Lycan Warrior Read Online Free Page A

sound of a gasp in Katya’s tent and he rose from the ground, his body tensing. He trained his ears on the sounds inside the tent and heard Katya moaning, her breathing laboured. Concerned, he flung the flap back and entered the tent.
    The candles were out, but there was enough light from the moon’s glow coming in from the open entrance to make him see she was distressed. He rushed to her side.
    “Katya, wake up,” he said thickly, lowering himself on the edge of her cot. She whimpered and his heart thudded at the look of anguish on her face. Her pretty features were drawn tight and the edge of her closed eyes glistened. She was crying in her sleep.
    Malek was unmanned. Grim-faced he placed a gentle hand on her cheek and leaned closer to her. “Katya, wake up,” he repeated, his tone gentler this time.
    She did and looked at him with confusion on her face.
    “You were having a terrible nightmare,” he said.
    “I left all those women behind,” she whispered. “My God, Elizabeth is still there.” Her face crumbled and she began to sob.
    Without saying a word, he slid his hands beneath her and lifted her off the cot, gathering her in his arms. He held her tight against his chest, wondering whose heart was beating that fast, his or hers?
    “You can’t imagine what it was like having silver pressed on your neck,” she continued, her voice muffled against his chest, “being ravaged by two or three wolves at a time.”
    He felt the blood drain from his face and a white hot rage welled in his chest. “You escaped and that’s the important thing. How?” he asked running a tender hand down her hair. He felt a tremor run through her.
    “One of Balkathan’s guards helped me. Balkathan called him Gar. He was his chief guard.”
    He heard her broken sigh and his Lycan heart stirred with an inexplicable need to soothe her pain.
    “I went mad in isolation, and I don’t remember much, but I do remember one night when I was sobbing in my cell and Gar entered. I grabbed his hand and cried for him to help me. I remember him staring at me coldly, but something in his dark eyes gripped me. It was a hint of warmth, of compassion, and…and fear. I had glimpsed a part of his humanity Balkathan didn’t control. He tried pulling away from me, but I refused to let go of his hand. Then, I remember sobbing and talking about my mother…how I missed her, and wanted to see her. I told him how she was the only family I had left and that I wanted to be with her one more time. My talk of family was what completely transformed his features and he pulled out his key from his pocket and unlocked my neck brace. He dragged me to the exit, all the while his expression a curious mixture of pain, fear, and grief. I…I think he was fighting Balkathan’s power and was trying hard to help me escape before he lost control of his mind. Malek, we cannot allow the other prisoners the same fate as Gar, forever trapped in Balkathan’s nightmare.”
    “The king will organise his attack upon our return. We go to war in one month.”
    He couldn’t imagine the horrors she must have endured. One thing he knew, she was terrified of men. The only thing she knew of a man’s touch was rape and brutality, he thought grimly as he recalled her violent reaction to him when he had tried to help her out of her trousers and then later when he had stumbled upon her when she’d bathed.
    He didn’t understand why, but something inside him snapped and he desperately wanted to show her tenderness. He wanted her to know his touch was not the same touch as Balkathan’s wolves who had brutalized her. Slowly, he gathered her closer to him and kissed the top of her head as he gently rubbed her back. She immediately stiffened, but to his satisfaction, she did not pull away.
    He placed a hand under her chin and tilted her face as he gazed down at her beautiful features Instinctively, he knew she wasn’t afraid of him. He sensed her wonder as her dark gaze fixed on his