“Damn it, Dusti. Don’t make things up to account for what you don’t want to believe. We’re half-breeds. Part Vampire and Lycan. It’s why we don’t look like wolves. We’re more.” He sighed, sounding frustrated. “Let’s talk about this later. I’m just glad you’re safe. Right now we need to find shelter and get you warm. We’re in no immediate danger.”

“How?” She wasn’t really sure she wanted to hear the answer.

“How am I going to find shelter?”

“How did you deal with that creature?”

He said nothing.

“What happened?” Dusti wasn’t about to let the subject go. “How did you get away from that thing?”

He took a deep breath. “Do you really want to know?”

“No. I’m just talking because I love the sound of my voice.” She rubbed her face on his warm chest. “Answer the question.”

“Let’s find somewhere more comfortable to get you warm. We’re too in the open here. We’ll talk then.”

“Fine.”

He lifted her without warning. “Wrap around me and hold on, sweetheart.”

She didn’t chastise him for the endearment. Her arms wound around his neck and her legs hugged his waist. She should have been embarrassed that her bare pussy pressed against his lower stomach but she was too cold and tired to care. His shirt hung low enough that it covered her ass when his arms shifted their hold to shelf her butt. He started to walk.

Dusti dozed in his arms until sometime later, when he adjusted both their bodies to sit down. She had to release her hold around his hips. He cradled her on top of his lap and kept her firmly against his chest, with his arms around her in a hug.

“This is the best I can do. We can’t have a fire.”

She tensed. “Are there more of my grandfather’s things looking for us?”

“They are men, Dusti. Not things. And probably, but that’s not the only reason we can’t have a fire. I forgot to grab the lighter I used when I had to abandon my jacket. I had other, more serious things on my mind at the time. I’d borrow one from Kraven but he seemed to have lost his jacket too.”

“You saw your brother? Is Bat okay?”

“She’s fine. Kraven ran into trouble, too, and I found him first while I was searching for you. We took care of Decker’s men but more could be close by.”

“Are you sure she’s okay?”

“Your sister and my brother are fine. They’re nearby. They had to cross the river as well, and I just brought us closer to them.”

“Where are they?” She stirred in his arms, blindly looking around. “I need to see Bat. I want to talk to her.”

“She can’t hear you unless you yell out, which I don’t suggest. More enforcers could be out there.”

“Why didn’t you take us right to them? I don’t think splitting up was such a good idea.” She worried about her sister far too much, especially if Bat had seen one of those creatures.

“We’re sitting in a small dent in the ground space next to a tree that will shield us from the wind. There isn’t enough room for all four of us. Kraven found a hole not too far away. He’ll keep your sister warm and safe until the sun rises.”

“Did she see what I did?”

He hesitated. “I’m not certain what she saw or didn’t.”

“She’ll be freaked-out and scared. I should check on her, Drantos. It’s not every day you see some creature that looks like it came right out of one of those hell-dog movies. She doesn’t even like horror flicks.”

His arms tightened around her more and his head lowered to rest against the top of her head. “Kraven will deal with her if she saw one of us shifted. He’ll explain to her the same thing I am to you. We lost the ability to resemble wolves when we inherited our Vampire genes.” He drew in a deep breath. “Hell isn’t involved. It’s just genetic mutations from being half-breeds. Decker’s men could track us faster in animal form than they could if they’d remained in their skin.”

An image of that terrifying beast flashed in Dusti’s memory. It had been huge and vicious looking. The claws… She trembled.

“Easy,” Drantos urged. “I’d never hurt you. Feel my warm skin?” He brushed his fingertips over her arm. “No claws or fur, sweetheart.”

“Stop calling me that. You’re doing it on purpose.”

“I am. There’s no reason for you to ever wonder if I’d hurt you. That’s why I didn’t want to show you proof of what we are so soon. The last thing I want is for you to be afraid of me.”

“I’m not one of those beast things.”

“No. Your father was pure human. Your blood is diluted enough that you’re unable to change forms. You took more after him than your mother.”

Her mind wanted to resist believing what he said but she’d seen that thing as clear as day. She’d never forget it either. And Drantos could turn into one of them. She’d been intimate with him.

“I told Bat that you were nuts,” she admitted. “I know you didn’t want me to say anything to her but I did. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about that now, Dusti.”

“I thought you were like my friend Greg. He thinks aliens are after him when he doesn’t take his meds.”

Drantos rubbed her back. “I’m not crazy and I don’t need medication.”

“I think I’m going to lose my mind. Maybe I’m the one who needs meds.”

“Please don’t fall apart on me. Call me names, insult me, but damn it, don’t cry. I can’t handle that. If it helps, remember that your mother was pure VampLycan. She could shift.”

“You’re not helping.”

“Sorry. I just wanted to remind you that we’re all not monsters. I got the impression you loved your mother and she was good to you.”

“She was the best.”

“She loved you and cared for you. Not all of us are bad.”

“If that’s true, if she had to run away from her father, why didn’t she go to her own people to protect her from being given to some bad guy?”

He shrugged against her. “Maybe she feared it would cause deaths in whatever clan that took her in, if her father tried to get her back. I don’t know, Dusti. No one could answer that but her. We would have tried to protect Antina and welcomed her if she’d sought sanctuary. Maybe she believed everything bad her father ever said about us. He feels we’re too soft and weak because we’re not as bloodthirsty as he is. That’s why he wants to rule all the clans. It’s possible she felt we couldn’t protect her. We like to live in peace but that doesn’t mean we’re not deadly when we’re on the defense. We are. Was she happy in the human world?”