“Don’t worry, Malcolm. I know I’m not a Ravager.”
“Which is what makes you so special.”
“How’s that?”
They crossed a stream. A few Ravagers in their guer raced by, sleek forms caught between man and what looked like wolf. What should have been awkward looked graceful. The long limbed Ravagers moved through the woods as if they owned it. But she noticed the startled looks they shot her as they passed.
Malcolm answered her question. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but other than your cousin, you’re the only human—excuse me, Conduit—here.”
“But I saw a bunch of human women with Ravagers in that bar where Eric found me.” Did I ever. She blushed, and Malcolm grinned.
“I bet you did. Ravagers like sex; we’re built that way. Women from other species, both Voider and human, interest us. In fact, a group of Savages living in the city have packs with non-Ravager females.”
“Why? What’s wrong with your own women?”
“Beside the fact they’re so few?” he asked dryly. “It’s an honor for a Ravager female to select her mates. We unclaimed males revel in feminine worship.”
“Worship?” Vicki had a hard time understanding Ravagers nuances. “Sounds like she’s the one in charge if she’s selecting you.”
“She is,” Malcolm said with an almost wondrous voice, his oddly intent stare giving her strange ideas. She swore she heard him follow with, “You are.”
“Our females were given to us by the great guer that lives in all things. A Ravager’s female is more wild, beautiful, and dangerous than any other creature we know.”
His awe made her feel almost jealous. Had a man ever talked about her as if she mattered that much to him?
Malcolm’s energy drew her closer. “You, Vicki, have a guer just as potent, just as wild, yet different. It’s what’s drawn the prime and the others. Not one male in all the clan would say no to you, if you asked them.”
“No to what?” At his look, she blushed and felt stupid for feeling embarrassed. “Come on, Malcolm. I’m human. I don’t belong here.”
“I didn’t think so, at first. Now…”
“Now what?” She tensed when he leaned forward to sniff her.
He closed his eyes and inhaled. “Your scent is sublime.”
“I didn’t know guys used that word.”
He grinned showing fangs, and she backed up a pace. “I’m well-read. And unclaimed, in case you were wondering.”
“Ah, Malcolm? You’re looking a little wild around the eyes.” And hard as a rock. She couldn’t help noticing the erection growing behind the swell of his jeans.
“It’s you, Vicki. Dom told me to—” He stopped and looked behind her. In the space of a heartbeat, he turned from amorous to deadly. He tore off his shirt and simply grew, his jeans hugging his powerfully transformed guer. Now a large, powerful wolfman, he growled a warning. “Stay behind me.”
A real threat in Eric’s own woods? She didn’t know if Malcolm thought to impress her with his guer or if she really needed to worry for her safety. And then she saw them.
Malevolent eyes glared at her through the trees. She could feel the oppressive weight of negative energy filling the area. Malcolm let loose a loud howl and raised his hands, growing long-ass talons while she watched. Stronger and thicker, his nails looked lethal as they turned from white to gray.
“When I tell you to, run,” he snarled.
Three Ravagers attacked at once.
“Run!”
Definitely the Lawless clan. Vicki would never confuse the two again. In his guer, Malcolm looked vicious but healthy. A true predator ready to take on all comers. The intruders looked sickly, dirty, their matted fur sporting a dreadful smell, as if their darkness of soul had a stench.
Vicki had no intention of leaving Malcolm alone. She imagined help would soon be on its way. They’d passed others out here. But until help arrived, Malcolm was stuck with her.
She latched onto the negative energy of the Ravagers attacking Malcolm and hoped to use it to bolster his strength, not sure if she could since they didn’t touch.
The weaker males whined as Malcolm tore through them with ease. Another crept out of the shadowed woods and tried to take him by surprise. Vicki intervened by stepping forward. She grabbed a stick off the ground and prayed it was heftier than it felt.
She swung, hit, and freed one hand to latch onto the creature’s arm. Ripping the Ravager’s energy away, she used it to enhance her speed and let go of him. As in her fight with Mei Lin, the longer Vicki battled the Ravager, the easier it became to predict his moves.
She sparred with him, the dead wood in her hands granting her decent protection from the claws and teeth of her opponent. Until another Ravager blindsided her.
He knocked into her side, pushing her away from Malcolm and the Ravager she’d been beating.
Malcolm roared and turned to face this new threat when two more enemies appeared, looming over her.
“Do you smell that?” one growled to the other.
They dropped the English and spoke in barks, grunts, and growls. She shouldn’t have been able to understand them, but somehow, she did.
“Claimed,” they both snarled. “Perfect.” The larger of the two ran a claw over her cheek and bared his teeth. He jabbed her throat with his nail and licked at the blood. Then he backed away and disappeared into the forest once more. The one with him leaned down, no doubt with ill intent.
Just then Logan and Jesse barreled into the Ravager bent on eating her. Kate appeared and dragged her back from the fray. “Come on,” she said and carried Vicki over her furry shoulder back to the house, where a huge mass of Ravagers had gathered.
As Kate left her to go back for the others, it dawned on Vicki she shouldn’t have been able to recognize Kate, Logan, or Jesse in their guer. Yet she had.
The burning in that spot on her left breast surged, and she gasped as the pain overwhelmed her.
Then Eric was there with Dom.
“Easy, Vicki. It’ll pass.” Eric stroked her hair.
He picked her up and handed her to Dom. She felt like a suitcase dumped on a hapless bellboy, but this was far from anyone’s idea of a vacation. Well, maybe a sexual fantasy come to life, fraught with danger and intrigue.
Eric disappeared before she could ask questions.
“Tell me what happened,” Dom said, still holding her.
“I can stand.” She scowled, embarrassed to appear frail amidst so much strength.
He ignored her and hugged her tighter. Others gathered around, and as she explained what had befallen her and Malcolm, she sensed their building rage, as well as their growing confusion as they stared at her.
The pressing power energized her, and she felt their bloodlust as her own. The heat in her breast swelled, but this time, her connection to Eric overwhelmed all other thought. As if he tethered her to him by some mystical means, she needed to find him again. To be near him.
“Ask questions later, Dom. Right now, we have a fight to finish.”
Without questioning the rightness of her actions, she pushed out of his arms and ran back into the woods, heedless of Dom’s protests. She ran faster and harder than she ever had before.