Creed Read online

  Angel nodded. “I understand.”

  He shot her a grim look. “I hope so.” He raised a fist and pounded on the door.

  The door opened quickly—and Angel tried not to gawk.

  The woman was tall and very pretty. Long black hair had been neatly coiled around the crown of her head, then looped into a twisted rope that fell to her waist. Angel figured if it were real, the woman’s hair probably trailed behind her as she walked if it were ever set free of the elaborate hairstyle. The GarLycan leader’s mother was also rail thin and sporting a gown that looked right out of a ballroom.

  “Lady Galihia.” Kelzeb released Angel and bowed deeply at his waist. “I present Angel. She is Creed’s mate.” He straightened. “I hope you were informed of her arrival. I apologize for my state of undress.”

  “It’s fine. I was expecting her. Thank you.” She opened the door more. “Enter, Angel.”

  She glanced at Kelzeb. He jerked his head, indicating she should go. She walked into the room and stopped short, openly staring around. It was as if she’d stepped back in time. It looked nothing like a cave. The dark wood floors, the loaded bookshelves lining one wall, and the big fireplace gave it an elegant library look. Fancy couches and a few tables were the only furniture. A painting hung over the mantel of the woman before her, holding an infant in her arms.

  The door closed behind her and she forced her attention back on Lady Galihia. She didn’t even appear to be thirty in human years but that didn’t come as a surprise to Angel.

  “How do you do?” It was the politest thing she could think to say; she’d heard it a movie.

  “I am well. How are you, child?”

  “It’s been a strange day.”

  “I imagine so. Please follow me. A bath awaits you.” Galihia glanced down Angel’s body. “I’ll send for Renna. She’ll make certain you have a gown.”

  Angel followed the woman down a wood-paneled hallway past closed doors to the one at the end. Lady Galihia opened it, revealing a massive bedroom. There were no windows anywhere but the interior looked as if they were in a real house, one that was a few hundred years old but with electricity. There were tall ceilings and even a chandelier hanging in the center. An open archway let her see a claw-foot bathtub.

  “My bed chamber.” She walked over to a corded rope and tugged on it. “I have called for Renna. This must be bizarre for you. Do you have any questions?”

  “How does pulling on that cord get someone to come?”

  “It runs all the way to the ceiling, where there’s a rope that rings a bell at the other end of it in Renna’s chambers next door. She’ll hurry to see what I need. She’s my aunt and attendant.”

  “What’s that?”

  Lady Galihia chuckled. “She looks after me. You’ll like her. She’s a Lycan. I was told you were raised as one but you’re fully human.”

  “I am.”

  “How did a human come to be with them?”

  “Creed saved me when I was a child.”

  “How did he do that?”

  “I don’t remember much about my before life. That’s what we call it. There are bits and pieces. My biological father yelled all the time and I remember being afraid of him. He had a girlfriend. She was worse. They hit me a lot. Creed took me from them and gave me to my parents. It makes my mom cry when we talk about it. I guess I was in really bad shape that night. I’d been beaten and had sores from neglect. I was also skinny and underfed. They adopted me and gave me a great life.” She hesitated. “I probably wouldn’t have survived where I’d been. My dad told me that he got the impression from something Creed said that I was about to be murdered when he rescued me.”

  “And now he’s your mate.”

  “He’s always been kind of a hero to me,” she admitted. “I didn’t notice how handsome he was until I was much older, when he started coming around. I almost thought I’d dreamed him from the night he’d rescued me as a child, until I saw him again.”

  “Didn’t he protect your pack?”

  “He only came down to talk to the elders at night, and that was way past my bedtime when I was young. We all heard about the guardian as kids but never saw him. He was almost like a myth or something.” She smiled. “Then one day he came to me during the daytime. I was sixteen and had almost walked into a bad situation with a bear and her cubs. Creed landed, put his hand over my mouth, and pointed out what I hadn’t seen. He offered me his hand then and led me back to my village.”

  “You felt bound by honor to agree to be his mate.”

  “No.” Angel shook her head. “I fell in love with him and threw myself at him right after I turned eighteen. He told me it couldn’t be that way between us and stopped seeing me. I actually moved away so it would hurt less. It was just too hard being that close to his lair, knowing he was up there, but he wouldn’t talk to me anymore.”

  Lady Galihia’s features softened. “How did you become his mate then?”

  “My mom called me in Seattle and told me I needed to come home. I figured it had to be pretty important, since she’d never done that before. I got on the first available plane heading that way. She explained Creed was going into the ravage, and what that meant. No one in our village had volunteered to be with him, so I did.”

  “You owed him a debt for the life he’d given you, so you couldn’t say no. You felt honor bound to offer your body to him. That’s admirable.”

  “Actually, I was pretty mad. I wasn’t going to do it. He’d rejected me once so I didn’t think he was attracted to me. I was so upset that my mom thought I’d offer to go to bed with him that I went outside to cool down. Creed thought I was a lost hiker and flew down to scare me off, but then realized who I was. Do you really want to hear this?”

  “I do.”

  “I saw him…and man, he was still as hot as ever.” She inwardly winced. “Sorry. He was as attractive as ever.”

  Lady Galihia shook her head. “Please continue. Don’t hold back. I enjoy how you speak. It’s refreshing.”

  “Okay.” Angel relaxed. “I guess the ravage had already begun, because he wasn’t as reserved as he normally is. Who could resist that? I couldn’t. He was showing feelings and he got turned on when I touched him.”

  “You made first physical contact?”

  “You bet. I mean…yes. Who wouldn’t? You have no idea how much I love him, and I’ve always wanted to be with him. I told him I was going to volunteer and he kind of freaked out. Then I made it clear that I wasn’t taking no for an answer. I didn’t leave him a choice.”

  Galihia expression became animated as she grinned. “How did you leave him with no choice?”

  “I got in his face and wouldn’t let go of him.”

  “So you’re physically aggressive.”

  “You could say that.”

  A door opened across the room and an older Lycan woman entered. She wore a gown too. She paused, staring back at Angel. “This is her, Gali?”

  “Yes. She’s sharing a very entertaining story. She pursued Creed for the ravage.”

  The Lycan came forward, grinning. “Tell us more.”

  Angel glanced between them. They looked a bit too happy, and it made her nervous. “I’m not going to get him into trouble, am I? It was all my fault.”

  “No,” Galihia answered. “We’re intrigued. You see, in our culture, women do not pursue men.”

  “Your culture,” Renna chuckled. “I chased your uncle. He didn’t know what hit him. I was in heat and just stripped down in front of him when I found him alone. I ordered him to take me. He did. No hot-blooded man could withstand that.”

  Angel glanced between them again. “You’re more than family. You’re best friends,” she guessed.

  “Yes. My father was a Gargoyle who mated with a Lycan. My aunt came to me after her mate died.” Lady Galihia’s eyes glistened with tears. “I was so grateful she did.”

  “Hush now, Gali,” the other woman murmured. “That is what family is for.” Renna hel