Scent of Valor (Chronicles of Eorthe #2) Read Online Free Page A

approved, but she was back in Europa with those who had refused to board the ship. Mother had raised her to act like a vampire lady. Pemma’s wolf nature was omega, which made being Ewald’s concubine easier. Omegas were the caregivers of the pack, the easy lovers, the artists. She didn’t care about climbing pack hierarchy. She just wanted to love them.
    Maxim was always trying to get her in trouble, especially with Ewald. Ever since she’d turned down a chance to warm his bed last winter, he’d been her worst enemy. Too bad he had the courage to follow their master on what most called a fool’s journey.
    Ewald held the bronze tube to his eye and scanned the horizon. The eyepiece was a vampire wonder. It helped them see things in the distance much clearer. “By God, Pemma, you’re right. Land ho!” he shouted.
    Other sailors picked up his call.
    She clasped her hands. “We’re almost there.”
    Ewald hugged her and pressed a kiss to her mouth, branding his claim upon her flesh. The familiar touch sent a blaze of warmth through her body. His strong arms pulled her firmly against him. Vampires couldn’t mark females as shifters did, but no one could ever doubt whom she belonged to. He pulled away just enough to speak. “You saw that with just your eyes?”
    She nodded, a little breathless.
    “I shall call you Hawkeye Pemma from now on.”
    “Oh yes, please do, especially when Maxim is around.” She shot a daggered look over their master’s shoulder toward the cat.
    Maxim hissed and climbed back to the poop deck with his stupid grace.
    Chuckling, Ewald released her. “You’re incorrigible.”
    “I thought that’s what you liked about me.”
    “It’s one of your finer traits.” He rested his arm around her slight shoulders and leaned into the ocean breeze. “Smell that?”
    “The salt? It’s hard not to.”
    “No, freedom.”
    “Oh.” Freedom meant different things for different people. For her, it meant no more mother hovering over her every decision and a chance to actually live like wolf shifters should, out in the wild and out of the cities.
    Ewald tossed her one of those looks. The kind that said “you’re still a pup”. In his defense, his age tripled hers. His idea of freedom was running from the marriage his father had arranged for him to an older female vampire. She must have been at least two hundred years old. Young by his kind’s standards yet still older than him.
    Heavy footsteps fell behind them. Pemma’s alpha had joined them staring at the land. “My, it looks green.” He bent and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. “Good morning, Pemma.”
    “Good morning, Gramp.” She fingered a new tear in his leather kilt. “I can mend this.”
    “No doubt you can, but you’ve other duties.” He didn’t mention what those were. She already knew. Ewald was her duty.
    “I saw the land first without using the eyepiece.”
    “I don’t think the rule of finders keepers will apply to this,” Gramp teased as his eyes traveled to where Ewald’s arm rested on her shoulders.
    The vampire stared ahead at their destination and didn’t notice.
    Gramp gave her an approving nod. For as long as their pack had been owned by Ewald’s family, there had been an omega in one of the family’s beds. This task had fallen upon her ever since she’d caught her master’s eye. It was the easiest way for the pack to keep apprised of information. Her alpha had known of Ewald’s plans to journey to the New World before Ewald’s own father, and Gramp had acted upon this plan quickly.
    The promise of open land with hunting rights was a mighty draw for Europa shifters, especially the wolf packs. Cats didn’t mind the crowded cities as much.
    “I don’t want it all. Just a little piece with deer living on it.” She’d never been on a hunt, but the prospect had even her omega blood pumping. “Oh, and rabbits. I love rabbits. They taste so divine when they’re fresh.”
    Darkness didn’t