Creed Read online

  “Angel needed someone to help her.” Creed was certain his father had been the one to lead that front. He’d received a harsh conversation after he’d filed that report. Kado had threatened to lash him himself but his mother had intervened. She’d ordered Creed to return to his assignment and had faced off against his enraged father. He’d stayed long enough to make certain she was in no danger.

  He’d only seen his father in public after that. He was still unsure if he’d have bowed down to take that beating or if he’d have fought him. Though, he would have refused to hurt his mother by forcing her to watch her mate and one of her sons fight to the death.

  “Aveoth agreed. We do watch human news. Saving a child from certain death is honorable. But now you’ve mated her. Does that feel strange?”

  “I avoided her after I gave her to the couple who raised her. It wasn’t until she was older that I spent time with her. I saw her spending a lot of time alone and it made me question my past actions, wondering if she was unhappy.”

  “The pack didn’t take to her?”

  “They did.” Creed hesitated. “I hadn’t taken into consideration that children eventually grow into adults when I brought her into this valley. The elders and parents were training the adolescents how to hunt and adjust to the changes their bodies were going through.”

  “She wasn’t a Lycan. I understand.”

  “They trained her how to fight but would leave her behind when they went into the woods. She couldn’t keep up with them when they went on group runs.” A memory surfaced. “Angel tried though. She’s always been courageous, with a lot of spirit. At first some of the youths would stay with her, but she’d motion them on, not wanting to hold them back. Unfortunately, she had no sense of direction.” He actually smiled. “She’d get lost on her own. That’s when I first spoke to her again. She was sixteen and heading right into a bear’s den. I prevented her from irritating a mother and her clubs.”

  “That would have been bad.”

  “Yes. It would have. I walked her back to the village to make certain she wouldn’t get lost again. She asked me to go fishing with her. I resisted but she reminded me that I did have to eat. I still refused but then she started fishing in a spot I couldn’t miss seeing from my lair. She seemed aware of it, because she’d do the funniest things, attempting to lure me to come down.”

  Kelzeb arched his eyebrows. “Like what?”

  Creed smiled again. He couldn’t not. “She’d do this thing she called a happy dance every time she caught a fish. She brought food with her sometimes, and would lift it up so I could see what she had and wave at me to join her. She even wrote on a big board she carried to that rock to tell me I was a stick in the mud. It amused me.”

  “And you caved.”

  His humor faded. “She drew me.”

  “You were attracted to her.”

  “She’s so full of life. I started fishing with her. She’d bring food for us both, we’d talk. It was nice. Time passed and she matured. I noticed. She turned eighteen…and that’s when the touching began.”

  “You touched her?”

  “I allowed her to touch me. She was so curious.”

  “So this wasn’t your first time having sex with her?”

  “It was never like that. I wouldn’t allow it. She wanted a mate, I couldn’t give her that. She wasn’t Lycan and considered sex something that only happened between two people in love. I allowed her to feel my wings. She wanted to see me in my other form, so I shelled for her. She told me I was beautiful.”

  Kelzeb grunted. “Not something we want to hear.”

  “It was a compliment. Fear was never my intention with her, and I was glad she approved of how I looked.”

  “Then she left?”

  “She tried to initiate sex with me and told me what she felt in her heart. She said she would talk me into taking her as my mate. I removed myself from her and stayed away.”

  “You felt she had the power to break your will?”

  Creed said nothing. Angel had become his one weakness.

  “You’re in love with her.” Kelzeb sighed. “What a mess. But it’s going to be okay. As I said, I’ll talk to Aveoth when we get there before you have to make a formal audience. He’ll cut you some slack. Especially after I remind him of what you’ve been through because of your father. He can’t stand Kado either.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Now, I’ll go get the girl and you grab a bag. We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “She’s not here.”

  “Where is she?”

  Creed hesitated. “I didn’t want her to be punished and she didn’t want me to fall. We compromised.”

  “What in the hell did you do?”

  “She is my mate but her will is her own.”

  “Stop stalling. She’s running, isn’t she? Is that what you two worked out? She’d take off while you faced your punishment?”

  “Yes.”

  “She’ll smell like you.” Kelzeb snarled. “It’s going to put a target on her back.”

  “I’m aware and pointed that out to her. She has lived in the human world and feels confident that she can survive.”

  “Awww, fuck,” Kelzeb hissed. “You bloody fool. She’s got you wrapped around her damn finger. You’re also still experiencing the tail end of the ravage. You’re not thinking clear. I bet the first two things you were worried about were her being killed by Aveoth, and then how some bastard like one our fathers would turn her into a breeding vessel. This is the most vulnerable time for newly mated women. You’re not the only one who will be able to track her. She’s going through the change. She’ll be sending out pheromones for miles to anyone with a nose to pick up when her mate doesn’t respond to her silent call to strengthen the bond. That’s why we usually send new mates somewhere remote or have them stay in their homes. It’s torment to the single males to smell how hot they get.”

  “She’s human. That won’t happen.”

  “I’m going to kick your father’s ass myself! Kado never had the talk with you? It doesn’t matter if she’s human, Lycan, or a Gargoyle. It’s going to happen to her. How strong was your bond?”

  “Weak.” Creed’s father had told him it only happened with female Lycans and Gargoyles who mated to them. Would he lie?

  “FUCK!” Kelzeb roared. He took a few ragged breaths, glaring at Creed. “She’ll just feel a little warm and start to sweat. It won’t alarm her but her scent will keep getting stronger until it spreads for miles. It’s meant to draw you to her. It’s nature’s way of letting us know we need to strengthen that bond more. We can be a little resistant to feelings, so it turns on anything with a dick and a nose to pick it up. Old masters who ever spent time around our kind are going to identify it. They’ll track her. Lycans will too. She’s going to smell like the hottest bitch ever, and they’ll lose their damn minds.

  “They won’t mean to kill her, but they will. I saw it happen once when I was in scout training and assigned to go on a mission to observe. A full-blood Gargoyle mated a Lycan and couldn’t be bothered with forming more than a weak bond. He was negotiating an alliance with her pack. She started to put off the calling. The single males started to attack each other, fighting to the death to get to be the one to fuck her. She was injured but her mate flew off with her before she was raped. Six died. Either way, once it starts, your girl might as well have a neon spotlight over her head anywhere she goes that states ‘fuck me’.”

  “My father would have told me.”

  “Unless Kado wanted to make certain you never mated a human—or got her killed by being ignorant, if you did. Now get your head out of your ass and remember what Vampires might do to her if she’s captured. They won’t kill her. They can heal whatever they do to her, and she won’t change into one of them because she’s your mate. They’ll think she’s the best torture toy ever. Call her on her cell phone and tell her to turn around.”

  “I…I don’t have her number.” Creed felt raw