"Tell me your name. I'm Fen. Fenris Dalka." He didn't break stride, walking with absolute confidence into the forest. He seemed a man without much fear.
She looked up at him. Studied him carefully and did one more scan just to be certain she was safe. She opened her mouth to tell him, but she just couldn't. Something stopped her. There was far too strong of a compulsion to be with him. Maybe it was all new to her, this attraction between a man and a woman, but it had never happened before. She hadn't been the least attracted to anyone else in the tavern, not even a single spark. She shook her head and smiled at him.
He flashed a grin at her. "You do know that mystery is very intriguing in a woman, right? I'll be more enamored than ever. I can read lips," he added.
She wanted him to know her name. She mouthed "Tatijana," exaggerating every syllable so it would be easier for him. He got it on the first try.
"Tatijana is a beautiful name. Do you live close?"
She shrugged, happy to just be walking with him. His body gave off unexpected heat and she allowed herself to feel it. She needed to feel every moment with him. She knew she should pull her hand away from his. She didn't know him. She didn't know proper etiquette between a man and a woman, but for just this moment, for the first time in her life, she felt normal. Real. She wasn't Carpathian. She wasn't Dragonseeker. She wasn't a mage's daughter. She was a woman enjoying the company of a man.
"I lived here long ago," Fen volunteered. "I've only returned for a short visit and must leave again." He looked around at the dark shapes of the trees rising from the mist. "I'd forgotten how beautiful it is."
Tatijana agreed with him silently. She wanted to dance there in the deep forest just because she was so happy. Just something so simple as walking in the woods at night flooded her with joy, and Fen was an added bonus. She nodded her head, feeling a little foolish that she wasn't speaking aloud, but maybe he thought she couldn't. She didn't even care if that meant he pitied her, although when she scanned his thoughts, she didn't find pity. She found . . . attraction.
"Have you lived here long?" he asked.
She glanced at his face. He wasn't looking down at her, although his tone made her feel as if she was the most important person in the world and he wanted an answer. His gaze was restless, moving constantly, up in the branches of the trees, down along the ground, his vision trying to pierce the heavy veil of mist.
Had she missed something? Some warning? She took a careful look around, sending out her senses, scanning carefully to try to detect a threat. Just up ahead and slightly to her left, concealed in the trees were the three men who had left the bar after Zev. She sighed. Of course. She'd known they were going to make their try for her. She'd allowed herself to be swept away into a magical world that had no threats in it. Everything and everyone who could possibly threaten her just seemed trivial in comparison to Xavier.
She touched Fen's arm. "I have to go," she mouthed. "You can turn back now."
She wasn't going to involve him. She wasn't certain he was human, but if he was, three against one, even when he looked big and lethal, wasn't fair. She could dissolve into mist and they'd never find her, but Fen had to be protected, even if it was from his own gallantry.
Fen stopped abruptly. "You know they're there, don't you?"
Tatijana nodded reluctantly. She was giving herself away, but then so had he. The three men were in the distance, impossible to see with the heavy mist and the cover of the dense trees and brush.
"I'll take care of them. You get out of here."
She shook her head. She'd been afraid that he would be the protective male. She sent him a small "push" to leave. He scowled at her, shaking his head. Tatijana knew she'd made a terrible mistake. Fen was much more than he seemed, and that push she'd just tried had given him far too much information about her.
What was he? Mage? She didn't think so. She'd been held prisoner for centuries by the most powerful mage the world had ever known and Fen was in no way similar physically nor did his brain scan that way. Jaguar? She didn't think so. That left Carpathian or Lycan. If he was Carpathian, she would have known by his energy field. Lycans were the only species who didn't produce that energy field readable to others.
She took a chance. "I am quite capable of defending myself. You need to leave. Those men are after me, not you."
Chapter 2
Fen went very still while the earth under his feet seemed to tremble and the trees surrounding them shook. He had all but forgotten being Carpathian. He had lived so long as an abomination-the most hunted of the Lycan kind-considered worse than any rogue wolf or pack who had to be hunted and destroyed. His kind could not be tolerated in the Lycan world.
He was both Carpathian and Lycan, and the combination made him an outcast. He had lived under a death sentence for centuries. There was no question of having a lifemate, no chance for him. He had long ago given up on that fairy tale. His lungs burned and he realized he was holding his breath. She was looking up at him with her amazing green eyes. The color changed, going from that deep emerald to a fascinating multifaceted aquamarine.
She knew. The signs for both of them had been there all along but they'd ignored them, misread them, or just plain didn't believe them. On some impractical level he'd been waiting for this one moment his entire life. She existed. His lifemate. The one woman who held the other half of his soul. She was the light to his darkness. She brought back real color and real emotions.
Everything hit him at once, all of it. Feelings. Vivid color. Her hair was red gold yet changed in the shadows to deeper hues or streaks of color blending together. For one moment, he just let the emotions wash over him. He wanted to go where love would be, with this woman, this incredible miracle standing in front of him, staring up at him with wide, shocked eyes.
There was fear in her eyes and if she knew the half of it, she would run for her life. Fen cupped the side of her face gently, rubbing the pad of his thumb over her satin-soft skin. His heart stuttered and thunder roared in his ears.
"My lady," he said softly. Regretfully. "I would give anything to bind you to me, but your protection must come first. You can't be anywhere near me. I'm under a death sentence and anyone giving me safe harbor or aiding me will be killed with me. If they find you and know who you are, they will not take chances. They will kill you, too."
Tatijana blinked up at Fen. His declaration was the last thing she expected. She'd braced herself for the claiming, the words that she knew would bind their souls for all time. There would be no living without him, and no precious freedom-the thing she wanted above all else.
"Why would someone want to kill you?" She sounded just a little accusing, a little miffed. She glanced toward the three men secreted in the trees in the distance. They were waiting to ambush the couple and wouldn't creep through the brush-at least not until they got a lot more courage. "What did you do?"
A faint smile appeared on his face at the slight accusation in her voice. "Don't pretend you wanted me to claim you. You did everything in your power to keep me from knowing that you're my lifemate. I don't think outraged feminine ruffled feathers are the appropriate response. You should be jumping for joy."
"Well I'm not. Jumping for joy, I mean, that you're my lifemate. I can't have a lifemate right now. I've got issues."