Beauty's Beast - By Jenna Kernan Page 0,13
stomach twitched as he studied her, resisting the urge to advance. Her full lips could not be pressed into a flat, grim line, though she tried. She narrowed her cinnamon eyes at him. The unspoken threat and obvious displeasure amused him, and he felt an unfamiliar smile tease at his mouth.
“Now what?” she asked.
It was an excellent question and one to which he had no answer. He wished Aldara was here. His twin sister was the more vicious, but she was female and might know what to do with Samantha.
Alon could think of only one thing. But he knew his mother would not approve. He cast aside his baser instincts for the moment, though he had captured her fair and square. With her, he forgot his moral objections to taking a woman and began to consider how it might best be done.
“Alon?”
He had to shake his head to drive off the lustful images. Why did she have to smell so intoxicating? Why was her hair all rich brown and falling about her shoulders in a curtain. Her long lashes made her eyes even more entrancing.
“Now, I take you back to the house and...”
She raised her sculptured brows, hanging on his words. When he stopped her expression turned to disapproving.
“And?”
“Contact your folks? I’m not sure. I’ve never found a Skinwalker in the woods before. Why did the ghosts attack you?”
“No offense, but I don’t know you. I want to speak to Bess.”
He shrugged and then motioned in the direction of home. The woman was a pain, but she was also pretty, tall and strong. Any male would find her attractive. Any who was looking for companionship.
He was not. He had to remind himself again. He never would be.
“So your mom is gone. What about your twin sister and Bess’s husband, Cesar Garza?”
“My sister and I are gathering the remaining yearlings.” He lifted his nose, searching for Aldara’s scent, but did not find it. She’d promised to stay close. “My parents took my pack north to relocate because ghosts have been seen close to this place. Neither will come back here.”
“Nagi’s ghosts?”
“We’ve known for some time that a war was coming. My parents warned yours. They warned everyone. Few would listen. Nagi is recruiting us to join his army. Your father knows this. Your family may have been the first to be attacked, but they won’t be the last. An army of Ghostlings will be hard to defeat.”
“Ghostlings?”
Had she not heard the term?
“Naginoka, children of Nagi. Bess calls us Ghostlings or Ghost Children. What do you call us?”
Samantha glanced away. Had she heard the other words, the ones that marked them as what they were? Walking Dead. Toe Taggers. Alon ground his teeth to keep them from lengthening. Strong emotions brought the change.
It was why he needed to be rid of her. He did not wish to admit it, but she affected him, aroused him and brought him one step closer to his most savage self.
But when he touched her, the sensation was like nothing he ever experienced, hot and cold, desire mixed with panic. She was dangerous, this one, because she threatened his control.
“What does that mean, that he’s recruiting Ghostlings?” she asked.
“He’s hunting us.”
Samantha stopped walking, and he was forced to stop again. He didn’t like talking, and he especially did not like talking about this. But he did find pleasure in her voice. The resonance and timbre hit him in the chest.
“Hunting? What happens when he catches one?”
“He gives him a choice. Join his army or die.”
Her face went pale. “How many have joined?”
“Ah,” he said. “For a moment I thought you sympathized with our plight.” He turned away.
She trotted to catch up.
“I might be more sympathetic if they hadn’t attacked my family. My father stayed behind to fight. They were slashing at him with those razor claws when the Thunderbirds took me. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead.”
He paused so she could draw even with him. “How many Ghostlings?”
“Maybe a half dozen.”
“He’s dead.”
Samantha staggered. He reached out to steady her. The instant his fingers brushed her hand the electric surge returned, stronger than before. His heart sped, blood roared and his arousal stirred. He broke away.
Dangerous. She was all that, and in ways he had never imagined. She looked stunned, as well. She drew her hand to her chest, cradling it as if his touch had burned her skin.
“But my father has never been defeated,” whispered Samantha.
“Then he has never faced a Ghostling.” This time he