Feral Awakening (The Feral Series-Book 2) (20 page)

 Kat froze in the
process of putting the twist tie back on the remaining bagels. Shock was
clearly written all over her face. “What! You mean to tell me there are really
vampires!”

 Ronan groaned as he
realized all of the new questions he was going to need to answer. Briefly he
explained what his father had told him in his phone call last night.

 Her anger with him
temporarily forgotten Kat was filled with concern. “Oh my God, Ronan that’s
terrible. Your own brother has gone feral!”

 “Yes, he has his mate
with him and we are unsure if he will harm her or not. It’s not uncommon for a
feral to turn on their mates. We need to go to Claymore to see what we can do
to help.” Ronan didn’t tell Kat but if Teagan truly had harmed his mate he
would be forced to put him down. If they managed to get his medallion back on
him and bring him back he would never be able to live with himself knowing his
mate had come to harm at his own hand. It would be best not to bring him back
at all if something had happened to her.

 Although still mad at
him, Kat could see the unspoken worry in his expression and instinctively ran
her hand down his arm in an effort to sooth him. Although she had no family she
understood his concern for his brother. It was the same way she felt about her
missing best friend Ava. She had always felt like more of a sister to her and
she would move mountains to help her if she could. “Okay, let’s get going
then.” Honestly Kat was relieved she wouldn’t be facing his pack for the first
time today. She had no problems in delaying the inevitable for a little longer.
Kat packed the little bit of gear they had brought inside while Ronan ate. Once
he was finished, they packed the food and loaded the truck.

 The drive to Claymore
only took a couple hours, Kat and Ronan sat in relative silence for most of the
way. He was surprised at how quiet she was. Whatever was bothering her must be
bad enough to have actually silenced the ever inquisitive female. He was
anxious to know how she felt about what happened last night but not brave
enough to bring the subject up. Was she upset that he had left her tied to the
bed? He knew he shouldn’t care since he would be leaving her in a matter of
days but dam it, he wanted to know and she was being unusually tight lipped about
everything.

 “Ronan?” Kat’s soft
voice finally broke the silence. “About last night.” Relief flooded his system.
Finally she wanted to talk. He was surprised she had held out as long as she
had. “Um, we didn’t use any protection and I’m not on any kind of birth
control…” Ronan’s brief moment of relief was quickly replaced by anger. It that
all she was worried about? She feared she could get pregnant with his child? Clearly
she wouldn’t want to carry the child of a male like him. He knew he was being
unreasonable but dam it, the thought that she might not want his child pissed
him off.

 Gritting his teeth he
answered her curtly. “Our females don’t usually conceive during their first
season.”

 Kat looked at him in
surprise. It was a valid question! Why was he mad… again? She would never
figure this man out. His nasty attitude quickly silenced any other questions
she might have asked.

 Pulling up to the
security gates at Claymore they were quickly waved though. As they pulled up in
the circle drive Kat’s eyes grew impossible large in her small face. “Holy
crap. You didn’t tell me the vampires lived in a mansion!” Fear skittered down
her spine as she suddenly realized she was about to see actual real vampires. “Um,
Ronan. They won’t hurt us will they?”

 His anger forgotten, Ronan
grinned at her reassuringly. He kept forgetting she had only been in his world
for a few days. “No, we are allies with the vampires. No one will harm you
here, and before you ask, the newborn vampires burn in the sunlight but not the
older and more powerful ones. They both eat food and drink blood to survive. They
are supernaturally fast and strong and look very much like humans do… and no,
since you are a Lykan, they cannot turn you into a vampire.”

 Kat didn’t meet his
eyes but instead kept staring up at the imposing mansion in front of her and
nodded to let him know that she had been listening.

 “We will be meeting
with Victor, the vampire clan chief. Just stay by my side. Although not a
vampire you are still a desirable female and there will be many males here. This
is where the vampire Guardians are stationed. They are like the police force of
the vampire clan.”

 Kat just nodded dumbly
again, not even blinking at the slight compliment he had given her. Exiting the
truck, Ronan opened her door and took her hand, pulling her close to him. “No
worries, not even a vampire would want to tangle with a pureblood Lykan.” Kat
wasn’t sure if he meant himself or her but she relaxed just a bit as his larger
hand engulfed her smaller one. It was so strange how his touch always managed
to soothe her. With a deep breath for courage she walked next to him as they
went up the large stone steps of the entryway. Ronan reached his hand up to
knock but it had already begun to swing open. One of Claymore’s servants
answered the door and escorted them inside.

 Again Kat’s mouth hung
open at the grandeur of the two story foyer. Two large marble columns flanked
either side of the entryway and beautiful marble floors ran beneath their feet. 

 Suddenly painfully aware
of her wrinkled appearance, Kat looked down at her scuffed cowgirl boots
resting on the immaculate floor. Oh well, there was nothing she could do about
it. She
had
been kidnapped for God’s sakes.

 The servant lead them
down a long hallway, covered in what were probably terribly expensive and modern
looking paintings until they arrived at a pair of heavy wooden doors. Opening
one of the doors for them they were escorted into a huge, lavish office with a
massive desk at one end.

 The servant turned to
them before leaving. Kat found herself staring at the small gray haired man in
the impeccable uniform and wondering if he was a vampire. “Please make
yourselves comfortable, master will be in shortly. Would you care for any
refreshments?” Both Kat and Ronan responded in the negative. Kat was too
nervous to drink anything.

 Moving to one of the
large leather sofas in the room, Ronan pulled Kat’s stiff body down next to his
and draped one muscular arm around her shoulder, pulling her into his side. Kat
was slightly surprise that he was keeping her so close to him. He usually tried
to keep his distance. Whatever the reason, she was grateful. She needed the
reassurance of his touch right now.

 Ronan’s beast was
hovering just below the surface. He didn’t like having Kat here in a place full
of male vampires. Allies or not, having other males around her was going to be
uncomfortable for him. Even though he couldn’t make her his mate, she still
carried his bond on her wrist and her still unmated status left her vulnerable
to other males; a fact that his beast was very aware of.

 Kat practically jumped
out from beneath his arm when the door suddenly opened revealing two large men.
The first of them was a tall slender man with shoulder length white hair. He
wore a beautiful designer suit and smiled politely as he entered the room.

 With a flutter of
nerves, Kat realized that this must surely be Victor, the vampire clan leader. She
had to admit he wasn’t at all what she had expected. No black cape, no black
hair or widow’s peak. His skin was a very natural color not the pale skin
vampires always had in movies. He was actually a very attractive and
sophisticated looking man but Kat still didn’t feel at ease.

 The second man was
much more sinister looking, he had the look of a warrior about him and was
wearing black cargo pants, a black t-shirt and combat boots. With his shaved
head and square jaw, he looked more like some kind of military commando than a
vampire.

 Following Ronan’s
lead, Kat stood up as the master vampire approached them. Victor shook hands
with Ronan in greeting. They had met before at one of the council meetings so
introductions were not necessary. “Welcome to Claymore, I wish that we were
meeting under better circumstances. We are so glad that you could make it here
so quickly.”

 Tucking one arm around
Kat’s waist possessively, Ronan introduced her to the powerful master vampire. “This
is Kat, she was traveling with me to visit my pack when my father told me what
had happed to Teagan.” Victor took Kat’s finger tips in his hand in a very
brief impersonal gesture. He knew better than to touch a female Lykan that was
clearly under the protection of the powerful male standing next to her.

 Ronan tensed as the
other male stepped closer to them. This male was clearly one of Victor’s Guardians.
“I asked Ethan, the commander of my Guardian’s to meet with us. He has been in
contact with Teagan’s mate. I thought it would be best that he fill you in on
the details of the situation.” Ronan and Ethan shook hands and then Ethan nodded
towards Kat in greeting.

 Although he didn’t
touch her, Kat could feel his eyes accessing her as if she was some kind of
problem to solve. Just the weight of his gaze was enough to send a shiver of
unease down her spine. The guy was just plain intimidating.

 Victor and Ethan took
chairs opposite the large couch and Victor motioned for them to sit. Propping
one large boot over his knee, Ethan settled in to bring them both up to speed. “I
don’t know how much you were told but perhaps I should start at the beginning. We
had been having trouble with one of our Descendants who went rogue. His name
was Salvatore Guerra. He was building a rogue army with the help of a serum he
was injecting onto newly turned vampires. The serum suppresses the humanity in
the vampire allowing the beast to take control and turning the vampire rogue whether
they were willing or not.

 “Because of all the destruction
the rogues were causing the matter was brought to the attention of the Council.
Thomas McLaren agreed to send us two of his best trackers to help with the hunt
for Salvatore. Teagan and Daniel arrived shortly after that. While Teagan was
on a mission he rescued a newly turned female vampire by the name of Ava
Morgan.” Kat’s startled gasp interrupted Ethan’s summary. Her face was suddenly
pale as a sheet and she pressed her hand over her mouth in horror.

 Not sure what was
happening, the men looked at each other in confusion, not sure how to help her.
Grabbing Ronan’s hand she lifted her suddenly teary eyes to his. “God, Ronan. It’s
Ava, my friend from the shop. The one you probably saw coming and going when
you watched us from the street. How did this happen?” Ronan could do nothing
but put his arm around her in comfort. He didn’t have the answers but it
sounded as if the female was now mated to his brother and in a lot of danger.

 Kat looked desperately
at Ethan. “Is she okay? What do you mean recently turned! Oh my god, is she the
one who is with Teagan?”

 Ethan was the first to
realize what had happened and in military style quickly responded to her
questions. “How do you know Ava?”

 Kat’s voice cracked
with emotion as she answered. “She is like a sister to me. Several weeks ago
she disappeared after work and was never seen again. The police were working on
the case but they never turned anything up. What happened to her?”

 “Your friend somehow
attracted the interest of Salvatore Guerra himself. He took her with the
intention of making her his mate. He turned her the same night she was taken. The
next day we raided Salvatore’s headquarters and Teagan found her and brought
her back here. She made it through her transition and is now a vampire and a
member of our clan. While she was here, she and Teagan became very close and he
claimed her as his mate.”

 Kat stared at Ethan in
shock as her brain tried to keep up with everything he just told her. God how
was this possible? Part of her was horrified and part of her so glad to know
that Ava was still alive.

 “She was later lured
away from Claymore and recaptured by Salvatore. Her mate was able to track her
to Salvatore’s lair and she was rescued. Salvatore was finally destroyed during
the raid but the entrance to his lair became blocked when his rogues set off
some explosives. Teagan and Ava escaped but they were unable to rejoin us and
had to find another way around the mountain Salvatore’s lair was in.”

 Ethan met Ronan’s eyes
as he told him next part of the accounting. “Ronan, Daniel turned on the pack. It
was Daniel that ambushed Teagan and Ava in the woods and injected Teagan with
the serum. Then he came back here and told us that Salvatore had done it and
Teagan had gone feral. He brought us his medallion as proof.” Victor reached
into the breast pocket of his suit and handed Teagan’s medallion to Ronan. With
a low growl, Ronan wrapped his fingers around the metal and held it tightly in
his fist. His brother’s medallion lay in his hand. He really had gone feral.

 “Teagan is completely
beast now and has Ava with him. Daniel told us that he was sure that Teagan
would kill her and we feared the worst. She was able to use the radio that
Teagan had on him to contact us. She warned us about Daniel’s betrayal and through
the radio we were able to pinpoint their exact location. Your father thinks
that the Lykan’s ability to heal will quickly destroy the serum that is in
Teagan’s system. Once it’s out of his system we may be able to get him to put
his medallion back on. We are concerned that if we approach them he will become
violent and harm Ava. Perhaps he will let his brother get close enough to help
them both.”