Ecstasy Untamed (Feral Warriors #6)(7)

Hawke smiled. "As if she'd let me." He adored Kara. They all did. But the love between her and Lyon, their chief, was a powerful force that both awed and lifted. He dreamed of loving a woman like that someday. Or he had. Before he'd become a danger to anyone within striking distance of his claws.

"How are you really?" Kara pulled back, her gaze soft and worried. Though she worked her magic on him twice a day, giving him radiance, she'd yet to heal him.

He shrugged. "I haven't spontaneously shifted in nearly twenty-four hours."

Lyon nodded, twisting Kara's ponytail around his hand in an absent gesture that spoke of deep and easy affection.

Kara studied Hawke. "Has anything set you off?"

"Frustration, but I've managed to rein it in before it got out of control. I'm getting better at controlling it."

"Good. It's a start." She clasped her hands in front of her. "How about some radiance? The stronger you are, the better you'll be able to control it. I hope."

Hawke nodded. "Is it dawn already?"

"Almost," Lyon told him. "The hunting party just got back."

"Isn't this the day the new fox arrives?"

"It is." Lyon's voice echoed with relief. "He'll be here this afternoon."

The last fox shifter had died only a month ago, the victim of a Mage plot to infiltrate Feral House and destroy the nine Feral Warriors. When one shifter died, the animal spirit flew to the strongest Therian with that animal's shifter DNA and marked him to be the next Feral Warrior. The Therian would find a set of what looked like long-healed claw marks somewhere on his body and he'd begin to need radiance, instinct driving him to seek Feral House and the Radiant, no matter where in the world he lived. If he failed to reach the Radiant within a couple of years, he'd die, and another would be marked.

"Ready?" Without waiting for his reply, Kara closed her eyes and lifted her arms gracefully. Almost at once, her flesh erupted in a brilliant, sun-bright glow that made the light from the overhead fluorescents pale in contrast. Outside, she'd been known to turn the backyard from night to day. Never had a Radiant been able to pull the Earth's energies through solid structures as Kara could.

She opened her eyes and arms, reaching for Hawke with one hand and Lyon with the other. Though she strengthened them and empowered them simply by living in proximity to them, this direct line to the energies provided a jolt of power none of them ever refused.

Hawke slid his hand into Kara's glowing one. At once, a warm flow rushed into him, a pure strength straight from the Earth itself. Inside, he felt the hawk calm and settle as if lifting its face to the sun.

For long minutes, they remained like that, soaking up the power. Finally, Kara's light went out, and she released him, a small smile on her face.

Hawke leaned forward and kissed her temple. "Thank you."

Her eyes met his, warm with affection. "I'll give you radiance anytime, you know that. Whatever you need."

Lyon's hand landed softly on the top of Kara's head, but his gaze met Hawke's. "You've been down here all night." It wasn't a question. "You need food and sleep."

Hawke's mouth kicked up. "Everyone thinks he's a doctor, now."

No answering smile lifted Lyon's mouth. "We need you healed."

"I know," Hawke replied quietly. The Ferals were too few against an enemy that was growing too strong. The Daemons the Mage were trying to free would prey upon humans and immortals alike, feeding on pain and fear until there was no place on Earth to escape the screams. The Ferals had to stop them.

The sound of new footsteps reached his ears a moment before Tighe and Delaney walked in.

Hawke froze at the sight of the tiger shifter and his mate.

"There you are." Tighe's half-naked flesh gleamed with the sweatiness of a long night of draden fighting. His short blond hair was spiked and damp, as it often was when he'd been shifting back and forth. His hand rested on the shoulder of the tall, attractive ex - FBI agent who'd become his wife. A woman who'd only recently become immortal. And pregnant with Tighe's son.

A woman who shouldn't be anywhere near a Feral with limited control. Delaney might be immortal, now, but she hadn't always been, and that babe inside her could be mortal. He could kill the infant with a single rip of his claws. The horror of that thought set off the anger inside him, igniting the red coals of his rage. The red haze began to rise around the edges of his vision.

"Get her out of here." He hardly recognized the low, snarling voice as his own. The tips of his fingers began to tingle with the impending thrust of claws. Fangs erupted from his gums.

Pain tightened Delaney's features even as Tighe shoved her behind him. Tighe and Lyon captured Hawke's arms in iron grips.

"Delaney, I'm sorry," he growled through fangs that were more suited to a large cat or wolf but were the hallmark of all shifters. "I don't want to hurt the babe. I can't hurt the babe."

"Hawke, I know," she assured him. "I know you'd never hurt us."

"Intentionally." He swung to face Tighe. "Don't let me near her."

"Hawke . . ." Tighe's voice was low, leaden with misery. "Buddy. You're not going to hurt them. I'm not going to let you, and neither are you."