The Lone Hunt

by L. L. Raand

  “Good,” Drake murmured as the door flew open and a wave of fury flooded the room.

  *

  Lara sagged against the side of the building, her legs still trembling from her last forceful release, but her hunger sated for the moment. She supported Zahn with an arm around her waist while the blood servant recovered. Despite having fed, Lara’s wolf still paced, agitated and unsettled, as if caged behind invisible bars. The sky was inky black, punctuated by silver flares of starlight. So much purer than the sky in the city, where lights washed out the heavens and diluted the beauty. She’d been called to run under that moon from her first breath, had hunted beneath that starlit canopy all her life, and never had she seen a night so beautiful. Never had she felt so alone.

  Zahn, her head resting on Lara’s shoulder, stirred against her side. “We should go back. The Liege may need us.”

  Lara stroked her bare shoulder, grateful for the strength Zahn had shared. “Yes. Are you all right?”

  “Another minute, I will be.” Zahn kissed Lara’s throat. “It’s a pleasure to serve you, Warlord.”

  Lara laughed softly. “That’s not what you said earlier.”

  “Now you are more Vampire.”

  Lara stiffened. “What do you mean?”

  “You’re changing. Your thrall is stronger. Your essence is purer.” Zahn stroked Lara’s abdomen. “You feel like Jody when you fill my blood. Nearly as pleasurable.”

  Lara eased away and closed her pants. “I don’t care if you like feeding me or not. It’s your job, isn’t it?”

  “Feeding a Vampire as powerful as the Liege is an honor.” Zahn buttoned her shirt and tucked it into her trousers, slowly closed her zipper, and did up her belt. Her voice was coolly disdainful. “You’re the job.”

  Lara snarled and pressed Zahn back against the building with the weight of her body, scraping her canines down Zahn’s throat. Zahn’s breath caught in her chest and she moaned.

  “Just a job,” Lara murmured. Zahn trembled, and Lara stepped away. “I don’t think so. After all these centuries, maybe you’re more of a blood slave than—”

  “Be careful, half-breed.” Zahn shoved away from the wall, faster and more forcefully than a human should have moved. “You aren’t as strong as you thi—”

  “That’s enough,” Jody said quietly, misting out of the shadows. She ran a finger down Zahn’s cheek. “Go get some rest. Feeding her twice in one night is demanding. Even for you.”

  “I’m fine, Liege—”

  “I know. Go on,” Jody repeated. “Becca is inside. See to her.”

  Zahn nodded. “Yes, Liege.”

  Her footsteps died away, and Jody said, “What are you doing in Timberwolf territory?”

  Lara walked to the porch railing and looked out over the Compound. Jody came to stand beside her. The yard was mostly deserted, but the Were guards stationed at the far end of the porch were close enough to hear them. Lara leapt over the railing and loped across the nearly deserted Compound to the edge of the woods on the far side. Jody was waiting, having passed her unseen without even disturbing the air.

  “I left my post,” Lara said, “and I have no excuse. I expected to be back before you had need of me, but I was wrong. I apologize for the error.”

  Jody slipped her hands into the pockets of her silk trousers and looked around the Compound. “What if there’d been an attack while I was somnolent?”

  “I believed you were adequately guarded. The underground stronghold is impenetrable. Zahn was nearby with a contingent of soldiers.”

  “Zahn was incapacitated. She’s nearly incapacitated now, and in dangerous territory. Be careful how much you take from her.”

  “She’s a blood servant—I thought her reserves—”

  “Her reserves are more than adequate, but you—” Jody shook her head. “Your appetites are those of a newling, but your strength is that of a much older vampire. You have the power to hold her enthralled and drain her. I don’t want you to do that. I need her services.”

  Lara laughed. “Just her services? Her blood is potent—the sex with her—”

  Jody’s hand was on Lara’s throat and Lara’s back against a tree, her legs dangling two feet off the ground, before she’d realized Jody had moved. Jody’s pale, perfect face was close to hers, her eyes fiery beacons.

  “Your place is not to question me. Your place is to follow my orders and to secure my rule. If you can’t do that, I have no need of you. And if I have no need of you, well—there’s no reason for you to exist at all, is there?”

  Lara raged inside, desperate to fight back, and she couldn’t move. Only the Alpha had ever been able to paralyze her with power, but despite the rabid howling of her wolf to strike out and the fury of her Vampire, she was helpless. Worse than her impotence was knowing Jody was right. Her service to the Vampires was her only value. The Alpha did not need her.

  If I am executed, will you stand for my cubs?

  Raina’s plea resonated in her depths. Lara gathered all her strength and pushed back against the monstrous strength holding her immobilized. She needed to survive. She needed to find Raina. She’d said she would see to the cubs.

  “Please,” Lara whispered through the tiny space she’d made to breathe, her only victory despite all her efforts. She would submit if she had to, anything to answer the rising call that tore at her. Something was wrong.

  Jody stepped back, and Lara’s feet thudded to the ground. She tightened her thighs, keeping herself upright. “Punish me however you see fit.” Her voice was hoarse from Jody’s iron grip on her throat. “But allow me to continue to serve.”

  “I don’t want to punish you.” Jody gripped Lara’s shoulder. “I’d prefer not to kill you. If you obey my orders, I won’t have to.”

  “Yes, Liege.”

  “Tell me how you felt when you left the lair yesterday afternoon.”

  “I felt…” Lara didn’t think Jody was asking about her sense of freedom or her joy in being able to run in pelt. Jody was asking a Vampire how she felt outside in the sunlight. Truth might be her only real weapon against Jody’s remote disdain for her worth. “Warm, but not uncomfortable. Strong.”

  “No visual problems? No searing discomfort in your skin, sharp pains in the chest, weakness?”

  “No, none of that.”

  “You were in full pelt when you first left?”

  “Yes, Liege.”

  Jody glanced toward headquarters. “I need to get back. Don’t discuss this with anyone.”

  “I won’t—I—” Lara spun around, searched the Compound. Alarm reverberated in her head—an enemy, danger—an urgent call for aid. She shuddered. “I have to go. By your leave, I have to go.”

  “Where?”

  Lara pointed to the infirmary. “There.” She shuddered again, pelt streaking down her abdomen.

  “Go. But remember your duty—you are Vampire first.”

  Lara bounded across the darkened yard and into the infirmary. She was Vampire, but her wolf ruled her now.

  *

  Francesca curled up next to Michel on the royal blue brocade settee, her head on Michel’s shoulder and her hand inside Michel’s shirt. She stroked Michel’s abdomen as she watched the monitor mounted inside the Louis XVI armoire on the far side of the room. The video feed from the private room upstairs was sharp and clear, and the audio every bit as good. Veronica Standish lay naked in the center of a king-size bed, surrounded by feeding Vampires. Luce fed at her throat, Henry from her breasts, Daniela was buried between her thighs. They fed in synchrony, their hips slowly thrusting. Veronica’s face was slack, her arms thrown out to the sides in supplication, or sacrifice. Her mouth was open, but her cries of pleasure had long since died away.

  “Perhaps you should instruct Luce to stop.” Michel stroked the curve of Francesca’s breast through the sheer silk dressing gown, fingering her tight nipple, as Francesca’s hips stirred against her thigh. “They’re being careful, but if they don’t stop soon—�
��

  Francesca slid her hand under the waistband of Michel’s trousers and closed her fingers around Michel’s clitoris. She was hard and wet and Francesca murmured her approval. “Luce is in control. Aren’t you enjoying this?”

  “Yes,” Michel said tightly.

  “Mmm. We’ll let them go a little longer.” Satisfied that she had Michel’s attention again, Francesca squeezed for another few seconds and then drew her hand away. “After tonight, Dr. Standish is going to do anything we want her to do. Because we’re going to have what she needs.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The power flooding the nursery was stronger than anything Raina had ever felt, ripping through her, unleashing her beast. She had only a second to grab her cat by the throat before the change came over her and she couldn’t hold her back. She shuddered, her bones breaking and reforming faster than she’d ever experienced, the agony propelling a scream from her throat that ended in a screech of fury. Her cubs, still attuned to her life essence, shifted with her, and she pushed them to the floor behind her. In less than a second, she was crouched on all fours between her young and the beast at the door. The wolf Alpha was still in skin, but her body had the massive hulking presence of a Were in half-form—jaws jutting, limbs ending in lethal claws, trunk heavily muscled and thick with silver pelt. She might still be half Were but her eyes were all wolf. Raina had fought dozens of dominant cats, had defeated the last cat Alpha in a battle for supremacy, but she’d never been pummeled with the kind of power that streamed from this Were. If she hadn’t had the cubs to protect, she would have shown her throat, but she couldn’t trust this raging wolf not to tear them all apart even if she submitted.

  Raina growled.

  “Who let this prisoner free in my territory—with my mate in the room?”

  Sophia murmured, “Alpha, we were just letting her—”

  “I don’t care! She is the enemy.”

  Sophia backed up hard against the counter behind her and threw Drake a beseeching look.

  “Sylvan, wait.” The wolf Prima pressed her hand to the Alpha beast’s chest. “She’s no threat.”

  The wolf Alpha didn’t seem to hear her, her predator’s gaze already locked on Raina. Ready to shift and attack. Raina bunched her shoulders and gathered her legs underneath her. If she sprang now, she might catch the wolf by the throat and tear through a vessel before the wolf had a chance to complete her shift. She had no other choice.

  “Raina!” The wolf Prima stepped in front of her. “Raina, I know you want to fight. You think you have to fight. Remember your cubs. You gave me your word. You would not fight with young in danger. Who will stand for your cubs?”

  A growl came from the door. “I will.”

  Raina swung her head to the side, narrowed her gaze. Another wolf. One she knew. The one who had hurt her. The redhead with the gun who wanted to kill her was there too. She showed her teeth and hissed. Tessa crept forward, pressing close to her foreleg. She swatted her back, and Tessa yowled in protest.

  “You’re not needed here,” the wolf Alpha snarled at Lara. “Niki, get her out of here.”

  “Touch me and you die,” Lara said softly, ignoring Niki and angling toward Sylvan. “What happened? Why is she cornered? You’d force a fight just to have an excuse to kill her?”

  “Be very careful,” Sylvan said.

  “I won’t let you bait her into—”

  “Stop, everyone.” A soft voice cut through the snarls and growls and pheromone-thick air. Sophia edged closer to Raina. “She’s protecting her cubs, Alpha, just as you are protecting yours. The Prima is fine. See for yourself. See.”

  A continuous rumble of challenge rolled from the Alpha’s chest, but she broke eye contact with Raina and focused on her mate. “She could hurt you.”

  “She won’t.” Drake cupped Sylvan’s cheek, tracing the harsh angle of her cheekbones, more wolf than Were now. “Remember? Niki is here to protect me. I’m safe.”

  Sylvan grasped Drake’s arm and yanked her close, scenting her neck and face, rubbing her cheek over Drake’s hair. “I looked for you and you weren’t there.”

  Drake kissed her, stroked her chest, rested her hand in the center of Sylvan’s abdomen. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect you so soon. Niki is with me. Everything is fine.”

  Sylvan glowered at Lara. “You cross me one too many times.”

  “You threaten the innocent.”

  “You would challenge me?” Sylvan went rigid. “Then be clear about it. Here and now. Make your challenge.”

  Aggressive waves of dominance permeated the room, and Sophia, unable to absorb the blast of primal energy, shifted. Her snow-white wolf circled cautiously around the posturing dominants to Raina’s side.

  Raina hissed, and the white wolf ducked her head for an instant, but then crystal-blue eyes met her gaze, calm and soothing. Raina tilted her head, studying the strange wolf. She was unlike any wolf she’d ever met anywhere—strong, but not dominant, comforting, but not submissive. Raina’s driving urge to fight abated, but she watched the wolf Alpha warily while creeping closer to Lara. If the Alpha attacked Lara, she would have to fight both of them. Then, maybe, she would have a chance to escape. She signaled her cubs with a sharp thought. Stay back!

  Lara glanced down, saw the huge cat at her side. Ready to fight with her? For her? She’d never had a champion—had always been the one to protect and serve. And Raina had the cubs. “Raina, no.”

  Raina didn’t seem to hear her, and Lara braced for Sylvan’s attack. She did not want to challenge the Alpha. She did not want Sylvan’s rule. She only wanted to protect Raina and the cubs. In the doorway, Niki whined and shuddered, shifting to pelt. She took her position at Sylvan’s right hand and snarled at Lara.

  Lara reached out, felt the great cat’s head under her hand. She slipped her fingers into the thick ruff and steadied herself in the cat’s mighty strength. “I will not fight you, Alpha, or your second. But I stand for this cat and her cubs. I will not let you hurt them.”

  “If you challenge my decision, you will fight me or you will die.”

  “Raina is not guilty of any crime other than crossing our border,” Lara said. “And you have not yet heard her reasons.”

  “My territory.” Sylvan stalked forward, towering over Lara in her half-shifted form.

  Lara fought power with power and let her wolf rise, unfettered and strong. She’d never experienced the exhilaration of releasing her wolf while still in skin, and her heart raced as her body partially transformed and her strength magnified. She met Sylvan’s gaze for an instant, then looked to the side, not lowering her head, but not challenging with a direct gaze either. “I recognize your supremacy, Alpha Mir.”

  “You are an Alpha without a Pack,” Sylvan growled. “What are your intentions in my territory?”

  “My only claim is on this cat and her cubs.”

  Sylvan eased back but did not give ground. “I will afford you the courtesy of any Alpha in my territory. You are welcome in the Compound, but if you wish to hunt, I will provide you an escort.”

  “Thank you. I am here as warlord to Liege Jody Gates. I need to accompany her in or out of the Compound.”

  “Very well,” Sylvan said, “but you will not travel unescorted in my land.”

  Lara nodded. “Accepted.”

  “I need to question your cat. My centuri will be here to bring her to headquarters in ten minutes.”

  “And the cubs?”

  “They’ll be safe here. One of the beta minders will see to them.”

  Sylvan spun on her heel and strode toward the door. “Sophia, Drake, leave them.”

  Sylvan and Drake strode out, Sophia and Niki close behind. Drake closed the door and telegraphed, What just happened in there? Why are we leaving them alone?

  Sylvan breathed heavily, struggling to contain her wolf. Give me a minute. And in private.

  Drake checked the hall to ensure no one was close enough to hear them. She gestured to Niki, wh
o paced in agitated circles a few yards away. “Clear this corridor and wait for us in the main hall.”

  Niki whined, not happy to leave Sylvan’s side, but dutifully padded away with Sophia next to her.

  “Come with me.” Drake led Sylvan by the hand toward an empty room across the hall. When they were inside, away from the guards and other personnel, she sat on a tall wooden stool and pulled Sylvan between her spread thighs. Sylvan would not be able to contain her wolf until she was calmer, and Drake knew only one way to settle her. Wrapping her arms around Sylvan’s waist, she kissed her throat and nuzzled the hollow of her neck. She guided Sylvan’s hands to her chest, pressed her clawed fingers to her breasts. “Feel me.”

  Sylvan shuddered and buried her face in the curve of Drake’s neck. She licked her skin, rubbed her cheek over the shadow of a bite on Drake’s shoulder. “I’m all right.”

  “Just take a minute. Let your wolf scent me, let her know I’m healthy, that the pups are fine.”

  “I want to fight all the time.” Sylvan’s voice was strained and rough. “If I’m not fighting, I want to be fucking.”

  Drake ran her fingers through Sylvan’s thick golden hair. “Well, as long as it’s me.”

  Sylvan laughed shakily. “Always. It’s always you.”

  “Is this level of aggression normal for a Were with a pregnant mate?”

  “Not this extreme. The mates are always irritable and aggressive, but I…I can barely restrain my wolf.”

  “But you did. You didn’t shift in there. If you had, Lara would have too, and there would have been blood.”

  “There may still be.”

  “Tell me what happened. Why did you leave Raina with her?”

  “Lara is an Alpha—she has the power to claim Alpha rights.”