Kraven Read online

  One of his men snorted. “He thought about fucking you to get close but your smell puts most of us off.”

  Bat glared at Warren. “That wouldn’t have worked. You’re not my type.”

  His guard growled and took a threatening step forward. “You’d be lucky to have our alpha fuck you.” The man flashed his fangs. “Weak bitch. You’re going to apologize or bleed.”

  Kraven reacted by shoving Bat behind him. He opened his hands and claws grew out of his fingertips.

  Warren motioned with two fingers. “No, Cary. Be nice. Back off. I promised she’d be handed over unharmed. The VampLycan would take your arm for trying to get near that weak-blooded bitch.”

  “She’s a Werewolf too?” Jacob gawked at Bat. “I had no idea. You never said a word, Warren. You should have told me.”

  Bat recovered and her temper replaced the shock as she stayed mostly behind Kraven. “Rethinking all those times you palmed my ass, Jacob? How do you even know about Lycans?” She glanced at Kraven. “Is he one?”

  “No. He’s completely human. I’m curious about that myself.”

  “They’re going to turn me.” Jacob grinned smugly. “I’ve known about Werewolves for a few years now. I’m earning my way into becoming a pack member. I’ll be young and strong one day soon.”

  “Shut up,” Warren snapped.

  “Sorry.” Jacob closed his mouth.

  Kraven surprised Bat by suddenly laughing. She moved closer to him, pressing against his body. “What’s funny?”

  “Is that what they told you, Jacob?” Kraven shook his head. “It doesn’t work that way. Being turned is brutal. At your age, and given how out of shape you are, you’d die within minutes of receiving multiple bites. And I have no idea why you think it’ll turn back the clock. That’s absolute bullshit. The strength is accurate, but I’ll state again—you won’t survive being turned.”

  “What’s he talking about?” Jacob’s tone took on a whining pitch. “You said I’d get a blood transfusion and become young again after I became one of your kind.”

  “He’s full of shit.” Warren growled again. “Shut up, VampLycan. Your alpha made a deal! I called him last night to let him know where she is. If you have her, that makes you one of mine for the next few weeks. The other nineteen VampLycans I was promised better be on their way. You’re going to help me become top of the food chain in this territory.”

  “Ah. You want us to take out the Vampires and stronger packs for you.” Kraven kept remarkably calm.

  “There is no stronger pack than mine. I’ve got that handled. It’s those fucking Vampires. They’re like damn rats in the sewer. They spread like a disease and think they have the right to tell us what to do. I’m fucking sick of it! No team I’ve sent after them ever returns. But they won’t stand a chance against twenty of your kind. I want Michael’s fangs torn from his mouth before you ash that fucker. I plan to wear them as a necklace.”

  Kraven took a deep breath. “Decker Filmore believes Lycans are beneath him, and won’t keep his word. He’ll use you to get what he wants. Any promises he made are lies. Twenty VampLycans will show up—but they’ll slaughter your entire pack before he allows you to tell any of his enforcers what to do.”

  Warren’s face twisted with rage. “That’s not true.”

  Bat took the opportunity to speak. “Did Decker inform you that I’m his granddaughter?”

  Warren couldn’t hide his surprise.

  “Let me handle this, Bat.” Kraven sounded pissed.

  “Shut up and look pretty,” Bat snapped, keeping her attention on Warren. She’d dealt with him plenty of times. “Do you know why Decker wants me, Warren? My mom ran away from him because he wanted to sell her into sexual slavery to some GarLycan clan. You have two sisters…I’ve met them. I’ve seen the love you feel for them. Would you sell them?”

  Warren scowled.

  “That’s what I thought. Decker Filmore is my grandfather, but I’d shoot the bastard between the eyes if I got the chance. He lied to me, and I’m his own flesh and blood. Be reasonable, Warren. Be smart. He’s scum with the morals of a longtime drug addict. Remember Bradley Mars?”

  Warren growled low. “I killed that bastard.”

  Bat inwardly winced. Her client had gone missing and she’d suspected he’d met a bad end. Now she knew for certain. “But when he worked for you, you paid me to represent him. He wanted to make a deal with the DA, regardless of how many times I told him he didn’t need to. I could have had his charge knocked down to a misdemeanor. At worst, he would have only been looking at sixty days in lockup and I could’ve had it reduced to half that. I even told him I could probably get him off with monetary fines.” She shot a dirty look at Jacob. “I wondered how you’d found out he’d requested to speak to the DA. Mystery solved.” She held Warren’s stare. “Regardless, I bring it up because he wanted to rat you out in order to avoid any possible jail time. And he was a standup guy compared to my grandfather.”

  “Brad was human. They’re weak and have no loyalty. VampLycans have a reputation for being honorable.”

  “Most.” Bat licked her lips. “Do you have any bad Werewolves in your pack? You’re an alpha, right? Don’t you ever have to punish any of yours because they do bad shit?”

  He said nothing.

  Bat felt she was on to something, despite only making educated guesses. “There are always bad apples in every group. Decker Filmore is on the top of that rotten barrel. He’s greedy, power hungry, and he’d stab you in the back the first opportunity he finds. He’ll send enforcers here to pick me up, but they won’t take orders from you. He’s going to fuck you over—because it’s what he does best.”

  Warren seemed to consider it for long moments. “That’s a shame.” He glanced at his men. “Plan B.”

  Bat startled when shots rang out but Kraven had already jerked in front of her, his body nearly knocking her over. His knees buckled, and she tried to hold him up briefly by latching on to his waist, but he was too big and heavy so they both went down. He twisted though so they landed on their sides.

  Kraven had been shot.

  The horror, the suddenness, and the shock slammed into her all at once. She sat up and yanked on him, pulling him to his back. Blood soaked his clothing. It was dark and wet, spreading as she watched.

  It didn’t matter that men stood behind her with guns. She shoved at Kraven’s duster, getting a better look at where he’d been shot. At least three bloody spots were revealed.

  “No, no, no,” she whispered, bordering on hysteria. His chest rose and fell but his eyes were closed. She slapped her palms over the worst two and leaned forward, using her weight to apply pressure. “Call an ambulance!”

  “That would be defeating the purpose of killing him. Move out of the way so my men don’t accidentally shoot you when they put more rounds into him.”

  Bat whipped her head around and wished she could shoot Warren Otis. “You son of a bitch! Why would you do this?”

  “I’m going to force the VampLycans to kill my enemies or you’re going to bleed out next to him. You’re important to Decker Filmore for a reason, if he wants you so bad. Now he’ll do exactly what I say—or I’ll send you to him in pieces.”

  “You didn’t say anything about killing anyone,” Jacob sputtered. “I can’t be here for this. I need to leave.”

  “Ball-less coward,” one of the guards spat. “Pathetic.”

  “Knock it off,” Warren ordered. “You want to become one of mine, Jacob? Blood and death are part of it. Stop being so damn squeamish. Grab the bitch so we can put more bullets into the VampLycan before he begins to heal. I have a phone call to make and new terms to set. Nobody fucks with me.”

  Bat remembered that Kraven had kept a knife in his boot in Alaska, and hoped it was still there. “Don’t touch me!” She released his chest and turned a little on her ass, gripping one of his legs as if to steady herself while tugging at the material. “I’ll get up by myself.”

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