Dark Lycan (Dark #24)(80)
Author: Christine Feehan

"I think I’ve been hibernating a long time and I need to jump right into the fray. Right now, I can be of use and I need that, Fen, to help push me to start living. Being a prisoner for so long and trapped in the ice can make one long for what’s familiar to them and certainly that isn’t the best thing for me."

"Just promise me you’ll be careful," Fen said. "Nothing can happen to either of you. I can be in the air in seconds and I travel fast. Just call for me."

"Don’t you dare give yourself away to the Lycans," Tatijana said. "I mean it, Fen. They’ll turn on you so fast. Mikhail gave Zev something to think about, but not the others. And you can’t count on him for protection. We’ll be fine. We know what to do."

"Is everything all right?" Zev asked, coming up behind them. "We’re all ready."

"I’m just making certain they know how the rogue packs work," Fen said. "I don’t want them to take any chances with their lives."

"You’re just giving us information," Zev cautioned the women, adding to Fen’s warnings. "That’s all, just find them and tell us. The Carpathians will transport us if it’s a great distance."

"We need the field," Tatijana said. "Move your pack back into the trees."

Zev nodded, glanced at Branislava, shook his head and walked away. Fen wrapped his palm around the nape of Tatijana’s neck and pulled her in close to him.

"He might look back, wolf man," she hissed, but she didn’t pull away.

"I could care less," he said, and kissed her. "Don’t you dare get hurt. Not a single hair. Do you understand me?"

"I understand you," she said, and kissed him back. "I love it when you go all wolfie on me."

Branislava burst out laughing. "Come on, Tatijana, let’s show them what Dragonseekers can do."

The two women walked out of the trees, into the open. Both looked elegant in spite of their jeans, shirts and boots. They came out holding hands, but in the middle of the field they embraced and each turned and walked into the center of their quadrant.

"What are they doing?" Zev asked.

"Shifting," Fen said. "And they need room."

The two shifted almost simultaneously, their small curvy figures shimmering one moment and becoming something else altogether. Fen was used to Tatijana’s blue dragon. She was beautiful to him, with her long, spiked tail and wedge-shaped head. She could dive into water and swim beneath the surface for long periods of time. In her human form, after centuries in dragon form, her skin was always cool.

Branislava was just the opposite. She was a fire dragon, her crimson scales nearly glowing. She looked as if her dragon had been born in a live volcano, a part of the fiery blast, all red and orange. When she expanded her wings Fen heard gasps from several members of the pack.

She stood on her hind legs and flapped her wings, creating a windstorm. Tatijana followed suit. Fen looked around him. There was shock and awe on the faces of the pack as the two dragons took to the sky.

"You saw her in battle," Fen reminded them.

"She was in the sky mostly," Arnou defended. "I was looking out for my skin, killing as many of the werewolves as possible. I guess I didn’t think too much about it, but seeing them up close like that after seeing the women as they really are . . . it’s just . . ." he trailed off. "I have no words."

"Amazing," Daciana seconded. "I wouldn’t mind being able to shift shape."

The pack burst out laughing. "You can, Daciana," Zev reminded. "You’re Lycan. You feel like being a wolf, just shift."

She shrugged. "It’s not the same. I’ve always been a wolf."

"Tatijana and Branislava were born into the Dragonseeker lineage, a very ancient and honored line. They were actually in the form of dragons for several centuries and it’s far more familiar to them than their natural human form."

He reached for Tatijana. How’s it going up there?

It’s been two minutes, Fen. I couldn’t possibly get into trouble that fast. Her laughter teased at his body, soft and intimate. The night is fairly clear and that will help. We’re flying high though and using the existing clouds to mask what we are. From below, we just look like clouds in strange shapes.

Good idea, my lady.

I do have them occasionally, but I can’t take credit for that one. Bronnie thought of it.

It’s her first flight in a very long while, Tatijana. Are you certain she’s strong enough for this?

Branislava was family now. They were bound by Tatijana. More than that, he liked and respected her. He’d seen the glimpses of her courage when Tatijana inadvertently opened the door on her past and he couldn’t help but admire her.

She’s excited. She really does need this. When you’ve never been in the open before, or around others, it’s easy to stay away and hold yourself tight, not move for fear of falling, so to speak.

Tatijana spotted a small opening in between two massive boulders. Brush grew right up to the side of the mountain and those jutting boulders, but right between them was an opening, a dirt floor no more than two feet by two feet. If there was an actual cave there, it would make a perfect den for wolves. The werewolves might be attracted to such a place.

She sent the image to Fen. Is there a cave here? What other signs should I look for?

There’s definitely a cave there, Fen said. I’d marked it earlier as suspicious, but when I checked it out, there was no one there. That doesn’t mean the pack hadn’t targeted it as a possible place to hide if they needed to lay low for a few days. If they’re there, even a small number of them, look around in the surrounding brush, they’ll have at least two lookouts outside. They’ll be concealed well. Think wolves. The werewolves think like their animal counterparts in terms of protecting their pack.

Tatijana didn’t want to drop lower, especially if the rogue pack had lookouts that might spot her. She moved from cloud to cloud, appearing to be drifting with a slight wind. Her dragon’s eyesight was very keen. She could see miles away if she chose to use the superior vision.

At once the look of the world changed around her. It was a little disorienting to concentrate on such visual acuity, but her dragon was quick to pick up movement. Below them and just to the south, she spotted the leaves of a bush waving against the wind. Once her dragon had found a potential target, she stayed high in the air, drifting, her dragon only occasionally having to circle back.

The third circle confirmed there was a creature, half wolf, half man lurking in the brush. I see one of the guards. He’s in the form of half man and half wolf.

That’s what we’re looking for, Fen said. Send me the coordinates and just keep an eye on them until we arrive. If any come out of their hiding spot, count so we get some idea, but do not, under any circumstances engage with them.