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"They're no' our woods to patrol!" Da ran his hand over his face "And she's never targeted our young before! She's never envenomed any of our males Our lad will be free of this by tomorrow eve The day after at the latest I vow it"

"Free of this?" The only way out was Ruelle's death "I-I need to see her Just tonight" He and his mate could run

Leave behind?

"Nay!" Mas "Over ain!"

Da wrapped his arm around her shoulders "Take a moment, love Justtake a moment Collect yourself Think of the babe"

"If I canna protect the bairns I have, I doona deserve the gods to give me more!"

"Whisht, love! I will talk to him, and tomorroill end this Go take your tea and cal a look over her shoulder The rage in her expression changed to so likepity when she met Will's eyes "Never one like her, one

Pity? Realization struck I've done wrong I've hurt Mam

Before, he'd wanted to tell the world about Ruelle; now he felt shah he didn't quite understand why he should He'd beena beautiful female, his fe?

His nose burned, vision blurring Tears? He was sick of tears-had shed them aplenty in the first year he'd been with her His voice broke as he said, "I dinna e or about what Ruelle is? How old should I have been?"

"You are no' there yet, son And, as your mother said, never with one like her"

"But she's s, as if Will had blasphemed "No-she's-no'!"

Will had never seen his da this angry Still he asked, "How do you know?"

"Because she's sick in the head!" He shoved his fingers through his thick black hair "If she were yours, your Instinct would ring loud and clear, telling you that she was Has that happened?"

Will's Instinct, the guiding force all Lykae possessed, was usually quiet with her But it hadn't been at first, had warned hie, had whispered of peril within

Peril from a delicate beauty like Ruelle? The idea had struck him as ridiculous

"Think, son-if she were truly yourneed to otten a babe on her after all this time But I know you have no' done either"

Will shook his head, , "Ruelle must be mine for me to feel this way"

"No, she's entranced you-it's their way Grown males are swayed by thee, you stood no chance"

Da washer sound like a sorceress or worse, a witch Just like the rumors

"You have doubts I see it in your eyes Do you no' ken, son? When you find your ods have reached out to touch you, like your soul's been branded There is no doubt And there is no way you could willingly part fro with the succubus for years Will, heed oes, you follow"

Will gri, clearly ai to distract him He told Will and Munro all about the first tiht it highlighted aspects of Will's own e with sweets He'd been reluctant, half terrified of her, half fascinated When he'd tentatively entered, she'd lavished gifts on hi hiht had just begun to dim when Will's Instinct suddenly commanded -SAVE HER!-

Da and MunroThey shot to their feet

"Ailis?" Da crossed to the hallith long strides "Come join us"

No answer

"Love?" His father tensed, lifting his face to scent the air Will and Munro did the saone Will didn't scent her anywhere in the keep

There was only one reason she would have left hoed for the front door Will and Munro followed hih the snow as he tracked Mam's scent and footprints toward the forest

With each step, Da was turning, his Lykae beast surfacing His fangs and black claws lengthened, his face angling into a eoned, the shadow of his inner wolf rising to hover over hi creature with maddened white-blue eyes

Will could see his da struggling to keep the feral beast at bay, to think clearly, to reason

To best protect hisbehind their desperate father's pace Two young Lykae in the Woods at night They had not reached their ienerate frothened, shadows closed in on the The winds howled, disrupting Will's hearing and sense of s scents all the way from the sea he hadn't yet beheld

His teeth clattered Pain throughout his body had ony fro head

Will squinted through the snow as they ran, barely e Between painted shutters, the s glowed, softly lit and fogged

Da barreled through the door Even over the winds, Will heard his roar

Of anguish

No! Ruelle couldn't have hurt Mam Will's mother was a she-wolf in her prime, fierce as this storm Ruelle eak and helpless

The brothers burst through the splintered doorway and froze at the sight before the behind a terrified lad who looked not much older than Will

-Vampire-

Their natural enemy Here, this far north? Will had never seen one, just knew he needed to kill the creature

The leech was brandishing a bloody sword to protect Ruelle against Da-whose beast was co even to Will

No wonder the vampire was terrified But as the male half-dressed? Whose blood coated his sword? Where was Mae Behind a setteehe saw her

Part of her

Shock robbed hihts Dimly, he wondered, Where is e until dust rained from the rafters

The va to safety in an instant Yet he see Ruelle-as if he loved her With a broken yell, he attacked, tracing around Da, landing blows that the older immortal didn't seeain, until Da predicted where he'd appear next With one swipe of Da's flared claws, the vampire was no more

When Da turned on Ruelle, she backed away As if from a well-pump, her tears flowed at once "We had n-no choice She attacked us, had come to destroy me"

As Da stalked her with a aze, Ruelle eyed the vampire's sword, could have reached it; instead she clasped her hands to her breast, pleading to Will, "My love, help me! He will kill me!"