The Reluctant Read online

  Will reacted exactly the opposite of how I thought he would. Instead of exploding, he laughed.

  “Yes, it’s all true,” he admitted. “But still, at least it’s pretty humans I obsess over.”

  Luka chuckled and grinned at me. “Indeed. Ravishing. Practically edible.”

  My face went scarlet, completely enamored of these two bantering men. Believe me, at this point, no thought of escape entered my mind.

  On the car ride to the theater, I begged Luka for his story. “Will knows everything about you, it seems. I know nothing.”

  Will supported me, albeit mischievously. “Yeah, Luka. Let’s have a biography. I’m curious to know what you’ll leave out.”

  “Alright, a short biography, but no questions. I will tell you what I can—things you could have found out from any local pack member if they were inclined to talk to you instead of eating you and not terrified of me.”

  “No questions,” I promised. “Just tell me.”

  I will try to recall his story as best as possible. His serious tone surprised me, but then, they are serious subjects he spoke of. I cannot remember it all, but the main facts remain intact:

  “My mother and father are both prominent Clan. I have three sisters, two older one younger. Being raised in Venezuela was an experience like no other. I have found nothing of that lovely country to compare here. I never believed anything was wrong with me. Rather, my family raised me to believe that I am special. Humans are a regrettable part of existence by our reasoning, but since you outnumber us significantly and are a great delicacy, we must co-exist with you.

  “Most Lycanti do not believe this. They cannot control their passions very well, being Changelings, and they see no need to reign in their animal side, even while human. Most are like Brooke. They are drawn to each other’s natures, forming their own pack here in Southern California. They hunt together. Occasionally you will hear of people who go to the mountains and do not reappear? Well, usually the insurgent Lycanti are the culprits. The Clan does not condone the renegade hunting of humans, but we are so far from this burgeoning culture that we cannot control it effectively. Will and Brooke are the only Americans Changed that I know of; the rest have fled the Clan in Mexico and my family in Venezuela to escape persecution for different offenses. Lycanti are killed if their Lycanthrope Master dies, for they will be beyond control unless bonded to another Master. At least three of the pack here, three of the women who literally hunt Will like bitches in heat, literally, killed their Masters… a good way to get yourself on the to-do list of the Clan. Fortunately, not all Lycanthrope are strong enough or so inclined to Change humans for mates. They choose from others of the Clan, making the numbers manageable and a special case when a Lycanti mutinies and forfeits the protection of their Master through murder.

  “My parents are hunters, too. They do work for the Venezuelan government as assassins since they need not provide the bodies, only the evidence of a dead human, usually photographs—or teeth, which are inedible anyway. But they are Clan matadors—Slayers—to keep the balance of the law. I, too, am trained as a slayer and left for this task at twenty-two. Allowing Lycanti to go unchecked would be disastrous. I have hunted Lycanti for six years, making sure murderers are taken care of.

  “Yes, technically I am supposed to kill Will, but the professor broke the rules by Changing both him and Brooke. Lycanthrope may only take one mate, and by Will’s story, Brooke was changed in a fit of malice and is an innocent, though she does not seem to be one now. Therefore, the professor had to be punished. The Clan is strict, the punishment swift. We do not allow rogue Lycanthrope to start clans of their own without Council approval. There will be no civil war between our families.

  “So I am here to hunt Lycanti, sent instead of my mother and father or my sisters. I absolutely refused to allow one of my sisters to come here alone, though they are just as well trained as I, the younger Isabella perhaps better. It is hard to relocate our people with the pack being so close, but I am a solitary man. The Clan sends me a living stipend. Do not let my idiotic ways fool you, Emily. I am here to protect the humans—and Will is my accomplice.”

  I stared hard at Will, who drove without comment on Luka’s story.

  “I didn’t want you to tell her that,” he said softly.

  Luka’s eyes met his in the rearview mirror. “She would have found out eventually. I need your help on the next hunt. The time for dallying is over. You have had almost three undisturbed weeks with Emily. Even I took a break, but the Lycanti become bold. They stalked and killed a human in San Diego last week. The human authorities are suspicious. They will come for Emily soon. We have to get that bastard who always goes after the college girls. I’m tired of reading about it in the paper.”

  Will nodded silently. He raised my hand to his lips and kissed my wrist. “Don’t worry, Emily. In two more weeks, we go to Mexico. The Council will approve you. I will make you safe.”

  Luka grumbled, “More like I will make her safe.”

  “For which I will be eternally grateful,” Will said.

  “Don’t I have a say in this?” I demanded, suddenly fearful. “Mexico? Why are we going to Mexico? Will, what’s going on? Luka?”

  It was possibly the most unfortunate moment to stop at the theater, but events usually happen like that. Without the car moving, the conversation halted, too.

  Will smiled. “Let’s watch the movie. I promise, I’ll explain everything tomorrow morning. We’ll start fresh.”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  “Will you answer a least one question now?”

  He threw an angry look at Luka, who had the good sense to look sheepish. “Yes.”

  “You killed that guy in the park because he was Lycanti, didn’t you?”

  Will’s eyes widened. “Yes. He had a small girl he wanted to butcher. I thought you’d forgotten about that.”

  I smiled wanly. “It happened a few hundred yards away from me, and you think I’d forget about it?”

  Will just shrugged and looked shocked. “I must admit that I hoped you would.”

  Luka stayed silent on this exchange, instead pushing open the car door and wordlessly getting out. The movie was a comedy, so I hoped he wasn’t too disturbed by his thoughts to enjoy it. His brooding demeanor continued throughout the movie, and he refused to ride home with us, claiming that he needed to get some things from his place.

  “We’re to hunt tonight,” he said simply. “I need to prepare.”

  Will nodded once, a gesture that accentuated his sharp jawline. “Midnight in the grove?”

  “Midnight in the grove,” Luka agreed. “Bring your bow; we’ll hunt her as humans. Make sure Emily is safe.”

  “As if I would just leave her in trussed up for dinner out in the open,” Will muttered.

  This new serious Luka bothered me. I preferred the flirting, nonchalant version over this man who I could now easily imagine Changing at the drop of a dime.

  Suddenly, that roguish grin reappeared on Luka’s face and I was comforted. “If you choose to truss her up so, be sure to put an apple in her mouth and baste her with olive oil. Butter has the most appalling aftertaste when matched with humans.”

  Will rolled his eyes. “Come on, Emily, before this nutjob decides to eat you himself.”

  I could not help but smile at Luka. He would never hurt me, I was sure of that. “Bye, Luka. Sorry that I won’t be around for your midnight snack.”

  Luka shrugged. “Yes, anyway you would be better spitted and turned for awhile, Hawaiian style.”

  Now I rolled my eyes. “I knew I was fat, but the pig imagery? Really?”

  Will pulled me close to him. “Shut up. You’re gorgeous. Let’s go home. I’ve got some things to do, too, and not all of them are going to make you happy.”

  Luka whistled appreciatively. “Make sure you do something that does make her happy first then, eh amigo? Maybe make her squeal?” He winked at me to show me he was jok
ing, and I could not help but laugh.

  We parted ways then. Despite the fact that I had just found out Will and Luka were a certified bloodthirsty Lycanti strike team, I felt lighthearted. The night deepened beautifully around us, the movie had been great, and I now knew somewhat more of Luka and his purpose, thereby learning more of my mysterious Will. And with Will’s constant closeness this evening, I was exceptionally horny and pretty eager to make it home with time to spare before midnight. Luka could wait. He would understand.

  Will

  Oh, I could smell you from the other end of the house as you undressed and I got my gear together. You were wet for me already, and I fully planned on taking you before that night’s hunt. The night had been beautiful; you had made me want to touch you that whole ride home with your flirting and little kisses. You knew what you were doing to me. I could see it in your eyes as you got out of the car. You knew what you wanted, and who was I to deny you? I would be late to the grove by only a few moments if I took you quickly, but Luka would know what activity lengthened our hours.

  And abruptly, as I loaded the last crossbow bolt into my sling, your scent changed. Your body’s chemistry started to produce enough estrogen to signal that something formed deep inside of you. I hardened instantly at that smell. And suddenly, I needed to be inside you at that perfect depth, finding the egg that your body prepared to release. I fought to control my shaking hands. I could not take you, not yet, I tried to convince myself. A Lycanthope child in your womb would tear its way out. Your blood would burn him like acid. Also, until the Council consented to your Change, I could not do this. I would not see you hunted like some animal because I cannot control myself!

  The need of you caused me so much pain that I thought that I had Changed for the first time again. Why didn’t I think about the normal body functions of a woman? I should have taken it into consideration, but you never said anything about condoms. I assumed you were on birth control. I am so stupid.

  Oh, Emily, why do I always hurt you when everything starts going right?

  Emily

  "Bar the door."

  His voice came from the other side of the flimsy piece of wood between us just as I crawled into bed. The sound was a desperate cry of agony. The need to ease that pain shot through me as it always did when I saw him hurting.

  “Will? What’s wrong? Don’t you want a good-bye kiss?” I said suggestively.

  "Bar the fucking door, Emily. Put the bed in front of it or something."

  "Why are you talking about, Will? What's coming for me? Is it the Lycanti? Is it Brooke?"

  "It’s me," he croaked, his voice breaking. "You're fertile. I can smell it on you, and it's tearing me apart. If I get you pregnant, it could kill you. The Clan would kill you."

  “Oh God.”

  I felt dizzy. I was unprepared to be pregnant and certainly not ready to die from it! Why wasn’t my birth control working? It supposedly was good for five years! I shouldn’t be ovulating! I sprang from the bed to lock the door, then ran to the other side of the room, shrinking into a corner.

  Thump. Will’s body slammed against the locked door. My arms shook as I folded my hands to keep a tremor from dominating my body. Will had never lied to me, I could not imagine him lying to me about something so serious now.

  Another thud against the door, and it splintered. He burst into the room, naked and ready, grabbing my arm and yanking me up to him. He did not even bother to speak to me before coming at me.

  I screamed.

  He grabbed me roughly and spun me, throwing me on the bed. My hands hit the headboard hard and I cried out. The tears started from that pain, but the realization that Will was doing this to me hurt even more. He tore roughly at my clothes, stripping me and forcing himself into me from behind without pretense. Nothing of the man who had shown me how sweetly wonderful he could be existed here. He bit into my shoulder and yanked my hair, causing me to cry out again as my neck jerked back and he drew blood from me. I shut my eyes tightly in an attempt to block out the pain. At that moment, I did hate him, for he was not Will. He became the beast he dreaded, and I should have not let my guard down for it. I said his name over and over again, trying to get him to come back to me. He just hit me harder and bit into my soft flesh with an even greater desperation. His thrusts became painfully fast, and I knew the culmination was at hand. At least it would be over then. He pushed my head down into the pillow, partly suffocating me in the process. I struggled to breathe through the cotton and the pillowcase.

  And as violently as he had entered me, he tore himself from me. My eyes snapped open as I flipped instantly to see if he had become my Will. Instead, I turned to see Luka grappling with Will, trying to find purchase on his sweat-slicked skin. He looked over at me, his eyes desperate. Will caught the look that passed between Luka and me and growled.

  “Get out!” Luka roared.

  Will let out a yowl and Changed. I cannot describe it adequately, I know I cannot. It is so sudden that one moment a naked man stands there, and the next a huge animal crunches down on the arm of his best friend. Luka’s whimper of pain startled me, but before his mouth finished forming the sounds, he had Changed, too. Will threw his lumbering brown form at the night-dark Luka, emerald eyes flashing and teeth bared. I wanted to obey Luka and leave, should have obeyed him, but I now feared for the two wolves snapping at each other in front of me.

  “Stop!” I shouted futilely.

  As if anyone ever listened to my commands in this damn house!

  Luka caught Will by the neck and I instinctively ran forward to push Luka off of him. The black demon turned on me and growled. That growl sent a tremor of fear through me as if it were the first night I saw him in the house in this shape and thought him a dog. I cowered back. Will had recovered and closed his jaws around Luka’s front leg. I heard the bone snap and cringed. What could I do?

  Nothing, I soon realized. One of them would die tonight because of me. The fight raged on, and my helplessness overwhelmed me. Brown and black crashed together time after time, each of them slashing at the other’s neck and belly with razor-sharp talons. Blood formed a sheen on the floor, drops of reflective obsidian on a darkly-tiled plain.

  I watched in muted horror as Will backed the heavily limping Luka into a corner behind the bed. Luka cradled his foreleg as best as possible. In a move of severe desperation and probably with great pain to his leg, Luka leapt past Will, Changing back to human as he did so. Will’s quick figure appeared to blur past me as he chased the naked, fleeing Luka. I stupidly rushed after them to the den. Luka had picked up a slab of marble that once functioned as a decorative table top and was alternately fending off Will and beating him with it.

  I ran to him, determined to keep him from killing Will. I grabbed his arms, but he pushed me away so violently that I feared to go near him again. I felt halfway protected wedged between the entertainment center and an old chest.

  “Get the syringe out of that drawer. Fill it from the vial next to it,” Luka shouted hurriedly. I did as he commanded, terrified that I would be too late and he would have to kill Will in self defense. I fumbled for the materials, trying to fill the vial with my unsteady hands.

  “Now inject it into him!”

  I shot a look of disbelief at him.

  “Just fucking do it, Emily!” he said, whacking Will a good one.

  Suddenly, Will slumped to the ground. I had done it. I had stuck him in the flank. His rage had been so fixed on Luka that he never even noticed I was in the room.

  I tried to avoid looking at the naked Luka in front of me. I blushed, futilely trying to cover my body. Luka sighed and stroked Will’s unconscious wolf form. “I am sorry, meu irmão. Forgive me.” He looked at me, raking his eyes over my frame, longing evident in those glassy orbs. “I have to get out of here, Emily. When I leave, do not open the door for anyone until I come back. I put the spare key in the kitchen. Thankfully, Will’s doors could stop a train.”

  He hefted Will up,
that huge russet mass seeming to weight nothing in his arms. He left me there, alone but alive, fertile but relatively untouched. I spent the next few hours scrubbing out what little Will had gotten into me. I knew that it would be ineffective if the sperm were truly determined, but I could hope.

  With nothing and no one around, hope was all I had at that moment.

  I redressed in pajamas and tried to pull myself together, worried about Luka and Will in equal amounts. I had no desire for one to prevail over the other. I wanted them both to come back to me intact. It bothered me how pleased I was that Luka desired me. Had I no loyalty?

  When the doorbell chimed, I was afraid to answer it. It could not be Will. He would never ring his own doorbell. I opened the door with trembling hands.

  Luka walked through the door, cradling his hand. He wore only sweatpants and no shoes. He must have ran here Changed. The first words out of my mouth were the expected, I think.

  “Is Will okay?”

  “Yes. I locked him in my basement. There is no possible way he can get out, I promise. I will keep him there for a few days until your time has passed.”

  I threw my arms around Luka’s neck. “Oh, I was so scared for you both!”

  He smiled softly. “Don’t be a drama queen. We will be fine. All of us.”

  I looked up into those aquamarine eyes and felt myself falling into them. “Thank you, Luka.”

  “It was my pleasure, Emily.”

  “I had no idea. I have an IUD. I shouldn’t have—”

  “It’s alright. I don’t blame you, and I know Will won’t. I got worried in the grove after so long, and I am the one who sought you out after I scented you from the edge of the yard, knowing that Will would be with you…knowing that he would be trying to mate you.”

  I cast a quick look at him, unsure of what his words meant. Before I could ask why he had approached the house if he had known, his words came out in a rush: