Blood Law (11 page)

And
if Lucien had his way, Rafe was about to find out exactly how pissed off a
Lycan could get when his mate was slaughtered before his eyes. The question was
whether Rafael was going to let that happen, right here and right now.

Something
touched his arm, and Rafe looked down. He’d completely forgotten about Lana.
She’d sidled up to him again, pressing against his body, ignoring Lucien
completely. Rafe knew it was a deliberate insult to Lucien, and so did his
brother. He was about to push her away when, growling, Lucien yanked her hard
to his chest. His nostrils flared as Lana hung hypnotized in Lucien’s arms. “My
brother doesn’t want to fuck you; if he did, he would have marked you years
ago. He has found and marked his mate.” He raised his nose toward the back
staircase and sniffed. “I can smell their sex even through the stench of all
your own.”

The
pack bristled at that, any softness for Lucien immediately leaving them. That
Lucien would mock the sacrifices the pack had made over the years—because of
Lucien’s and Rafe’s blood feud—was akin to sacrilege.

“Who
I fuck is none of Lana’s concern. Or yours, Brother,” Rafael snarled.

Lucien
laughed and shook his head, shoving Lana away from him. “Come now, Rafe. It’s
not about the fucking. It’s much much more important than that. Did you
seriously believe I’d forgo personally congratulating you on such a momentous
occasion? Your marking a mate is cause for great celebration.” Lucien looked
hard at Rafe and smiled, showing a perfect set of straight white teeth. “On my
part, at least.” He threw his head back and laughed deeply, thoroughly amused
at the power he held at the moment.

Rafael
simmered and swore Lucien wouldn’t hold the power very long. In that moment,
Rafael’s decision about whether to give the girl to Lucien tonight or not
shifted in favor of the latter. Obeying the Blood Law was one thing. Allowing
his brother to make a mockery of him in front of his pack was something else
altogether.

Lucien
must have seen the defiance in Rafael’s eyes.

“You
know what’s coming, Rafael. I’ve come to claim my rights under the Blood Law of
the Lycans. A mate for a mate. You’re bound by the law to hand over your chosen
one to me.” He smiled so demonically that if Rafe didn’t know better, he’d
swear Lucien was possessed by a Slayer. Were that true, Rafe would be as
duty-bound to kill Lucien as he was to give him his mate.

Under
no circumstances could the blood of Lycan and Slayer mingle. It was the only
reason he had destroyed Lucien’s mate. Duty to the pack above all else. Even if
he hated himself for it.

Lucien
ran a finger along the high curve of Lana’s breast then looked at Rafe. His
eyes widened in mock surprise. “Still here, Brother? Maybe I didn’t make myself
clear. You’re bound by the Blood Law to hand over your mate, and I want her.
Now.”

Rafael
grinned. “Fuck you and your little dog, too.”

Lucien’s
eyes widened slightly before he nodded. “Then you’ve sealed the pack’s fate.
For a female, Brother.” Lucien glanced at the pack that stood behind him,
uncertainty and almost fear in their eyes. “You see how your alpha hesitates?
He’d sacrifice you all, even though he marked the girl knowing what was to
come.”

As
one, every pair of eyes in the room looked at Rafael for reassurance that
Lucien spoke lies.

Rafael
shook his head, and their eyes filled with relief.

Lucien
was right. The woman’s death was Lucien’s to command. If Rafe refused, he’d be
removed as alpha. He’d lose face with his pack and would be banished. And then
the pack would die out, because Rafe knew in his gut there was no other male
who could effectively lead the Vulkasin pack as its alpha. Not even Lucien.

Rafael
swiped his hand across his chin. Damn it all to hell! What was he waiting for?
What did it matter if it was tonight or a week from now? He should just get it
over with. It didn’t matter that he’d mated her or that he felt a natural
possessiveness after having taken her body with his. He had no emotional bond
to her. And it would remain so. For everyone’s sake, he would hand the woman
over to Lucien, then claim a Lycan mate and breed.

He
looked at Anton. It was on the tip of his tongue to command him to bring the
woman to them.

“Do
you defy the Blood Law, Brother?” Lucien snarled.

Lucien’s
attitude stilled Rafe’s tongue. His instinct was to meet aggression with
aggression. If he was going to hand the woman over to Lucien, he’d prefer to
keep Lucien suffering for as long as possible. Without answering his brother,
Rafe strode away from his pack and started up the stairs.

Lucien
followed him.

As
each step brought him closer to the woman, even though he’d committed himself
no less than seconds earlier, Rafe was not without reservation. The girl was an
innocent. She had no hand in what fate had dealt her. Was it right that she
would die today, just so his pack could survive?

He
should not have to pay. He was just in destroying Lucien’s Slayer. Only without
indisputable proof that she was, the council sided with Lucien.

Rafe
shook his head, angry that he even contemplated the wrongness of what he was
about to do. It had to be done, damn it! If it wasn’t her, it would be another.
This wasn’t about an eye for an eye, but rather an eye for an entire race. He
had made the choice when he destroyed Lucien’s mate, Slayer that she was. He’d
do it again.

Fuck!

For
the first time in fourteen years, Rafael considered how his brother must have
felt. Could he blame Lucien for his Blood Law revenge? Rafael was having
difficulty as it was, and he had no emotional bond with the woman in his bed.

How
had Lucien felt when he was in love and that love had been ripped away from him
by the person he trusted the most? Rafael swallowed hard. He didn’t want to
know. Not knowing was easier, and he swore he’d keep it that way.

He’d
never succumb to emotional chains again. He had died a thousand times as he
watched Corbet skin his mother alive, then endured the agony in his father’s
screams for him to stop. Rafael never wanted to experience anything remotely
close to it again.

His
resolve galvanized. This was right for him and his pack.

Upon
reaching his room, Rafael flung open the door.

It
was empty.

Shock
held him silent until he sensed Lucien’s presence just behind him. “Son of a
bitch!”

He
ran into the bathroom to find the window open and that fool of a woman hanging
by her fingernails from the edge of the roof. He shot through the window and
grabbed her hand just as it slipped off the roof tile. She screamed as he
hurled her back onto the roof, then tossed her over his shoulder and proceeded
to shove her through the open window she had escaped from twice!

When
he’d wrestled her back into the bathroom, he tossed her over his shoulder again
and took her kicking and screaming into the bedroom. Lucien’s eyes darkened.
Rafael tossed the woman onto the bed. She bounced several times before coming
to rest near the edge. She turned a blue-eyed glare up at him. Rafael glared
back. He didn’t want to feel compassion for her. He didn’t want to feel
anything except relieved.

He
didn’t want to feel the wave of possessiveness that rolled over him when Lucien
moved toward her, but he did.

Stopping
several inches from her, Lucien’s nostrils flared. His eyes simmered with the
luster of pure gold before he shot a smug smile at Rafael. “It looks like
you’re the one who’s marked a human now, Brother.”

Rafael
clenched his teeth and rubbed the back of his neck even as he glared at the
woman and the mark he’d put on her. “The difference, Brother, is she is not a
Slayer of our people.”

“So
you repeatedly say.”

“You
still refuse after all these years to see the truth. She had to die or she
would have killed us all!”

Lucien
sneered. “Admit it, Rafael, you wanted control of the pack. To get it you
destroyed me. Your brother. Your only brother!”

Lucien’s
hatred for Rafe and what he had done spewed like toxins into the air. Regret
clawed at Rafe. Not for what he had done but for what he had lost. “We will
forever be at an impasse. You will see the Blood Law avenged. So do what you
must.”

Rafael
forced himself to turn away from her then. Tried to brush her off as
inconsequential. But there was a primal part of him that was willing—no
itching—to fight his brother for her.

He
had claimed her. Marked her as his. As an alpha, it was unconscionable that
another take what was his without a fight to the death. But he could not defy
the Blood Law.

Immediately
after giving his brother the go-ahead to take her, Rafe turned back and,
without thought, moved to stand between the woman and Lucien.

The
girl sat openmouthed, staring at Lucien then Rafael then back to Lucien. Then
she bolted. Straight out the door and down the stairs, her feet practically
flying, despite her injured leg and cast.

Rafe
bounded after her, Lucien’s disdainful laughter following him.

“Maybe
I was wrong,” Lucien called after Rafael. “Your chosen one doesn’t appear to
want anything to do with you let alone to be your mate.”

Rafe
was right behind her, but by the time he got to her, she was surrounded by the
pack, spinning in circles and hissing at them as they pressed in on her.

Rafael
grabbed her arm, wrenching her up to her toes. “You’re not going anywhere,” he
said, even as his eyes leveled with his brother’s amused face.

“No,
she’s not. But I’m suddenly feeling . . . amused. Do you have a name?” Lucien
asked the girl.

At
the question, Rafael jerked around to face her. As he did, he let go of her
arm. He’d marked her, been inside her body, and not once bothered to ask for
her name. He hadn’t cared enough to ask. Hadn’t wanted to know. But now, he
did.

“Screw
you,” she threw at Lucien. She turned to face the entire pack. “When I get out
of here, you’ll all be screwed!”

“You
won’t be leaving here,” Lucien said as he moved closer. “In fact . . .” He
yanked her up to him, lowered his head, and ran his nose down her neck and
inhaled. “You won’t be leaving this house at all. The only question is, how
long will I allow you to live?”

The
girl looked helplessly to Rafael for aid. His instinct to protect what was his
raged. He snarled a warning to his brother.

Lucien
paid no attention. All his attention was on the girl, and it wasn’t because he
was planning where best to inflict a mortal wound. Rafael knew his bother well.
As a race, Lycans were highly sexual creatures, but the alphas were hardwired
to spread their seed far and frequently. Rafael was no exception, nor were the
others.

The
surrounding pack moved restlessly around them now. Their need to mate again was
reaching a fevered pitch.

Rafe
didn’t care. Not about Lucien’s sexual needs, that of his pack’s, or any other person
in the world. At that moment, he didn’t care about the Blood Law, or that he’d
splintered his relationship with his brother for the very thing that was now
overwhelming him—an inexplicable need for a human female. Something foreign and
hot coursed in his blood, flaring hotter the longer he saw the woman in
Lucien’s arms. “She is not yours to take, Lucien.”

Lucien
looked up from the terrified woman, his eyes dark because of his heightened
sexual awareness and his impending night shift. In less than fifteen minutes,
he would be on all fours. If he could just stall him . . .

“She
is mine to kill, though.”

“There’s
a difference,” Rafe said, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with him.

The
girl gasped and tried to twist out of Lucien’s grasp. When his grip increased,
Rafael watched in astonishment as she turned to face his brother and glared at
him. She thrust her hands and then . . . Lucien howled and let go of her,
grabbing his head with both hands.

Stunned
excitement thrummed through Rafe. Is this why Salene wanted her? What power was
this? Where did it come from? Only a few Slayers he knew possessed it. Yet he
sensed no dark magic in her—was he fooled as Lucien had been?

The
girl paled and moaned as if she were in pain. Then her body went limp, dropping
as if she’d lost consciousness. Wolf-quick, Rafael caught her just before she
hit the floor. He set her down and looked up at Lucien, who was slowly lowering
his hands from his head. He didn’t know what the hell had happened, but
whatever it was, he was glad.

Fury
twisted Lucien’s features. “What trickery do you employ, Rafe?” Lucien moved
toward the girl, but Rafe pulled her protectively closer. “Give her to me.
Now.”

Instead
of answering, Rafael stood, cradling her in his arms. She was light, little
more than a child. A feeling of admiration swelled within him, and with it, his
own urge to mate again.

Lucien’s
rage exploded when Rafael refused to hand her over. He lunged toward them, but
Anton and several others intercepted him, grabbing him by his arms and pulling
him back. Lucien howled and tried to shake them off, but more of Rafe’s pack
jumped in. In total, it took ten of his men to keep Lucien at bay. Silently,
Rafael’s gaze moved from Lycan to Lycan. His gaze was steady. Theirs not so.
They weren’t sure they liked what he was doing, but he’d seen the amazement in
their eyes when the girl dropped Lucien to his knees.