The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (26 page)

Kyran stood and walked closer to her, his claws clicking on the tile.

“Are you okay?” he asked. His voice sounded marginally deeper and more guttural.

“I’m fine, I guess. What was wrong with me this time?”

“
The dart had
a sedative in it. The dosage was too strong for you,
but I figured it out in time.”

“Why did Lykil bring me here?”

“Because I told him to.”

For some reason, she found that funny. Some God of Destruction he was, being bossed around by a Lycan.

“What’s so funny?”

“I don’t know him that well, but I didn’t take Lykil to be all that obedient.”

The door swung open, and the source of her amusement walked in.

“I’m not obedient. Just nice.”

A sound that could have been a laugh rumbled from Kyran. Lykil
just gave him a mocking glare.

“Shut up, mutt.”

Kyran only laughed harder. “I’m purebred.”

“Smart ass.” Lykil flashed him a smile before he looked over at
Alexis. “Next time a god tells you something, pay attention. White is never the same when you get blood in it.”

Alexis glanced at his virginal white linen pants he wore. His chest
was bare, so it must be his shirt that had blood on it.

“Sorry, I won
’
t bleed on you next time.” She motioned to his chest.
“Can you conjure up a shirt or something? They can’t be that hard to replace.”

Kyran rolled over onto his back and laughed, his sharp white teeth
gleaming in the light. Lykil, on the other hand, appeared slightly appalled
at her suggestion.

“Are you kidding me? Do I look like a magician to you?”

“Crafting a shirt from thin air is too much for a god that can play
electronics with no energy source?” She laughed. “You might want to
get a refund. They left out some of the basics on your powers.”

Lykil shot her a smile. “Mortals. And I never wear shirts. Your
blood is on my pants. I’m the one who got to cut the dart out of you
since Captain Furry has no opposable thumbs at the moment.”

She laughed and glanced at his pants again. “You
’
re being paranoid.
There’s nothing there.”

“Whatever. I have to leave. Another world awaits me.” He scratched
Kyran between the ears like a dog, which earned him a growl. “You
’
re
welcome, ingrates.”

“Love you, too, Lykil,” Alexis called to his dissipating form.

“Back at you, Hunter,” Lykil’s disembodied voice said.

Alexis’ attention was drawn down to the change in Kyran’s demeanor.
He seemed borderline angry, but his eyes held a touch of sadness in their blue depths. Great, what did she do now?

KYRAN WATCHED ALEXIS
’
CAREFULLY
schooled face and tried
to erase whatever expression he had on his. She didn
’
t have the slightest
clue how he felt, no clue just how much three days of her absence had
shaken him to the very essence of his being.

She played with her hands, folding and unfolding them in her lap.
“When do you think I can leave?”

Though her words were barely a whisper, they rang through his
ears and soul like a banshee’s ominous scream. He felt his chest go tight
at the thought of another day without her here. Damn, would his pack
survive another round? He walked away, going to sit by the sinks.

“Is that what you want, Alexis? Do you want to leave?”

“I need to. I can’t stay here, Kyran.”

“Why not?”

“Do we really need to rehash this again?” Alexis ran her hands
through her hair. “We both know all the reasons it won’t work with me
staying here. Talking about it again changes nothing.”

He nodded his head. “You
’
re right; it doesn
’
t. As for you leaving
, we’ll talk about that tomorrow. Get some sleep.”

He walked over and pawed off the light, leaving the room bathed
in the soft glow from the light above the sink.

“You can sleep up here with me if you want.”

He curled into a ball against the sink cabinet. “Why?”

“Because no Mikko should be forced to sleep on the floor.”

A curious note in her tone that said there was a reason besides his
position that she felt he shouldn
’
t sleep on the floor. Part of him wanted
to push and find out what it was, but he was weary. Three days of
anxiety and anger had worn him down to the point where at the moment,
he didn't care. He’d care later. Tonight, he’d sleep.

“I’m fine, Alexis, but thanks, anyway.”

She was silent for a breath before her soft voice found him on the edge of sleep.

“Goodnight, Kyran.”

“Night, Alexis.”

***

Alexis peered at the clock in the dim light. Two AM. She wasn
’
t
going to sleep. More accurately, she couldn’t sleep. The problem was
Kyran. Well, not exactly him, but the fact that he was on the floor was
grating against her conscience. She
’
d slept on the floor for years after she
outgrew her toddler bed, which she’d slept in longer than most children.
Her parents refused to waste resources on an inferior being. If she could
have carried him, she would have put him on the infirmary bed with
her. But even in his Tala form, he was massive in a way that no real wolf
could ever be. She had to do something though, because sleep would
never greet her if she kept dwelling on the fact that he was on the floor.

Alexis slipped from the bed and pulled the blanket free. As careful
as she could, she draped the blanket over him and climbed back in bed.
She turned on her side to face him and pulled the sheet over herself,
finally allowing sleep to creep over her by timing her breathing to his.

She woke up what felt like minutes later when the bed dipped
behind her.

“It
’s just me,
” Kyran said as he snaked an arm around her and
pulled her closer to him. “Go back to sleep.”

Alexis flicked her gaze to the clock before she closed her eyes. It
was a little past six. She sighed and tried to burrow closer to him, her body yearning for more of his soothing presence.

“You cold?”

She shook her head no.

He kissed her shoulder and pulled her flush against him. “Better?”

She nodded and relaxed in the cocoon of his body heat, letting
the thrum of his heart lull her to sleep.

***

Kyran listened as her breathing deepened, and she relaxed into sleep. He hid his smile in her hair, inhaling the scent that was all her mixed with a coconut shampoo she used. Damn, it felt good to have her in his arms.

He shook his head at the longest three days of his life. Gods, he had
truly lost it, done things that there weren’t enough apologies or ways
to repent for. He
’
d have to try though, starting with Marcela and Ronan.

The hours ticked by, and through each one, Kyran watched Alexis
sleep. He stroked the soft hairs from her shoulder and kissed her in
the hollow of her neck, which earned him a sleep satisfied sigh.

Days. That was all that it had taken to change his perception of the
rest of his life without her. Ronan had been right. Kyran would never
tell him, because Ronan liked nothing more than being right. The more
he thought about it, contemplating the rest of his life without her was
harder than facing a life and its complications with her.

The door to the infirmary inched open. As if conjured by his train
of thought, Ronan walked in with Marcela at his back. Kyran smiled at them behind a curtain of Alexis’ hair.

“She got the flowers. You should know that she hates them. Don
’
t
take it personally, though. I think she’s just weird.” Ronan smiled as
Marcela punched him. “Just wanted to stop in and tell you we
’
re headed
out for a run. We’ll be back in time for breakfast.”

Marcela stepped forward. “Mikko, thank you, but know that you are forgiven. We understand where your head was at.”

“Call him Kyran, geez. No one calls him Mikko unless they’re in trouble.” Ronan said as he opened the door to leave.

Kyran laughed and nodded. “Yes, call me Kyran, and I’ll see you guys later.”

After they left, Alexis rolled over to face Kyran. “Who the hell
punched Ronan in the eye?”

Kyran sighed. “I did.”

The shock was etched all over her face as she swung her head up to see him. “I don’t understand. You love Ronan.”

“Yeah, I do.” Before she could ramble off all of the questions that
she obviously wanted to ask, Kyran climbed out of the bed and stood
in front of her. “I’m going to tell you, but we need to go eat first. Lycans
can get irritated easily after a shift, especially if they don
’
t hunt, which
I didn’t.”

Alexis climbed from the bed, dressed in some clothes from her bag,
and followed him out of the room. Kyran grabbed her hand and led her
to the large dining hall that easily held the entire pack. At the entrance
,
Alexis jerked free of his grasp. He turned around and frowned at her.

“What are you doing?” she asked, glancing around him as if making
sure no one saw her.

“Going to eat.” He waved her forward. “Come on.”

“I can’t go in there. I’m not pack. I’m ”

“Alexis, trust me, okay. They want you here.”

She frowned but nodded hesitantly. He grabbed her hand, squeezing
it gently before leading her into the room.

Kyran felt her stiffen when the pack rose in unison and dropped to their knees. Silence greeted them as every head bowed.

“Mikkati,” the pack shouted before they rose back to their feet.

Alexis had no idea what it meant, but Kyran smiled at the show of
acceptance the pack had given by naming her as his wife. Granted, he
hadn’t exactly gotten around to making it that official, but three days without her was enough for him to know that a life without her in it wasn’t something he would want to survive.

Kyran leaned in and kissed her on the head. “They like you.” To the pack, he said, “Thank you. You honor me.”

He led them to the table at the head of the room where Ronan sat with Marcela and Angel. He rolled his eyes at Ronan as he pulled a chair out for Alexis and sat down next to her.

“An eye patch. Really?”

Ronan smiled back at him. “You really hurt me, man. I
’
ll never see
out of this eye again.”

Kyran laughed. “Asshole. I already feel like shit. You don’t have to rub it in.”

“I wouldn’t be much of a – ”

“Pain in the ass?” Kyran offered.

“Little brother.”
Ronan sighed.
“I wouldn
’
t be much of a little
brother if I didn’t rub it in.”

Kyran turned his attention back to Alexis, who was picking at the
food that had been placed in front of her.

“You okay, Alexis?”

She gave her head a dismissive nod. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Getting her to tell the truth was like getting a donated kidney out
of an unwilling patient. A lot of kicking and screaming.

“You’re pale and not eating. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I’m…” She glanced at him and let the words trail off.

Fucking hell, if she said she was fine again, he might lose it and
punch Ronan in the other eye. He couldn
’
t very well hit her; she already
looked like a beaten puppy.

“Come on. We’ll eat in my room.”

She glanced down at her plate and shook her head. “
I’m sorry,
Kyran.”

He frowned. “For what?”

“I’ll be okay. We can eat here. You need to eat, right?”

Kyran angled his chair towards her. “Talk to me, Lex.”

She jerked her head up to face him. “Torin called me that.”

“I know. He told me a lot about his sister Lex once he stopped
shooting at me.”

She laughed and turned back to pushing her food around her plate. “
Sounds like Torin.”

Kyran reached out and stilled her fork. “Do you have something against bacon?”

“Huh?” Her gaze traveled over the mutilated meat. “Oh, no.”

He stood and reached out his hand to her. “Come on. Let’s go to my room and eat.” The odd glimmer of fear in her eyes made him sit back down. “Or we can stay.”

“Please?”

“Yeah.”

He gave a silent thanks to the others seated at the table for allowing
them the privacy in a public venue. They sat teasing each other, ignoring
him and Alexis while he dealt with whatever was bothering her. He
ate in a graceful hurry while Alexis managed to nibble at her food. He
pushed away from the table and helped her up before leading her
back to his room.

“You going to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked when they got back to his room.

“It’s stupid; just forget it.”