Red the Were Hunter (Fairelle Series Book 1)

by Rebekah R. Ganiere

  Then, before she knew what was happening, he was on her. His lips on hers, his arms wrapping her into him. It made her head spin at the smell of him. She’d missed him so much. He lifted her off the ground, kissing her with fervor. His tongue plunged into her mouth, twisting and dancing with hers. His warm lips crushed hers with his power. A moan escaped her as his lips traversed her chin to her neck. He nipped and licked her skin.

  “I love you. I love you. I love you,” he said over and over as he kissed her.

  She dug her nails into his shoulders, and he set her down on the grass, running his hands over her body.

  Redlynn gasped for air. Tingling skittered over her skin, setting her ablaze. She shuddered at his touch and found herself unwittingly moving her hands over the muscles of his broad chest to his back, and lower. They allowed their hands an opportunity to explore each other.

  His hands roamed and caressed her flesh until she thought she might burst. The heat that pooled inside of her burned hotter the longer they kissed. The scent he gave off told her everything she needed to know. He marked her, making it known to all other males, that she was his. Just as she was marking him with her own scent.

  “Adrian,” she whispered as he kissed her shoulder. “You’re killing me.”

  He chuckled softly. “Is this not what you want, my love?”

  “No,” she said roughly. “And it’s not what you want either.” Planting her hands firmly on his chest, she flipped him over. The fire sparkling in his eyes told Redlynn she was right. Soft and gentle was not how they wanted it. She straddled his hips but didn’t allow their bodies to merge.

  “What beautiful eyes you have,” she murmured.

  “The better to see you with, my love.”

  She reached up and traced his lips with her finger. “What soft lips you have,” she whispered.

  “The better to kiss you with, my love.”

  Redlynn bent down and kissed him hard on the mouth. Adrian groaned and thrust his hips toward her, but she pulled away.

  “What a powerful body you have,” she said.

  “The better to love you with, my queen,” he whispered in her ear.

  Wasting no more time, Redlynn licked his chest, taking his salty taste in her mouth.

  “Redlynn.” The veins in his neck strained and corded. “I need you.”

  His fingers dug into her hips, and at that moment, they became mates. The feeling of joining with him exploded inside her in painful ecstasy. A tear escaped her eye. This was who she was and what she was meant for. She dug her nails into his shoulders and bent over, kissing him hard. Their rhythm increased, warmth pooling inside her belly and spreading out from there. Tingling spread from her thighs up to her back. Every fiber of her body was on fire. Moments later, Adrian’s roar was only second to the one that Redlynn released.

  It was complete. She was Redlynn, Queen of the Weres.

  Epilogue

  Redlynn pulled a brush through Baleen’s tangled hair.

  “Hold still, wiggly.” She laughed.

  “Can’t help it, mama, I’m so excited.”

  “Well, we’ll never get out of here, if you don’t let your mother finish,” said Adrian, playing with their son, Fergus, on the bed. Redlynn turned toward him, and Adrian winked at her.

  “Yes, Dada.” Baleen turned her golden eyes on him.

  Adrian picked up a rattle from the bed and shook it at Fergus.

  “Ball!” Fergus giggled.

  “Rattle,” said Adrian.

  “Ball.”

  Redlynn smiled and tied Baleen’s long, red hair up with a ribbon. “Done.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah! We go now?”

  “Yes,” said Adrian. “We go now.”

  “Yippie!” Baleen screeched, jumping from her stool and running out into the hall. “Papa Angus! Papa Angus! We leave now,” she cried, running down to the dining hall.

  Adrian laughed, stood from the bed, and handed Fergus to Yanti.

  “Will you tell my parents hello for me?” Yanti settled Fergus on her hip.

  “Of course.” Redlynn smiled.

  “Travel safe.” Yanti took Fergus, cooed at him, and walked to his room next door.

  Yanti had joined them in Wolvenglen just that year. She was too young to mate. But the seventeen-year-old, blonde-haired beauty had many suitors among the pack. It wouldn’t be long before Adrian performed the bonding ritual on Yanti and her chosen mate.

  Redlynn stood slowly from her seat, supporting her lower back. Adrian was at her side in an instant.

  “Maybe we should wait this year.” He laid his palm on Redlynn’s extended belly.

  “Hanna checked me over. I’m not due for another three months. She said I would be fine to make the trip. I just can’t shift.”

  Adrian’s face held concern. She pressed her own palm on top of his as he stroked her womb. Redlynn’s she-wolf slapped her tail in satisfaction.

  “It will be fine.” The child inside kicked and moved at his touch. Adrian smiled and bent, kissing her stomach. She sighed and stroked his soft hair. He looked up at her, his concern still apparent. “I’ll be fine, my love. Besides, you know I have to go at least twice a year. Once for Initiations, once for Settlings.”

  Adrian shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s been years since we rescued the girls. The vampires have been silent for far too long. We’ve not seen anything of them since finding Lillith’s mangled body at the northern border, next to their lands.”

  “I know.” She laid her hand on his stubbly cheek.

  “Even Sage has seen nothing in his travels. They’re quiet. Too quiet.”

  “Perhaps it is because of what Sage said. They know that their prophecy is next. Perhaps they’re scared.”

  “Or building their ranks.” Adrian stood and wrapped his arms around her waist. “War is coming, and I don’t want you and our young caught in the middle.”

  “Which is why we need as many Sisters as possible. Today is a good day. Five new Sisters will be mated to their chosen, Adrian. Remember what that felt like for us? The day I met you in the woods, and we became one? Today that happens for Paulo, Law, Athos, Marcos, and Rue. More Sisters, more mates, more young.”

  Adrian nodded and pulled her close. “I only care about one Sister.”

  She took in his heavenly scent, something she never grew tired of. She hadn’t regretted returning to him for even a moment. In the years since she’d returned the girls to Volkzene, she still wasn’t used to being Head of the Order. However, knowing that she wouldn’t be staying in the village permanently, she’d set up both a second and a third in her stead. And several of the wolves had taken up the position of emissaries with the Sisterhood, bringing messages back and forth.

  Wrapping her arms around Adrian’s broad chest, she laid her cheek on his shoulder. His hands rubbed down her spine to her rump. He lowered his lips to her neck, and she felt a familiar tingle in her thighs.

  “Adrian,” she moaned.

  “Yes, my mate?”

  “We have somewhere to be.”

  “I know.” He slid her gown off her shoulder, kissing her bare skin while running his finger over her bodice.

  “Adrian,” she growled.

  “Yes, my lover?”

  She sighed as his hand slid down between her legs. “Just once.”

  He lifted her dress up above her hips. “Of course, my queen.”

  Snow the Vampire Slayer

  The Border of Wolvenglen Forest and The Daemonlands, Fairelle Year 1210 A.D. (After Daemons)

  Sage sprinted through the dark after his prey, his vampiric sight guiding his every move. The would-be assassins rushed away from him, registering as light blue blurs in the night. Their vampiric heat signatures registering as cool as his own.

  A hulking ivory bear thundered behind him.

  “Keep up, Dax!” he yelled over his shoulder.

  Dax bounded over a fallen tree trunk and growled a reply.

  A branch whipped Sage
in the face, opening a cut below his right eye. Dammit that stings.

  He tracked the vampires over a rock less than thirty yards ahead of him before they disappeared from view. Picking up speed, he sprinted for it.

  He rounded a tree, came to the rock and halted. An assassin waited several yards away. Sage recognized him as one of his own former guards.

  “Your uncle, King Philos, sends his regards, usurper,” the vampire yelled, lobbing something at Sage.

  He spun to the left, but the object caught his side, slicing him open. The white knife, with a blood red-handle lodged in a tree behind him. Sage hissed. A ceremonial Cris.

  Dark blood oozed through his fingers and hit the ground in fat drops. Rounding on the vampire he bared his fangs, but the vampire was gone. Poison blasted through him like brushfire.

  Sage yanked the Cris from the tree and shoved it in his waistband. Philos would be angered by the loss of yet another Cris knife. He couldn’t have more than a couple left. Too bad for him, it was Sage’s now.

  Dax caught up and slowed to a halt before sniffing him.

  “I’ll be fine.” Sage scanned the area for his prey once more.

  A whistling sound headed toward them. Sage planted his hands in Dax’s thick fur and shoved him out of the way with tremendous effort. An arrow flew through the trees where they’d just stood, and continued past them into the darkness. Sage stared at it for a moment. Vampires didn't use arrows. Someone else was in the woods.

  Sage took a deep breath registering several faint scent signatures but couldn't get a clear reading because they were too far away.

  “Tell Adrian they’re by the northern border. If he cares to catch up, we could use some help.”

  Dax snorted and nodded.

  Sage took off again at a slower pace. The mental connection between the Weres had come in quite handy since he’d taken to helping them patrol the borders of Wolvenglen Forest for the intruding vampires from the north. Those in Tanah Darah were loyal to his uncle, which meant they had no qualms about heading into human cities to find food. In return, Sage had no qualms about killing them.

  His wound continued to seep through his fingers; his healing ability was of no use against a Cris. He hadn’t told Dax the total truth. Yes, he would be fine– if he got to his den in the next two hours. If he didn’t, the poison would attack his heart and he would bleed out. And if that happened…well…he’d need something stronger than squirrel blood to help him out of that situation.

  Dax moved silently beside him. Sounds of a battle drifted from up ahead.

  As Sage maneuvered through the trees, his pain intensified. Tendrils of daemon magick from the gash in his side curled their way through his body. He grimaced and braced himself on the nearest tree trunk. The burning threaded up over his ribs and across the small of his back causing the muscles to cramp. Taking in a long, low breath, he tried to stave off what he knew was coming.

  A series of howls rang out behind him. He glanced over his shoulder. King Adrian, Queen Redlynn, Angus, and several other wolves appeared out of the tree line. Finally.

  The group advanced to the edge of an outcropping at the northern border of the forest. Adrian and Dax shifted into human form next to Sage and peered down at the clearing below.

  Sage’s gaze moved to the dark hills of his homeland that lay beyond the valley. His gut clenched at the sight. Tanah Darah. The dark craggy terrain jutted straight up, surrounding the vampire lands in a giant wall. Only a narrow path connected Tanah Darah to the rest of Fairelle.

  A dozen figures fought in the grassy basin between Tanah Darah and Wolvenglen. The remaining five vampires he and Dax had been chasing viciously attacked seven men dressed in black. He squinted and focused on the battle. His vampiric night-vision registered the vampires as light-blue, pale forms, the ones they fought glowed with a golden essence. He’d never seen anything like it.

  “Who’s down there?” asked Adrian.

  Sage glanced at the naked Were King. His tall strong body was covered in sweat and clumps of shaggy dark hair clung to his neck and shoulders.

  “Vampire assassins again, sent by my uncle. I’m not sure who the newcomers are though,” Sage said.

  The golden-hued newcomers took the upper hand. They fought with skill and grace pushing the vampires toward Wolvenglen and away from their escape path.

  He studied the golden figures in an effort to discern who they were. Fae possibly, or– A shiver ran through him. It can’t be.

  “The black-clad figures must have ambushed the vampires.” Dax scratched his broad chest with hands almost the same size of his bear paws and then brushed his blond locks from his eyes. “They had to be waiting. But who are they? And why?”

  The vampires were quick by nature, but the golden-hued figures were equal in skill. The tallest among them produced a white-bladed Cris knife, and cleanly sliced the head off a vampire. The vampire fell to his knees and collapsed.

  Sage swallowed hard. One of them has a Cris. A jolt of pain raced through him and he took a deep breath. He lifted his gaze to the sky. There were still several hours left before the sun came up, but he would need healing before then.

  The fighting continued below. From their vantage point, the group watched the newcomers work together to take down their foes- unlike the vampires who fought only for themselves.

  After the last vampire fell, the strangers took a moment to regroup.

  “We should go,” said Dax. “We don’t know who they are.”

  “No.” Adrian shook his head. “If they fight the vampires, we should speak with them. We could use more allies.”

  One of the men below looked up in Sage’s direction. He grabbed an arrow from his quiver, notched it and shot, alerting his comrades. The others in his group followed suit. Adrian, Dax and the wolves moved out of the line of fire, into the trees, but Sage remained, transfixed. He swatted an arrow away from his face and caught another before it pierced his chest.

  After the volley of missed shots, the figures hustled silently up the hillside. They fanned out to the quickest and easiest routes, moving with the precision of a team that had fought together for years.

  They just couldn’t be... but they were too good not to be whom he feared. There was no other explanation.

  A feeling of dread ran down Sage’s spine and skittered over his skin. His muscles spasmed again and his knees almost buckled. The Cris poison coursed its way through him.

  A breeze lifted the men’s scents to him and he breathed them in. Their blood carried an aroma he’d not encountered before. His mouth pooled with saliva and for the first time in years, he craved the taste of human blood. Need pulsed through him as his fangs ached to bite into something. This was bad.

  Adrian joined him once more. “Dax is right. We should go. This is obviously not the time for talking.”

  A figure crouched behind a shrub and shot another arrow. The arrow landed at Redlynn’s feet and she yelped in surprise. Adrian howled in rage and charged toward the edge of the cliff. His skin rippled, ready to shift.

  Sage caught him by the shoulder. “No, King Adrian,” he said. “They’re humans. They’re just doing their job. They aren’t after you or Redlynn, they’re after me.”

  Adrian’s gaze met Sage’s. His eyes turned golden and fur burst from his skin, under Sage’s hand. “Why do they want you?”

  Sage was barely able to choke the words out. “They’re Vampire Slayers.”

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for taking the time to read Red the Were Hunter. This series is due to my love of fairytales and the fantasy genre. I have loved writing all of these characters in new adventures and new relationships. I hope that you will enjoy the rest of the series of our strong women and honorable men.

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he book or who your favorite character is. I love hearing from readers. It makes writing so much more fun when I hear from my readers.

  VampWereZombie@Gmail.com

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  Rebekah R. Ganiere - BOOKS WITH A BITE

  Award Winning–USA Today Bestselling Author

  Rebekah R. Ganiere

  Fairelle Series

  Red the Were Hunter - Book One

  Yanti's Choice - Wolvenglen Short Story

  Snow the Vampire Slayer - Book Two

  Jamen’s Yuletide Bride - Book Two & a Half

  Zelle and the Tower - Book Three

  Cinder the Fae - Book Four

  Belle and the Beast - Book Five

  Gerall’s Festivus Bride - Book Four & a Half (2019)

  Jak the Giant Healer - Book Six Part One (Fall 2019)

  Olivia and the Giant - Book Six Part Two (Fall 2019)

  Wolf River Series

  PROMISED at the Moon

  CURSED by the Moon

  RECLAIMED from the Moon

  TAMED under the Moon

  UNLEASHED with the Moon

  FATED despite the Moon (Spring 2019)

  The Otherworlder Series

  Saving Christmas

  Cupid’s Curse

  The Society Series (2019)

  Reign of the Vampires

  Rise of the Fae

  Vengeance of the Demons

  The Aether Pirate Chronicles (2019)

  The Lady Fugitive