keenly. My powers began to wane, then my strength.” She sighed. “I'm not fit to lead. I'm growing weaker by the day.”

Greer leaned forward and placed her hand on Kelly's knee. “That's why we came. To help you get your powers back.”

Kelly nodded, her eyes shifting to Greer's neck, searching no doubt for another glimpse of the mark from her beast. “I still have hope that Andrew is alive.”

“Oh, yes, I have no doubt that he is,” Greer said as she leaned back in her chair, swiping her hair from her shoulder, giving Kelly an unobstructed view of her powerful scar. “In one form or another.”

Kelly winced.

“What I'm proposing is that you come with us to get your wolf bite and regain your strength and powers.”

“I don't want to lose my link to Andrew.” Kelly placed her cup on the table next to her and stood. “I can't agree to the bite from a beast if it means losing any hope of finding him.”

“You won't,” I said as I leaned against the wall, feigning casual indifference when I knew this was the crux, the moment of most importance. “Your bite will not diminish your ability to feel Andrew. If anything, the bite will reinvigorate your strength so that you can find him.”

Kelly did little to hide her surprise. “I don't understand. The scholars…”

“Sadly, the scholars that you so rely on know very little of the workings of our race, in particular the role of the Huntress.” Greer scoffed as she stood and walked toward the window, peering out into the darkness. “It only takes a quick glance to our history to show that they have never really had the Huntress' interests at the forefront of their priorities.” Her tone had become hard, as was the usual result when Greer's mind turned to the atrocities of our collective past.

The scholars who'd committed the crimes against Huntress all those hundreds of years ago were all dead. The damage remained though. Far reaching and devastating in so many ways. The sin of those men, supposed protectors, all Hunters with mated Huntresses, who'd condemned their own mates to death? Yeah, no Huntress or Huntress family could ever truly forgive and forget. The few families who had remained aligned with the Order did so for reasons no one could understand. Loyalty was sometimes disguised as stupidity and those families risked their daughters' lives by sticking close to the very organization that had condemned their ancestors.

“It's possible for you to maintain your link to Andrew even with your wolf's bite.” I ran my fingers over my scar, remembering the night I got it and the things I had to do to get it. No remorse. No guilt tinged my memories. I'd taken what was mine. “Every member of our tribe has been bitten and has walked away from the bite with no ill effects. With no lingering longing for our beasts. Your time of being bonded to Andrew will trump any magic that your wolf may offer. The essence of Andrew's bond with you will become locked in and will give you the advantage in other ways as well.”

“You mean to use my powers against other Huntresses?”

I shrugged. “It is an advantage in leadership, you must admit.” We could use our powers to aid any Huntress. If the intention was to use our abilities maliciously against one of our sisters, then they faltered and failed. Not so when a Huntress had both her wolf's bite and Hunter's bond. It seemed to allow for any interference with other Huntresses. “You will have the best of both worlds without any binding ties to the beast. Any fears that you may have otherwise will be put to rest once you embed your blade into the foul creature's heart.”

Kelly's eyes were calculating, taking in my words, weighing the honesty there. She trusted us to a degree simply because we were Huntresses, but she'd spent too much time among the Order to fully value what we were offering. And she might have sensed the strings that were attached. She wouldn't be a warrior fit to lead if she didn't.

“You kill the beasts after they give you the bite?” She sounded intrigued. It was a good sign.

Greer turned from the window and returned to her seat, choosing to stand behind it, hands on the back as she addressed Kelly once again. “We sever any ties, yes. We take what's ours. The bite from the wolf is powerful, and permanent, unlike the bonding mark of the Hunters that needs bolstering to remain at top power. What we are offering you is our experience. We'll help you track your wolf, we'll neutralize any threat that may stand in the way of your bite, and once you have gained your strength back, we'll accompany you to find your lost Hunter.”

And there it was—what we wanted. This was our mission. Tracking Andrew and what was left of Lazarus's tribe had proven to be more difficult than we'd expected. Kelly's bond with him would aid our search tremendously, would end our mission months, if not years sooner so we could return to our home. The added bonus was that once we'd eliminated the threat, once Andrew was dead, we'd have Kelly, broken and malleable, ready to embrace the love and belonging we had to offer her. A Huntress with tremendous psychic abilities would be a boon to bring back to our Queen, and would strengthen our tribe beyond what we'd ever imagined. To be able to find wayward Huntresses without months and months of investigation would be invaluable.

“What's in it for you?” Kelly crossed her arms. “You said you were here scouting for Huntresses. How do I know this isn't some ruse to get me away from the Order?”

Greer hid her reaction well, never one to let emotions slip past a well constructed barrier. “You have my word as a sister Huntress. I will not steal you away from the Order against your will. I will offer nothing but support in your endeavors. This is the tribe's mandate. We welcome any Huntress who wishes to be released from the shackles of a male-dominated faction but we won't force it upon her against her will.”

“We've been tracking Lazarus's pack for years to no avail. Lost quite a few of our members to his claws and so we retreated to build up our strength and our numbers.” I pushed myself from the wall and walked to the center of the room where Greer stood. “When we heard that he'd been defeated by one of yours, we put together a team to track what was left of his pack. What better time than now to eliminate the threat? While his pack is still reeling from the loss of one so powerful?”

“And so we're here, offering our support.” Greer smiled. “All we ask is that you come with us.”

“Like hell! You're not going anywhere with these bitches!” Lance bellowed from the doorway, his look less disheveled than I would have expected. His hair was damp and pulled roughly into a tail at his nape, his clothes clean, his stance wide, like he was loath to let the coarse fabric of his jeans touch anything in his crotch region.

That last assessment might have been some wishful thinking on my part, my anger suddenly rising with the memory of his attempted bonding.