Dark Lycan (Carpathian)

He thrust his mind into the mind of the dying rogue. Hatred. Rage. Bloodlust. For a moment those things threatened to consume him as they had consumed the mind of Marrock. His entire world went red, the intensity of the bitter emotions pouring into his mind, infecting him, as if the wolf had a disease that transferred from one brain to the other. Feelings of superiority crept in. He was more intelligent. He could think faster than others, size up situations and figure out before the others what they were going to do. Physically he was faster, stronger, his body rejuvenated faster.

Fen hung on and breathed away the worst of the intense emotions, knowing Marrock was trying to trap him. The danger of being infected with the bloodlust was the worst and that pushed at him harder than anything else. He craved blood. Was addicted to it. Why shouldn’t he have the right to take what he was designed to take? He was born to be a predator. There was no taming what or who he was.

That much was true. Every Carpathian male he knew was a predator. Every Lycan. And he was a combination of both. The drive was already in him. Why should he pretend to be someone else? He could take what he wanted or needed and no one would be able to stop him. Their leaders had all become victims, afraid of who they were, ashamed even.

The whispers began, another voice promising riches, promising to live the way they were meant. He could have anything at all he wanted, money, power, women, and blood, as much fresh, rich blood as he desired.

Fen latched onto the memory in Marrock’s mind, striking hard and fast, pushing open the door so that a flood of memories assailed him at once. Marrock’s induction into the pack of rogues. That first taste of a kill, so unforgettable and never to be repeated, no matter how many times one killed or how. Marrock’s rise to captain.

Fen pushed down the rising fear when he saw the enormity of the pack. He couldn’t get exact numbers because they were broken down into smaller groups, but they all answered to Bardolf and Abel. Few actually met them, but all were sworn to be loyal to them.

He had to get past the older remembrances Marrock had offered up as a wall to conceal the information Fen was after. Marrock snarled and fought, trying to ensnare him in a muddle of recollections, pushing the need for fresh, adrenaline-laced blood on him, sharing the taste of hot blood, anything to keep Fen out of his most recent memories.

Fen pushed harder, using more strength, careful not to tip his hand, but slipping past those memories that wouldn’t help him. Marrock still had options that could be harmful to him. He didn’t want to trigger any of them until he got the information he needed.

Fen found the most recent orders from Bardolf. Marrock was to keep the Carpathians busy, kill as many as possible and inflict as much damage as possible to force them to go to ground to heal. A second force would find the humans who aided in protecting children, destroy them and grab any Carpathian women helping to protect the children. The two forces were to attack simultaneously and keep everyone busy, allowing Abel and Bardolf to slip in and assassinate the prince.

The moment he accessed the memory, he knew he had only seconds before Marrock would try to warn Bardolf or Abel and also bury Fen in a quagmire of poisonous emotions to prevent him finding his way out. Red and black poured into his mind even as he reached out.

“Lifemate.” One word. Everything. The miracle.

She was there instantly, his own dragon lady, and she knew exactly what to do without him telling her. She poured into his mind, driving everything else out, and as she extracted him from Marrock, she swung the silver sword and removed the head, making it impossible for the wolf to warn the Sange rau.

Fen took the time to drag her into his arms and hold her tight against him for just a moment, breathing in her sweetness and steel after the bloodlust and mayhem in Marrock’s poisoned mind. She was a breath of fresh air.

“You make a pretty good partner, my lady.”

She smiled at him, rubbing her hands over his back. “It’s nice to know you have such faith in me. That was horrible. Never do that again.”

“You’ll have to get to the village, Tatijana, and warn the others at the farm that they’re being detained there on purpose. I’m going to try to stop the Sange rau. I’m the only one with a chance.”

She shook her head. “Not two of them. Not alone, Fen.”

“Go, Tatijana,” he said gently. “Hurry. The rogues decimate entire villages.”

Fen brushed a kiss against the corner of her mouth and took to the air, streaking back toward Mikhail’s home. He had been in that house and knew it was designed to help protect the prince. There had to be more, a complete protection system Gregori was confident would stop any attack on the prince—but they believed the attack would come from a vampire—perhaps even a master vampire. They hadn’t designed their defense system to deal with the Sange rau.

Tatijana took a deep breath and stepped off the jutting cliff, streaking toward the village. She didn’t want to imagine what the werewolves would do to humans barely waking in their homes.

Gregori, Mikhail’s in danger. Fen has gone to try to stop the Sange rau from getting to him. But there are two of them.