The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (16 page)

She finally managed to stumble across his smartphone hidden in
his drawer. Luckily it didn
’
t have a code on it, so she was able to go
right to his contact list. It had occurred to her that the lack of a security
code on his phone was weird considering the way the compound was
wired, but as she scanned his contact list, she understood. The thing was
a maze of titles and names, meaningless without their definition.

She kept scrolling, hoping to stumble across something simple like
mom or dad, but the names kept going and blurring behind tears she
kept blinking back. The idea that Kyran, a man she barely knew, coul
d easily no longer be here, pissed her off.

Alexis was just about to play contact list roulette when the name
Mikkoyi Erma, nickname: mom, came into view. She pressed call and
tried to find relief in finding someone that could help Ronan.

On the second ring, the phone picked up.

“Kyran, what
’
s wrong?” The worry was evident in her voice, and
it s
tabbe
d at Alexis to know that worry was s
omethin
g her mother never
felt towards her or Torin.

“Mikkoyi Erma,” she said, thinking using her official title would help. “I’m sorry, but Kyran’s in surgery.”

“Who are you and what have you – ? Where’s Ronan?”

“He
’
s performing the surgery right now. Look, I need your help.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Alexis, and I’m—,”

“The Hunter. What did you do? Forget it. What do you want?”

“First, I didn
’
t do anything. Second, I need help for Ronan. He
’
s on
the brink of going rogue. If he loses Kyran – ”

A pained sound sounded over the phone followed by the sound
of r
ustling
sheets. “I’m sending my Tepinok, my second. She will care for Ronan. I may be his mother, but he needs more than what my love
can give him.” Erma gave a brief sigh before she cleared her throat. “I
have to get my second on her way and call Kyran’s Istato, his third. I
suggest you make yourself as harmless as you would like to appear. No
one will be the mood to show you kindness, Hunter. That includes me
if something happens to my son.”

“I understand, and thank you, Mikkoyi Erma.”

Alexis heard a small snort before the line went dead. She knew it
wouldn
’
t take long for Erma to call back, so she rushed to the bathroom
, took a quick shower, and changed into her clothes.

When she exited back into the bedroom, she saw two Lycan males
standing at opposing points of the room. Each was armed – not heavily
, but enough that she wouldn’t try anything stupid.

The one standing closest to the door stepped forward and nodded to
her.

“
I’m Angel, Kyran’
s Istato. I’m here until they tell me otherwise.”

She nodded at him and sat on the edge of the bed. “Okay.”

She took the time to glance at each of them, noting their equally
godlike features. Their differences lingered in their coloring and facial
definition. Angel was the all-American boy prototype with his cropped
blonde hair, blue eyes, and sun-kissed skin draped over lean muscle. But the animosity in his eyes promised everything but a good time.

She stood up and
walked over to him
. “I need something from you.”

Angel gave her an unfriendly smile. “It depends on what it is.”

She looked him in the eyes and gave him all the weight of her
intimidating gaze that her five-foot-one frame could muster.

“I need a gun and someone to let me in the Hunter’s room.”

THE TALA IN THE REAR
of the room began closing in on her, but she kept her attention primarily focused on Angel.

He scowled at her. “I can most definitely guarantee that won’t be happening.”

She nodded before she stepped past him, walked over to the desk, and pointed to the monitor. “That Hunter tried to kill your Mikko. By
doing so, he also risked your Tepinok going rogue. If Ronan would
have gone rogue, Kyran would have died. I made sure that didn
’
t
happen.” She paused and shook her head, trying to discharge the feeling
that began snaking through her. “I also made sure that Mikkoyi Erm
a
sent someone to help Ronan, because if shit hits the fan, this pack needs
a leader, not more turmoil.” She walked back over to stand in front of
the males. “Now give me a
fucking gun
,
because
he and I,” she motioned
back towards the monitor, “have to talk.”

Angel started a slow clap coupled with a sarcastic laugh. “Pretty
speech, but the answer is the same. Kyran may have some fascination
with you, but that doesn’t make you pack. You want to see the boy,
fine, but if he dies it will be at Kyran or Ronan
’
s hand. Not yours.” He
turned and walked toward the door, stopping short to turn around. He
inhaled deep, his eyes never leaving hers. “Being willing to walk on the
wilder side of life doesn
’
t
give you more privileges than the rest of us.”

She wanted to argue even as she blushed, but he was right. She
had no right to claim any acts of revenge when it came to Kyran. She
wasn
’
t part of the pack, so she owed them nothing when it came to
revenge. But that fact didn’t deter her from feeling like she needed to enact some revenge against Theo for what he almost robbed her of, even if it was just great sex.

Alexis f
ollowed
Angel
down the hallway to the room Theo occupied.
At the door, they pushed her to the back and formed a stacked formation
with Angel in the front.

As Angel stepped into the room, a sharp projectile pierced his
shoulder. She shook her head before she disarmed and knocked out
the second Lycan, leaving his body in the doorway to keep the doors open. She entered the room with the Lycan’s gun in hand to see Theo making headway with pulling the second shackle from the wall. He
paused briefly to grab the length of chain that was still cuffed to his right
hand. Before he could launch the housing in her direction, she fired two
shots in quick sequence. They bullets pierced his shoulder, forcing him
to momentarily loosen his grip on the chain.

He heaved the housing at her, but she sidestepped it, letting the
momentum of the heavy chain force him to his knees. She fired two
more shots, one for each knee cap, making it impossible for him to get
up. Theo leaned into the wall and scrutinized her, a small smirk playing
over his face.

“What? Did he fuck you one good time and now you
’
d kill for him
, Lexi?”

She unloaded the rest of the magazine into him, mindful of the
various curses he hurled at her. That glacial part of her that she resided
in when she killed smiled as she watched him try to dodge the shots from a helpless position.

“Stop calling me that,” she said after the gun clicked empty.

Theo laughed as he looked over his body and noticed that none of
the points of entry were fatal.

“Either your pet hasn’t died yet or your aim sucks. He must still breathe. That’s unfortunate.” He coughed and pushed himself into a
more upright position. “Tell me, Lexi, what are you going to do when
he dies?”

She closed her eyes and sucked in a sharp breath. “
If he dies, Torin
’
s
death will look like a fucking vacation.”

Theo snorted. “It’s only a matter of time before I put him down. The question is, what will I do with his whore?”

She raised the gun but remembered that the chamber and magazine
were empty.

He laughed. “Sucks, huh? No more bullets.”

She shrugged and glanced at the gun. “It still has its uses.”

She whipped it across his temple before walking over and handing
the gun to Angel.

“We’re done talking. I’d make sure he has less freedom, not that you’ll listen to me.”

Alexis stepped over the nameless male who still lay unconscious in the doorway and went back down the hall to Kyran’s room. Once inside, she climbed into the bed and curled into herself.

The smell of Kyran and sex invaded her nose. Alexis turned her nose
into the sheets and inhaled deep. It never occurred to her that she could
care for someone the way she did Kyran. Even in their brief interactions,
Kyran had managed to secure a place in her heart. Everything was
happening too fast, yet something told her that her life was just starting
to get complicated.

Alexis could honestly say that she had only known love once, the
sisterly love she had for Torin. She rarely admitted it, too scared that
her parents would view it as just one more strike against her. The fact
that Torin went to his death not knowing how much she loved him
was her undoing.

How could Hunters claim to be superior when showing that you
cared for someone was considered a weakness? From the brief moments
that they were all in the same room, Alexis knew just how much Kyran
truly loved his brother.

The pain of this knowledge was something that she had never felt
before. None of the numerous claw and teeth marks that marked her
body or even the renal failure c
aused
by silver poisoning, could compare
to the gravity of her agony.

So many thoughts were running through her head, but the theme
was the same. If Kyran died, she would be utterly alone. The only upside
was that she wouldn’t have long to wallow in her misery. Ronan had made it more than clear that without Kyran, she would likely die.

She cried, body rocking sobs that were punctuated by hiccups. She
let the anguish of all the years that she suffered the sidelong glances of
her parents sweep over her. The images of their disapproving gaze
played on repeat in her head. The weight of what they would think
of her now that she was just like her disgraceful brother pressed on her
mind, drawing more tears.

Alexis wallowed in her misery, crying for herself and for the pain
that Ronan would feel if anything happened to Kyran. She stayed in
that cocoon of
despair
until her cries managed to subside from
hysterica
l
to free-falling tears.

She jumped when the bed dipped behind her and masculine arms
snaked around her waist. A kiss was planted at the base of her neck
followed by a deep inhale.

“Kyran?”

“It’d better be.”

“How are you here? I saw you…dying. Ronan – ”

“
I’m blessed,
” he said with a shrug that caused him to let out a
small hiss. “Besides, Ronan is a damn good surgeon.”

“But shouldn’t you be in recovery?”

“I'm fine, Alexis. My skin is a little tight, and I won’t be running a
marathon tonight, but I’m fine.”

She choked out a relieved laugh. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, now,” he said, nuzzling her neck, “why are you crying?”

She shook her head and wiped away her waning tears. “It
’
s nothing.”

Kyran pulled away from her and sat against the headboard. He
reached down and hauled her into his lap. She tried to resist, but his grip was unforgiving.

He looked down at her. “Why were you crying, Alexis?”

“It’s no big deal, Kyran. I’m fine now.”

She laid her head against his chest and listened to the steady beating
of his heart. Its cadence, like his presence, lulled her to the edge of sleep.

***

Kyran gave her a soft kiss on the top of her head. “Crying isn’t a
weakness, Alexis,” he mumbled against her hair as she dropped off
into sleep.

The sadness, pain, and exhaustion evacuated her features while
Kyran smiled down at her.

According to Ronan, Alexis had acted quickly to save his life, not
knowing that he was god-blessed and couldn
’
t die so easily. She
’
d also
managed to pull Ronan back from going rogue, which was no small
feat considering how close Ronan claimed he was. But above all was the fact that she had called his mother to find a way to save Ronan if something did happen to him.

Though Erma usually let them handle things themselves, his
mother
didn
’
t take anyone messing with her children lightly. Had Alexis
betrayed them, Erma would have made sure that Alexis regretted it. If nothing else, Erma loved her sons. Once Marcela arrived to watch Ronan, their mother had relaxed.