Macer buried his eyes in the balls of his hands and blinked several times to dislodge the chaos that clouded his mind. What she said could not be true! Such a thing was unheard of!
“That – that is not possible,” he offered hoarsely. “You – you will be mated to a Hunter, as it has been for centuries. You are mistaken. You cannot -”
Her touch was warm and tender, and she cupped his face with her hands to look deep into his eyes. “I see him Papa.”
Macer did not want to acknowledge the truth he read in her water-logged eyes. He did not want to think of the consequences she would have to face at the decision of the Elder upon their return. Anger replaced confusion, and he hauled her against his side as he swiftly darted to his feet. When next he spoke, his voice lost all tenderness. “The Elder will see that this by-product you carry is dealt with.”
Horror masked her face, and with strength he had not expected, she pulled away from his grasp and stumbled back. “Papa, please!”
“You did this to her!” He stepped forward again, regaining his hold on her even as he pushed her deftly behind him and closer to the Hunters. An accusatory finger was directed to the silent perpetrator. “You made her a shame to our race!” In a flash his sword was drawn. The steel hummed and flashed beneath the waning moonlight. Weres from all directions hastened in to form a tight circle around their leader. The Hunters flanked him as one.
“Are you insane?” This from Silas. There was an unfamiliar trace of panic in his tone. “We are outnumbered three to one. Let us take her and leave this place!”
“She does not carry a scent…” Vilirus’ voice trailed off in disbelief as a gentle wind lifted. He considered her thoroughly.
“You will pay for your insolence!” Macer charged, yet to adhere to his brother’s advice.
“Papa please!”
“And you!” He retraced his steps and grabbed her upper arm with a vengeance .Her cry of agony was ignored when he shook her fiercely, violently. “This little indiscretion of yours will earn you the trashing of your life!”
Someone moved in the crowd behind him. Macer freed her before directing his attention to the Weres once more. When she fell at his non-too-gentle release, it was Vilirus who hastened to help her to her feet.
The bastard stepped through the line that was formed to protect him and had the audacity to advance. All the while he was silent. Several paces from Macer’s stiff from, he stopped.
“I have upheld my end of the bargain,” he said. “I could not foresee the possibility of this happening. It is unheard of.”
He said it with a finality that did nothing to soothe Macer’s temper. “You rutted with my daughter. I will dismember you for that alone!”
“I took from her what Fate decided belonged to me.” Macer’s gasp did not drown out the words that followed. “You have paid her ransom, and I have returned her to you. Now, I offer her asylum.”
****
For a stunned moment, the only sounds that were heard were the snicker of a distant horse and the heavy gasps the Hunters sucked in. Graeme had no idea why he said what he said. Then again, maybe a part of him knew all along that he would offer her an option. This decision had ridden him for two long, antagonizing days. What happened to the ruthless leader of the horde who wanted her to be a stench in the Covens’ nostrils, he did not know. All he knew for certain was somewhere between hating her because she was a vampire, and utterly detesting the fact that he was mated to her, Graeme somehow developed a tenderness toward her. That tender part of his heart could not bear the thought of her being tortured – or the seed he had planted in her womb ripped away.
Amongst the elite of the scouts, he had hand-picked the few who now accompanied him on this mission – Weres who trusted his word as law, Weres who would not question whatever decision he made. Weres whose trust he desperately needed to see his plan succeed.
And it all depended upon her reply.
He tilted his head to the left to get a glimpse of her stricken expression. Eyes wide, she was now as pale as the glow of the moon above.
“You are senile,” her father forced out of his constricted throat. “I will die before I let her return to you!”
A series of throaty growls rumbled at his back. Graeme’s eyes lowered a fraction. “Do not be so hasty to speak, old man. I may yet grant you that request. Let her decide what she will.”
“Let her decide?” the man ranted uncontrollably. “Let my naive daughter who believes herself mated to a dog decide? Every Coven across the land shall hear about your impertinence, and you will be tortured and impaled for dishonoring her!”
“She is my mate. According to our law, I can kill you for holding her against her will if that is what you intend to do.” Graeme lifted a hand and gestured to the Weres behind him. Slowly, slowly, they started to fan out and blend into the surrounding trees. The Hunters backed into each other, eyes and ears alert for the coming attack. “Let her decide.”
There was nothing but blood-lust on her father’s face, but Graeme did not care. He had seen the fear in the depths of her eyes the moment the confession of their union fell from her lips. The threats her father promised in retribution proved too much. He would not have her beaten – he would not risk her life, or that of their unborn child.
“According to vampire law, she cannot be mated to a Were!”
“You forget; you are not on vampire territory. Our law holds sway here.”
“The law of animals!”
His left eye ticked. “You will be butchered long before you make it to your horses, and I will string your innards around the borderlands as a warning to those who may try to venture.” Graeme felt his patience slip with each word he spoke. Features contorting, he could withhold the change no longer. Much procrastination was done – but not anymore. Either they allowed her to choose, or he would give the order, and kill them all.
“Then a butcher it shall be, beast!”
“Papa please!” Amarinda’s voice was panicked and high-pitched. She lunged forward, trying to escape her brother’s grasp.
“Get her out of here!” her father continued, snarling. The Hunters scanned the surrounding trees, looking for an exit. Graeme felt his teeth elongate, felt the layer of hair on his flesh lengthen, and reveled in the uninhibited tremors that raked his form. He stretched his neck back and heard a crack, then focused his now amber eyes on the livid vampire before him. Her father brought his sword at eye level, his hand steady.
“We are surrounded on all sides,” the flaxen-haired Hunter said.
“Find a way out!” he bellowed.
“We will be killed!” A young Hunter with flaming blue eyes backed closer to her father’s stationary form. “Even if we do break the circle, we will never make it home alive. It is a lost cause.”
“I will not leave her with him,” he said tremulously. “I will not allow this to happen.”
“Papa?”
Graeme was not foolish enough to break his gaze. Hunters were precise, and their blow with a sword as fatal as their bite. If he allowed himself to become distracted, he could very well loose his head.
“Papa…please Papa…” Her brother unlocked his arm from around her midsection reluctantly. With swift soft steps, she approached. Fat teardrops fell from her eyes. Pale fingers were pressed to the thick, dark cloak she wore to ward off the biting cold. “Papa, I cannot fight fate. No one can fight fate. Please understand…”
“Understand? That I am to trust your life to this beast? Look at him! He is no better than the hounds at the manse.”
Graeme’s hands curled into fists at his sides. Still, he waited.
“No matter what he is, we are mated. If you take me back, the Elder would not spare the child.”
“Child?” His eyes met hers in shock. “That thing is a monstrosity!”
“Enough of this.” Graeme had yet to raise his voice, yet its authority carried well in the tension-filled air. Her father’s inferno gaze returned to his. He b
locked her body with a staying arm. “What will it be Amarinda? If you stay, the child will be as safe as I can keep it. If you leave with them…” He let that hang there, eyeing her intently. “Decide. Quickly.”
She whimpered and took a slow look around, pain etched on her face. “My family…you will spare them?”
“No!” This from a raging Macer.
“They will be given safe escort to the borderlands and fair warning never to return,” came his throaty promise. He could see the hesitation in her eyes long before she braved a step forward. Graeme opened his palm in a silent command. Her attempt to advance was stalled when her father back-handed her to the ground. The breath Graeme was not aware he held was forced out of his lungs. With a roar of rage, he pounced. The movement around him was blurred, so swift was the attack. The Weres assaulted the small group with brutal force. Graeme flung the weight of his upper body against her father’s chest and sent him pitching backward. He connected with the icy stream violently. Amarinda’s voice penetrated through the thick fog of fury that clouded his mind. He noted the moment her father leapt from the water and her haphazard run toward the Hunter who fought with all he was worth against the three Weres that had somehow succeeded in pinning him to the ground.
Only a fool would come between a Were and a kill. In the frenzy, she stood the chance of being murdered. Fear of losing her consumed him. Breaths wheezing, he bellowed a command for the attack to cease and forced his legs to propel him forward. She was swept into his arms and out of harms reach. Her father’s rapid advance was stopped short the moment he spun around. The sword that was wielded was slashed through the air. Graeme flung himself back, his arms locked around her body, securing her to his chest. The sharpened tip of the blade missed her delicate throat by a hair’s breath.
His back connected with the cold dirt, and as soon as he rolled her away with a definite thud, he was on his feet again. Horror had crossed the vampire’s face, and Graeme seized the opportunity. The sword was knocked away and with grip of iron clamped around her father’s neck, he did nothing but struggle.
“Graeme!” Amarinda’s voice echoed amidst the snarls and growls and the cries of pain. Someone was hurt, Graeme did not know who. So long as it was not his mate, he did not care. Her icy fingers were upon him, trying in vain to break his hold. “Please do not kill him! Please!”
Graeme curbed his instinct, curbed the desire to crush every bone in his corpse-like body, and tossed him as if he weighed not more than a fly. He fell heavily before the Hunters. They moved as one to help him to his feet. The Weres still growled and prowled, agitated.
“Get off my lands,” he commanded in a deadly undertone, breathing hard. To his left, Amarinda trembled violently. In the scuffle, she had lost her fur. She touched her fingers to the lips that were being bitten mercilessly. The Hunters backed away. Her father looked at her, distressed. Even across the distance, Graeme could see that he fought the flood of tears that made his smoldering gaze glassy.
“Papa…” she whimpered. He turned away and, assisted by another, made his way, limping up the hill.
“Rhys!” Graeme heard him approach from the sidelines. “See them off.”
Rhys gestured to the others, rumbled a command and was followed on silent feet. Graeme, temper somewhat dampened now that she was at his side, directed his attention toward her. She stood unmoving, considering the Hunters as they became lost in the darkness. One of the Weres brought the horse forward. Graeme mounted, more man now than beast. He offered his hand in expectation, and felt, for the first time in his life butterflies erupt within his stomach when she took it.
Chapter Nine
She could not stop shaking. The route to the stronghold through the secured mountain pass was isolated. He drove the mount on violently, her mate. In his body, she felt tension and anger rage, like the threat of a devastating explosion. Whether from the coldness, her heartache or the raw energy he emitted, she trembled.
By the time they made it into one of the baileys at the back of the fortress, she was numb from head to toe. Someone came forward to attend to the mount. He slipped to his feet in a flash and collected her into his arms. Amarinda felt tears burn her eyes. The effort to control the desperation for release weakened her. With urgency, he took to the gate and narrow staircase. Too distraught to observe exactly where they were, she sank her fingers into the material of his shirt and allowed the first racking whimper to seize her body. There came an impatient growl from his throat as he hustled toward the familiar door. After two attempts to lift the latch on the bolt, he finally succeeded. She was taken to the bed and deposited there.
Amarinda’s cries were loud and unnerving. She heard the definite slam of the door, felt the heat of the fire as he added tinder there. She would never again be welcomed in the Coven, would never again see love shine from her fathers’ face. Her decision to stay had wounded them deeply. What madness had compelled her to choose him? What had she done? To betray the Coven, the Elder, was an act of treason! Grasping, she struggled to contain her panicked breaths and failed miserably.
“Stop weeping,” he said gruffly. “You are safe – the babe is safe. Why do you cry so?”
She buried her face in her hands and curled into a tight ball. He kicked off his boots. Amarinda heard them hit the cold floor. When the strength of his arms snaked around her to pull her close, she had not the resolve to move away. He smelled comforting, and the security she felt locked against his massive chest vanquished the demons that threatened to snatch her reason.
For a long time, neither of them exchanged words. Amarinda’s cries died to nothing but a sniffle. She exhaled and shuddered exhaustedly, then turned to face him. The dancing firelight cast his profile in planes and shadows. His eyes locked on hers. Everything within her felt vulnerable. He had offered her sanctuary. Before his men and the Hunters, he had referred to her as his mate. A light of hope ignited in her chest, and was stomped out just as quickly – he had said nothing of marking her. Eyes swollen, her gaze was cast aside.
“My family hates me. I am embarrassment to my race…I can never return to them.” Her voice was hoarse. He grunted in agreement. “I have lost everything.”
Ever so slightly, his grip tightened. Amarinda stiffened. There was no use in denying the obvious – she was in love with him. She was bound to him, not only because of their mating, but because of the tender moments they shared – moments like this one, when all that mattered was his touch and his listening ear. Still, she was no fool. He had made it clear that she was nothing more than a means to an end.
When at last she took hold of her raging emotions, she pulled away from his touch. He allowed her escape, and did not move. “The Council will not forgive you for what you have done.”
He snorted. “They would have brought war to my doorstep anyway. The battle was inevitable.”
“Still, you risk much for me.”
“For you?” His brows furrowed, even as he snickered in arrogance. “As far as I am concerned, the vampires have already been defeated. They are without a handful of their precious Hunters and still you are here in my bed, carrying my offspring - a victory no battle could have ever accomplished.”
Amarinda looked away in humiliation. Everything within her wanted to belong to him, but he would never mark her, and the motive behind why he offered her asylum was intended to hurt her family even more. She sank her teeth into her quivering lip and glanced at him over a shoulder. He considered her in silence, intently. She looked away, building the courage to speak. Her life was no longer about existing without her mate, but protecting the growing babe in her womb.
“When the child is born, what is to become of me?”
“You will stay here and see to its needs, of course.” His tone booked no room for arguments. He considered her well.
She nibbled her lip and jutted her chin forward bravely. “How can you guarantee my protection against the horde after such a time has come?”
“No one knows tha
t you are here.”
“There is bound to be talk. Your men present tonight -”
“Will lose their heads if I hear any rumors.”
“I cannot be kept locked away forever. The child cannot be kept in a prison.”
“When did I mention being ‘locked away’?” He grew irritable.
Still, she pressed. “How else are we to live here without being butchered? My scent will return the moment the babe is born. And what if the Hunters wage war before that? What will you tell your people when they look to you for an explanation?”
His eyes lowered dangerously. “Do not concern yourself with how I govern the masses. I told you that you will be kept safe. You have to trust me.”
“Trust you?” Her voice pitched then, in hurt, in anger and in frustration. She sat erect and sank her fingers into the sheets in an attempt to curb the urge to slap his face. “Trust you, after you used me like a whore and planted a seed inside of me?” He clenched his jaw tightly and stood, his back turned as he made his way to the door. Amarinda followed viciously. “Trust you, after you refuse to bind yourself to me although you are my mate? Trust you, after you demanded a hundred heads from my own Coven?” He reached for the door. She slammed her fists into his back. “Trust you, when all you care about is hurting those I love? Tell me mongrel, why I should trust you!”
“You want a reason to trust me?!” he snarled, spinning to face her so quickly that she stumbled back. His fingers sank into her arms when he pulled her against his hard frame. Lips as hard as steel crushed hers. In agony she struggled, hating the tears that spilled from her eyes to be captured upon her abused tongue. There was nothing coaxing and tender about his touch. It was meant to subdue, to punish. The clothes were ripped from her back. She cried out in pain, in fear. His hands were larger, covered in a layer of hair, nails long and clawed.
“No!” Her hand connected with his face in a definite crack. Undeterred, he shoved her brutally. She gripped at her tattered dress and tripped on the hem. The floor rushed up to meet her. Derriere stinging almost as much as the pain in her chest, Amarinda’s eyes flamed sliver. Primal rage engulfed her. From the time she could walk, her mother had instilled in her what it meant to be, not just a woman, but a lady. It was part of who she was. But living with this beast for over a month had taught her that sometimes, a lady just could not get a task accomplished.
The Sanction Page 8