Page 43 of Destined to the Lycan
“I never lie,” I replied, echoing his own words.
“Is that so?”
To my shock he grabbed my wrist angrily and sank his fangs in the inner side. I cried out at the sharp sting. Then liquid bliss flooded my veins as he began to drink from me. He wasn’t gorging but taking small sips. Through the haze of euphoria provided by whatever he had injected me with, I stared in wonder at his divine beauty. His eyes had completely lost their red color and were now the most beautiful shade of purple. A mesmerizing light emanated from the lightning under his skin. They seemed to slightly undulate, bathing him in a soothing halo. Behind him, two beams of light protruded from his back vaguely forming the shape of a massive pair of ethereal wings.
He’s not a doppelganger.
Whatever he was, he undoubtedly possessed divine blood. Was he the offspring of a Fallen? Or the hybrid child of a doppelganger and an angel? But even as those thoughts fired off in my mind, I realized that he wasn’t actually feeding by drinking my blood. Lyall was plundering my memories.
I couldn’t tell how much time passed. It could have been seconds or hours. I’d been floating in too deep a state of well-being to keep track of such a menial concept. Lyall pulled his fangs out of my wrist and licked the puncture wounds. Fascinated, I watched them seal shut in a blink.
Lyall straightened and stood towering over me. My chest constricted upon seeing the air of deep sadness and resignation on his beautiful face as the angelic glow dimmed around him. What had he seen that left him this defeated?
“Two bites…” he muttered to himself. “The Weaver and her damn mind games…”
“What?” I asked, confused.
“Think carefully on her words,” Lyall said in a mysterious fashion. “They do not mean what you think.”
“What do you mean?” I insisted.
He stared at me quietly for a moment as if pondering how he would answer before shaking his head.
“It is time for me to go see your pup,” he said at last.
“Please, don’t hurt him!”
His anger flared again. To my shock, he fisted my hair on my nape and crushed my lips in a brutal kiss. It lasted less than a second and felt more like punishment than an attempt at seduction. His face an inch from mine, he locked eyes with me, their angry red hue making no mystery as to his current state of mind.
“What fate befalls the pup is up to him,” he snarled. “Pray that he makes the right choice.”
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer. He released my hair then marched resolutely out of the house, leaving me alone, confused, and distraught.
Chapter 10
Remus
As I ran back to the road, I used all the calming techniques I had developed over the years to help rein in my feral side when the full moon approached. My blood still boiled with the lust to kill. While I didn’t fear harming my mate in any way, I didn’t want her seeing this unbridled side of me. At least, not so early in our relationship.
She trusted me, of this I had no doubt. She also felt a great deal of affection for me. I wanted it to blossom into a deep and undying love. With all the challenges facing us right now, making her feel unsafe in my presence was the last thing we needed.
I sprang out of the woods onto the path, running on all fours in my wolf form. I would have preferred coming to her as a human, but I didn’t run as fast that way. Strangely enough, I also felt self-conscious at the thought of running buck naked in front of her. That made absolutely no sense considering nudity was normal among Lycans. Furthermore, I could honestly say thatI had a very nice body. So this sudden shyness was completely irrational.
But as I raced down the path, those wandering thoughts quickly faded from my mind. By now, I should either be hearing the sound of our horses galloping in the distance or at least get a glimpse of her silhouette ahead. Granted, I chased the Aegarims fairly deep into the woods. Still, I hadn’t been gone so long that my mate could have traveled that far, even pushing the horses to their maximum.
My stomach twisted with a sense of unease, and I redoubled the speed at which I ran. The complete silence further fueled my growing panic. The mystifiers and evil spirits wouldn’t sing for me as my blood was poison to them. But I should hear their whispers to my woman had she been in range.
My gorge rose at the thought that another pack of Aegarims might have been lurking even farther ahead. It shouldn’t be the case as those beasts hunted over a large territory that they fiercely defended against other packs.
But this pack counted far more members than they normally do.
I shouldn’t have left her. It had been reckless and arrogant of me to think she would be fine because I could easily dispatch the threat. If anything happened because of my negligence…
My blood turned into ice in my veins, and I howled in despair as I finally noticed Amara’s footprints on the packed dirt where she dismounted her horse. But it was the presence of a second set of footsteps that truly destroyed me. Something—or rathersomeone—had walked out of the woods onto the path.
Nothing good could safely travel the Haunted Woods.
