The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

to do that considering what I want to ask you.”
    “Ask me?”
    He leaned casually back against the rough stone of the Passing platform. “Would you be interested in an ascension? I want an Aatiki.”
    He watched the way her body went rigid and her lips part slightly . He wanted to find an Aatiki , a wife, and the last thing he wanted in his long life was to spend it with a docile mate. Matings were permanent for Talas, and not even in death did they part. Shayla was just the opposite of docile. With the exception of her not being his Soul’s Mate , Shayla was perfect for him.
    “Why me? I mean, I could be years away from my Rut.”
    His lip curled slightly at the mention of the Rut, the fertile period that all Lycan females entered within five years of their first shift. The Rut and the resulting fatherhood wasn ’ t something that he wanted to take part in anytime soon. He had enough responsibilities jockeying for his attention at the moment.
    “I already thought of that, and it ’ s not an issue. I actually prefer it.”
    For Lycans, sex wasn’t something they engaged in lightly. The more socially conservative, like his brother, tended to save themselves until they got married. On the other hand, the socially liberal rarely slept alone if they could avoid it.
    Kyran imagined he fell somewhere in the middle of the spectrum . He wasn’t a virgin – hadn ’ t been for a long time. In truth, he rarely slept with Lycans, preferring to leave female Talas as uncorrupted as possible. Last thing he needed was to be responsible for a broken- hearted Tala when so many human females with loose morals roamed the Earth. Still, the human alternative was generally avoided. Generally, the less personally involved Lycans were with humans, the better. Besides, explaining his stamina got old after a while.
    He focused his attention on the furrowed brow of the blonde-haired beauty he hoped to make his wife in the near future and waited for the question she was obviously mulling over.
    “Why now? I mean, you have held the pack for more than six months.”
    “Death often accompanies a Mikko who is distracted in the face of turmoil.”
    A small smile came across her face. “You kept the challenges from the Harem. It couldn’t have been many. I heard of only two.”
    “The Harem shouldn ’ t worry about instability in the pack. But now that everything is as stable as it can get, I want a mate.”
    Kyran watched as she looked at the platform that he leaned on and let many emotions dance through her sapphire colored eyes. A short nod came before she met his gaze.
    “I will accept, though I think that you can do better in a wife.”
    “Shayla, think about what I ’ m asking you. Do I really have to have an Aatiki?”
    She stared for a minute before she smiled. “You ’ re giving me a way out of the Harem, aren’t you?”
    Kyran did a short jump and sat on the platform. “That’s the best that I can do for you.”
    Shayla bit her lip. “Are we going to do it soon?”
    “No. It will be sometime after we move from here.” He laughed at her relieved look. “Wow, didn’t know it would be that bad to be mated to me.”
    “No, it ’ s just that…it was just a little sudden. I ’ m caught off guard is all.”
    He gave a slight smile. “Alright, well, I have to go look for the Hunter. Go back to the zenana. We can talk when I return.”
    Kyran watched as Shayla returned to the cave ’ s entrance, which was nothing more than knobby stone walls hidden behind a cascading wall of thick Spanish moss. When she was gone from sight, having parted the moss like a curtain, he turned and left the seclusion of the pack’s patch of forest to hunt the Hunter.
     

C HAPTER 4
    ALEXIS HAD BEEN dropped off at the Hunter cabin, which was located just outside of Suches and roughly ten miles south of the latest Rogue attack. In its unadorned state, the cabin could best be described as a water stain on the greenery of the surrounding