Page 75 of Marked By Moonlight

“Different how?”

“I don’t feed.”

Despite everything Gideon had explained to her about the nature of lycans, hope unfurled in her chest. This lycan didn’t feed? Maybe Gideon didn’t know everything. Maybe a lycan could resist the insatiable need to kill. Maybe she could live as a werewolf and avoid eternal damnation. Maybe she and Gideon could be together.

She edged closer to Darius, hands clasped as if in prayer. “You’veneverfed?”

His smile vanished and his silver eyes shone with an almost angry light. “I didn’t say that.”

She dropped her hands and took a step back, disappointmentwelling up inside her again. “Then you’re no different. You’re a killer. Damned. An animal like the rest of them.”

He was in front of her before she had time to register he had moved at all. Hard hands circled her arms. He wasn’t as tall as Gideon but broader. An unbreachable wall.

“I am different.My last kill was a long time ago.” At her look of disbelief he added, “Three hundred years.”

Okay. That qualified as a long time ago. She wet her lips nervously. But did it matter how many years had passed? A life taken was a life taken. From what Gideon had told her, his soul could never be redeemed. “How old are you?”

His hands loosened, but he still held her. Suddenly, he looked tired, the hard lines of his face stark. “Too old.”

“Why don’t you have a pack?”

The corners of his full mouth curled. “Seeing that I don’t kill, I don’t play well with the other lycans.” His fingers flexed lightly on her arms. “It’s a lonely existence.” He scanned her face as if memorizing every feature, every detail. “I can’t live among humans. I can’t live among my own kind. And I refuse to infect an innocent and make them like me just so I can have a companion. But you—” His gaze roamed her face. “You’re already infected. You don’t have a pack and don’t wish to feed. I’d say that makes us perfect for one another.”

He had to be kidding. He wanted her to be his girlfriend?

“But I don’t want to be a lycan at all. I want to be human again.” Desperate, she tried to wriggle free. “The man you stole me from was helping me find the alpha responsible—”

He snorted. “Any luck there?”

She stopped struggling, the truth hitting hard. “You could help me.”

He shook his head, the blue-black strands of his hair grazing his chiseled cheekbones. “The full moon is almost upon us.” Dariusreleased her and walked toward the door. “Joining me is your only option.”

She moved to the bedpost, grasping the smooth wood in her hands as the significance of his words washed over her. “And what if I refuse?”

“On the eve of every full moon I lock myself in a steel-walled room. Then, on the new moon, a trusted member of my staff unlocks the door and frees me. You will be with me in that room.”

She closed her eyes and sagged against the bedpost, weak with relief. She would not kill. No matter what happened, she wouldn’t take an innocent life. At least there was that blessing in this nightmare.

His voice intruded on her musings and she opened her eyes to find his pewter gaze locked on her knowingly.

“I think you understand the forces that drive lycans. Those forces are already alive and well in you. We may not be able to kill and feed in that room. But we will mate. Instinct will demand it.”

Relief suddenly gone, Claire slid to the floor, stricken, her hands clinging limply to the bedpost. His voice rolled over her like a fog that she could not outrun.

“Considering the alternative, eternity as my mate won’t be such a bad fate. I’ll see that you at least keep your soul.”

“No! Never!”

Smiling at her as if she were a child to be indulged, he slipped from the room as silently as a curl of smoke.

Considering the alternative, eternity as my mate won’t be such a bad fate. I’ll see that you at least keep your soul.Perhaps. If only she wasn’t already in love with someone else. If only the thought of another touching her did not make her want to curl into a small ball and die.

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Just because one dog rejects another doesn’t mean mating won’t occur.

—Man’s Best Friend: An Essential Guide to Dogs

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