Valiant Heart (5 page)

Chapter Six

Images of Him

It was past midnight and I needed sleep, yet here I was, tossing and turning on a huge down filled mattress, alone and feeling what? Lonely? My sister Huntresses were all enjoying the Hunters, and I was used to having them with me. On the road for months, sleeping under the stars on the hard ground, the smell of grass and trees comforting, the sounds of the forest all around. My sisters stayed up to keep watch, sharpening their weapons, the rhythmic zing of metal pulled from scabbards.

That's what I was missing.

Not Lance.

I snorted.

Not my Hunter whom I barely knew, whose smell I couldn't get out of my nose. Whose touch had left a ghostly imprint on my flesh.

I trailed my fingers over my stomach, my mind replaying his fingers there, on my body.
In
my body.
Mmmm
, it had been good, I'd admit to that. I hadn't been with a man in years, no cock to fill me for so long. It had felt so good. Too good.

I shifted my hands up to my breasts, cupping as he had, thumbing my nipples roughly, pinching and flicking. I bit my lip, remembering how his callused palms had abraded me just right, my nipples aching to be soothed and suckled. I slipped one hand down my body, fingers gliding along soft skin. Past the elastic of my white cotton panties and straight to my clit. I stroked myself, fingers dipping between my pussy lips, coating in my juice, hooking into my hole to pump slowly. My thoughts returned to how he'd thrust into me, stretching me with his impressive cock.

If I could have him without strings…

I moaned at the thought, circling my clit once again, alternating from one nipple to the next as I pictured him with me, hands all over, dick embedded, rocking me hard and fast, unyielding to my cries. I came with a low groan, my orgasm rolling out in one long wave that went on forever.

God, what had that man done to me? Why was he so damn addictive?

The door of the room opened softly, light from the hall streaming in for a brief moment. I breathed in the familiar scent, smiled and pulled my fingers out of my panties. Moments later, the weight on the bed shifted and the covers pulled away from me, to be replaced by a warm soft body.

“You're not participating in the festivities?” I murmured with a smile as I turned to my side.

“I got my fill. No need to linger,” Greer whispered as she lifted her arms to cradle her head. “So, you almost got bonded, huh?”

“Almost.” I sighed, my heart hammering at the memory. “Following your orders. You used Talia's powers on me, Greer. It was unfair.”

Greer chuckled as she propped herself up on her elbow. Her eyes were in line with mine, sparkling with mischievous delight as they always did. “I didn't mean to do that. You know how it is when I siphon powers like that. Takes me a bit to figure out how they work. Either way though—” she tapped my nose with her finger “—you might want to consider it.”

I jolted at her words, blinking hard as I shifted away from her slightly. “What? You can't be serious!”

Her lips curled into a devilish smile. “You would gain the ability to command Huntresses, an asset that the Queen would prize. You'd be the leader you've always craved to be.”

And the allure of that was something I so desperately wanted to taste. I burned for leadership. I wanted to command my own teams of powerful warriors. But… “I would lose myself to him, Greer.” My voice was husky, pent up emotion there, anger at the suggestion, revolt, embarrassment at the admission. He weakened me. My body was still vibrating from my orgasm…a release achieved on a fantasy of him.

“You don't belong to anyone, Ariana. To thy own self be true. I have never doubted your loyalty to the tribe. No bond will put that asunder.”

I shuddered at her words, a mockery of the ones in the vow. I doubted her wisdom in this. Maybe she didn't remember what it felt like to be bonded. Her wounds were so old she must not recall the power of the bond.

“I don't think…”

Greer sighed as she rolled to her back, arms once again up to cradle her head. “It's just a suggestion. You do what you need to do.”

“The pull I feel toward him, it's dangerous. I fear what the bond will do.”

“It's only as powerful as you let it be, sister. Trust me. I've had centuries to think on it.”

Greer was right. Her experience trumped anything I felt. Her immortality had held despite the fact that both her Hunter and her wolf were dead. She was hundreds of years old, and powerful beyond anything I'd ever experience in another Huntress—besides, of course, the Queen herself.

Greer was a hardened warrior who had been one of the founding Huntresses, establishing Amazon North with Queen Valentina when the chaos had settled and the witch burnings had ceased. They shared a gruesome story of betrayal, Greer and our Queen, one which made them both enemies to their Hunters and vice versa.

She had had a reason to sever the bond—had been justified in killing her torturer, her Hunter. I did not. Lance was an innocent man who believed so wholly in the bond that my best path would have to be avoidance. Despite the lure of power and leadership, there was no way I could follow through on Greer's suggestion. Not if it ended with Lance's death…and it would have to, because once bonded, I doubted very much he would let me go. I was a warrior, yes, but not a murderer.

“Get some sleep, Ariana. We've got a hard day ahead.” Greer let out a long breath and adjusted her body.

I sighed as I turned away from her, the sound of her breathing like a soothing balm to my soul. My sisters had my loyalty, my heart and my vow. Greer was right—no man would put that asunder.

Someone needed to tell my damn traitorous body that because when I closed my eyes, all I could see was him.

We were all in attendance at sunrise for the laying to rest of the Hunter, Allan. There were a lot of dark circles under everyone's eyes and stifled yawns all around. Much caffeine was in order after the long night we'd had.

I shifted my gaze to Greer, frowning as I replayed our conversation only hours before. I'd had unsettling dreams for the brief time I'd been asleep. A psychic would argue, ones that foreshadowed things to come, but I had no such power of prophesy, usually just an uncanny sense of instinct. All silent right now. I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

My dreams were filled with blood and pain. Wounds that I couldn't heal. Loss so profound that I couldn't survive, and at the center of it all was Lance. I needed to get away from the man, not closer to him.

Greer thought it would be wise to bond with Lance so that I could gain his powers and add to my abilities, but what was the cost? Did I trust myself enough to not fall into the Hunter's thrall that came with the bond? Greer was right—it would give me an advantage and undoubtedly elevate me to commander status, allowing me to lead a group of my own warriors exclusively.

Bittersweet to be sure. It would give me independence from Greer, which might be a good thing. We'd become close over the years that we'd been scouting together, and that wasn't always great when it came to leading a group. Favoritism happened.

I looked over at Lance who stood next to Kelly, his hand on the nape of her neck, and felt a stab of jealousy. I gulped, gave my head a shake. Dangerous emotions kept popping up when I encountered that man. Things that flew against all that I'd come to accept with my tribe. Would I be able to bond with him and then part ways? Would he even let me leave? Probably not, and then the second half of Greer's plan would have to come into play. Would I be able to kill him in order to be free?

My gut said no, warring with the doctrine of the Amazons. Men served a purpose. They were not meant to become soul mates. They were meant to sacrifice sperm, donate power—nothing else that would bind us to them, weaken us to the point of extinction as had happened in the past. The Hunters in particular were not to be trusted. Never again. The motto of the Amazons. Never again would we become blinded to our ultimate agenda. We the Huntresses held all the power against the beasts and we would never be owned again.

The pyre was set aflame, the body of the fallen Hunter turned to ash by Paige's hell fire. It took no longer than a few minutes and then everyone was disbanding. Greer came to my side, staring ahead, watching as Lance and Kelly shared a hug and a few words with their fellow Hunters.

“You will lead the team to Kelly's beast,” Greer said. “I plan to take Talia to Queen Valentina myself.”

Fuck!
“Are you sure that's the wisest course? You're the most familiar with wolf territory and the ritual. Why not let me take the Huntress to the Queen?” I hadn't expected Greer to plan a split—what better way to separate myself from Lance?

“No.” Greer's tone brook no argument. “Talia's powers are strong and she keeps breaking my shackles. I've already had to bind her twice in such a short period of time. I'll meet up with you once you've secured Kelly's wolf and she's gotten her bite.”

“How many will I lead?” We were traveling with twenty Huntresses in total but there was no way I could take that many with me. Venturing into wolf territory was dangerous, and large numbers of Huntresses tended to attract the bastards for some reason.

“Ten, that's the safest. Try not to engage if possible, keep a low profile.” Greer ran a hand through her hair. “It's going to take us half a day, maybe a bit more to get home. We'll spend a day, no more, restocking weapons. I'm going to swap out a few of the women for stronger warriors. I'll expect to hear from you in forty-eight hours with a status update. I also expect that you'll find her wolf in that time. We'll join you at camp with an extra ten warriors, which should give us an advantage when we face Lazarus's pack.” She nodded behind her. “We'll take the caravan, your bike. You'll travel with Harper.”

Ugh.
My stomach pitched. Harper, a warrior capable of teleporting. Whether just herself, small or large groups, it didn't matter—she could do it. It made me barf every single time. “Not my favorite.”

Greer chuckled. “No, but fast and effective. She's been scouting wolf territory for the past few hours, everything is quiet. Gonna get you girls in there within the hour, use the daylight to your advantage.”

“The girls and Lance, you mean.” I sneered as the man himself turned his gaze to me, as if he knew I'd just said his name. “He's coming with, right?”

“I doubt Kelly can be parted from him.” Greer patted me on the back with a hard thump. “Remember what I said. You have a choice. This is the perfect time to weigh the outcomes.” She nodded as Lance and Kelly began to head in our direction. “Besides, he seems to have a thing for the redhead anyway. He's fighting it, but it's there. You could be lucky, take his bond, break it immediately and then foist him onto Kelly for consoling. He'll be in such a whirlwind that he won't even know what happened and he'll need a friend.”

I didn't like the thought of that, Kelly soothing his hurt. But it wasn't all a bad idea. He'd be in such disarray if I broke the bond that Harper could zap him back to Wolves' Bane and he wouldn't have a clue what had happened. The timing would have to be perfect. Kelly would need to have her bite, fresh, high on her power surge, distracted. I'd have to allow the bond to happen and then break it.

“Hmmm, that could work, if I can find a town with available men.” I frowned, knowing that Greer was thinking the same thing I was. If I slept with another man after we'd bonded, the bond would be broken. “We could get him out of the way then and he'd be too much of a mess to argue.” Breaking the bond would devastate him, would make him malleable. “No need to shed his blood. Finding an available man to complete the plan will be a problem though. Wolf territory isn't exactly highly populated.”

Greer shrugged. “Doesn't have to be a man.”

I cocked an eyebrow, trying hard not to show my obvious shock.

“Maybe there's something that Ella can do.” Greer greeted the warrior as she sidled up to us. “Ariana may require your services. Do you have anything in your repertoire that can sever a bond to a Hunter?”

Ella was a short, stocky powerhouse of a warrior. Her dark hair cropped, military style, severe and totally in contrast to the huge dimples dotting her cherub-like cheeks. Her blue eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Who needs to sever a bond?” Her eyes shifted to Kelly briefly before returning to Greer.

“No one yet,” I said. “It's just something I'm considering.”

Ella contemplated me, her head tilted to the slightly to the side. “Much power comes from the bond.”

“Yes, and a whole lot of emotional attachment as well,” I snapped.

Ella gave a hard nod and straightened herself. “I may have something. Let me think about it for a bit, see what I can find when we get back to the forest.”

I nodded my thanks. Ella was capable of using what nature had to offer to create potions and powders. She'd then add her unique brand of magic, like a catalyst, to produce some impressive spells. She was a special kind of Huntress, one with a gift that I didn't totally understand or trust. I'd seen the woman do some amazing things with those powers, like construct bombs that could level a house and make a warrior with a mortal wound believe she was in no pain whatsoever. Ella was an exceptionally talented chemist, and we were damn lucky she was on our side.

“You think it's possible? That there's a concoction out there to break the bond?” It was hardly believable, the bond between Hunter and Huntress indestructible unless we were talking… “Without anyone having to die I mean? I'd rather not take on the role of murderer.”

Ella met my eyes with a knowing look. “Let me see what I can do, sister, however the easiest method would be poison of some sort.”

My stomach flipped unpleasantly. “I don't…”