Dark Lycan by Christine Feehan Read Free Book Online

didn’t come back to swear your allegiance to him. You’re a hunter. You hunt the vampire. Ancient hunters don’t change their ways.”
    Fen sighed. Tatijana looked a fragile flower but she had a spine of steel, and she was highly intelligent. She might not know about fire, but she hadn’t wasted her time during her centuries-long incarceration. She had studied each of her father’s victims carefully. She had learned to read them and draw on their abilities and experiences. She had looked for hunters and those who knew how to fight in order to further her chances of escaping. He could almost feel her brain putting the pieces of a puzzle together with lightning speed.
    “You suspect there is another—the one you call Sange rau ,” she said, shrewdly. “You followed him here, didn’t you? By doing so you put yourself directly in the path of that hunter, the one from the tavern you said was dangerous.”
    He took her hand and turned her back toward the village. They had to get out of the woods—at least she had to. The blanket of mist had begun to churn and roil—fast-spinning eddies within the heavy fog. He held still for a moment, listening, his every sense tuned to the threads of information whirling in the mist.
    “It is a suspicion, no more, but yes, I suspect Zev is here hunting the same rogue pack I was trailing when I ran across a strange, but familiar pattern. I believe Zev is Lycan and very lethal—especially to one such as me.”
    “This week of the month wouldn’t be during the full moon would it?” she asked.
    He found himself grinning in spite of the seriousness of the situation. His lifemate had a little bite to her tone. She had just a bit of an attitude. He nodded his head. “Why, yes, my lady, it would.”
    She shook her head. “If the big bad wolf is coming for you, do you really think it’s a good idea to be walking through the woods with me?”
    Fen did laugh. Her coat was red and had a fleece-lined hood. “Where in the world did you hear the story of Little Red Riding Hood?”
    “We had reading materials. Scrolls. Skins. Thin parchment. And then books. In the beginning, he thought we would become like him, only subordinate to him. He didn’t realize that our mother had also left us a legacy before he murdered her. She made certain we were fully Carpathian but she concealed what she had done from him. We had the ability to communicate telepathically and to draw memories from Xavier’s victims. When he realized we were not going to aid him in his efforts to wipe out the Carpathian species, he kept us drained and weak so we had no chance of escape.”
    “He made a mistake educating you.”
    “Yes he did, and we learned far more than he realized. His spells, the ability to counter them, shifting, the strengths and weaknesses of each species. We acquired a great deal of knowledge and waited for the moment we might be strong enough to strike at him—or defend ourselves. In the end, we were able to get Razvan’s child free. Lara was so young, and we had hoped to go with her to protect her, but Xavier used Razvan to stab Bronnie and I couldn’t leave her there, although she begged me to go without her. We were imprisoned for many years again until Lara came back for us.”
    The wind shifted again, sending the mist spinning around them. They both stopped abruptly and looked at one another.
    Blood , Fen identified. Human. Death. The rogue pack was there in the forest. He’s just ahead, but I fear he’s dead. He used telepathic communication and the moment he was in her mind, he felt flooded with warmth—complete. All those empty places were filled with her. The terrible blackness receded and light poured in.
    He’s the third man from the tavern, the one who left when I called out to them. She was intelligent enough to follow his lead. There was sorrow in her voice, guilt even. This is the man who tried to talk sense into his friends.
    The pack smelled like wolves, animals, tearing at