Dark Lycan (Carpathian)

It matters, my lady, Fen said gently. We have to know the consequences of becoming Sange rau before any other Carpathian decides with the misguided notion that he will help to save his species from extinction, or just from the worst of monsters that we’ve faced by becoming a mixed blood.

Not Sange rau. You are H?n ku pes?k kaikak, Guardian of all, Tatijana disputed firmly.

Fen found his heart doing a strange, slow somersault. Even his belly felt that same peculiar roll at her fierce protective streak. I am lucky in my lifemate. He meant every word. She had changed his life and would always be at the center of it. She made him feel alive and gave him his first taste of joy and real laughter.

“The ancients greeted you warmly because they recognized your heart and soul as Carpathian, Fen,” Mikhail said. “Some of them knew you and celebrated that you kept your honor throughout such a long and difficult journey.”

Fen nodded. He had felt them welcome him and the camaraderie had made him feel as if he were part of a much larger circle. After having been alone for so many centuries, Fen felt connected to his ancestors. He would have given anything to feel that way before he met and claimed Tatijana. He had needed that connection, but once she had poured into his mind with so much fluid grace and light, he found he really didn’t need anymore. She had given him peace.

He had come here with the idea that he needed and wanted acceptance, not only for him but for his brother and any other who shared the same mixed blood, but now that he was in the sacred cave of warriors, he felt comforted by the traditional rituals, but it was Tatijana that made him feel complete, not the warrior circle itself.

“What happened? Why would they think I had died?” he asked curiously.

“When your blood first touched the sacred stone, they felt what they expected to feel. I woke them with the invocation. But as they processed it, as your blood touched their blood, they realized it was far different and you, as a Carpathian, were no longer there. They had already judged your heart and soul and knew you were honorable and that you’d fought long and hard for our people, so they awarded you the warrior’s highest honor as they mourned your death.”

“They believed he was dead because his blood is different?” Dimitri asked, wanting clarification. “Or they named him dead to the Carpathian people?”

“They believed him dead,” Mikhail explained. “Couldn’t you feel their genuine sorrow? Your blood, Fen, must be completely different at this point from that of a Carpathian.”

“Yet I can give blood to anyone just as a Carpathian can,” Fen said.

“You said the transformation happens in stages. Probably had you come here in the beginning stages, there would have been enough of a resemblance to Carpathian blood that few would notice the difference,” Mikhail said.

“But then they sensed Tatijana. Her Dragonseeker blood is powerful.”

“Yes it is. And already, because you’re lifemates, that strain must be in you as well. But I felt something else, something equally as powerful. Not your Lycan—his presence was formidable—but something very subtle and equally as dominant.”

Mikhail looked from Fen to Dimitri and then back at Fen, speculation in his eyes. “Tatijana is Dragonseeker, one of our most powerful lineages. She has a strong connection to Mother Earth, but this still feels different, as if it isn’t her connection but yours.”

“Tatijana does have a very strong connection to Mother Earth,” Fen admitted.

Mikhail shook his head, his piercing, intelligent gaze moving back to Dimitri. “Aw. I see now. Young Skyler. We do underestimate that girl. She helped to heal you. How is that possible from such a distance? Isn’t she in London?”

“I believe she is,” Tatijana answered for both men.

“And yet you know her and can speak to where she is,” Mikhail said. “How is it that a young girl, a child really, a human at that, can cross over two thousand kilometers and reach out to heal someone near death?”

Tatijana shrugged her shoulders. “It must have something to do with her being part of the Dragonseeker lineage. You said yourself it is a powerful line.”

“Have you been able to do such a thing?” Mikhail asked.

Tatijana hesitated. She shook her head. “No. Both Bronnie and I tried to reach our niece when she escaped the ice caves, but the distance was too great.”

Mikhail raised an eyebrow at Gregori.

Gregori shook his head. “I’ve never covered that distance. I’ve come close, but I doubt I could sustain it long enough to heal someone.”