The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (32 page)

“Should I put it back?” Alexis reached for the weapon in its holster.

Ronan laughed.
“Gods no. Lykil has favored you with his weapon
. Use it.” He turned and smiled at Kyran. “See you when you guys get back.”

“Alright.” He reached out and pulled Alexis into him. “Come on and let’s get you something to eat.”

“I don’t eat before I…” She let the words trail off.

“Before you hunt.” He smiled down at her. “I meant what I said
earlier. Don
’
t apologize for who you are. You are a Hunter. That
’
s who
you were born to be. You should try and eat something.”

“An apple will work. Anything heavier upsets my stomach.”

“An apple it is.”

Kyran led the way to the kitchen, grabbed her a snack, and took
her down to the garage to meet up with the teams.

The silence that greeted them make Alexis shrink back towards
the door, but Kyran pulled her forward.

“Alexis is coming with us. Any problems?”

Angel stepped forward. “Nope.” He looked her over. “
God blade?
Nice.
” He turned back to Kyran. “We
’
re ready when you are, Mikko.”

THE RIDE WAS MADE
in marked silence. The sounds of a crisp
apple caving under Alexis
’
knife as she peeled and sliced it periodically
,
cut through the quiet. When she was done, she pulled out a small
black cloth and wiped the blade clean before she placed it back in its
sheath. Alexis took the cloth and ran it over the god blade that sat
point down between her legs.

She turned and looked at Kyran. “What is this made of?”

“A mineral only found in Gardas.”

“Oh. I wonder how I’m supposed to keep it clean.”

Angel laughed from the back. “You like weapons, don’t you?”

She turned in her seat to face him. “They are the only thing standing
between me and death.”

“No, they’re not, Mikkati. We – the pack, Kyran, and apparently Lykil – all stand between you and death.”

“You don’t even like me. Why would you risk your life for me?”

“I didn’t like you, because I didn’t know what your place was here.
I don’t trust blindly, Mikkati. Now that I know, I’ll protect you like I would any other member of this pack. And before you say you aren’t pack, know that you are. You have been since Mikko went bat shit.”

“Bat shit?” She laughed. “He wasn’t that crazy, was he?”

Masculine laughter followed on the heels of a playful but resounding
yes
. She turned back around to Kyran.

“You really missed me, didn’t you?”

He smiled over at her. “Understatement.”

Kyran parked the SUV in a deserted rest area and climbed out.
Three more blacked out SUVs parked next to their empty vehicle.
The pack got out and walked over to where Alexis and Kyran stood with the members of their SUV, where they circled around to receive their instructions.

Alexis took note of the movements of the team as they took off at a
run towards the tree lined area that surrounded Chatuge Lake where
the LC pack was based. Her role was likely to be ornamental, but she paid
attention to the calculated way they moved, how they communicated
with the motion of their paws or a clever use of their tail against their
flanks.

She followed Kyran at a slower pace, knowing that she couldn’t keep up with his elongated stride. He glanced back over his shoulder and slowed his pace.

“Go ahead. I’m fine. I just have short legs,” she said, her words
tainted by a breathy laugh.

“I’m not leaving you. I did that once already. It sucked.”

They laughed together as he matched his stride to hers. At the tree
line, he shifted, joining the rest of the pack. She followed behind their
half-moon formation, unsheathing the two blades strapped to her wrists.
Alexis relaxed into her fighting stance, prepared, but aware that she wouldn’t be expected to be fully engage in the battle.

She was wrong.

The LC were exactly as Kyran described them: clunky, brutish, and
generally stupid in the skill department. The way they charged without
strategy toward the Blue-Oconee
’
s left flank spoke poorly of their
training. Most of their numbers were crushed immediately.

Alexis flinched when Kyran growled, the sensation seemingly
rippling along her skin before the pack dropped back, giving her point
position. Immediately, a hammer-fisted LC charged her newly vulnerable
position. She greeted him with a silver-edged dagger to his eye. She tossed another blade at his other eye before letting the silver do what it was supposed to do.

She pulled the god blade from the sheath at her back, intent on honoring the blade’s owner and bringing a little destruction to the
battlefield.

Initially, Alexis expected the sword to be unnecessarily heavy, but
the blade was beautifully weighted. The way it arched through the air,
an extension of her reach, and cut cleanly through a nearby Lycan cleanly f
rom hip to shoulder.

She spun around, landing lightly on her feet, ready for the next
attack, only to find that only two Lycans remained. The one standing
in front of her eyed her with curiosity, but he had no fear in him as
he stepped forward.

This one was the leader. She could tell from the slow, curious, but
predatory way that he approached her. If she hadn’t been fully on guard
, she would have missed the blade he threw at her heart.

Alexis deflected it with the sword, swiftly turning the sword tip into the male’s throat, startling him momentarily. She rolled her eyes
when he shifted and tried to charge her from beneath her previous
placement of the blade.

"Seriously?" she said, pinning him in place with a minor cut to his
arm and a nick to his exposed neck. "You’re not a good enough fighter
for whatever you were trying to do.”

***

Kyran watched the way Alexis danced with the god blade. The
wickedly carved broadsword was longer than her arms, but she wielded
it like an extension of her body.

“I got him, Alexis.”

The male glanced back and forth between them. “You
’
re in league
with the ones who seek to exterminate us?” he spat. “You’re more
depraved than anyone would ever believe.”

“She
’
s pack,
” Kyran responded. “Human form, now, Mikko Sam.”

Samuel shifted as he was told and glared at Kyran. “Call me by my full name or don’t call me at all.”

Kyran laughed. “I’ve beat the shit out of your so-called pack. I’ll call you whatever I want. I only have one question for you, Sam.”

The male
’
s lips flat lined, and the anger of his narrowed eyes became
a tangible entity.

“I could care less if you’re mad. Tell me where the boy is.”

Samuel laughed. “That whiner? He will never be worth the seed his father spilled to make him.”

Kyran growled at that. Even the most submissive Lycans had value.
No one
’
s existence was rendered irrelevant because of their lack of
dominance.

“Where is he?”

“I left him with a pack of bitches. Seemed fitting.”

“Which pack?”

“Bitches are bitches; doesn’t really matter, does it?”

Kyran turned to Alexis and gave her a slight nod. She returned it
before a slight
tick of movement and Samuel
’
s head v
acated
his
shoulders.
He kicked
the head aside
as he shifted forms and pulled out his cell phone.

“Mikkoyi Erma, did a male of twelve years get dropped off in your
territory?” He paused as she answered. “Can you ask around? He was
dropped off with a female pack, and he belongs to a male sent to attack
my pack.” He laughed. “Ronan was shot, but he
’
s fine. I told the male
I’d bring his son back. The mother is dead.” He listened for a minute. “Thanks. Talk to you later, Mikkoyi. Also, you’ll be relieved to know the LC pack no longer exists.”

Kyran
said
his goodbyes and turned to the male who was surrounded
by Alexis and the rest of the Blue-Oconee.

“Who leads you?” he asked.

“No one now; you’ve killed him.”

“
You don
’
t belong to Sam. I can tell because you can actually fight. Now
, who is your Mikko?”

The male sighed as if he were irritated. “My pack is small, barely enough to warrant her,” he pointed to Alexis, “showing up with that god blade of hers.”

“You’re dancing around the answer. Who leads you?”

“Mikko Bryce.” The male’s answer was clipped in irritation.

Angel snorted but tried to cover it with a cough and failed. “Sorry,
Mikko.”

Kyran’s lip quirked into a smile. “You’ve heard of him, too.”

Angel nodded.

Kyran turned to Alexis. “He forces his males to remain chaste. He
doesn’t have females in his pack.”

“But what about maintaining their numbers? Don
’
t they need
females to have the babies?”

Kyran laughed.
“If they find themselves needing new pack members,
they take males from other packs, by force if necessary. Occasionally Lycans have orphans, so they will take the males and train them.”

“Why would they agree not to have sex though?”

“Bryce demands it, and as the most dominant among them, no
one argues with him.”

Alexis looked down at the male. “That sucks. You guys live how long? And to be denied sex on top of it? Yikes.”

The male puffed up. “It is an honor to treat our bodies with respect.
Chastity begets fierce warriors.”

“Says a man who’s never had sex,” she replied. “A month ago, I might have agreed with you. Now? Not so much. Today I’ve fought better than I have in years.”

She blushed as the guys let out a rumble of masculine laughter.
Kyran kissed her then looked down at the male who was frowning
up at him.

“Who is she to you?” the male asked, inclining his head to Alexis.

“My mate.”

“She’s a Hunter.”

A sarcastic gasp came from the pack.

“Dammit, Mikko, why didn’t you tell us?” Angel huffed. Rolling his eyes, he turned to the male. “She’s pack. Period.”

The male sputtered another
but
before Kyran silenced him with a vicious growl.

“You’re talking too much about nothing that concerns you. Wher
e is your Mikko?”

“Why would I tell you that?”

“Because I asked nicely. Next time I won’t.”

“I don’t fear torture.”

Kyran laughed.
“The only people that don
’
t fear torture are stupid
or crazy. Which are you?”

“I was trained to withstand torture; therefore, I am neither.”

Nobody taught and excelled at the art of torture like the Rockys.
Other packs tried to emulate many things they did but could never
quite replicate their training or cruelty.

“I highly doubt your Mikko tortured you in a way that could break
you. Trust me. No one wants a broken Lycan in their pack.”

“I will not be broken. My will won’t allow it.”

Kyran snorted. “You haven’t met mine.”

In less than fifteen minutes, Kyran had all the pertinent information
he needed to handle yet another pack that made the decision to ally
themselves against him. He put the male out of his misery because
there would be no salvaging the male after all he had endured trying to best Kyran’s will.

Kyran sent Angel and the most lethal members of his team ahead
to the location of Bryce
’
s pack. They would rendezvous at the site with
the rest of the teams driving the vehicles closer to Bryce
’
s Noble Warrior
position fifteen minutes south of their current location.

It turned out that it was a pick up mission, since by the time they
reached the location, Angel and the team that went with him had been
engaged and had to kill everyone in the camp.

Kyran looked over the bodies of all the males. “Let
’
s summon
Lelah to put them to rest and head back. I’m hungry.”

Angel summoned the goddess and explained the necessity of her
presence. She nodded and took care of the evidence of the battle sites,
disposing of the bodies and claiming the souls for herself.

They all loaded up in the SUVs and headed back to the compound
in the same marked silence they had begun the journey with.

Kyran received a call from his mother letting him know that the
boy had been found just as they arrived at the compound. He sent
Angel with a few males to collect the boy, with permission to buy the boy’s freedom or take him by force.

Angel acquired the boy and returned him to his father without
incident. When Kyran offered Mark asylum within the Blue-Oconee
’
s,
the grateful, but understandably wary father chose to seek out his
cousin’s pack.