A Lycan's Mate (3 page)

Not stopping for breath, Jurisa pounced on
Feodor's back, digging her claws in and going for the neck. Feodor
roared. He reached back with his long arms to slash at her
shoulders, but couldn't get purchase to pull her off. Dragos came
at Feodor from the front, aiming for the belly and neck. The large
male was torn between attacking one or the other of them, but
couldn't get the upper hand over either.

Feodor launched himself backwards towards the
ground. Jurisa was forced to scramble off of him before he crushed
her. She came round to stand beside Dragos, who still stood with
fire in his eyes despite the beating he took. Jurisa had to admire
that. They acknowledged each other with a glance. Instinctively,
she knew she would be safe with him at her back.

They worked together, feinting and dodging as
Feodor rushed first one and then the other. When Feodor made
straight for Dragos, Jurisa was at his neck. When he turned to
defend, Dragos darted forward to bite and slash the unprotected
side. Soon, they made short work of the male. His reflexes slowed,
and his eyelids grew heavy. Finally, it seemed the sleeping drought
was also kicking in. He hit the ground with a thud. The mighty
Feodor was dead to the world for at least twelve hours.

Panting, she turned to share in the victory
with Dragos, only to find he had returned to human form. He leaned
against a tree trunk, bloodied, wounded and in poor shape.
Distantly, Jurisa heard the howling of another alpha male. They
would soon find her scent and chase her down if she didn't move
now.

Dragos didn't look like he was going
anywhere.

Jurisa risked changing into her human form.
She walked to his side, taking in the man's sorry state.

He shook his head. "I think I'm out of this
run," he said.

No, she didn't want this to happen. Dragos
protected her. Watched her back. Fought beside her. He was the one
she wanted. Jurisa turned as the howling wolves got closer. Not
long before they exploded into the scene.

"Do you want me?" She asked him.

He looked her naked body up and down, still
interested despite his wounds. "More than ever," he said, then
laughed harshly. "You should go."

"Come with me," Jurisa said.

"I can't keep up," he replied, "I'm
done."

"You will keep up."

He only shook his head, drawing a slow
breath. The woods around them whispered with the noises of her pack
to get a move on. Jurisa stood her ground, refusing to move despite
the ever closer cries. They stared at one another. She would make
him move.

"I'll make sure you keep up."

He laughed, lighter this time, then
straightened from the tree trunk. Jurisa smiled. He licked his lips
and gestured towards the forest. "Lead the way," Dragos said.

Jurisa changed back into her wolfen form. She
waited just long enough for Dragos to shift into the agile, lean
werewolf again and took off. She loped through the woods, staying
within sight as Dragos struggled to follow her through the woods.
She thought about heading back to the path, but dared not with
other alphas lurking. She forged a new path down the mountain,
avoiding the traps and listening always for Dragos as he crashed
through the brush behind her. The sacrificial clearing came into
sight. The lit torches around it burning her nostrils with herbal
smoke. Just a little further and she could relax.

The howls of other alpha males were very
close now. Jurisa's own pack hiding beyond sight in the woods let
out little anxious whines, warning her of impending danger. She
went to Dragos who had stopped to catch his breath. His coat was
matted with blood.

She lodged herself under one arm, urging him
to lean his weight on her. He stumbled along beside her, panting
and drooling and making so much noise. Jurisa knew the others would
hear it soon.

"You feel so good," he moaned as they bounced
and bumbled along.

Time for that later, she thought. Jurisa
turned to see he had reverted to human form again. He seemed unable
to support his own weight anymore and was leaning heavily into her.
Jurisa probably could have dragged him into the clearing, but he
had to make it on his own feet. The rules, the damned rules.

Jurisa alternately pushed and pulled him
towards the clearing, scraping her skin and pulling out fur on
twigs and branches. The other alphas were in the woods around them
now, searching, fighting, following dead ends she'd laid down long
ago. Jurisa's lungs burned. Her body cried out at her. Dragos was
half-passed out, but he stayed upright and kept moving.

They burst into the clearing just as Jurisa
felt the other alphas at her back. She collapsed to the dirt,
slipping back into human form with Dragos gasping beside her. Three
alpha males ran into the clearing behind and were blocked by her
pack materializing out of the woods around them. With some snarling
and posturing, they ceded to the pack.

Jurisa allowed herself the luxury of reaching
out to lay a hand on Dragos' heaving chest, pleased to feel the
firm thrum of his heart beating underneath. Jurisa of the Cold
Mountains had claimed her mate.

Sample:

Lycan’s Sacrifice

By Chandler
Dee

Sanda trembled inside, her willful body
refusing to remain stoic in the face of death. If only she were a
braver woman, or perhaps a little more ignorant of what was coming
for her.

Presently, she knelt in the grass clearing of
the sacrificial place where she had been sent by her people. She
had been trembling forever it seemed, almost since the decision had
been made. The decision for her to be the Lycan’s sacrifice this
year. Sanda knew it was an honor to be chosen. Her death would
stave off attack from the Lycans for another year. The
circumstances, the result of cool bargain struck between humans and
the Lycans hundreds of years ago. The Lycans have their high, cold
mountains to the East and humans had the fertile valleys and
temperate plains to the West. In exchange for annual sacrifices,
the Lycan's blood thirsty temper remained in check.

She knew it was an honor. She felt happy to
do it. Her family would receive congratulations, respect for their
sacrifices. Even before she left, Sanda had noticed the change in
way people treated them. Sanda serving as the sacrificed this year
raised her family's standing in the eyes of the community. It would
make things easier for her younger siblings when they sought work
and families of their own. At the moment, the thought didn’t make
her feel much better though.

She'd seen the same eyes extending unspoken
sympathy along with congratulatory handshakes and gifts for her and
them. The dark cloak she wore now was a gift from the town council.
It served as a death shroud given to every sacrifice. Death at the
hands of the Lycans was not pleasant. She'd heard stories ever
since her earliest years around the hearth fires about how
bloodthirsty Lycans ripped, shredded and disemboweled their
victims. Sanda wished she had accepted the potion offered by the
town leader that would make her senses dulled. At the time, she was
filled with bravado and turned him down.

Now it made her queasy to think of it, and
the trembling increased tenfold. She could not stop shaking. She
could not sit still in the misty rain while she waited for death.
If only Sanda could get a hold of herself. It would make it easier
to believe she was at peace and ready for this fate. Her body had
other things in mind, betraying her fear with its incessant
movement. If only they would hurry up and get here and end this
torture.

Sanda’s eyes flitted towards every sound in
the darkness. She did not want to see it coming. She thought about
pressing their hands to her ears to hide the sounds of growling and
snarling she imagined the Lycans made on approach to their prey.
The fear made her twitch at every sound, made her strain to hear
it. She could not cut herself off completely from awareness by
blocking her ears.

She would sit there, and listen for it. That
at least could be something brave she could do.

"Are you going to sit there all night?" A
voice asked next to her ear. Sanda screamed, toppling to her side
and kicking out instinctively she encountered solid calves attached
to long, muscular legs.

He did not move as she scrambled away from
him, only watched through golden brown eyes. His form was obscured
by a dark cloak made of deer skin, but he was tall and long limbed.
His face lean and angular. His lower jaw jutted forward and his
lips pursed in observation. He paused to inhale slowly and
forcefully through his nose, eyes widening as they looked down at
her.

Sanda licked her lips. This man must be from
a neighboring village. He was an idiot to be out here during the
sacrifice. “You should leave now,” she hissed at him, “The Lycans
are coming.”

His eyes crinkled and his pursed lips quirked
up at the corners as if Sanda had just said something amusing.

“Yes, I know.”

Buy
Lycan’s Sacrifice

Visit
Sexy
Books with a Plot