"You suspect there is another-the one you call Sange rau," she said, shrewdly. "You followed him here, didn't you? By doing so you put yourself directly in the path of that hunter, the one from the tavern you said was dangerous."
He took her hand and turned her back toward the village. They had to get out of the woods-at least she had to. The blanket of mist had begun to churn and roil-fast-spinning eddies within the heavy fog. He held still for a moment, listening, his every sense tuned to the threads of information whirling in the mist.
"It is a suspicion, no more, but yes, I suspect Zev is here hunting the same rogue pack I was trailing when I ran across a strange, but familiar pattern. I believe Zev is Lycan and very lethal-especially to one such as me."
"This week of the month wouldn't be during the full moon would it?" she asked.
He found himself grinning in spite of the seriousness of the situation. His lifemate had a little bite to her tone. She had just a bit of an attitude. He nodded his head. "Why, yes, my lady, it would."
She shook her head. "If the big bad wolf is coming for you, do you really think it's a good idea to be walking through the woods with me?"
Fen did laugh. Her coat was red and had a fleece-lined hood. "Where in the world did you hear the story of Little Red Riding Hood?"
"We had reading materials. Scrolls. Skins. Thin parchment. And then books. In the beginning, he thought we would become like him, only subordinate to him. He didn't realize that our mother had also left us a legacy before he murdered her. She made certain we were fully Carpathian but she concealed what she had done from him. We had the ability to communicate telepathically and to draw memories from Xavier's victims. When he realized we were not going to aid him in his efforts to wipe out the Carpathian species, he kept us drained and weak so we had no chance of escape."
"He made a mistake educating you."
"Yes he did, and we learned far more than he realized. His spells, the ability to counter them, shifting, the strengths and weaknesses of each species. We acquired a great deal of knowledge and waited for the moment we might be strong enough to strike at him-or defend ourselves. In the end, we were able to get Razvan's child free. Lara was so young, and we had hoped to go with her to protect her, but Xavier used Razvan to stab Bronnie and I couldn't leave her there, although she begged me to go without her. We were imprisoned for many years again until Lara came back for us."
The wind shifted again, sending the mist spinning around them. They both stopped abruptly and looked at one another.
Blood, Fen identified. Human. Death. The rogue pack was there in the forest. He's just ahead, but I fear he's dead. He used telepathic communication and the moment he was in her mind, he felt flooded with warmth-complete. All those empty places were filled with her. The terrible blackness receded and light poured in.
He's the third man from the tavern, the one who left when I called out to them. She was intelligent enough to follow his lead. There was sorrow in her voice, guilt even. This is the man who tried to talk sense into his friends.
The pack smelled like wolves, animals, tearing at their prey for fun, not food, and then rushing on their way to wreak more violence just because they could. Real wolves would be blamed and human hunters would destroy entire innocent packs because the rogue werewolves took joy in killing.
He squeezed her hand hard. You are not responsible for this.
I drove them out into the open and he left the safety of the others.
Fen's gut twisted. Take to the sky. Get out of here. I need to go back and find the other two. The pack will sniff them out and kill them just for the fun of it.
I will go with you.
The resolution in her voice had him swinging around rather than trying to dissuade her. He could feel the absolute determination in her mind. Perhaps if he wasn't basking in her company, enjoying everything about her, he would have been far more firm-not-he was certain-that it would do him any good.
They broke into a run, using blurring speed to retrace their path back to the two drunken men. It took only minutes. The two sat beside a tree passing a flask back and forth, one occasionally bursting into song.
Tatijana instinctively broke away from his side, moving to his left and allowing him to approach the two men alone. Fen was grateful to her. Already, he knew the pack was hunting. The rogues had both heard and smelled the men. They knew both men were physically impaired, drunk from the alcohol they'd consumed, and would be easy prey. Tatijana and he could take to the skies if necessary, but the two men were extremely vulnerable.
He muted his appearance, blending with the mist until he was directly in front of them, sending a swirl of mist ahead of him so that he could emerge naturally out of the fog. Both looked up at him.
"Fen, what are you doing out so late? You want a drink?" One held out the flask.
"You're Enre," Fen greeted. "Do you live far?" He projected his voice directly at the two men, although there was really no hope that the pack wouldn't know Tatijana was in the forest. He had known, from the moment the werewolf pack leader had given his hunting cry and the others had answered that the rogue pack was close by and hunting. To them, he would smell human.
"Gellert here, too," the other said drunkenly, opening his eyes and removing the flask from Enre's hand. "What are you doing here?"
"Let's get you two home," Fen encouraged. "It's too cold to stay out all night. Your families will worry."
"My woman kicked me out," Gellert said, his words slurred. "She said I drink too much." He was indignant. "I don't drink too much. She accused me of sleeping with the barmaid, Faye."
"You did sleep with Faye," Enre said.
Gellert took a long pull from the flask. "There was no sleeping," he said slyly.
"He's staying with me," Enre admitted. "I've got no family."
He didn't sound quite as drunk as he had been earlier. He struggled to his feet and reached down for Gellert. Gellert groaned and let both Fen and Enre help him up.
"You shouldn't have let your friend talk you into attacking the lady," Fen said to Enre.
Enre shrugged. "It was all just talk. I wouldn't have attacked her. I would have just given him a good clout upside the head and dragged him home if he'd really gone through with it."
"The redhead wants me," Gellert slurred. "She comes back night after night, and dances for me."
"The redhead is my woman," Fen said. "It isn't a good idea to say those kinds of things in front of me."