Haulcon's Revenge Read online

  Heat shot through her body with the speed and accuracy of a blow dart, struck her in the core. Desire bloomed into her sex from the contact of his hand. A moan slipped from her lips before she could stop it.

  “This doesn’t make sense.” A rough growl came from him as his hand slid to the side of her waist, clenching her there. He was pulling her toward him.

  Every fiber of her being screamed for her to give in and lean into him. However, she fought against it. It would probably have been easier for her to get her blood to travel in the opposite direction, but she succeeded in moving away from him.

  “Haulcon,” she whispered. Digging her nails into her hand to give her brain something to focus on instead of the imposing man before her, she continued, “I wish you the best of luck in getting back to your clan.”

  Rushing away, she didn’t give herself or him time to stop her. In seconds she was through the opening and into the sunlight. It would soon be evening, but if she hurried she could make it back to her car.

  She looked from left to right and tried to get her bearings and figure out exactly where she was. There was a path that led from the cave and she assumed that whatever animal used it as its home had worn the underbrush down. However, before her was nothing but thick trees. She walked along the path, hoping it would lead her to the river. She could find her way back by going the opposite direction of the flow of the water. The water led to town, but she had parked at a clearing at the top of a ridge looking for indigenous animals.

  A small laugh bubbled up as she thought about the indigenous mammal she had come upon. Haulcon.

  Taking a breath, she let the name rest in her mind as she pressed forward. She wouldn’t think about him. She wouldn’t go back. Nope. He had retribution to exact and she had animals to photograph. National Geo Archives was paying her top dollar for her pictures, but without shots there was no money. She liked eating and sleeping in her apartment so she needed to get back to work.

  Today was a bust to locate any animals so it was best that she just camp in her car until first light or drive back to the city and tackle it in a few days.

  Around her birds sang and animals rustled in trees and behind bushes. She had never been a person who freaked out about things in the dark woods. She loved to camp, but after seeing what had happened to Haulcon by his own clansmen she didn’t want to be anywhere in the woods if they decided to come back to check on him or finish the job.

  The longer she walked she started to feel a little light-headed. Taking a moment, she sat down on a boulder in the shade. It wasn’t as hot as it had been earlier. This high up in the mountains the humidity was practically non-existent. Then why am I sweating like I just ran a marathon? Sitting in the cool shade she could feel the wetness of her shirt and the streams of water rolling between her breasts and down her spine.

  Unzipping her pack, she removed her canteen and took several gulps. She didn’t have much left in it, but thankfully she had a water bottle still in her bag.

  “Maybe I should have stayed in the cave a little while longer.” She allowed her gaze to travel back down the faint trail that led to the hideout about a mile back.

  It was getting darker and the shadows from the trees longer. She needed to get moving. Slipping her bag onto her shoulders, she rose. When she did a wave of nausea hit her.

  Plopping back down she took in a few deep breaths. Damn, what is wrong with me?

  “How much blood did he take?” She felt her neck again. Still she could not locate any type of bite mark, but she knew he had bitten her and drank from her. It was common knowledge that the valf were blood drinkers. The tabloids always showed grotesque pictures of victims of valf attacks.

  Between the filth rags and the news, people remained wary of the illusive beings.

  “Maybe I should have listened.” Was it possible that he would come after her to feed more? Maybe she would end up on the cover of a tabloid.

  That would be ironic in some ways. As a freelance wildlife photographer, tabloids were always attempting to get her to find the valfs and take pictures. The kind of money they had offered her for a good clear picture, especially of one attacking a human, was an insane amount. But exploitation of anything or anyone wasn’t her cup of tea. Heaven knows she could use the money with all of her student loans and bills. She had a decent saving account saved up, but she didn’t want to tap into it if she didn’t have to. Her plan was to one day buy a house.

  Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up from the rock and started out again.

  Just get to your car. She kept saying those words over and over again.

  Even as she repeated it like she was grabbing an imaginary rope that would lead her to safety, her mind conjured up images of Haulcon. Not of him stretched out between the trees or nude in the cave…but of him pressed against her. His teeth sunk deep into the flesh of her neck and feeding from her.

  In her memory she experienced the firm pull of his lips and how his tongue glided across her neck, tasting her. Her legs buckled beneath her. She lost her footing and fell to her knees. The impact of her joints striking the dirt made her whimper. Or maybe it was the need her body experienced thinking about Haulcon.

  Go back.

  Quivering, she glanced over her shoulder. The words sounded like they came from somewhere outside of her. She saw no one.

  Go back.

  She was shaking badly now. She felt so ill, she wasn’t sure how she didn’t bring back up the pit-roasted rabbit he had fed her. Crawling to a tree, she sat at the base. In slow progression she got her pack off her back and removed a granola bar. She wasn’t hungry, but it was filled with dried fruits and nuts.

  Her hands were so unsteady that she couldn’t get it open until she gripped it between her teeth and she was able to tear the package. Sighing, she shoved it toward her mouth and took a big bite.

  While she ate the bar, she pulled her knees to her chest and closed her eyes. All she allowed herself to think about was chewing, breathing, regaining her strength and praying for her body to line up.

  By the time she finished the bar she felt a little better. She drank down half of her water bottle and then rose.

  “Come on, Adair, you can handle a little queasiness.”

  As soon as she was on her feet and took the first step, a black cloud seemed to obscure her vision as a pain shot through her heart. The pain was so real she glanced down to see if she had been struck by an arrow, but her orange shirt was just wet with sweat, no blood.

  Rubbing the spot, trying to calm the ache, she looked around the forest. She could hear the subtle sounds of water—rushing water. She wasn’t close to it, but if she could hear it then she could reach it.

  Haulcon. Haulcon. Haulcon. Haulcon.

  It was as if her heart was whispering his name with every beat.

  Placing her hands on her ears she refused to listen.

  “I must be going insane,” she mumbled and forced herself to march on. One foot after the other she kept moving as the darkness encroached on her. She didn’t care. Even if it took all night, she would find her way. There was no way her life was going to be dictated by a man she barely knew and had just met. Especially a man that lived off her blood. Nope. It wasn’t going to happen. She needed to be as far away from him and his kind as she possibly could.

  Chapter Three

  Haulcon heard several things all at the same time—birds calling out to their mates, small animals rustling through the trees, a twig snapping, a rock skidding across the dirt and heavy breathing. As if someone had been running.

  But that didn’t make much sense considering how dark the woods got at night.

  As he turned, something else struck him; a distinct scent that reminded him of hibiscus at midnight. It was that smell he had been fighting against the past hour he had been on his journey home.

  “Haulcon?” his name came out of Adair’s lips on a moan. Not a sexy, sensual sound to heat a man’s blood, but one of pain. Agony.

&n
bsp; He watched her step through the brush, her face clammy and pale as sweat poured down her face. As a dark-skinned black woman that washed-out color wouldn’t have been easy to manage, unless she was ill. That is precisely how she appeared. Sick, as if she were coming down with Ebola or something.

  “Haulcon?” Struggling, she called his name again as she looked from left to right, as if she knew he was somewhere close by but she was unclear where.

  For a few more moments, he watched her from behind a large bush. He had not been following any kind of path, but moving by complete instinct to reach his clan. Now, he had this distraction of the human female to contend with.

  Even though he had fought the urge to go after her from the moment she had walked out of the wolf den, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do at the moment. Every step away from her had been brutal, but he had made it. His reaction to her was insane. Pure madness. This attraction he had to her didn’t make any sense. The fact that she had seemed to locate him, when her path had led her toward the south fall and the river and his was leading him deeper into the woods to an area that humans never journeyed to.

  Now here was this human female…Adair. The sound of her name in his mind was like a sweet caress. He hadn’t said her name when she told it too him. He couldn’t. It was as if his mind and body knew that if he even whispered it the act of it rolling over his tongue would link him to her in some way.

  This shit is ridiculous. He growled.

  The sound must have been loud enough to attract her attention because she was now facing the shrubberies that hid him.

  “Haulcon…are you there.” She clutched her stomach with a hand as if attempting to alleviate some sort of ache.

  He felt an ache in his gut as well. One he refused to acknowledge.

  “Please, Haulcon…I need you. I’m not wel—” Her words broke off on a cry. She dropped to her knees.

  He spied on her for a few more moments, still warring with himself. Unable to resist going to her any longer he stepped out from the bush.

  Panting, her head rose and she eyed him.

  Stifling a scream, she slapped a hand over her mouth and scrambled back. Her eyes were filled with trepidation and the palm she held out to him, as if it had the power to ward him off, shook. She lowered the other hand and gripped her belly again. “Don’t hurt me, please.”

  He progressed forward, one large paw after another until he reached her feet.

  She pulled them back, tucking her hiking boot-clad feet under her rear. She seemed to prepare herself for flight if she needed to.

  Not a good idea since he could easily run her down. However, not wanting to frighten her any further, he sat on his haunches and stared at her.

  If she thought he was just some vicious wolf in the woods, maybe she would grab a pocket full of sense and disappear.

  “Mr. Wolf, please….don’t bite me. I’m not here to cause you harm. Just find someone.”

  There was a calming pleading sound to her voice. Something soothing that seemed to calm the beast within him.

  Who was this woman? Maybe she had black magic abilities.

  He shook his muzzle; that was nonsense.

  Cautiously, she glanced from his wolfen form to the trees beyond him then back. As if she was hoping any moment Haulcon, a man, would appear before her and assist.

  Haulcon where are you? You have to be here.

  Leaning forward he allowed himself a long drag of her scent and allowed it to saturate his body. He licked his lips. In his present form his senses were strong and he could detect an ant hustling over the dirt ground, even such a minute scent the ant left in its wake. So, taking in Adair’s natural aroma was so strong in his nostrils he felt as if he could actually taste her.

  Taste her. His body desired to assume his male form to do just that. In his mind, a mental image of him peeling off her khaki shorts and the panties he was sure she wore underneath and burying his face between her full, supple mocha thighs, had a hot quiver shooting along his spine. In his fantasy she kept on her boots and that classic polo-style top.

  Turning his head, he focused on collecting another scent from the forest, anything that would get her out of his head. An owl was in a tree near them. He focused on the distinct smell of the fowl.

  The sound of Adair moving drew him. Looking at her, he saw she had rolled to her knees as if prepared to rise. Moving in another step he placed his large snout before her wide pug nose.

  She froze.

  Their gazes met.

  He remained motionless willing her to see him.

  Even though he could hear her unguarded thoughts, he was unable to transmit his own to her. He hadn’t released his serum into her body while he fed from her. Hell, no. That was against the valf law. Besides the fact it was only something his kind did with their mate. This human was definitely not his mate. Humans were never mates.

  The fact that he didn’t have a mate was a big issue among his clan. As an alpha, he was expected to procreate and stand proud among his people with a strong female valf by his side. He’d hoped Nyca would be that person. However, his serum never produced for her.

  Concentrating on a single problem at a time, he stared into the dark brown eyes of the woman before him.

  Then as if something inside her clicked with recognition, she frowned. “Haul…con?” she mumbled unsure.

  He grazed the side of her chin with his nose, hoping to communicate that she was correct. It would have been simpler for him to shift and talk to her. However, he just wanted to continue his journey. Although his kind rarely took wolf-form during the darkness hours, it was the fastest way for him to travel. Their wolves could run through a forest with precision and accuracy taking in more things than he could as a male.

  “How is this possible?” Hesitantly she began to reach out as if she was going to stroke his fur, but she pulled back at the last minute curling her fingers into her palm.

  Licking across her knuckles he let her know it was okay to touch him. As a matter of fact his wolf very much wanted to be caressed by her.

  Slowly, she placed her hand along the side of his neck and gave him a short pet.

  Sitting still, he waited for more.

  It came in the form of a light scratch that ended in a long stroke down his side.

  His wolf wanted to roll over and allow her to rub his belly. But, he held on to his senses and remembered why he was in the woods away from his clan and how he knew her.

  There was a small smile on her lips and her color had returned some. She appeared to recover just from the brief touch with him.

  He stepped back. This shit couldn’t be happening. Something was wrong. Things were happening with this human that should never be. Like how she had managed to track him through the forest. He hadn’t been running, because he was attempting to work things out in his mind. However, he’d been moving at a steady pace in the opposite direction she had gone. So, how did she locate him?

  “I don’t understand how this wolf can be you. But, in here.” She pressed her palm, the same one that had touched him, flat against the place between her breasts. “I know it. Not sure why or how. I also know that over the last two hours something has been very wrong with me, Haulcon.” Shaking her head, she went on, “But, now…I’m okay?” Her voice and eyes were full of questions.

  Questions he should have answers to, but didn’t. If she were valf this would be simple. He’d shift, drag her body to the dirt, fuck her as he released his serum into her and she’d be biting him on the side of the neck and doing the same. They’d fuck for hours, joined in the most carnal of ways. Days later they would return back to their clan as one.

  As much as his body seemed to relish the idea of splaying her body spread-eagle on the ground and burying his cock deep inside of her, it wasn’t something that should be done. It wouldn’t be done. His voice growled within his own head. A warning to himself.

  It was time to end this. On a breath he shifted. As a full valf male, he barely eve
n felt the supernatural burning in his joints or the lightheadedness when the shift happened. The transition was just as smooth as breathing for him.

  Adair gasped.

  “You should not have followed me.”

  “Wow.” Her eyes were stretched wide with amazement. “I’d been told that you all could change into different kinds of animals. But to see it…”

  He frowned and remained silent on that. It was not in their nature to share anything with humans or even clarify misconceptions about their abilities.

  His silence must have made her nervous. Her gaze lowered and rose twice, as she took in his nude form crouched before her.

  “I know. I tried not to come after you.” She dragged a hand along the top of her hair pulled back into a ponytail. The bunch of hair extending beyond the band that held it was short. Some strands were out and stuck up in disarray as if she had pulled at them in her stress.

  For a moment he wondered how it would look down, did the end fall below her chin or brush the top of her shoulder. He pushed the thought away. They were not here on a social meeting. Besides, she was not of his kind.

  “Then you should go.”

  “But, I’m not we-ll.” Her brow creased as the words came out broken, hesitant…unsure. She rubbed her stomach and felt her face as if she were searching for signs of sickness. No nausea? No headache or dizziness? No allover ache?

  He could hear the thoughts running through her mind.

  “You appear fine to me now. You should go.” He repeated again. He would have rose and walked away from her, but his nudity had seemed to disturb her so greatly the last time he remained in the position he was in.

  Titling her head, she looked at him and appeared a little flummoxed by the situation. “I am, strangely enough.” She licked her lips.

  His gaze tracked the pink glide. If she were a valf and his mate, it would make sense that she had felt ill away from him. Not that two mates had to always been side by side, but there were ways to part that would keep the separation ache at bay. But she wasn’t of his kind. He was willing to chalk up the symptoms she was feeling to how much of her blood he had consumed. Generally a little over a pint would do a valf in a standard feeding. However, he had taken more than normal. He was sure what he consumed had been closer to three pints. The reason it had taken her several hours to recuperate.