Fen studied Gregori's face. He was pale, with lines etched deep. He wasn't completely healed from the battle, yet he had come himself to ensure the prince was safe. Fen's respect for him went up another notch.
"Thank you. Should Dimitri require your skills, I will call. I'll come to speak to the prince as soon as I can."
Should Gregori have to aid him in healing his brother, Fen would move Dimitri just as a precaution. Gregori would discover Dimitri's blood was different. How could he not if he entered the body to heal it? Dimitri was too vulnerable, and with the elite hunters either drawing close, or already there, both Fen and Dimitri were already at great risk. Fen preferred not to take chances with his brother's life.
As if reading his mind, Gregori touched his arm to slow him down. "There are six strangers in the village. All of them met with the man you call Zev. They're all staying at the inn. They look . . . tough."
Fen nodded. "They are best left alone. I cannot be anywhere near them over the next few risings."
Gregori frowned. "This has to do with your Carpathian blood mixed with their Lycan blood?" He made it more of a question than a statement.
Fen shrugged. "When you first came upon the battle, were you certain I was Carpathian?"
"No," Gregori admitted.
Fen knew that was most likely the reason Gregori remained suspicious of him.
"It is the same with the Lycans. Until the week of the full moon, they cannot detect me, but during this phase, they know exactly what I am. They call a vampire/wolf cross a Sange rau and they do not distinguish between that monster and me."
"The strangers who have come to our village?"
"They are the elite of the Lycans. Their best hunters with superior speed and gifts. Zev is their true alpha. They have a leader, but all of them answer to him. They were summoned to hunt and destroy the rogue pack, just as we send our hunters out to kill the vampire. Zev is aware that there is one Sange rau running the pack. He doesn't yet know about the second."
"They'll need the information to successfully hunt them," Gregori pointed out.
Fen nodded. "I cannot deliver it to them, at least not for a few more risings. You will have to find another way." He turned his face toward the forest. His unease had been growing. "I need to get to my brother."
Gregori stepped away and lifted a hand to him. "I'll see to it that this farmer gets his family to safety."
"Thank you." Fen inclined his head and then leapt for the sky. He shifted in midair, sprouting the feathers of an owl, the talons and curved beak. He circled the farm and the outlying area just to double-check that no more threats were close, before winging his way back to the forest.
Again, he was very careful, making certain no one had followed him, before he dropped down, shifting again as he opened the earth beneath him. Tatijana lay in the rich soil, her face pale, skin nearly translucent. She looked like an ice princess, elusive and beautiful. Her hair was very long and thick, still twisted into that flowing endless mass of an intricate braid. Ribbons woven into her hair bound the long length, adding a touch of the dramatic.
He gathered her into his arms, inspecting her body carefully to ensure the wounds were healing properly. The dragon had sustained heavy damage to her belly, just as Dimitri had. The dragon had, for the most part, protected Tatijana. Dimitri hadn't had his body encased within dragon skin and scales. The werewolves knew to rip softer underbellies, and they'd done their damage, but she would be fine.
Fen woke her with a single word, pressing her mouth to his chest. She moaned softly, her eyelashes fluttering before awakened fully and he found himself staring into her multifaceted emerald eyes. He smiled at her. "There you are. I was beginning to think you were going to sleep your life away."
She smiled back at him, relaxing into his arms. "Not a chance." Her cheek rubbed along his chest, sending little darts of fire racing through his bloodstream.
His entire body reacted to that small move. As he pushed back stray tendrils of hair from her face, he thought it a miracle to feel such deep emotions. The experience was unexpected, new and exhilarating. Everything about her was exhilarating. "Aside from being courageous and a warrior, you're a truly beautiful woman, Tatijana Dragonseeker," he whispered. "I'm honored to be your lifemate, claimed or unclaimed."
"I must say, sir, I am beginning to feel much the same, which is rather a surprise to me," she admitted.
The honesty in her voice and that low, sultry tone added to the hot surge of his blood, racing to pool low and wicked. He savored his ability to feel such a new extremely exhilarating flood of feelings, both physical and emotional. He knew immediately the two things were tied together inexorably. Even the Lycan blood mixed with his Carpathian blood had not dampened his drive to find the other half of his soul. No other woman would do. He'd never felt such an urgent desire. He'd learned about sex, who couldn't after so many centuries, but he'd never understood the rush. The joy. The urgent hunger.
He smoothed his hand over her hair. "Drink from me, my lady. I need you at full strength this rising. Dimitri is in desperate need and I fear it will take two of us, if we have any chance at all of saving him."
She looked into his eyes-into his mind. He hid nothing from her. She reached up to smooth away the line of worry on his brow. "You did not ask the healer to aid you."
"I am a skilled healer as is Gregori. Dimitri is beyond both of our abilities. I know this. He lingers, but he still slips an inch at a time toward the other side. Gregori is severely wounded, and yet he rises to do his job guarding the prince. His job is too important to risk his life needlessly. His skills-and mine-will not save Dimitri. He needs Mother Earth to intervene on his behalf."
He will be saved if possible.
Tatijana whispered the words into his mind as her teeth sank deep into his chest. The flood of need was so strong, the hunger for her almost out of control. He closed his eyes and breathed, as his rich blood filled her veins and rushed through her body to every wounded organ, helping to accelerate the healing process.
He'd fed hundreds of Carpathians wounded in battle. He'd given his blood to a trusted Lycan friend who fought with him over and over to defeat a common enemy. He'd taken blood from men, women and his own kind, both Lycan and Carpathian. Never had there been a sexual component until now. He breathed in and out. Listened to his heart beating hard in his chest. Heard the roaring sound of thunder in his ears. Felt his cock grow, lengthen and harden with a never before felt desperate urgency.