Dark Lycan (Dark #24)(65)
Author: Christine Feehan

"They believed he was dead because his blood is different?" Dimitri asked, wanting clarification. "Or they named him dead to the Carpathian people?"

"They believed him dead," Mikhail explained. "Couldn’t you feel their genuine sorrow? Your blood, Fen, must be completely different at this point from that of a Carpathian."

"Yet I can give blood to anyone just as a Carpathian can," Fen said.

"You said the transformation happens in stages. Probably had you come here in the beginning stages, there would have been enough of a resemblance to Carpathian blood that few would notice the difference," Mikhail said.

"But then they sensed Tatijana. Her Dragonseeker blood is powerful."

"Yes it is. And already, because you’re lifemates, that strain must be in you as well. But I felt something else, something equally as powerful. Not your Lycan-his presence was formidable-but something very subtle and equally as dominant."

Mikhail looked from Fen to Dimitri and then back at Fen, speculation in his eyes. "Tatijana is Dragonseeker, one of our most powerful lineages. She has a strong connection to Mother Earth, but this still feels different, as if it isn’t her connection but yours."

"Tatijana does have a very strong connection to Mother Earth," Fen admitted.

Mikhail shook his head, his piercing, intelligent gaze moving back to Dimitri. "Aw. I see now. Young Skyler. We do underestimate that girl. She helped to heal you. How is that possible from such a distance? Isn’t she in London?"

"I believe she is," Tatijana answered for both men.

"And yet you know her and can speak to where she is," Mikhail said. "How is it that a young girl, a child really, a human at that, can cross over two thousand kilometers and reach out to heal someone near death?"

Tatijana shrugged her shoulders. "It must have something to do with her being part of the Dragonseeker lineage. You said yourself it is a powerful line."

"Have you been able to do such a thing?" Mikhail asked.

Tatijana hesitated. She shook her head. "No. Both Bronnie and I tried to reach our niece when she escaped the ice caves, but the distance was too great."

Mikhail raised an eyebrow at Gregori.

Gregori shook his head. "I’ve never covered that distance. I’ve come close, but I doubt I could sustain it long enough to heal someone."

Dimitri remained silent. His expression never changed. Fen touched his mind. His brother was crazy in love with Skyler, but he hadn’t claimed her, respecting their decision to wait until she felt ready. He would not give her up, not even to the prince and his enquiries in the sacred cavern.

Dimitri had been his own man for centuries. He might be Fen’s younger brother, but he had hunted the vampire on his own for centuries. He was respected and held in some circles as a legend. His relationship with Skyler was private. He rarely spoke of her. Fen had gotten more information about her from their brief healing encounter together than in all the years Dimitri had given him safe havens to rest and heal in.

Mikhail seemed to be more amused than upset that none of them were forthcoming about Dimitri’s young unclaimed lifemate. He simply nodded his head. "I’m certain that young woman somehow managed to seal both Fen and Dimitri to Mother Earth, a privilege to say the least."

"Did the ancients accept Fenris as he is?" Dimitri cut to the heart of the matter.

For the first time Mikhail hesitated. He let out a soft sigh. "I can’t give you the exact answer you’re looking for, or that I was looking for, Dimitri. The ancients acknowledge Fen as a great warrior who has lived with honor, but his blood is no longer the blood of a Carpathian."

Dimitri didn’t flinch, but Fen was close to him and felt the inner blow like a punch to his gut. Mikhail had raised questions both men needed to think about. Tatijana was already tied to Fen and she would accept their fate together as his lifemate. It was different with Skyler. She was young, a human at that. Did Dimitri have the right to sentence her to a life so unknown, surrounded by enemies at every door?

"How long does it take before a hunter has the speed you have?" Gregori asked.

Fen shook his head. "It took me nearly a year to begin to merge with my wolf. I think you’d get a better answer from Manolito De La Cruz. You said he was recently changed. You have to remember when this happened to me we didn’t even realize the cause was the blood. I’d been bitten numerous times in battles with rogue packs and the Sange rau we were chasing. In those days, no one knew about genetics. I recall the wolf and then gradually merging with it."

Fen shrugged. "Over the years, when Dimitri sometimes joined with me in battle, we gave each other blood when one of us was wounded as Carpathians do. Again, that never raised a single red flag."

Vikirnoff, who had remained silent throughout the ritual of the ancients, stepped forward to offer a greeting. "I gave you blood after your battle with Abel and even after what I saw, I didn’t think anything of it. Giving blood is part of our everyday lives. No one would have considered not saving a fellow Carpathian."

"Or Lycan," Fen agreed.

"The Lycans stayed away from us because they didn’t understand how the process of becoming a Sange rau worked all those centuries ago," Mikhail ventured. "If this started centuries ago then what you say about ingrained prejudice has to be very true."

Fen nodded. "Each new council renewed their decree to avoid Carpathians when possible. To fight alongside them when needed and there should be no animosity toward them."

"Why did you choose to live as a Lycan and stay close to their packs rather than come home?" Vikirnoff asked.

"In the beginning I wanted as much information as possible," Fen said. "But then I realized when I allowed the Lycan to be more dominant, it wasn’t as difficult to fight the temptation of darkness swallowing me."

Gregori sent him one look from slashing silver eyes. "You said it was much more difficult to resist the call of the vampire."

"Much later," Fen said. "Not in the beginning. In the beginning the wolf at first protected me from the temptation, and later while I lived in the packs as a Lycan I realized the darkness wasn’t as oppressive. Over the centuries it really aided me as I hunted. I was very . . . active as a hunter."

Dimitri nodded. "He was extremely proficient hunting rogues. When he was severely wounded, or during the full moon, he stayed in the ground and some of that time I guarded his resting place until he was fit again."

"Why is it you can be detected during the full moon and not any other time?" Mikhail asked curiously. "There has to be something there we can use against the Sange rau."