Why hadn’t she seen how powerful this man was? She had been too busy being belligerent. Honor wasn’t certain what to do, she couldn’t run and so she sat. She pulled the furs around her violently shivering body. If Laken had wanted her dead he could have killed her last night. What had he said to Dylan? Breeder female? She had been warned vampires would not only feed off her, they would force her to have children who would be fed off.
What had she done?
The ice-dwellers’ laws were unfair, but now four hunters were dead. When food was scarce it was the women who suffered. Honor couldn’t go back; the other women still wouldn’t be allowed to hunt. She had changed nothing. Sacrificing her home for principles had to mean something.
Laken was still staring at her and moving closer. He looked like a normal man. He squatted before her, his look was gentle. Honor couldn’t stop staring at the blood on his lips and teeth. Laken seemed to take notice she was mesmerized and wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.
“You must never lie to me, little spitfire.”
“Why would I lie?” she asked curious. That was the farthest thing from her thoughts. She was still trying to wrap her head around a man with fangs and white eyes.
“Did any of those men ever touch you in your dwelling?”
“Dylan. The first man you killed.”
Laken dropped his head then once more stared at her. “Is that why you ran? How often did he harm you?”
“Whenever Talek looked the other way.”
“Talek?”
“Leader of our clan. He was supposed to protect me; he didn’t do a very good job. My father saved his life—Talek has no idea what honor is.”
Laken raised his hand and Honor shied away, it was habit. She then batted at the offending hand.
“I will never harm you.”
Honor felt a bit confused. “Men only touch to hurt. Other touching is forbidden.”
“Not in my world.”
The whites of Laken’s eyes began to shine again. Honor was compelled to look. It was fascinating and frightening and seemed to draw her into him.
Sleep now.
“Yes,” she was compelled to say. She couldn’t help herself.
You are warm.
“Yes.” She did feel warm, it was so wonderful. Heat crept across her belly to pleasantly bombard her insides.
You will awaken when I command. You will not be afraid. You will be obedient—and desist with all the swearing.
Honor blinked. The warmth stopped flowing through her body and she gritted her teeth against the cold. Her eyes narrowed. No one was going to tell her what to do, not man nor beast nor man-beast.
“Fuck you.”
* * * *
Laken sat back on his heels, startled. A resister? But he knew he had her for a few moments. She had been in his thoughts—feeling warm and safe. What the hell happened? Laken stared harder. She needed to listen or it would be a long—frightening, fly back.
“Honor this is not up for debate. There is another blizzard outside, more of the ice dwellers may come for you. You must not resist.”
She glared at him, but there was something else in those big brown eyes of hers. She looked wounded. As though he had misplaced a fleeting trust. Laken thought about it. She had listened when he asked for simple things. Then he had commanded obedience.
Hmmm.
Honor pulled back for a second when he cupped her face between his palms. She then stubbornly held still as though saying she wasn’t afraid when he heard her heartbeat quicken. She must be terrified. Being alone and nude with a man was one thing, but being at the mercy of a vampire was another.
I won’t hurt you.
“Why should I believe you?”
It was a good sign she could hear him in her thoughts. He did have some control. How much remained to be seen.
Trust me.
“Men and trust do not belong in the same sentence.”
Laken sighed. “Where I come from is very far. To keep you safe I need you to listen. It isn’t to control you. You need to stay warm—you need to feel secure and not struggle the entire way. Honor, I don’t want to frighten you, but I won’t risk your life. Either give yourself to me—or you won’t like the consequences.”
Honor looked past him to the mouth of the cave. She was sad when she looked back, but her words were harsh.
“You’ll bite me. You’ll take enough blood to make me complacent. I’ve heard the rumors. What’s the difference between this wasteland and another? Just kill me. I’m sick of all of it. Life is so cold. Everything is just too damned cold, even emotion.”
“Where I come from is warm.” Her response gave Laken a flicker of hope. “Would you like to see trees? I can show you a new world.”
“If I obey.”
Stubborn little spitfire.
“I will give simple requests. No orders, I swear it.”
The fire was dying down and Honor was shivering. Her jaw was quivering so hard her teeth clacked together. He knew she was weakening. She needed warmth and food now. She was dehydrating right in front of him—there was a smell blood emanated when the occurrence happened—not unlike the scent of the blistering heat of a dry desert. Laken could wait no longer. Her life would soon be in danger because he would be unable to heat more snow for drinking water. He had no food for her; he had almost run out of wood. He could find more but simply finding the few pieces he needed had almost cost her her life. It had been too close. He didn’t regret killing any of the men. They had come to kill her—Tavish would have slaughtered them. His laws were not to be broken.
Laken’s grip tightened on her, he wouldn’t need to take much blood. Honor looked spooked. She clamped her teeth together as her eyes filled with unshed tears. She tried so hard to be strong. His sympathy for her was overpowering. His little Nanya had hated to cry too. Hardening his gaze Laken tried one last time.
You are warm.
“Yes.”
He had her again. You are safe.
“Yes.”
Sleep. You will awake when I comman…ask. You will wake when I ask.
For a second she struggled. He refused to release her gaze, her exhaustion was complete. Then finally she relaxed. “Yes.” Laken breathed a sigh of relief when she fell forward into his arms.
Laken wrapped her in three large furs. Male polar bear blood was a favorite feast of Ursus’. Laken was grateful to the huge beast. The meat was always welcome at the coven and the fur was warm. Honor was pulled tight to his chest when he emerged from the cave. Laken could still smell the scent of blood in the air. He gazed down at the lumpy bundle of fur in his arms. He wondered how many females in her tribe were being persecuted. Once Laken reached home, he knew Tavish would waste no time. Tavish would gather at least ten men and track the human males’ scent back to their ice dwelling.
Laken knew once he explained the circumstances of her capture, the human men would be killed. Tavish wouldn’t risk making any into breeder males. Laken took to the sky. With the blood of three human males to fortify him, he was feeling very strong. It had been a long time since he had gorged. He was feeling full of himself and his power. Honor moaned and Laken checked his grip on her. He wouldn’t want to accidently crush a bone. She was small but healthy with nice rounded curves. Ice dwellers—especially the females, did little in the way of exertion. Not exactly plump, Laken preferred voluptuous.
While flying, Laken was planning. Honor fought commands, but there was more than one way to skin a cat. In no time, she would do as he ‘asked.’ The idea made Laken chuckle. Over the vast barren land he traversed. The world had been thrown back into an ice age at the tail end of the twenty first century. Tavish had been born at the tail end of the last ice age and saw the signs. So much for global warming.
Mother Nature had taken her domain back into her control to cleanse it. At sixteen thousand years old, Laken had been privy to a great deal of change. He had witnessed animal extinction—the worst being the mammoths.
He had witnessed the birth of new animals, evolution—as once more mammoth hybrids were re-introduced. Having conquered the revitalizing of the great mammoths, human scientists had done a great deal of animal experimenting before the world changed. When too much change was introduced too fast there was mass panic.
The human race found it too hard to adapt to so many sudden alterations in the environment. When an electromagnetic pulse hit, knocking power from the Earth, many panicked and died. Many more committed suicide as job losses were in the billions. It was easy for humans in the modern age to adapt to advancing technology, but almost impossible for them to regress. The idea was foreign to most who had relied on the computer era. All but two and a half of Tavish’s vampires was thousands of years old. They thrived in any environment as long as there was blood. It was then Tavish had gotten his idea to create a vampire utopia. Laken and Tavish had worked side by side on the coven they called home.
The brethren of Tavish was the largest vampire coven in the world. The home near the equator had been groomed for centuries. Over two hundred humans had found sanctuary there. Many had been born there. They grew up with Tavish’s laws—they knew of no other. In Laken’s mind, the laws were just. It was how human and vampires could survive and co-exist. Laken looked down at his new female charge. He would keep her and tell Tavish to find the baby boy another protector.
Something told Laken that Honor was going to be a handful. She hated laws. So much so that she was willing to die instead of following orders. That could prove troublesome. No doubt Tavish’s laws would be confusing. In their coven, females must be bred. In the old days, there had been pain and suffering with the rule until Tavish incorporated amendments to go with the law. No man was allowed to force or harm a woman in any way, shape or form.
Human females were taught of their importance. Groomed from birth. Without them, both vampire and human would die. Breeder males were taught to be gentle and caring. The more gentle they were, the more females found them acceptable. The males made their own contest to see how many breeder females would choose them. It was ultimately the woman’s choice. The men didn’t feel inferior—only Tavish’s best were chosen. They could puff with pride at their accomplishments. They too, were important to survival. If the human males were undesirable, there would be no mating. The breeder males made certain they were not only desirable, as they strove to make their appearances powerful and healthy, but found it amusing that, on many occasions, the females would seek them out.
There was no abuse allowed in Tavish’s coven. Honor was covered in bruises. It was a rarity to see a bruise on any human in the coven. Especially a bruise from a raised hand. It was unheard of and perhaps until she healed, Honor should be kept away from the others. A human was expected to wear very little. Because of the heat, no one challenged the law. If she was exposed, many would become frightened.
When humans became afraid, it was bad for everyone. Tavish wouldn’t allow things to go back the way they had been a few hundred years ago when he first created his utopia. Humans had been terrified of the vampires; females were terrified of breeding. It was anarchy until Tavish changed the laws to protect the women.
There had been a scare at the coven not long ago. An ice dweller named Jarrod was executed for aiding in the murders of two pregnant females. Tavish felt the man put the entire coven at risk. Jarrod was a cousin to Tavish’s wife, Mercy. The man was taken, by Tavish, over the fence and dropped. Tavish’s Anivamps had ripped him apart. His screams rang in the ears of many for days after.
Jarrod was the first human in over a century killed for treason in the coven. The Anivamps were now allowed to roam the compound. A scary sight for many humans to get used to as they had been taught to fear the Anivamps. A wild boar named Rhino, a gorilla named Lucile, a white wolf named Lovel and a white tiger named Druid. All half-animal, half-vampire. There was one other Honor might be the most frightened of—she would know what a polar bear was and what it could do.
Ursus had been with Tavish longer than Laken. The female polar bear vampire was cunning, powerful and fiercely loyal to Tavish. Most often, the bear could be found following after Galf, Tavish’s son. The beautiful little blond baby was a hybrid human-vampire. It was a bit disconcerting for the humans to get used to the fact the baby boy could fly before he could crawl.
Laken wondered if Honor had ever seen a baby before. Sadly, the human population was close to extinction. Babies in Laken’s world were a cause for celebration. Tavish and his men had evolved once they gained power over the world. Not normally vampires of destruction, they had been admittedly cocky at their immortality and the seemingly endless supply of human blood, until it had almost vanished. With Tavish’s experience and knowledge, his coven had taken on the role of human-vampire self-preservation.
In his arms, Laken held survival for the coven. Each female was a gift. Ice dwellers were denied close contact. Laken hoped this little fighter could curb her disgust of being touched. It might take some gentle coaxing, but with a little luck, his Honor would learn a kiss wouldn’t kill her.
Chapter 4
Honor’s eyes fluttered. She heard Laken in her thoughts calling to her. It was time to wake. It would be easy to just stay hidden. She felt so tired, so disillusioned. Her clan had wanted her dead and now a vampire wanted her only to breed. Why couldn’t life just be lived without the damn laws? Honor was a good person, she had a conscience, shouldn’t that be what mattered most? She would never kill a person because of a cruel law.
Please? Honor?
Honor gasped, startled. It was Laken’s voice. He had asked, not commanded. No one, especially a man, had ever said ‘please’ to her. With some hesitance Honor cracked open her blurry eyes. When her eyes cleared she saw Laken smiling down at her. Another two men were close, they were so big. All three had dark hair and blue eyes. The two others were dressed identicallly to Laken in the strange dark material. They were so handsome and all were clean shaven—Honor was used to bearded men, their fuzz protected their faces, but the lack of chin hair made these men no less stunning. In fact, it made them seem a bit stronger—they didn’t look as though they were hiding. Many men were handsome until they beat you and commanded obedience. Honor would bet these men were no different. Her eyes narrowed onto them.
“What the fuck are you guys looking at? Dinner?”
“Told you she was a real charmer,” Laken said and laughed.
“My name is Tavish,” the largest man said; he had an uncanny resemblance to Laken: same dark, shoulder-length hair; same blue eyes; same height; almost the same build. “This is my coven. Caine—this man—is a healer and will look after you for a few days.”
Honor looked up at the other man indicated. His hair was cropped shorter, in her clan no man wore short hair, it was an odd sight, yet it suited him; he was very handsome. His eyes were also blue, another rarity in her clan as most sported dark brown eyes, some hazel. Caine had the most beautiful smile. She wondered if he beat women while he smiled. It was then Honor became aware she was still nude, but under a long white cloth of sorts. It wasn’t fur but felt soft to the touch, and it was so fine and so much thinner than a hide. She was warm; she had never before felt so wonderfully warm. Honor fingered the strange material with open wonder; it contoured to her body and even though she was hidden from view, she still felt exposed.
“It’s called flannel,” Laken explained. “It’s a blanket.”
“It’s so soft.” Honor pulled the material to her cheek but winced.
“Your face is bruised,” the man, Caine, said.
“Who hit you?” Tavish looked angry.
Honor’s chin rose in defiance. “Dylan did. Laken killed him. If you’re wondering what I did—I did nothing. I am sick of being told what to do by stupid men and stupid laws. Go ahead, beat me, but I will go outside.”
To her surprise, Tavish chuckled instead of being angry. “Good. Many ice dwellers are afraid to go outside. I encourage it.”
�
��I won’t be beaten or killed?” Honor was incredulous. He looked serious.
Tavish moved closer. Honor shied back—she couldn’t help it. This was the most intimidating man she had ever met. Power radiated off of him. Honor swallowed hard. It was going to be difficult to disobey him.
“Listen closely, little one,” Tavish said. His white eyes glowed bright and Honor was mesmerized, she was unable to look away. “This is my coven. No one is allowed to harm another in my domain. Never again will anyone raise a hand to you—and you will raise no hand to anyone here. Do you understand?”
It was a command she could live with. Honor only protected herself. “Yes.”
“You will also curb your swearing. I will not have the children here picking it up,” Tavish commanded.
Children? Children could live here? Honor narrowed her eyes. “Boy children?”
“Do you not like male offspring?” Tavish’s look seemed guarded and Honor was certain he tensed.
“I haven’t seen a little boy in a long time. The last babe born to us was a little girl who was placed exposed on the frozen land, left all alone just moments after her birth. Her twin brother was allowed to live because he would be allowed to hunt—females aren’t allowed outside the polar caps. The men were going to expose me as well. I went outside and broke a precious law. The baby who was born a girl—she broke a law and didn’t even know it. Talek, our clan leader, said it was for the best, how could such cruelty be for the best? The men in my clan are all liars. It would be a horrible, cruel way to die.”
Tavish’s fangs grew, he looked thunderous and a low growl of fury emanated from the back of his throat. Honor was frozen to the spot or she would have fled the bed; he was terrifying.
“This ends now.” Tavish snarled.
A Vampire To Watch Over Me [Vampire Coven Book II] Page 5