Gregori's laughter was soft. "I told you he was a warrior through and through. He isn't a man I want to tangle with."
But he would in spite of everything he was saying so smoothly. Gregori was laughing. Looking comfortable. Luring Fen in, making him feel comfortable. Fen had met a few like him. There was nothing humorous whatsoever about a man like Gregori Daratrazanoff. He would have already gone through the kill a hundred times in his mind, planning every move out in his mind until he would be smooth, fast and deadly should Fen prove to be treacherous. His backup plans had backup plans. He was dangerous and anyone who couldn't see that was an imbecile. Fen didn't count himself among the imbeciles.
Fen made no attempt to approach the prince or anything else in the house. The game of high stakes chess had begun. Their move. The prince waited courteously for Tatijana in the open doorway. She remained motionless, waiting for Fen's signal. If it was a trap, she could better aid him from outside.
Time seemed to stand still. Somewhere an owl hooted. A wolf called. A slight breeze moved through the forest, sending leaves quivering.
Mikhail sighed. Extending his hand to Tatijana, he gave her a small, old-world bow along with a charming smile. "Come, my dear. There seems to be posturing going on and I would very much appreciate your help in defusing this situation."
Tatijana kept her gaze on Mikhail, but stirred in Fen's mind. Yes? No? It was his decision. He barely inclined his head. She took Mikhail's hand, smiled up at him and stepped over the threshold into the house. There was no reaction from the house and Mikhail led her over to a ring of comfortable chairs and gallantly seated her.
"Thank you, Tatijana." He waved his hand toward the chair beside Tatijana's in invitation to Fen.
The location of the chair was the least vulnerable seat in the room, positioned for the best defense, designed no doubt to make Fen feel even more comfortable with them, but it had been long since he'd been enclosed in a room with four walls meeting. He was, however, used to meeting with many possible enemies-but this time, he had a woman to protect.
Worry about protecting yourself. I can take care of me, Tatijana assured.
She had that little mischievous tone he found himself listening for. I'm becoming quite partial to you, my lady.
I know. Smug.
He wanted to laugh, but he kept his expression pure stone. "How can I be of use to you?" he asked the prince.
Mikhail sank into the chair opposite him. Jacques and Falcon both took their seats, but Gregori stood, and from his angle, he had a commanding view of nearly every window in the house. The house reminded him of an eagle's nest, perched up high, where weather could protect it, yet they could see anything-or anyone-coming at them.
The house was warm and felt friendly, but Fen knew it was designed for a single purpose-to protect those residing in it. There was a faint scent he couldn't quite place, a blend of something that confused his Lycan senses. He couldn't quite smell Mikhail's true scent, an interesting form of protection. He would be hard-pressed to distinguish the prince from the others if tracking him.
"This is the first time in my lifetime that the Lycans have openly entered our territory." Mikhail sat back and carefully folded his hands together. "You have been long gone from our people. While you have been gone, our women dwindled until there was no longer hope of lifemates for our males. What few women we did have could not carry a child, or, if by some stroke of luck, one did, they could not nurture the child. We lost nearly all babies in that first crucial year."
Fen frowned. Dimitri had shared that the Carpathian ranks had fallen well below safe numbers. The fear of extinction was always present, but he hadn't described the problem. Most likely, Dimitri feared if he told Fen that finding a lifemate was nearly impossible, Fen would give up and choose to meet the dawn.
Mikhail continued in a low, even voice, almost musical, a very powerful weapon should he choose to use it as such. "We have discovered, over time and with a great deal of blood-spill, heartache and tears, that Xavier, our greatest mage, had secretly and over centuries worked to bring about our downfall. He even went so far as to introduce microbes into our soil to contaminate it and kill our women and children before they were born. Each time we find one threat and destroy it, another has arisen."
"I had no idea this was happening," Fen admitted. "I have been gone from these lands for centuries. My only contact has been my brother, and then only when I sought a safe haven in the refuges he created for my wolf brethren when I needed to rest."
Mikhail inclined his head. "Your brother's wounds are healing?"
Fen couldn't stop himself from glancing at Tatijana. For comfort? He didn't know the answer to that question-only that having her with him made it easier to bear the idea of Dimitri's pain and suffering. "We have hope." There was nothing else to say.
Mikhail leaned toward Fen suddenly, his dark eyes penetrating deep. "We've had a period of relative peace after the De La Cruz brothers and Dominic defeated the vampires in South America. The vampires scattered with few leaders to direct them. I'm certain they will rise again, or perhaps they have been waiting to see if our children survived beyond their first year."
Silence filled the room and with it came tension, stretching nerves tight. Fen could feel his every Lycan sense activating. His muscles ached. His jaw. He felt threatened in some primal way, but wasn't certain what they expected of him.
"I don't understand." He made the statement without a hint of fear, but he was beginning to wish Tatijana had remained outside the four walls where he knew she had a chance of being safe. They weren't safe locked in a relatively small space with four lethal predators.
"My son is now two years of age. And my brother, Jacques's boy is growing and thriving at three. Gregori's twins survived those critical first years. Gregori's brother Darius has twins, a boy and girl, both healthy and past the two-year mark. I am certain you must have grown up with Gabriel and Lucian, two other of Gregori's brothers. Gabriel has a little daughter, again, she is healthy."
"This is the first time in centuries such a thing has happened," Gregori added.
Mikhail gestured toward Falcon. "You crossed paths as children with Falcon. His lifemate, Sara, has announced she is once again pregnant and the pregnancy appears to be a healthy one. There are others and perhaps ones not yet known. The point is that in over five hundred years we have never had it so good." His eyes went steely, pupils dilated and pitch-black. "And now, at this time when all is beginning to look up, the Lycans have shown up in my backyard. I would like you to tell me what that means."
Fen could see the damning arrow. How could he not? Carpathians finally beginning to recover and suddenly they are overrun with a species so elusive one nearly forgot their existence. Had it been just coincidence that the rogue pack had run this way? Led by Bardolf, Fen might have believed the choice had been a random one. But Abel, not Bardolf, really led the pack.
"Fen?" Mikhail prompted.
"I don't honestly have an answer for you. I ran across werewolves committing murder and knew I'd discovered a rogue pack. A single hunter can't take on a small pack by himself, let alone a large pack. And this is a very large pack. I followed them and began picking them off one at a time. It's dangerous and time-consuming, but believe me, it's the only way if you want to survive."
Fen sighed, shaking his head slowly. "I traveled this way only to be close to my brother once again. I felt drawn here. In doing so, I ran across the kills." He looked at Tatijana. "I had resisted for well over eighteen months. I found I had to come, although I felt it dangerous to do so."