Dark Lycan (Carpathian)

They don’t know they are in Carpathian territory, do they?

I doubt it. Not even Bardolf would know. If he’s the one who stirred the pack in this direction, he certainly didn’t. He was Lycan, not Carpathian, and he would have no knowledge of this culture or the fact that the prince is in residence here.

Fen dropped down to the forest floor. The body was exactly where he and Tatijana had stumbled across it earlier, but something about it caught his attention. He circled warily. He needed to conserve his strength in the event he managed to track Bardolf to his lair. Even in his present condition, the vampire would be lethal. After meeting Fen, recognizing what Fen was, Bardolf would move on as soon as he could. Now would be the optimum time to destroy him.

What is it?

That tinge of worry in her voice warmed him, showing him more than ever that he was no longer alone. She might not want to be claimed, but she was his.

Concentrate on what you’re doing or you’re going to get yourself killed, wolf man. We’ll never find out about this lifemate business if you keep trying to play the hero.

Trying? He gave her a male smirk. The branches above his head tapped together in the wind. There was no wind. The air had gone still, yet that tapping persisted—a consistent, steady, very rhythmic beat. I was the hero tonight, my lady. You clearly weren’t paying attention, which makes it necessary to repeat myself. He let her hear the clacking of the branches.

I see. You think it necessary to impress me. She listened to the rhythm. That sound is one Xavier used to ensnare his victims. It’s hypnotic on a subtle level. Whoever is using it was once trained by the mages. It is not natural.

What is going on here? A rogue pack has entered Carpathian territory with Bardolf, a wolf/vampire combination. And now another enemy? This makes no sense.

Perhaps it does, Fen, Tatijana mused. The prince’s lifemate, Raven, has a son. His daughter, Savannah, has twin girls. She is lifemated to the prince’s second-in-command. These children will grow into great power. Would it be so farfetched to think that enemies of the Carpathian people would be drawn here?

Fen circled the torn body. The werewolves had nearly pulled the man apart in their initial attack. Rogue packs enjoyed torturing and killing their victims and often fed on them even while their victims were still alive. The elite hunters, much like Carpathian hunters, had no choice but to destroy them. This body had been left as bait. It wasn’t an unusual tactic. Humans, as a rule, went looking for their lost loved ones.

Fen made it a point not to look above him at the clacking branches. An attack could come from any direction. Was it possible Bardolf had lesser vampires under his control? That had become more and more of a popular thing for master vampires to do. They took newly turned vampires and used them as pawns, sometimes building a formidable army.

I saw no evidence of vampires massing here, Fen told Tatijana, but get word to the prince this night that there might be a problem.

Tatijana sighed. If I let the prince know what is happening, instead of waiting for them to find out, they’ll know I’ve been out on my own. There was regret in her voice. The tapping is growing faster. You’ll have to be careful, Fen, and block the sound. As the rhythm changes, the hypnotic affects really take hold.

I don’t feel it all. He was more than Carpathian and more than Lycan. Things that worked against other species didn’t work on him—which was why the Lycans had outlawed his kind.

Please be careful. Don’t get all cocky. I’m on my way.

He read the growing anxiety in her voice. She had more experience with mage traps than he did and she clearly was worried.





5

Tatijana approached the house built into the side of the mountain cautiously. She was under surveillance. She could feel eyes on her, and when she scanned, allowing her senses to flair out, she knew she wasn’t alone outside the home of the prince. She had no idea of protocol and how one approached him, or even if he was accessible. She’d met him briefly, but both she and Branislava had been so weak and injured they barely knew what was happening to them.

She stopped a few hundred meters before she reached the large verandah. She had plenty of room to defend herself if need be. Spreading her arms out away from her body to show she had come in peace, she waited while Mikhail Dubrinsky’s second-in-command, and protector, looked her over.

“Tatijana of the Dragonseeker clan,” Gregori Daratrazanoff strode out of what appeared to be thin air. He looked impressive with his wide shoulders and glittering silver eyes. “To what do we owe this honor? We had no idea you had risen.”