Fang Chronicles: Ivan Read online

  Fang Chronicles: Ivan

  Book VI

  D’Elen McClain

  Published by Bad Luck Publishing

  Copyright 2014 D’Elen McClain

  Bad Luck Publishing

  [email protected]

  http://wickedstorytelling.com

  Fang Chronicles: Ivan

  Fang Chronicles: Book VI

  Printing History

  eBook Edition: October 2014

  All rights reserved including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.

  This is a work of fiction. ALL characters are derived from the author’s imagination.

  No person, brand, or corporation mentioned in this Book should be taken to have endorsed this Book nor should the events surrounding them be considered in any way factual.

  Dedicated to Wendy Higgs

  Just for being you Wendy. Thank you!

  Bibliography

  Writing as D’Elen McClain

  Fang Chronicles – Paranormal Romance

  Amy’s Story*

  Emily’s Story

  Zenya’s Story

  Mandy’s Story

  Dmitri

  Ivan

  Fire Chronicles – Paranormal Romance

  Dragons Don’t Cry

  Dragons Don’t Love (coming soon)

  Writing as Holly S. Roberts

  Completion Series – New Adult Romance

  Play

  Strike

  Kick

  Crimson Series – Vampire Erotic Romance

  Crimson Warrior (novella: Kept An Erotic Anthology)

  Crimson Brothers (coming soon)

  Club El Diablo Series – Kinky Romance

  One Dom at a Time*

  Piercing a Doms Heart

  Touched by a Dom

  Domination in Pink (short and kinky sequel to One Dom at a Time)*

  Two Doms for Angel

  Bad Boy Dom (Bad Boys of Rock)

  Loving Two Doms (Bad Boys of Rock)

  Caught by Two Doms (sequel Two Doms for Angel)

  Temporary Dom (Bad Boys of Rock)

  Writing as Suzie Ivy

  Bad Luck Detective Series – Non-fiction Humor/ Inspirational

  Bad Luck Cadet

  Bad Luck Officer

  Bad Luck in Small Town (coming soon)

  * Free at most outlets

  Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  A Note From The Author

  Social Media Links

  Chapter One

  Talya

  Getting away was easier than I thought, though I was far from safe. I’d gingerly climbed from the trunk of the car and escaped the back parking lot behind Dmitri’s club. My broken leg slowed my progress, but I wasn’t letting it stop me. Physical pain was nothing compared to the sizzling burn of desperation darkening my soul.

  I placed one shaky foot in front of the other. I could do this. I had no choice.

  I did my best to walk normally without drawing attention. The stretch-bandage secured beneath my loose sweatpants didn’t help, but I was determined. Choosing my direction was easy because it didn’t matter which way I went as long as it was away from Dmitri and the bear clan, who would quickly track me down once they discovered my absence.

  The city smelled different; car fumes, garbage, people. Human people. They went about their day—walking, talking on cell phones, and ignoring the sights and sounds around them. They didn’t feel hunted.

  I did.

  Maybe it was my imagination. Maybe Dmitri and his clan wouldn’t care that I disappeared. I knew Nicolas and Zenya wouldn’t. And that was why I could no longer live with my kind. Not that bear shifters were my kind. I was cat. When all was said and done—the enemy. It didn’t matter that a mixed clan of wolves and cats adopted me or that I was under the protection of the bear clan. Loving their vampire leader, Dmitri, made me the enemy. I tried to kill his chosen mate. I wanted to simply lie down and die, but I was a coward. Maybe running was the way to end it. I knew little about humans or their world. Humans were weak, and even with a missing left forearm, I was strong.

  I kept my head down and walked as unobtrusively as possible through every puddle in my path. It had rained the day before and the stagnant water was as foul as the smells around me, maybe worse. My clan, with the help of the bears, would track my scent, and I was hoping the diluted, putrid smell of the water would throw them off.

  Thirst and hunger set in. Ignoring my growling stomach and dry mouth, I continued my journey to nowhere. Even with my body’s discomfort, the noise unsettled me. People talked, laughed, yelled, and even whispered. My sensitive ears magnified each sound until my head pounded.

  Everything hurt now.

  Nikka had broken my leg during our fight for Dmitri. It would be a week before it healed completely without a vampire’s bite. They denied me the quicker healing option because of the rules of challenge. The animal half of me could compartmentalize the pain. My human side cursed every step.

  I traveled from street to street the entire day, sometimes circling an area because it interested me. I passed a large park and decided to return when full night haunted the sky. I would rest in the trees, but not now. Right now I needed to stay on the move.

  The sun was going down when I hit an area that was darker, smellier, and thankfully quieter than where I’d come from. I noticed two male humans ahead—standing in the shadows at the entrance of an opening between two buildings. They wore black jackets, jeans, and drilled me with unfriendly eyes as I approached.

  “Other way, bitch.” The larger one nodded his head to the other side of the street.

  I heard him and at the same time heard the thud of flesh meeting flesh, heavy breathing, and low groans. Not my problem. I had enough to worry about. I turned away and stepped off the curb.

  “You’ll need to fucking kill me because I won’t give you what you douchebags want.”

  The words came out between painful gasps. The male voice sounded young. Too young. I walked halfway across the street as I moved even with the two men. I stopped and turned. They no longer watched me; their attention was inside the alley.

  Now I could see. Deeper in the recessed darkness, two men held a scrawny kid between them while a third systematically beat him. Counting the two guards, it was five against one—not good odds if you wer
e human and especially if you were a child.

  Not my problem, not my problem.

  I took another step without looking and crunched something beneath my foot. The two guys standing guard immediately turned my way.

  “Fucking bitch. I told you to get out of here.” The one who spoke took a step in my direction.

  I smiled, showing my human teeth. Now it was my problem.

  Standing my ground, the guy came at me fast. His partner didn’t seem concerned; he’d immediately turned his attention back to the inner alley. My guy had his hand raised in a classic backhand even before he was close enough to strike. I stepped into him and grabbed his arm. Too quick to see, my knee met his groin. I jerked the arm I held downward and gave his face a re-modification with the same knee. In two seconds he was out cold. I’d been trained to pull my punches and kicks when fighting humans, so I did. Kinda. I didn’t worry about the loud thunk he made when he hit the cement because I bound toward the other guy before he had time to peer over his shoulder.

  This would be so much fun if I could shift and relieve some added aggression. My broken leg screamed in agony, but I wasn’t stopping now. The guy in my sights had just started to turn when I grabbed his hair and jerked him backward. He grunted in surprise. As he spun, I released him and punched his throat. He was down and, oops, the strike was too hard. My attention went to the back of the alley.

  The three guys didn’t look my way. Their focus was the kid they were steadily beating to death. I couldn’t tell his exact age; somewhere between ten and thirteen… maybe. Too young for this. His swollen eyes met mine. Blood rolled down his chin, but his lip tipped up at the corner in what I think was a grin. A solid punch to his stomach followed by another to his head ended the smile. I slipped out of my shoes before sliding my pants down my legs.

  I was hungry.

  I shifted, tearing my t-shirt in my haste. With only one front leg and a broken back one, you might think I was weak. No such luck for the three humans in the alley. A growl left my throat at the same time I attacked.

  The final word from the man landing the punches was a short burst from his lips, “Fuck.”

  I was bigger than an average mountain lion and a hell of a lot more powerful. With my jaw pressure and body size, they didn’t have a chance, but Goddess my leg hurt. I tore a large chunk of flesh and muscle out of the side of one of the two guys holding the boy up and pushed him away. The third man tried to run, but I leapt on his back and crushed his spinal column between my teeth, snapping his neck before turning back to the injured man. He tried crawling, but it did no good. I sank my teeth into the side of his neck ripping out his throat.

  Warm, thick blood coated my muzzle and I dropped the sinewy strings of flesh and muscle from my jaws. Yes, I was hungry, but in truth, human meat tasted nasty, and the pain in my broken leg was torturous. I’d fed my hunger for violence and now I needed to get away. I gazed at the boy lying passed out on the ground and turned my eyes to the unconscious man in the street. He’d kill the kid.

  Decisions.

  I shifted to human and hopped on one leg to my clothes. Yeah, I know I looked ridiculous, but even the slight jarring from the ungainly movement hurt like hell. My leg was swollen, but the sweatpants were loose. I hopped around to get them on. When I left the clan territory, I wasn’t wearing underwear or a bra, so the torn t-shirt showed lots of skin. I kept an eye on the guy in the street as I dressed. A soft groan from the alley had me turning back to the boy. He’d risen to his hands and knees before slumping back down.

  I was covered in blood. Even at night, it would be hard to go unnoticed when humans saw me walking through the city. I needed water and food in that order and then a place to rest while my body healed itself.

  The boy pushed up slightly and rolled over. With one eye, the other swollen closed, he watched me wearily. There was no longer a smile on his face. He breathed slowly and I made a wild guess that he had a few bruised or cracked ribs. Mine hurt too, but it was the excruciating pain in my leg that made me want to tear out someone else’s throat.

  “Are you going to finish what they started?” He didn’t smell like fear and his words didn’t show it either.

  I walked forward and stood over him. “You want me to?”

  He slowly moved his head back and forth. “No, but your friends might not care what I want.”

  Who the hell was he talking about? “My friends?”

  “The ones who did this,” the boy said as he waved his hand at the bodies and gave another low groan of pain.

  I gazed into his half-open eye. “I killed them.” I could tell he didn’t believe me, but when I reached down to take his hand he flinched and scooted sideways. I kept my voice steady and my hand out when I said, “I need your help.” Slowly he lifted his trembling hand and I pulled him to his feet. He remained hunched over slightly, obviously suffering great discomfort from the beating. “You need to wrap my leg.”

  He looked me up and down. “What’s wrong with your leg?”

  “It’s broken.”

  He hunched over a little farther. “Yeah, right.”

  I picked up the stretch-bandage that had fallen off after my shift to cat. It needed to go back on, but I wanted it over my sweats. “Yes or no?” I had no time for his shit.

  “You’re serious. You think it’s broken?”

  Were all humans this stupid? “I know it’s broken.” I growled in vexation unable to help myself.

  “Okay, okay, hold onto your panties.”

  Yes, humans were stupid. “I don’t have panties, just the sweats.” I held out the bandage.

  He gave me a strange look then gazed around. “We need to get out of here.”

  “Put the damn bandage on my leg and I’ll drag the men back here.”

  He rolled his eye. “Just sit on it and I’ll move them in here before someone sees and calls the cops.”

  I had no idea what he meant. What was I supposed to sit on? I watched him stumble past the man at the entrance to the alley and go to the guy in the street. He grunted and groaned, but managed to drag him into the alley. Using my one arm, I half lifted the other man and tossed him about ten feet.

  “Fuck me.”

  I looked the boy up and down—skinny and way too young. “No, thank you. Bandage?” I held it out to him, though I figured he’d take off running.

  He surprised me and grabbed it from my hand. “You really did fucking kill them.”

  Crap, hero worship. That’s all I needed. “Just wrap it tight, but not so tight it cuts off the circulation.”

  He squatted down while looking up. “Does only having one arm make the other one super strong?”

  This kid had quite the imagination. He just didn’t know he was looking at his worst nightmare. “Something like that.”

  He began wrapping. It didn’t help the pain, but I knew it would give my leg stability. I’d pushed my endurance further than I should have.

  “Where do you live?” he asked.

  “I don’t.”

  “You don’t live anywhere?” I don’t think he believed me.

  “No.”

  He looked around before bringing his gaze back to mine. “You can stay with me. It’s not the greatest, but you can get cleaned up and use some of my mom’s clothes.”

  He was such a stupid kid. “What about your mom?”

  “She hasn’t come home for a week. She’s tweaked out somewhere and won’t be back until the money runs out or the guy kicks her out.”

  “How old are you?”

  He didn’t blink his one good eye. “Eighteen.”

  I stepped on his toes and put unhuman pressure downward. “How old are you?”

  “Oww. I’ll be seventeen in a few weeks, but don’t say anything. I don’t need the bitches from CPS knowing my mom isn’t home again.”

  I saw the panic he tried to hide with toughness. “I won’t. How far is it?”

  “The apartment’s about a mile. Can you hoof it?”

&nb
sp; The term “hoof” made me hungry. “Yes. What’s your name?”

  “Rondy. What’s yours?”

  “Talya.”

  Chapter Two

  Talya

  We held each other up and managed a slow hobble. My cat didn’t like it—never show weakness, but I’d used up my reserves saving the kid and I had no choice.

  The kid, Rondy, didn’t look sixteen, but I believed him. He was taller than me by a couple of inches. He was just too skinny, or maybe gangly was a better word, and it made him appear much younger. He also smelled of human blood and unwashed body. It wasn’t pleasant. I knew his ribs hurt, but his legs were fine. My leg hurt so bad it was hard to breathe much less walk. We passed a few people and thankfully the ones in this neighborhood minded their own business.

  Rondy kept up a running commentary the entire way, and I noticed his eyes scan our surroundings constantly. “So are you a ninja warrior or something?”

  Pain made my breathing erratic, but he didn’t seem to care. “I don’t know what that is.”

  “Humph. Who taught you to fight?”

  His question made me sad. “Just some people I knew.”

  “What you did by tossing that guy so far, that was the fucking shit.”

  I didn’t want to talk about it, so I changed the subject to Rondy. “Why were those guys beating on you?”

  He didn’t look at me. “That’s my shit and not yours.”

  He might change his mind about telling me “his shit” if I went furry. I’d worry about it later. Right now, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it to his apartment. “How much farther?”

  “Around this corner and then up a bunch of stairs. That’s the hard part. We can rest before we start climbing.”

  I was screwed. We made it around the corner, and half a block later Rondy led me into an old, rundown building. He took me to a side door, which led to the stairwell.

  “I’m on the fourth floor. Can you make it?” he asked while holding his ribs, making his own pain obvious.