Lycan Warrior (8 page)

“Now!” she said urgently as she tightened her grip on Elizabeth’s hand and ran.

She heard the women following behind her and she ran past the entrance, squinting at the rosy hue of the rising sun. She bolted out of the entrance, wishing she could take a moment to smell the fresh air, and ran past a thick tangle of trees towards a clearing past the falls. They just had to make it over that small hill. She trained her ear behind her for any signs of Lycans following them and heard nothing.

Oh my God! They were going to make it!

She scrambled to the top of the hill and looked behind her. Her keen Lycan eyesight made out the two Lycans at the entrance guarding their lair. They didn’t know what had transpired. Breathing a prayer of thanks to the Gods looking down on her and the women, Katya looked at their frightened faces and said, “Now, we run for freedom and we don’t stop.” She noticed Garrek was still secure between Gweneth and Holly, his eyes closed, his head limp. “Are you two all right?”

“Katya, I’ll drag this bastard to Hell and back if it means freeing myself from that prison,” Gweneth said.

Katya grimaced. “Let’s just hope he’s not such a bastard after my mother cures him,” she said.

* * * *

At castle, in the Great Hall, Eve was inconsolable as King Drago tried comforting her. Prince Vasilis was briefing the guards with Princess Alexandra next to him, and Malek was off to the side, knowing precious time was being wasted.

“Dammit!” he exploded, shocking everyone to silence. He knew the dead silence from the king and prince told him he had shocked them most since he displayed his outburst right in the middle of Vasilis addressing his guards. “We leave now! She’s been gone for two days. We can’t waste another minute.”

“He’s right!” Eve cried. “Dammit, Drago, you should have let me go after her the moment Malek returned!”

“No, Eve!” Alexandra said, rushing to her side. “It would have been too dangerous.”

“Alex, that’s my baby. My little girl,” Eve sobbed, drawing a pained grimace from her husband’s face. “What if it was Ariel? Wouldn’t you want to save your little sister?”

Alexandra’s mouth thinned. “Yes.” She turned to Vasilis. “She’s right. We have to go now.”

“Eve, we cannot attack without a plan,” Drago said. “It would be a suicide mission.”

“Then I die!” Malek roared.

Eve gasped and shot him a shocked look.

Malek swallowed hard and looked at Prince Vasilis, his trusted friend for more than two hundred years. “I have always bided by your rule, always stood by your side,
and
I have always valued our friendship, but now, here in this moment, I cannot wait another minute. With or without your army, I leave in a few minutes to save Katya.”

Malek knew the chief guard of the king would never dare speak like this, but he couldn’t help it. He stared at Vasilis, clenching and unclenching his jaw, hoping he would understand.

“And you don’t think taking the extra day to plan our attack is the sensible thing to do?” the prince asked quietly.

“Nay. I leave now.”

Malek didn’t know what the prince was thinking because Vasilis’s expression was etched in stone. Malek caught the curious look Eve gave him and Alexandra’s mouth curving into a hint of a smile. Then, Vasilis’s expression changed. It softened as a look of understanding and compassion entered his dark, fathomless gaze.

“Is there any reason you choose to act irrationally?” Vasilis asked.

“She is my
one
, Your Highness,” Malek said grimly. “And…” he swallowed convulsively. “And if anything happens to her, I might as well hand in my sword to you.”

Eve gasped softly, bringing her hand to her mouth. “I knew it,” she said.

The Great Hall’s doors opened with a loud bang and Malek snapped his head toward the entrance. He watched a guard rush in. “Your Highness, come quick! A group of women with an unconscious man are approaching the kingdom. I…I think it’s Katya, Your Highness.”

The blood drained from Malek’s face as he staggered to his feet, hope welling in his chest. He heard Eve choke back on a sob as they all ran out of the Great Hall.

“Where is she?” roared Malek.

“There!” said the guard, pointing down the mountain, past the village to the large flat terrain surrounding their kingdom.

Malek narrowed his eyes against the sun’s glare and saw a group of women walking slowly toward the village. He sucked in a harsh breath as he peered at the She-Lycan leading the group. It
was
Katya!

They all sprinted down the steps while Eve jumped from the top of the mountain and flew through the air, landing at the bottom before everyone reached her side. Malek was still amazed at her speed and flight, and since she turned into a hybrid of Vampire and Lycan, the sun was no longer a danger to her.

Malek ran toward the edge of the village, narrowing his eyes on the horizon and saw them. Past the village, he ran onto the open flat land. He stopped dead in his tracks when he was a few paces away, the back of his eyes burning as he looked at the group of women in their filthy clothes, exhaustion emanating from their slender forms. His heart nearly stopped when he saw two women dragging Garrek.

He rested his gaze on Katya and watched her revert to her human form, collapsing on her knees. The women stopped beside her, sobbing their relief as they sunk to the ground.

Malek’s heart soared with awe and joy, and something else that made his heart swell so much he thought it would explode from his chest.
Love.

“Get the blacksmith,” Katya rasped. “Tell him to remove these damn neck braces from the women.”

Within seconds Malek was before her, holding her in his arms, running kisses over her face. “Thank God,” he said hoarsely, holding her tight.

Katya smiled at him and then at her mother who was leaning over his shoulders. “Mama, you have to help Garrek. Save him as you saved me.”

Chapter Eight

It was well into the night and Katya was nestled securely in Malek’s embrace on his bed. He had just made love to her and she released a soft sigh. She was so whole around him, so complete that it made her stare in wonder at his profile. She could tell he was still worried.

“When Garrek awakens from the sleep my mother put him under, he’ll be fine. You’ll see,” she said softly.

“I’m not so sure. You were in that prison for two years, my brother for two hundred. Can he wake up and be whole so quickly?”

“I hope so. My mother said she went deeper than ever.”

They both fell silent and she realised he was falling asleep. She didn’t mind. She was too lost in her thoughts to talk about anything. In the week she’d known him, her whole life had changed. They had healed each other with wonderful gifts. Malek had destroyed the demons that had been plaguing her mind for two years and she had returned his brother to him.

After a while, she slipped out of bed, put on her robe, and went to her chambers. She wasn’t sure what their arrangement was, and she didn’t want to assume they would be sharing a chamber. Her spirits fell. The only thing missing from this week to make it complete was to hear Malek say he loved, but he hadn’t.

She knew she loved him. With a heavy heart, she went into her bath chambers and washed herself, thinking about Malek. He wanted children, but bearing a child was one gift she could never give him.

When she left the bath chambers, she found him standing by the door, draped only in a towel around his waist.

“Why did you leave?” he asked roughly.

“You…you fell asleep.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Why did you leave?”

Did he want more love making and was upset she was gone when he awoke? “Malek, I’m tired. I just want to go to sleep.”

Grim-faced, he took three strides and lifted her roughly in his arms. She yelped as she clutched him around his shoulders.

“That’s what I thought we were doing until I opened my eyes and saw your side of the bed empty,” he said angrily.

She frowned as he carried her out of her chambers and strode down the hallway to his. He shut the door behind him with his foot and strode to his bed, placing her on it.

“My
one
will not sleep in her own bed chamber,” he said.

“I thought…I don’t…” She was confused. “I can’t have children,” she blurted out. “It’s best I tell you now before you and I go any further.” She took a deep breath, ignoring the grim look on his face. “I…I think the Lycan Legend got it wrong this time,” she whispered. “I’m sorry.”

He ran a rough hand through his hair, glaring at her with frustration. “Haven’t you realised I want
you
? I love you. I have probably loved you from the moment I met you. A family with children won’t make me complete.
You
make me complete.”

Her heart soared and she smiled tremulously at him. “I…I love you, too.”

He shrugged off his towel and lay on the bed next to her, taking her face gently in hands. He kissed her deeply before he gave her a look filled with possessive pride. “Will you live by my side forever as our souls have done since the beginning of time?”

She smiled. “I will.”

* * * *

A week later, they were all standing at the edge of the village.

“Do you have to leave?” Malek asked.

Garrek swallowed hard as he looked at his brother. He was fiercely proud of him. “I will return.”

“Don’t go,” Katya said.

Garrek looked at his new sister-in-law, the woman who had saved his life. In the week he’d gotten to know her, he loved her and he couldn’t be more content for his brother. “I must. I need to find myself again. For two hundred years, I have lived in darkness. I have done things I am ashamed of doing. Things I cannot forgive myself for doing. Your mother restored my memories and cured me of Balkathan’s infection, but my Lycan heart is empty, cold. I need to feel I deserve this second chance.”

“Where will you go?” Vasilis asked.

“I don’t know, but I will return in one month when you attack Balkathan’s lair.”

“You have returned after two hundred years. I do not want to lose you again,” Malek said, his voice hoarse with emotion.

“I will always be your brother and I will never leave again.” He looked at Katya. “Look after him while I’m gone.”

She nodded, her tears falling.

King Drago held out Garrek’s shield and sword. “We kept this for you. We always knew you would return. God speed.”

Garrek took the shield and sword and secured them to his horse. He turned around and glanced at everyone’s faces—King Drago and Eve, Prince Vasilis and Alexandra, Malek and Katya—their expressions filled with love.

Slowly, he turned around and vaulted on his horse.

He didn’t feel worthy of their loyalty yet. He didn’t feel he deserved their love.

Not until he found salvation in his Lycan heart.

Coming soon

Lycan Heart (Lycan Legend Series, 4)

About the Author

Anastasia Maltezos enjoys reading and writing all romance genres, whether it’s a sweet contemporary or a dark paranormal. Her heroes vary from high powered, corporate moguls falling in love with the girl next door, to sexy vampires searching for their lost love.

Love blooms in all forms.

Other books by Anastasia Maltezos:

Lycan Prince (Lycan Legend, #1)

Lycan King (Lycan Legend, Book, #2)

Lycan Mate

The Lycan and His Witch

Her Vampire Lover

Coming soon: Her Vampire Lover, Book 2