Dark Series - Dark Legend Part 6

Francesca let out her breath in a rush of relief. She hadn't realized she had been holding it, waiting for his answer. "We both agree. Now we just have to figure out what to do with her."

He shrugged powerful shoulders. "In your mind is the idea that your lawyer will handle the necessary legal actions to gain custody of her. We will take her home with us. It will be necessary to find someone to aid us in her care. I seem to recall there was one family in our homeland that had humans caring for the household. The humans were exceptionally loyal to them. It was several centuries ago. Perhaps it would be worthwhile to find out about them. I was going through various things you had on the computer and this seems like a possible use for such a machine."

Francesca heard her own laughter. Carefree. Happy. It startled her. "You just want an excuse to use the computer. A techno junkie, that's what you are."

He grinned at her. "You have to admit, it is a good idea. There must be some of our people who remember this family and can tell us what they did. If not, we can always take blood from human servants and command them to do our bidding. It is not the way I would prefer to proceed, but it is a viable possibility. We can offer protection in return."

Gabriel had been leaning against the rail beside her. Now he straightened slowly, stretching like a lazy cat. There was no real change in his expression, yet all at once Francesca found she was s.h.i.+vering with fear. Something about him had changed completely. His hands settled around her waist and he lifted her to the bridge. "We are being watched, honey. It is not Lucian, and for that I am most grateful."

"The undead is here." She made it a statement. She felt it now, the creeping evil spreading like a hideous stain across the air. "What can we do?" She had always managed to hide her presence from the vicious killers. Now she was out in the open and it frightened her. She had seen the evidence of their depravity and it sickened her.

"The first thing is to get you to safety. You are a Carpathian woman. You will be his target." His hand was at the nape of her neck, soothing the tension out of her. He was bending over her protectively, like a lover, his mouth very close to hers.

Francesca knew it was all show, but it still made her feel cherished. She had a sudden wild urge to cling to him, to his strength and tranquility. The vampire in no way disturbed him. Gabriel exuded complete confidence in his ability to destroy the creature. "I will draw him out to open ground. When I do, wait until I am certain there is only the one. When I know, I will alert you. You will dissolve into molecules, very tiny, untraceable by any but the best of our hunters. Go to the house and set safeguards. I will stay with you in a mind merge unless I must break away for the kill. Do not try to touch my mind unless you are in danger. There is no need for you to experience such violence." His mouth brushed hers. Velvet soft. He found the corner of her mouth and lingered for just a moment as if he was savoring the feel and taste of her.

Francesca reminded herself it was all for show. Her body didn't need to burst into flame and her heart didn't need to somersault so treacherously. "Tell me what to do to help you. I don't want to leave you alone to fight this thing."

He laughed softly, his warm breath stirring the tendrils of hair at the vulnerable line of her neck. It warmed him that she offered when he could feel her fear beating inside him. He couldn't help himself, he knew he was taking unfair advantage of the situation, using it as an excuse to touch her, to kiss her, to inch forward his claim on her. He told himself to take it slow, not to push her too hard. If only she hadn't been so kissable, it would make his plan much easier. A sneak attack.

Surround her and move in and take over before she realized what was happening.

"I am an ancient hunter, sweetheart. I will have no problem dispatching this unclean one." He kissed her forehead, infinitely gentle, reluctantly releasing her.

Gabriel turned and walked away from her to the end of the bridge. He glanced up at the sky.

"Come out, small one. Come out and face the one you have challenged so openly." His voice was so soft and gentle and compelling, it crawled inside one's head and pushed and pushed until there was only one recourse. Obedience. Gabriel moved farther away from Francesca, toward the open gra.s.sy area. "You have asked for the justice of our people, unclean one, and I can do no other than oblige you. Come to me."

Francesca could not take her eyes from the ancient warrior. He stood tall and broad-shouldered, his hair flowing in the slight breeze. His face was stern yet gentle. He seemed relaxed, yet gave the impression of immense power. His voice was mesmerizing, his manner confident. He looked invincible. She gasped as she saw the vampire emerge from the thick bushes to Gabriel's left. The creature inched forward, fighting every step of the way, growling and spitting, hissing with hatred.

She had never seen a vampire so close and he was hideous. The eyes were sunken and red- rimmed. The teeth were rotted, jagged, and stained a dark color. The flesh on him seemed to sag as if it didn't quite fit.

More than the looks of the man, it was the cunning, crafty hatred in the repulsive creature that frightened her. Francesca, as far away from him as she was, could still sense the stench of depravity that surrounded him. She made herself look at the creature, made herself feel its evil. It was important to realize just what Gabriel had faced his entire life. This monster. How many of them? How often? How many had he known personally, grown up with before they had turned?

She had thought her life difficult and solitary, yet staring at the undead, she began to understand just what his life must have been like.

All those centuries she had viewed him as a hero, a revered legendary protector of immortals and mortals alike. Now she recognized just what being a hunter entailed. His own people had feared his power and skills. Males would have kept away from him, fearing he might later have to hunt and destroy them. He could never afford to have friends. Worse, his beloved brother had become a vampire and Gabriel had been forced to track him, battling him again and again over the centuries.

"I can help."

"You can do as I instructed. I am in more danger having to worry about protecting you. He will seek to use you. When he realizes he cannot defeat me, he will try to destroy you in retaliation." He sent her a wave of warmth. "Thank you, Francesca. I will join you soon at home."

Gabriel turned his attention to the vampire, who, free from the enthrallment of his voice, was beginning to stalk him. Gabriel smiled, his teeth immaculately white. "I see that you are in a hurry to have your sentence carried out. I am of ancient blood, a true defender of our people. I am Gabriel. You know of me, you have grown up on the tales of my exploits. There is no way to defeat one such as I. Come, accept your sentence quietly, with dignity, remembering the great Carpathian you once were."

The vampire hissed again, flames leaping in his red eyes, his feet dragging him ever closer despite his resolve to attack on his own terms. The sound of Gabriel's voice was so pure and true it grated on him, actually caused him pain. He could not face that voice any more than he could have looked at a reflection of himself in the mirror. He could not ignore the compulsion woven in the notes of the voice; he had no choice but to move ever closer to the hunter. The words undermined his confidence in his own ability to battle and destroy. Who could defeat such a hunter? How many others had fallen before him to this centuries-old warrior?

The vampire shook his head hard, chanting in his mind in an attempt to counteract the spell the hunter had ensnared him in. No matter how hard he tried to break away, his feet continued to walk forward. The terrible voice continued, low and pure and very gentle. "You are not capable of denying me. I forbid you to s.h.i.+ft your shape. You will come to me and receive the justice of our true Prince."

Gabriel didn't move, not one step. He stood quietly, hands at his sides, his face portraying no emotion. No rage. No remorse. Only his eyes were alive, smoldering with intensity. Relentless.

Merciless. The watchful eyes of a predator. They gleamed with menace, with ferocity. Still, the vampire could not stop his approach. He was snarling now, his legs dragging as he thrashed and fought to keep from moving forward, to keep from obeying that soft, gentle voice. The voice of death.

It went on and on. Soft and persuasive, persistent, compelling.

Francesca knew she should obey Gabriel. She dissolved into a fine mist, and moved farther away from the combatants. She had never seen anything as terrifying as the vampire. He exuded evil, yet Gabriel stood calmly, tall and straight, unbelievably beautiful in his light and truth. She saw him as an angel with a sword, a dark guardian of the gate, defender of those less powerful. He took her breath away. And she was truly proud of him. Proud of his decision to make the sacrifices that he had.

The vampire did his best to evaporate, found he could not do so. It was as if his cells and tissue would no longer respond to his commands. The hunter had somehow managed to ensnare him, to trap him with his voice so that his flesh-and-blood body would only respond to the purity of those notes, to that perfect tone.

Furious, the creature turned its hideous face back toward Gabriel, its head swaying back and forth like a reptile's, his eyes glowing with fury. A long slow hiss escaped between his jagged, broken teeth. Over Gabriel's head a large tree branch cracked ominously and plummeted to earth.

Francesca felt her heart slam painfully, the air catch in her lungs, but Gabriel merely lifted his hand so the branch was deflected away from him, flung off to the side a good distance from where he remained so calmly. "You are young to have chosen such a path. Losing one's soul is for the aged and weak, yet you made your choice so soon. Why is that?"

"The only chance of salvation any of us have is to acquire a woman. The Prince has chosen his favorites to give the women to. There is no hope for the rest of us unless we take one for ourselves."

The undead surrept.i.tiously dropped his hand to his side to see whether he could shape-s.h.i.+ft if he concentrated on one area of his body. His arm rippled with fur, his nails lengthening.

There was a rush of wind, unexpected, off the surface of the lake. The wind hit the creature full in the chest, driving deep, a heavy blow more heard than felt. The vampire blinked and stared at Gabriel, who was standing directly in front of him, his arm extended at full length. Shock spread across the undead's face. He looked down, wondering why he couldn't see the hand on the end of Gabriel's arm. It was buried deep in the wall of his chest.

There was a loud sucking sound as Gabriel extracted the vampire's heart, stepping away at the same time. The vampire screamed and screamed, the sound hideous. Tainted blood spewed into the air like a geyser. The creature reached for the hunter as he fell, his body flopping helplessly.

Above their heads lightning arced from cloud to cloud, slammed to earth in a bluish white streak of pure energy. It incinerated the heart even as it bathed the hunter's hands clean of the poisonous blood.

Gabriel's movements were graceful and flowing, revealing power and coordination like those of a dancer, a warrior. He lifted his hand once more and directed the bolt to the body of the hapless creature. It turned to ash at once, disintegrating before his eyes.

He turned then slowly, a lonely figure against the night sky, his face in the shadows as he looked at the spot where Francesca remained. She s.h.i.+mmered into solid form, her large eyes locked on his. "Are you all right?" She moved fast, a mere blur as she came close to him. Her hand found his, her fingers lacing through his.

At once he felt peace stealing into him, deep within his tortured soul. She had a healing power unlike any other he had ever experienced. He had taken a life, one of so many. Gabriel had dedicated the remainder of his life to hunting his twin. Over the years he had chased Lucian almost exclusively, only rarely stopping to destroy the undead he came across. It had been years and it was the first kill he had made since finding his lifemate. He felt emotion. Not guilt exactly.

He accepted his duty as a sacred responsibility. But the taking of a life in front of someone like Francesca bothered him. She was so pure, so compa.s.sionate, so good. She had been healing for all the centuries that he had been destroying.

Gabriel avoided her enormous black eyes, the innocence there. Without emotion, it was far easier to face those around him, those who feared him. He was used to the whispers, to the way people moved out of his way. He was used to the fear in their minds and hearts. He was needed, yet never accepted.

Her small hand moved up his arm, a curiously intimate gesture that left him weak and warm inside. She was crawling inside him. Winding her way deep into his very soul. He was unprepared for that. He knew now just what a lifemate was. How important she was. Intellectually he had known Carpathian women were the light to their men's darkness. He had accepted Francesca and what must be between them. Their union meant not only his continued survival, but also guaranteed he would not join Lucian in the ranks of the undead.

For that alone he had respected Francesca. Wanted Francesca. He was totally unprepared for the jealous streak that made it difficult not to dispose of Brice. He was totally unprepared for the savage demands his body made when he was near her. More than anything, he was unprepared for his heart melting when she was sad or hurt or felt tired. He had not counted on his reaction to her at all. He wanted to hear her voice all the time, watch her smile, see the way her face lit up, her eyes so soft and melting, so beautiful. He thought about her far too much.

"Gabriel." Francesca's voice whispered over him like a soft summer breeze. At once he felt sweat beading on his body in reaction. "You asked me to leave this place and I should have, but please don't feel ashamed or embarra.s.sed that you had to do such an important job in front of me. You think your talent less than mine."

"You save lives, I destroy them." Just the touch of her fingers was a miracle to him. The scent of her, clean and fresh and feminine. He had never noticed that about women before. The way they smelled; yet now she filled his lungs and he wanted to always have her there. "I am not certain killing is considered a talent."

"The undead are no longer alive. You know that. They have chosen to lose that which makes them live. Vampires are monsters without equal, merciless, living only for depravity and the rush of the kill. Without you to stand guard, Gabriel, there would be no way to hide the existence of our people. Even now, a small minority of humans hates the very idea of us. They have a society of people, professionals and others, who hunt us down to kill us. It seems to me that without you, our people would long ago have been hunted to extinction."

A small, pleased smile escaped before he could stop it. She had a way about her. There was no doubt in his mind why Brice wanted her. It wasn't because she was a healer, as Brice was. It wasn't because her Carpathian beauty drew males to her. It was the entire package. Francesca. His Francesca. "You give me far too much credit," he answered her softly. "Thank you for that. Thank you for making a difficult situation easy. I did not expect to feel this way." He flashed her another smile. "These emotions are difficult to control."

She tilted her head to look up at him. It should have been declared a sin to look as good as he did.

He made b.u.t.terfly wings brush at her stomach, made her heart somersault at the most unexpected times. His eyes could create a firestorm in her with just one smoldering, brooding look. He could melt a woman, any woman, at twenty paces. Francesca cleared her throat, trying hard not to blush, suddenly remembering he was more than likely a shadow in her mind, reading her all too intimate thoughts. "We should start for home."

"You want to walk or do you feel like flying?" He asked it gently, unwilling to influence her decision one way or another. She always chose the human way. She would have allowed herself to be struck by Skyler's monster of a father in order to preserve her way of life. Her image. He wanted her to accept that she was Carpathian. Wholly Carpathian. It was too soon for that, he knew, but a sign that she was weakening just a little would give him hope.

Francesca linked their fingers once more. "We have plenty of time before the sun rises. Perhaps we should walk and discuss further how to manage Skyler."

Chapter Six

Francesca averted her eyes as they walked along the empty streets hand in hand. He was so intensely male, moved so fluidly. She found herself wanting to brush the waves of his hair, smooth the lines from his face. His mouth was so perfect. She glanced at him from beneath her lashes. Her lips tingled, softened, aching to feel his. There was the sound of his voice when he talked to her, soft, s.e.xy, intimate as sin. Gabriel flashed a smile at her and Francesca felt her instant response.

He brushed against her while they walked, the slightest of movements, yet it set her heart pounding and sent tiny tongues of fire flicking over her skin. Her palms itched to feel the hard muscles of his body, to run her hands over his chest, his belly. She glanced lower at the material stretched so tight. She ached to stroke and caress, to slide her mouth over him just to see his reaction. To hear his groan.

She could think of nothing else. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s ached and between her legs liquid heat gathered in invitation. Her clothes felt c.u.mbersome, far too tight. She wondered what he would do if she suddenly yanked her blouse off and offered him her b.r.e.a.s.t.s right there on the street. All she could think about was Gabriel. His hard body, his hands as they moved over her skin. The way he said the most beautiful things to her. The way he wanted to help a young stranger who didn't know what love was supposed to be. The way he had stepped in front of her body, s.h.i.+elding her before a brute of a man could strike her. Everything about him was extraordinary and she was consumed by a sudden need to hold him, touch him, kiss every inch of him.

A store appeared in front of them, deserted now, long after business hours. "My friend owns this store. She's given me a key and the code for the alarm. I just leave the inventory slip for her and she charges it to my account." Her voice was husky, s.e.xy, a blatant invitation. "We can go in and find a few necessary things for Skyler." Her hand was shaking as she turned the key in the lock.

Gabriel watched her intently with his black velvet eyes as she punched in the code for the alarm system. The store was dark, deserted. The silence was broken only by their ragged breathing. She turned to him, her hand brus.h.i.+ng his face. Her hand found his hair unerringly, fingers tunneling in the thick strands.

A soft sound escaped his throat. "Francesca, you have to stop before there is no going back for us. I am no angel as you often persist in thinking me. I can read every thought in your mind and what you are doing to my body is nothing less than a sin." His thumbs stroked caresses over her jaw, traced the outline of her lips.

"Really?" Her hands tugged at his s.h.i.+rt until it was free from his trousers. Immediately her palms slid over his bare chest, her fingers splayed wide to take in as much of his skin as she could. She traced every defined muscle, aching for him. "I've always thought sinning might be an interesting experience." There was invitation in her voice. Blatant seduction.

His hands bunched in her hair, drew her head back so that his glittering eyes raked her face. "I hunger for you, Francesca, hunger. You cannot touch me with your mind and your body and not expect me to react. It is like a raw craving in my bloodstream and I know it is there for all time. Do you know how many times I dreamed of you? How many times I woke in the night alone without you?"

"I did the same," she said softly, her eyes meeting his steadily. She did not flinch away from the concentration of sheer pa.s.sion gathered in his gaze. "Gabriel-" She whispered his name, leaning forward to press her lips against his chest. Her mouth swirled heat over his pulse. "You talk too much when I need action." She lifted her head so that her dark eyes laughed at him. "You do action, don't you? My clothes are heavy and troublesome," she added as she leaned forward to flick his flat nipple with her tongue. She stood on her toes to press her swelling b.r.e.a.s.t.s tightly against his chest.

Gabriel couldn't bear even the thinnest of materials separating their bodies. He pushed her blouse from her shoulders, tossing it aside in the heat of the moment. His palms slid gently over her bare flesh, tracing the delicate line of her bones, the curve of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His breath escaped his lungs in a long rush as he cupped the soft weight in his hands, his thumbs stroking her nipples.

The store was silent, mannequins staring blankly through the racks of clothes. Gabriel drew her deeper into the interior of the room, away from the windows, into the shadows where they would have privacy from anyone walking along the street. The heat and hunger of the Carpathian mating ritual was upon him, brought on by his lifemate's erotic thoughts. She was beautiful, inside and out. It was exciting and arousing to know that she wanted him so badly, that she knew exactly what she wanted and would demand it of him.

Her lifemate. Francesca reveled in her right to touch his body, to be able to bring him to a firestorm of need so that he burned for her in the same way she burned for him. His touch on her bare skin was torment and pleasure. When he slowly bent his dark head to find her breast with the heat of his moist mouth, she trembled with an urgency she had never known before. Her fingers crushed his hair, holding him to her. "It's almost too much feeling, Gabriel. I don't know if I can take it."

His hands were shaping her body, pus.h.i.+ng aside her clothes while his palms and fingers lingered and savored, stroked and caressed. "Yes you can, you were made for this," he whispered softly. He bent his head lower to lick her flat stomach. "You were made for me." Easily he lifted her to the top of the counter, seating her on the edge. "You were made for long nights, Francesca, long lazy nights of making love." His hands caressed her thighs, and he pressed his palm to her hot wet core, smiled when her body clenched and she shuddered with pleasure. His head dipped lower so that his silken hair brushed her sensitive thighs and a soft moan escaped her throat.

Francesca cried out at the first touch of his warm breath, the first lap of his tongue. "Do you know what you taste like?" He asked the question softly, intimately, in her mind. His voice scorched the inside of her mind as his tongue was scorching the core of her body. She could feel her body winding tighter and tighter, pleasure building in force and intensity so that the release rushed over her with such power she could only clutch his hair as wave after wave swamped her.

"Gabriel." She said his name, breathed his name, drew the masculine scent of him into her lungs.

"Gabriel."

"We are just getting started, beautiful one," he answered softly, raising his head to smile at her.

He was so handsome, so perfect for her, Francesca could feel tears burning in her throat. There in the night, the night that called to something wild in them, he looked at her with eyes burning with desire. Hot. Urgent. Demanding. She had waited so long for his eyes to look at her like that.

And then he was driving sanity from her mind, replacing it with frenzied pa.s.sion. Francesca could think of nothing but having his body buried deep within hers. Once more his palm pushed against her sensitive core, and then he slowly inserted his finger, all the time watching her face, watching the pleasure wash over her as her tight sheath clenched around him.

"It is not enough." There was a smile in his voice; he bent his head to taste her again even as his finger slowly eased out of her. Two fingers stretched her, pushed deep so that she gasped with pleasure. "And that is not enough." There was pure masculine satisfaction in his voice, on his face.

She could feel it again, the hot pressure, molten lava building and building until her entire body was in danger of imploding. He pushed into her, caressed, stroked, his tongue teased and danced.

"This is what I want, honey, more, come for me. I want to see it on your face, I want to know you feel it, too." His voice softened, went husky. "Come for me, my love, just let go."

With a choking cry she let herself be taken over the edge, her body clenching and spiraling out of her control. His mouth heightened the effect, bringing her an endless o.r.g.a.s.m that seemed to go on forever and yet was not enough. She closed her eyes and just gave herself up to pure feeling, to the beauty of his hands and tongue in her body doing slow, merciless things that only made the fire hotter. She was writhing now, her hips unable to stay still beneath the a.s.sault on her senses. Then he added his mind, thrusting deeply into hers, picturing things he wanted to do before he did them, so that she could feel her body through his mind, the silken heat, the clenching, tight muscles.

Francesca could feel Gabriel's mounting desire, the way his body burned and ached, hardening to the point of pain. His hands were becoming rougher, more demanding, and she reveled in the thought of his own loss of control. "I want you inside me, Gabriel," she murmured softly, a demand.

"I want your body in mine. I don't want you to treat me as if I might break either." She said it deliberately, knowing what it would do to his body, knowing he was caught up in the same storm of fire as she was.

She looked beyond him to the bank of mirrors, saw his perfectly formed masculine body, the defined muscles, the long s.h.i.+ny hair, and her body fragmented again, an explosion of such force it rocked her, shook her, so that she cried out with the fury of it. "Gabriel, now, right now."

"On the floor, where I can go deep, I want to be so deep inside you, you will never get me out." The admission was torn from him as he dragged her from the counter and laid her on the thick carpet.

He followed her down, needing her so much he was thick and hard and aching with urgency.

Francesca lifted her hips to meet him as he surged forward, penetrating her, filling her, her body slick and wet and hot, coiling around his tightly. Her breath escaped; his left his body. The rush was addicting and complete. Gabriel caught her hips in his hands, and set a rhythm, using hard, sure strokes that drove deeper and deeper to find her soul.

She turned her head to look at them in the mirror, to see the beauty of their bodies coming together in perfect accord. His face was etched with concentration, with ecstasy, with total focus.

She knew what he wanted before he did, every small adjustment of her body so he could penetrate even deeper, fill her until they were both gasping with the pleasure of it. She lifted her head, watching him intently as she flicked his chest with her tongue, lapped at a bead of moisture. His hands tightened, his body clenched. Her teeth nipped him gently, sc.r.a.ped in a caress over his skin.

Gabriel threw back his head, his long hair flying out in a silken halo for one moment. His body took hers, harder and faster, on and on, winding her body tighter until she thought they would both spin out of control. She swirled her tongue lazily.

"I will burn up!"

His voice was nearly pleading, a command, a plea, a husky, sensual caress. Francesca rewarded him, sinking her teeth deep to join them together body and soul and mind. White lightning arced between them and set them on fire. Her body was no longer her own, but his to do with whatever he needed, whatever he wanted. His body belonged to her. A fair exchange when she was crying out with her release, soaring into s.p.a.ce, riding the waves of the sea.

Gabriel went with her, shouting her name to the heavens, to the silent watching mannequins, into an unnamed place of sheer feeling. Francesca swept her tongue across the two tiny pinp.r.i.c.ks, gasping for breath, her heart pounding out the same rhythm as his, shocked at the intensity of their wild lovemaking.

Gabriel held her close to him, bracing himself with one hand to keep his weight from crus.h.i.+ng her.

"Are you all right?" he asked gently. He brushed her hair with his free hand, his dark gaze searching hers soberly.

"Of course I'm fine. It was beautiful, beyond words. I wanted you, Gabriel. You are so careful of me."

She traced his mouth with a fingertip. "I appreciate your consideration, I really do, but I am a strong woman and I make my own decisions. I would not be lying beneath you, your body in mine, unless it was exactly what I desired."

She was in his mind, she could feel his guilt, yet he was a very adept ancient. There was something else there, something she couldn't figure out.

He bent his head and kissed her. Thoroughly. Completely. A kiss that melted her insides and brought unexpected tears to her eyes. "I am amazed at you, Francesca. I thought I would never be surprised in this world again, by anything or anyone, but you are beyond anything I have ever known." He kissed her again, gently this time, leisurely. Reluctantly he withdrew from her, moving away from her to climb easily to his feet. He reached down and drew her up. "The floor must be hard. I think we will need a bed next time." He said the words carefully, as if afraid she would think he was pressuring her.

Francesca couldn't help herself; it was rather exhilarating to have so much power over an ancient Carpathian. She leaned forward and gave him a kiss of her own. Slow and hot and blatantly wanting more. "I will never be able to come to this store again without thinking of this night." She moved away from him, cleaning and clothing herself in the easy manner of her people. There were tremendous advantages to being Carpathian, things she had been unable to do while keeping up the illusion of being human. It was fun, enjoyable, those little details she had tried to keep out of her mind.

"I'll find a few things for Skyler while you try to catch your breath," she teased, flas.h.i.+ng him a saucy grin.

He followed her around the store, watching her carefully choose clothing she thought the young teen would be comfortable with. He knew she intended to buy her all the latest fas.h.i.+ons, but this first shopping trip was simply to provide comfort. He found a stuffed animal, a fluffy wolf with bright blue eyes, and was immediately drawn to it. "I want to get this for her. It is telling me it needs to go home with us."

Francesca laughed at him. "That is from Dimitri's foundation. He guards the wolves in the wilds of Russia now and writes books with beautiful photographs. He was a child when you knew him, do you remember? A portion of the sales goes to his wolf foundation. He has saved many of our wolf brethren from an early demise or capture."