‘Adric.’
‘I’m here, vaj. You scared me, vaj.’ He nudged her. ‘No more stunts like that.’
Movement from beyond the fire snagged her attention. She stayed relaxed when Adric remained unconcerned. Kori materialized and crouched down to add more food to the fire. His eyes were hard when they met hers.
“Kori,” she muttered through spilt and chapped lips.
He stabbed at the wood, sending a shower of sparks and embers upward. The flare of light momentarily highlighted his features, drawn tight in his anger.
‘Are you okay, vaj?’
‘No. I ran like a child and put not just myself in danger. I feel like a fool.’
“How’d I get here?” she asked aloud, craving the comforting timbre of Kori’s voice.
“Adric.”
It was a single word that told her so much about how truly angry he was.
‘You brought me?’
Adric nuzzled her. ‘I couldn’t leave you out there. I dragged you until your mate arrived. He carried you the rest of the way and built the fire.’
She struggled to a standing position. Kori watched her but stayed back. She knew he’d be right there if she needed it. Adric stared at her, his black eyes gleaming like obsidian in the firelight. Disoriented, she took a breath.
‘Thank you for saving me from my own stupidity, Adric.’
‘You are my vaj.’
She understood. Which left the man standing a short distance from her. Her partner. Her lover. Her mate. With a swallow, she licked her lips and walked toward him.
The light gleamed off his ebony hair and tan skin. His eyes zoomed in and held hers prisoner as she approached. Emotionless, they were not. A myriad of things flashed through them.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, stopping before him. “I was foolish and immature.”
He said nothing and didn’t move. Her heart dropped to her feet. Unsure of how to handle his disappointment in her, she turned away so he wouldn’t see the sheen of tears in her eyes. Faster than she could breathe, he grabbed her and whipped her around to claim her mouth with a brutal kiss.
His tongue plundered her mouth, taking all he wanted, headless of her chapped lips. Fingers dug fiercely into her bared shoulders as he held her in place. Not that she was going anywhere. A whimper of surrender left her, and she sagged into him. He shifted his hold and wrapped corded arms around her.
‘Don’t ever do that again, mo anam.’
His graveled tone told her how concerned he’d been. The kiss gentled but didn’t end. Her palms rested against his chest, and she could feel the familiar beat of his heart.
‘I’m sorry, so sorry, Kori.’
‘I was scared, Valera.’
‘Of what my daddy would do to you?’
He broke the kiss and placed one hand along her face. “No, mo anam. I was scared because you are my world. I don’t want to live without you. Anáil de mo anam.”
The raw honesty in his tone sliced through her, and she realized how utterly selfish her running off had been. Turning her head, she kissed his palm and looked for her wolf. He was focused on her, his black eyes unblinking.
‘Adric…I…I…’
‘You are not solely at fault, vaj. We both are. I am sorry as well.’
She transferred her gaze to Kori. His gray orbs were no longer hard but molten. Pushing up so their lips could meet, she kissed him. He responded with a deep-throated groan of possessiveness, and his arms tightened around her like steel bands. Digging into her belly was the length of his erection.
‘Kori.’
‘I want you, mo anam. I want to be buried deep within you, your heat surrounding me tightly.’
‘Yes.’
He lowered her to the ground, his long, hard body pressed against hers, pushing her back into the furs beside the fire. The storm outside the small cave raged but Lera felt none of it, only the deep burning heat that Kori created within her. When her scream rent of the air, it was echoed by a low roar before both sounds were whipped away in the wind.
Exhausted, she snuggled into the man who held her so protectively and drifted back to sleep. The smell of roasting meat woke her. Kori stared out the cave’s mouth but glanced at her when she sat up. His hair was tousled like he’d been running his hands through it. The worry on his handsome face faded into a smile.
She pushed up and walked to his side, leaning into him and staring out into the blizzard like conditions.
“We should get going.”
“Eat first,” he replied.
“You hunted in this?”
“Not me.”
She rotated her head and found Adric lying near the fire. Blinking, she moved to him and fell to her knees before him.
‘Adric, I’m sorry.’
‘Vaj?’
‘No. Listen to me, please. I don’t want to be apart from you. Quite the opposite. The very idea makes me nauseous. But I think it’s the best way and the quickest. These creatures hunting us are relentless in their pursuit.’
‘I should be there to protect you then.’ His tone rang low and fierce, bringing a smile to her face.
‘And I would love for you to be, but it is safer for you to be with the Haikon. Go with them and help gather our kind. We’ll be together again soon. Kori and I will be going to places where you’d stick out, and there’d be little or no forest.’
He rose smoothly to his feet and stepped close, his broad head pushed into her chest. ‘Take care of yourself. I did not just find you to lose you.’
Tears threatening, she delved her hands into his scruff and pressed her lips to the top of his large head. ‘That goes double for you, Adric. Keep yourself well.’
‘Hurry back to me, vaj.’ He maneuvered out of her arms and padded toward the entrance. There he took Kori’s forearm in powerful jaws for a brief time. Whatever was shared between them, they kept private. Both males looked at her before Adric leapt through the mouth of the cave and vanished into the snow’s blinding whiteness.
‘Be safe, vaj.’
She bit her lip and closed her eyes. ‘You, too, Adric. You, too. Tell them what transpires.’
‘I have already done so. They are moving on instead of fighting, hoping this storm will give them extra cover.’
Opening her eyes, she sighed and got to her feet. Kori had moved closer to the fire but didn’t speak. He remained focused on her as he crouched by the flames, the flickering light added power and mystique to him. All the while, it highlighted his feralness. There was nothing domesticated about him. Here, in some of nature’s harshest climes, he survived. Prospered.
“Do you know how long it will take us to find Sven?” she asked causally while she reached out for a piece of the rabbit over the fire. The meat fell away with a flash of her blade, and she chewed the succulent meat while waiting.
“A few days at the most, I would guess. That guy didn’t seem like he’d traveled far. We’ll go to the nearest town and see what we can dig up.” He ate in silence for a while. “Lera, before we came through the tunnel, your father said—”
“Something about a prophecy,” she interrupted, meeting his gaze. “I know about it.”
A slight smile curved up his kissable lips. “There you go finishing my sentences again,” he teased before he sobered. “Tell me.”
She took a deep breath and collapsed fully to the cold floor of the cave. Staring at the flames, she took another breath before relaying what Herald Siencyn had told her.
“The prophecy is such.
‘Power held by the men,
Weakened over time,
Awaits the arrival of a woman,
A warrior bearing the blood of old.
With the loss of that which is most precious,
The Haikon are strong again.’ That was all he said.” She shrugged. “Not like I needed any more to be weirded out by.”
Kori’s eyes narrowed, and his brows converged. “I’ll not lose you, Valera,” he swore, a deep rumble of convi
ction.
“They’re just words, Kori. And there’s not any certainty the prophecy is about me.”
It was obvious her words did little to appease him. She recognized the look of possessive determination on his face. It warmed her to know he would do anything to keep her. On her feet, she maneuvered around behind him and trailed her hand along his neck.
“I’ll be fine, Kori. I have the best protection in the world.” She winced and was grateful she stood behind him at the ache which lanced through her. Containing it quickly, she fought to keep it from him.
“What’s that?” he asked, tilting his head to follow her movement.
“You.”
She continued to her bag and withdrew her cell. A disappointed sigh left her at the no bars, so she turned it off and returned it. Strong hands settled along her shoulders and drew her back to rest against his chest. For a brief moment, they just stood there, not talking. Just touching.
“We should go,” she murmured.
“I love you, mo anam.” He nibbled along the shell of her ear.
“What does that mean?”
He kissed her with more tenderness than she believed possible. “My soul.” Then, he shifted to wolf, and the fire faded.
She shifted as well and followed him out into the blinding fury of the storm.
Kori ran through the blizzard. He could feel Lera via their link, but there was no visual connection. Hell, he could barely see the tip of his snout in this storm. They’d been moving for two days now, setting a brutal pace. He continued to repeat the words of the prophecy over and over in his mind. What the hell did it mean? He had no intentions of letting her sacrifice herself for people content to be in hiding. Lera was his!
‘Kori!’
Lera’s scream ripped along his skin. Whirling around, ready to defend her to the death, he frowned.
‘Where are you?’
On the biting wind, he heard her. With a single powerful jump, he landed beside her. Her human body.
‘Shift, Lera. You’ll freeze otherwise.’
She growled at him. ‘I…I…can’t.’
Fear laced him. He shifted and wrapped her in his coat. The cold took his breath away. His eyes stung, and he cast out to find shelter. He found it and began running with her in his arms. By the time, he pounded on the small house, Lera barely moved, except for the tremors that racked her. But even those had weakened considerably.
“Ja?” A small, rotund woman opened the door. The second she saw Lera, she grabbed him and pulled him in, shoving him toward the fire. The door closed behind them.
He sank by the flames and touched her face. ‘Lera. Come on, mo anam. We’re inside. It’s warm here.’ Nothing.
The old woman brought blankets and shooed him away. He resisted until she poked him in the chest.
“What good are you sick? Warm yourself.”
So he did, all the while staying close and keeping an eye on her. Lera lay as still as death. Her chest barely moved, and it looked like diamonds were embedded on her skin and lashes. In the corner of the house, he noticed an old man sitting in a chair, watching him. The gaze calculating.
They stared at one another until a bowl of hot stew was shoved under his nose.
“Thank you,” he said, picking up the bread and dipping it into the thick gravy. He sat beside Lera who was covered by furs. The winds buffeted the small home, only to be denied entrance. Bowl empty, he reached out, but hesitated before he actually picked up her hand. Still, she never moved.
‘Come on, mo anam.’
“Hurts,” she moaned.
“What does?” He dropped the bowl and moved closer. The woman hovered over his shoulder.
“Move,” she ordered with a firm nudge, her accent thick and heavy.
He, along with his wolf, growled low, angry at being shoved aside. Her brown eyes snapped to him before returning to Lera.
“I’m Simza, and over there is Dejan.” Her gnarled hands began to knead Lera’s limbs. “Not sure what you and your man are doing out on a night like this. This is no natural storm. It’s prikaza.”
“What does that mean?” Lera asked, discomfort lined her voice but he knew talking helped keep her mind off the pain flooding her as feeling returned.
“Prikaza is a bad omen. This storm is evil. One such as you shouldn’t be out in it.”
He caught the glare Simza shot at him.
“Well, it wasn’t totally his fault,” Lera said. “I ran off after…because I was throwing a fit. He came because I was dumb and put myself in danger.”
‘Even now you protect me, mo anam. This is to be my job.’
‘I can’t feel Adric like before. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my other shape. It’s my fault. I wasn’t…am not strong enough.’
He wanted to shake her. Shake some sense into her. ‘You are going to stop saying such crap about yourself, Valera.’ Compulsion drenched his words but he didn’t care. She didn’t say anything, and he knew she was listening to Simza.
Settled near Lera, he listened as Simza spoke. By the time she’d begun to work on Lera’s other side, he realized she wasn’t rambling about nothing but was trying to get a point out. From the corner of his eye, he watched the old man she’d introduced as Dejan. The body may be frail but those eyes told a different story. They were sharp and calculating. Not to mention suspicious.
“You are lucky your husband found you,” Simza said.
Lera coughed hard. “He’s not my husband. I’m not married.” Scorn dripped from her words.
Until the words actually passed her lips, he never realized that fact made her angry. Was he hearing things? Did his Lera actually want to marry him? Why did that make his heart beat all fast?
It took all his strength and control to keep an impassive expression at her statement. Both Dejan and Simza watched him, gauging his reaction. He made sure there was none.
“I would think the savior of the Haikon would be better protected. It is unsafe,” Dejan stated in a graveled voice.
Lera struggled to sit up. “The what?” she asked, playing dumb. “I thought the Haikon were nothing more than a myth.”
“There are rumors of a dark-skinned shape shifter woman with a large black wolf, the size from the past.”
Lera flopped back down on the furs. “Well, life is full of rumors. I would think if that particular one was true, I’d have a wolf with me. Or at the very least been in the supposed shape and stayed warmer versus freezing my ass off.”
The man rose and shuffled closer. Kori watched, ready to defend her. Dejan leaned heavily on his cane and stared down at Lera. She continued to lay there, Simza working on her leg.
“You wear the image of a wolf,” he uttered, indicating her wrist bands.
Lera turned her head so she could see his eyes. “I have the image of a tiger on my Hayabusa. Does that mean I’m one of those as well? Let’s not forget the shamrock on my ass.”
Her tone smacked of sarcasm, and Kori wanted to laugh at how she handled Dejan. A slight smile filled Simza’s round face.
‘I didn’t know you had a shamrock on your ass, Lera. I’ll have to look for that next time I have you naked.’
Her snort of laughter echoed in his mind.
“I had hoped to meet one,” Dejan said.
Lera didn’t miss a beat. “Thought they were a rumor.”
Kori got to his feet and moved to the door. Simza’s words of how the storm wasn’t natural had his hackles up. He’d not really paid attention at first. A mistake he’d not make again. But now…he wasn’t so sure.
Simza was Romani. He respected them. Standing with his back to the trio of people, he stared out the small window. There was an itch between his shoulder blades, and he felt like something was out there in storm. Watching. Waiting.
‘What’s wrong, Kori?’
‘How are you feeling?’ He moved to the window on the other side of the door.
‘Much better. Thank you for getting me here. Wherever here is. Anyway, t
hanks for keeping me safe.’
He turned slowly. ‘What else can I do? After all, your father wanted me to watch over you.’
She sat and got to her feet with care. Her teeth sank into her lower lip. ‘Are you mad about something?’ Her eyes met his, and behind the lingering pain, he saw impishness.
“I suppose you’re going to tell my dad all about this,” she commented in a snarky tone.
He crossed his arms, knowing full well he looked menacing. “Your father is too lenient with you. He should have taken you over his knee a long time ago.” His words were crisp and modulated, like someone very comfortable with their position. Enough so to make snide comments. “I would have. A long time ago.”
“Maybe. Luckily for me, you’re neither husband nor father.”
He narrowed his gaze in warning.
“Enough now,” Simza interrupted. “Sleep is important. Our room has a bed.”
“We’ll be fine here. The floor is fine enough for her.” He pinned his gaze on Lera. “We appreciate your hospitality.”
Simza assisted Dejan to the small bedroom, and the door closed behind her. Kori laid his coat down before the fire and moved the blankets she had been on as well. When it was done, he directed a silent Lera to lay down closest to the heat. Once she’d settled, he stretched his length beside her.
“Wouldn’t want to lose you tonight,” he muttered.
She rolled her eyes and huffed. He bit back a groan when she brushed against his groin, bringing him to full stiffness.
‘Have mercy, mo ghrá.’ With willpower he didn’t know, he had he remained still.
‘Why? According to you, I’m naught but a spoiled brat who needs to be spanked by her father.’
He frowned at the anger in her tone. ‘And according to you, you have no husband.’
‘I. Don’t.’
The rumble of fury couldn’t be contained. ‘Lera.’
‘Night.’
She was asleep in moments. He lay with her until the fire began to die then he got up, put more wood on and covered her with her coat. Then, he sat at the table.
A creak brought his head up with a snap. Simza stepped into view, holding a shawl tightly to her chest. The firelight gleamed off her weathered skin. Her brown eyes flicked between him and Lera. There was silence until she’d made herself something warm to drink.
A Love For Lera (Haikon) Page 22