Feral Awakening (The Feral Series-Book 2) (26 page)

 Ronan looked at her
quietly sleeping form as a lump formed in his chest. Gently he toyed with a
piece of her hair and twirled the mahogany strand around his finger. God, he
loved to touch her. Tonight at least, she was his to keep but tomorrow he would
leave her with his pack.               

 Ronan looked into the
rear view mirror for what was probably the hundredth time today. Kat and Ava
were snuggled up together like two kittens in the large back seat of their
borrowed SUV. Teagan was seated next to him and he too glanced over his shoulder
at the two women, his eyes softening as they landed on his mate.

 Deciding it would be
best if they traveled together, they had borrowed the SUV from the vampires and
thankfully left Kat’s truck at Claymore. Kat had actually protested the loss of
her old truck but had decided it was worth it to spend time with Ava.

 Being close to Ava’s
size but just a bit curvier in her hips; Kat was now wearing some of Ava’s
clothing from Claymore. She was once again in a dress, which she loved. It was a
dark green wrap dress that crisscrossed across her chest and tied at the waist.
Their shoe size was also pretty close and she wore a borrowed pair of heels to
go with it. After a nasty case of nerves where Ava had tried on everything in
the closet, she had finally gone with a new cinnamon colored dress. They were both
a bit nervous about meeting the pack for the first time and had agreed it
couldn’t hurt to dress up a bit for the occasion.

 Climbing into the SUV,
the two of them had immediately claimed the back seat as girl territory and had
been curled around each other since they had left Claymore. Ava seemed to
understand Kat’s instinctive need to touch and be touched by the people she
cared about. Never having enjoyed the cold, Kat’s Lykan body heat was
definitely a comfort.

 Other species often
had a hard time with the Lykan’s lack of regard for society’s rules about
personal space but Kat and Ava seemed to have worked it out. Although both the
Lykan males in the front seat were used to displays of affection like this they
were still finding it terribly distracting.

 Kat stroked her
fingers down Ava’s arm in comfort as her friend reluctantly began to tell her
about the night she was abducted and changed into a vampire. As Ava spoke,
Ronan could feel the tension in both Kat and Teagan beginning to build.

 Teagan’s little mate
had been through a lot. Ronan could tell the she was leaving out a number of
details in order not to upset both Kat and Teagan any more than she had to. Ronan
had been concerned to learn that his brother was now mated to a vampire. The
pack was going to have a hard time with it especially since Teagan was next in
line to lead since Ronan had left.

 Hearing Ava’s story
though he was developing a new found respect for the little female. She was
stronger than she looked and he was beginning to think that she would somehow
handle anything his pack threw her way. He could clearly see how crazy his
brother was over his new little mate. They would somehow find a way to make it
work.

 As Ava told Kat about
the rogue vampires using their friend Patrick as bait to lure her out of
Claymore Kat’s eyes began to glow a bright Lykan green, drawing the attention
of both males in the front seat. Surprised by the change in her friend Ava
stopped talking and took a minute to just stare at her. “God Kat, your eyes…” Kat
looked down at her hands in embarrassment. Yes, she was a freak. No one had
ever seen her like this except Ronan and it suddenly brought the reality of how
different her life was going to be into focus. Even Ava thought she was a
freak.

 “That’s so…
cool
!”
Ava said in amazement. Ronan and Teagan exchanged male smirks in the front
seat. Ronan’s was one of relief, he had been worried Ava might freak out and
upset Kat but Teagan had known his little mate would take it in stride.

 Kat let out a sigh and
dared to raise her eyes back to Ava’s face. Tears entered her eyes at the total
acceptance she saw in her friends face. “It doesn’t bother you?”

 “Hello! Does it bother
you that you are sitting next to a vampire?” Ava said it to make a point but
found herself holding her breath, waiting for Kat’s response.

 “No! Of course not.” Ava’s
relief was almost as great as Kat’s had been. Kat laughed at the picture the
two of them must make in the back seat. What a mess. She felt the need to
lighten the seriousness of the moment. “Besides, I could still take you vampire
girl.” Ava snorted out a laugh and the two of them began to relax again.

 “Ok so I showed you
mine, now you show me yours.” Kat teased Ava, drawing raised eyebrows from the
men in the front seat.

 Teagan mumbled under
his breath to Ronan. “Well this just got a whole lot more interesting.”

 “Teagan!” Ava laughed
as she attempted a glare in his direction but failed miserably. Ava turned her attention
back to her friend, her brow creased in confusion.

 “What do you mean?”

 “Fangs of course! You
do have them don’t you?” Kat shook her head, exasperated.

 “Oh! Oh, right.” Ava
could feel herself blushing. “Um honestly. I haven’t tried to show them
deliberately before. They just kind of, well, happen.” Ava exchanged a look
with Teagan in the front seat.

 “So how does it work? Happen
when?”

 Ava grinned, of course
Kat wanted details.  She squirmed uncomfortably, knowing both men were
listening to every word. “Well, usually when I’m really upset, kind of like
you, and then when I feed and when… I’m turned on.” Ava muttered the last part
and darted a look at her mate. Teagan looked back at her with a heated look in
his eyes.

 “Reeealy.” Kat looked
back and forth between Ava and Teagan with a knowing smile on her lips. “Interesting.
So could you feed from me or do you only feed from Teagan?” Kat could see that
although the men were pretending to watch the road she had their full
attention. Ronan gripped the steering wheel tightly and a muscle ticked in
Teagan’s tense jaw.

 “Um, well, I don’t
know. I can feed from anyone I want but I was never successful. I would kind of
freeze up. I think I was just afraid of turning into a monster or something. I
came close to feeding from a friend of mine, Joseph, but that ended badly.” A
low growl echoed from Teagan’s side of the car but both women chose to ignore
it. Kat would love to hear more about this Joseph guy but knew it would have to
wait until the two of them were alone.

 “So…. you have only
fed from Teagan then?”

 “Yep, pretty much.”

 “So what happens if
something prevents you from being with Teagan for a few days? You just starve?”
Kat looked concerned at the idea.

 “Well, I can go a few
days without feeding and as I get older I will be able to wait for longer
periods in between.” Ava muttered defensively.

 “Don’t you think it
would be best to make sure you could sustain yourself if something were to
happen?” Kat wrinkled her brow in concern.

 “I guess so, I don’t
know. I’m pretty new at this. It’s not as easy as it looks.” Ava began to twist
the hem of her shirt in nervousness.

 Kat placed her hand over
Ava’s nervous fingers in comfort.

 “Show me.”

 “What!” Ava looked at
her in shock.

 “Why don’t you try it
with me?” Ava’s mouth hung open in surprise while she looked at her crazy
friend, the entire truck having gone completely silent.

 “Come on! What’s the
big deal! We already know you have a taste for Lykan.” Kat laughed and nudged
her friend with her shoulder. Ava groaned in fake agony. Kat had always been
the adventurous one, always pushing Ava to test her limits and try something
she never would have even thought of on her own. Some things never changed.

 Kat couldn’t help
herself, Ava was once again underestimating her own strength. It was a common
theme in their friendship. Kat pushing, Ava doubting. The more she resisted,
the more Kat’s instincts told her to go in for the kill. Besides she was
honestly just a little bit curious to see what a vampire bite would actually
feel like.

 “Come on chicken! Let’s
try it.”

 Crap, Ava could see by
the look in Kat’s eye that she was not going to give up and would probably
hound her for the next two hundred miles.

 “I already fed from
Teagan.” Ava tried one last time to get out of this madness.

 “Good, then you won’t
make a Scooby snack out of me. Now make with the pointy teeth sister.” Kat
wiggled her eyebrows up in down, making Ava laugh. Fine, she would call her
bluff. Two could play at this game, one vampire bite coming up.

 Ava flipped Kat’s hair
out of her way baring her neck and choked at the comical expression on her
friend’s face. A giggle escaped Kat’s lips as Ava put on her best evil vampire
face and hissed at her. Ava burst out laughing again, she couldn’t help
herself. God it felt good to laugh. She hadn’t laughed this hard in weeks.

 “Okay, okay. We have
to be serious now or I won’t be able to do this.” Ava ruined her serious face
with another burst of laughter.

 “Hello! Helpless
vampire bait, still
waiting!”

 The girls giggled
again and then began to settle down. God how Ava had missed her best friend, leave
it to Kat to turn something that had been so scary into something light
hearted.

 Ava smiled and took a
deep breath, concentrating on what she was about to do. Could she do this? Could
she really bite someone other than Teagan? Ava’s eyes met Teagan’s in the front
seat, silently asking permission. Teagan gave Ava a slight nod, but the muscle
still flexed in his jaw, she was surprised to see how heated his gaze had
become. Did he… like it? Hum. That certainly changed things now didn’t it.

 Kat ran her hand down
Ava’s arm in reassurance. “Ava?”

 Aware that her mate
was watching her every move, Ava tucked in closer to Kat’s side and tilted her
face into the bend of her neck. Kat lowered her eyes to where she gripped Ava’s
hand in her lap and focused on remaining still. She had been confident when she
started this but now she was a little concerned that it was going to hurt like
hell. She would do it though if it helped her friend.

 Ava breathed in Kat’s
wildflower scent and rubbed her lips against her skin, looking for the vein she
needed. Having succeeded she ran her tongue across the surface, preparing Kat
for her bite. Ava inhaled in surprise when her fangs suddenly descended.

 The touch of Ava’s
tongue on her skin sent goose bumps traveling down both of Kat’s arms. She felt
a shiver coming on but resisted, wanting to hold still for Ava. Suddenly she
felt a pin prick of pain as Ava’s tiny fangs sank into her skin. A sigh pass
across her lips as pleasure rocked through her body
. Oh my god, no one told
me a vampire’s bite felt… good. Holy crap, this is amazing!

 Ava groaned as the
first taste of Kat’s blood passed across her lips. She began to draw gently
from her neck. She could feel the connection that came with feeding beginning
to wrap around the two of them. Kat’s essence was becoming a part of her and
she could feel the love her friend had for her in every cell of her body. The
complete acceptance brought tears to her eyes. She had been so worried that Kat
wouldn’t want anything to do with her now that she was a vampire. She never
should have doubted her friend.

 She had never been
able to feed from anyone but Teagan. It had been so easy with Kat. Being with
Kat was like being home again. She was acceptance, she was her rock, she was
her family and they were together again.

 Gently withdrawing her
fangs, Ava carefully sealed her bite mark with her tongue. The two women held
each other tightly, humbled by the experience. Ava lifted her now heavy eyelids
to meet the gaze of her mate. She was surprised to see his eyes glowing in the
darkened truck and just outside the window she could see that Ronan had pulled
the truck over on the side of the road.

 Kat too was becoming
aware that they were no longer moving. Looking at Ronan questioningly she was
surprised to see his claws extended where he held the steering wheel and his
breathing had become rough. What was going on? Was he mad that she had let Ava
bite her?

 Teagan quickly got out
of the truck and came around to the passenger door closest to Ava. Reaching
into the SUV he untangled her from Kat and pulled her into his arms. With a low
growl he closed the door of the truck and quickly carried his giggling mate
into the dark trees lining the road.

 Kat watched in
fascinated amusement, her cheeks heating in embarrassment for her friend. With
a snort of laughter she looked towards Ronan and stilled at the look in his
eyes. She had expected anger but what she saw was pure heat. Apparently he had
been just as affected by their bite as Teagan had been.

 Kat held her breath as
she watched Ronan struggling for control.
Please touch me,
her heart
yelled. Please pull me out of the truck and carry me into the woods. Please
want me the way that I want you.

 Kat could feel heaviness
in her chest as Ronan remained in the front seat. With a growl of frustration
he finally opened the door, slamming it shut behind him. Through the front
windshield Kat could see him pace for several minutes before leaning on the front
of the truck with his back to her. Clearly he had no intentions of coming for
her.