Blood Law by Karin Tabke Read Free Book Online

blew.

Four
    AS
THEY HEADED out of the city, Rafael could not fight the feeling that the human
draped across his gas tank was going to create an uproar with his pack. They
were no more accepting of humans than he. While he did business with humans
because he needed their money, Rafael was staunchly opposed to any human for
any reason breaching his tightly controlled world. He went to them; they were
not permitted to come to him.
    He
could barely stand the stench of humans. Prejudice, hate, and greed clung to
them like stink on shit. Were it not for humans, his race would not be dying
out, and they would still thrive in Europe.
    There
was little solace in the fact that if his kind were not able to take human form
and walk among them as equals, Rafael would not have been born. And while that
may be true, it was the human ancestors of the original wolf Slayers who were
as hell-bent on eradicating his kind as the day Peter Corbet accepted the
charter to eradicate wolves from the British Isles by his king, Edward I.
    Since
the violent split of the pack fourteen years ago, the necessity for humans to
survive had increased tenfold. Rafael resented it. He resented his brother more
for making it so. By refusing to see that Rafael had saved him from a death
sentence for lying with a Slayer, Lucien insisted Rafael had intentionally
slain his chosen one, then hammered home a deep wedge between what had been a
healthy, thriving pack. Once, pack Vulkasin was the undisputed alpha pack among
all the packs in the world, leader in commerce, military, and in government.
But his brother ruined it all in one furious act of selfishness. And now, Rafe
needed humans to support his pack.
    Rafael
sighed, weary of his brother’s continued acts of vengeance. The time was at
hand. Rafael knew what he had been in denial about for years. For the greater
good of his pack and the Lycan nation at large, he must eliminate his brother.
He cringed as he always did when the realization hit him. He loved his brother,
Great Spirit Mother, help him, but he did. And there were times like now when
he despised him. So much at stake, so much to lose, so much pain and suffering,
for what? Lucien’s refusal to see that he was duped by a woman? A Slayer?
    Rafael
set his jaw. He had no choice. And therein lay the rub. The Blood Law. Murder
of an alpha was punishable by death. Then who would lead the nation against the
Slayers?
    But
it had to be done. There would finally be peace the nation desperately needed,
and once united, they would defeat the Slayers once and for all.
    Rafael
set thoughts of his brother aside and focused on getting home. His almost
nightly hunts over the past three months had proven fruitful. His Slayer count
had gone up exponentially. He smiled in the night wind. He would take the next
week to regroup, strategize, and rearm. Then strike when Lycans were their most
powerful, during the full moon.
    Now,
miles north of California’s capital, high atop a mountain, two dozen
blacked-out choppers rumbled into the pack compound. As the thick iron gates
closed with swift precision behind them, Rafe sneered. His brother’s scent,
though faint, wafted through the air. It wasn’t the first time his brother had
skulked close when Rafael was hunting.
    As he
drove past several outbuildings then around to the clubhouse—the main compound
building—Rafael glanced up at the shrouded moon. It was well past midnight. He
didn’t have much time if the girl was to survive.
    He
looked down at her in his arms. She had not stirred once on the long ride home;
she didn’t stir now but remained half draped across the gas tank and half
sitting against his chest. With her added weight, maneuvering the bike had been
a tricky feat, especially through the twisting Sierra road that led to the
compound. But he was strong, and his strength didn’t waver. He couldn’t say the
same for her. As he came to an abrupt stop, the girl’s body slid from his grip,
causing him to curse.