Lycan Warrior

  Destined to mate.

  Malek is the brave, heroic Lycan warrior who has served as the king’s chief guard for two hundred years. His prime directive is to protect the royal kingdom. He sets off on a mission from the king that will take him on a journey away from the castle. His mission is not a dangerous one, but there is danger all around him in the form of one beauty, the She-Wolf, Katya, who the king has asked to accompany Malek and his band of guards. Even though she is the key to the success of the mission, Malek has reasons not to trust her. As his attraction mounts for the beauty, so does his frustration. How can he surrender to his wolf’s almost violent need to claim her when he believes she is a threat to the castle?

  When she overhears Malek insinuate to the king that she may be a spy sent by Balkathan to infiltrate the castle, Katya is extremely insulted. The fierce looking Lycan warrior doesn’t trust her and she tries very hard to make peace between them. Her anger turns to passionate heat for the Lycan warrior when his touch awakens her inner wolf for the first time in her life.

  Will Malek and Katya conquer their inner demons and realise they are meant to be?

  To the Reader: This Lycan Legend installment begins one week after Lycan King, Book 2

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Lycan Warrior

  Copyright © 2012 Anastasia Maltezos

  ISBN: 978-1-77111-379-3

  Cover art by Martine Jardin

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Devine Destinies

  An imprint of eXtasy Books

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  www.devinedestinies.com

  Lycan Warrior

  Lycan Legend 3

  By

  Anastasia Maltezos

  Zoe Maltezos

  Chapter One

  “I won’t sleep with him!”

  “Katya, you won’t be sleeping with him, you’ll be sharing a tent. Besides, the only reason I agreed to this assignment is that Malek will be your personal guard. Drago assured me Malek is his best warrior and he will protect you with his life.”

  Katya scowled at her reflection in the mirror. “I heard him tell the king last week he thinks I’m a spy.”

  Eve sighed. “Drago told me there is a reasonable explanation for Malek’s suspicion, something about his brother.”

  Her mother fell silent and Katya frowned, waiting for her to say more. “What was the explanation?”

  Her mother’s gaze wavered. “We were in the middle of something and didn’t quite finish our conversation.”

  Katya’s anger immediately dimmed as she watched her mother’s face flush with embarrassment. She momentarily forgot the fierce looking Lycan warrior once she realised what her mother’s middle of something was. She hid a smile. Since her mother had wed King Drago last week, she never looked happier.

  Eve cleared her throat and stepped away from the mirror. “There. You’re perfect. The trousers are more convenient than wearing those dresses with all those annoying layers.”

  Katya stared at their reflections in the mirror. They were both dressed in almost identical outfits—leather trousers and vests, with weapons strapped to their legs and waist. They looked more like sisters than mother and daughter, with their slim bodies, long dark hair, and dark eyes.

  “Mama, as the new queen, don’t you think a dress would be in order from time to time, or a crown?”

  Eve shot her a dark look. “Don’t be silly. If the castle is attacked by Balkathan’s army, how can I fight in ten pounds of material?”

  “I feel naked. You can see every curve of my body.”

  “A sight I’m sure Malek will appreciate,” her mother murmured innocently.

  “You haven’t been listening to me. He thinks I’m a spy.”

  “He doesn’t think you’re a spy.” Eve expelled a heavy sigh. “I’m certain, on this assignment, he’ll get to know you and see what a remarkable woman you are. I’m sure you know half the guards are already a little in love with you.”

  “Stop it, Mama.” Katya knew where this was leading and she wasn’t in the mood for it.

  “Honey, I just want you to be happy. At least consider the possibility one of the guards could be your mate.”

  “I can’t believe my mother, the all-powerful, four hundred year old vampire, is a romantic.”

  “That’s Drago’s fault. Love changes people. Besides, I’m not a vampire anymore. I’m a hybrid now, with Lycan blood in my veins, remember?”

  Katya could never contemplate love. She was plagued with too many demons to trust a man. Balkathan’s wolves raping her for two years did that to a woman.

  She took her mother’s hand. “I’m happy the Lycan Legend came true for you, Mama. I really am, but please don’t push its lore on me.” She winced as brief images of her imprisonment in Balkathan’s filthy prison flashed through her mind.

  Katya inhaled slowly, forcing those terrifying memories to the dark recesses of her mind. Her wounds were too deep for love to heal them. Thankfully, the distant sound of trumpets blaring in the courtyard snapped her out of her disturbing thoughts. She was going on a mission with the king’s guards and nothing was going to stop her from successfully completing it. Apprehension settled in her stomach as she thought of the other women still imprisoned there. She prayed they were still alive.

  “That’s my cue,” she said stiffly. “The caravan is ready to set off.”

  Eve hugged her. “God speed, my girl.”

  * * * *

  Where the hell was she, Malek thought angrily? He glanced around the courtyard crowded with villagers and royal guards ready to send them off and clenched his jaw. His white steed was restless and he tightened his reins, containing his horse.

  “Remember, my friend, scout the area,” Prince Vasilis said. “Do not engage in battle. This caravan is no match for Balkathan’s army of monsters.”

  Malek looked down at the prince. “Aye, Your Highness.” Malek was well aware of the plan, and he refrained from reminding the prince they had gone over it twenty times because he knew Vasilis was worried.

  He glanced at the castle doors and gritted his teeth as he watched Katya walk onto the grounds. Even at this distance, he could see her beauty. A thread of tension ran up his spine as he ran his gaze over her body dressed in tight, black warrior garb. He couldn’t explain it, but since he first laid eyes on her last week, every time he looked upon her, his heart thudded. He gritted his teeth and turned his head away from her as he tightened his grip on his reins.

  “What is it?” Vasilis asked.

  Malek motioned his head toward Katya. “You know how I feel about the wench coming along with us.”

  “You need her on this scouting mission. She will show you where Balkathan’s lair is.”

  Malek’s inner wolf was telling him otherwise. “She will be a distraction. My men can’t take their eyes off her.”

  Va
silis raised a dark brow. “Are you talking about that same woman who escaped from Balkathan’s prison last month? Have you seen her in weapons practice, my friend? She felled not one, but all the guards in training yesterday afternoon. They can’t take their eyes off her because they admire her, not lust after her.”

  Malek’s thoughts went to last night when he’d heard about her combat skills. He had been having ale with Vasilis and his men in the Great Hall. The guards had been praising her prowess with the sword, but when the conversation had taken a turn to her beauty, Malek had risen abruptly and had retired to his chambers. For some reason, he had been disturbed when the guards’ conversation had taken a turn to her sexy curves.

  Grim-faced, he pushed his unsettling train of thoughts to the back of his mind. “I have better things to do than watch her wield a sword.”

  “Well, if you had watched her, you would agree with me when I say she will be more asset than a burden to you on this assignment.”

  “She could draw us a map.”

  “Aye, she can, but as we have already discussed, the lair is camouflaged and the naked eye will miss it. Malek, we wage war on Balkathan in one month. This assignment must be successful. We need to know the terrain before we attack.”

  Malek nodded. Like it or not, the wench was coming.

  “I won’t let you down, Your Highness.”

  Vasilis nodded and Malek watched him stride to the castle entrance to join his royal family where they waited to send the caravan off.

  “Which horse do I ride?”

  Katya’s cool tone snapped his gaze down to her. She was staring up at him with a challenging glint in her dark eyes. Her sweet scent rose up to him and he grimaced, trying to stave the rush of heat invading his loins.

  He gestured to the black steed next to his. “This one.”

  Tossing him an indifferent look, Katya marched to her horse and lifted herself in the saddle. His glance dropped to her backside and the aroused heat invading his loins mounted. Grimacing, he flicked his rein and the caravan of twenty guards followed him off the royal grounds.

  Malek couldn’t acknowledge the friendly waves and cheers of the villagers lining the road because he was too tense with his awareness of Katya riding stiffly beside him. Her feminine scent wafted around him and his loins tightened. Dammit, he’d been without a female for too long.

  How else could he explain this inexplicable rush of attraction he had for someone he thought was a threat to the castle?

  * * * *

  Damn him!

  She slid an indiscreet look to her left and saw him gripping his reins so tightly, his knuckles showed white. A rise of self pity almost choked her and she bit back on a sob.

  Damn him!

  As far as first impressions went, Malek had made a terrible one with her when she’d overheard him telling the king last week he didn’t trust her, that she could have been a spy sent by Balkathan to infiltrate the castle.

  Damn…him! How dare he—

  “Excuse me?” Malek said dryly.

  Startled, she gave him a quick, sideways glance and saw him regarding her with a raised brow. Scowling, she returned her focus on the road.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Yes, you did,” he replied. “You have been swearing under your breath since we left the castle.”

  She stiffened. “Perhaps I have reason to swear. I don’t appreciate people spreading malicious rumours about me.”

  “By people, you mean me.”

  She shot him an angry look. “Yes.” He didn’t look in the least bit perturbed and that angered her more. “I overheard what you told the king last week in the Great Hall. You told him you don’t trust me.”

  She watched his jaw harden as he swung a dark and dangerous look on her.

  “I did not spread rumours. I mentioned the obvious. You accomplished what no other has ever done.”

  Her shackles rose. “I escaped from that demon’s prison and I’m automatically labelled a spy?”

  “That demon happens to be your grandfather.”

  “A fact I only discovered last week! My mother kept that information from me.”

  “Nevertheless, we do not know what Balkathan has done to your mind. He is a powerful vampire who can manipulate thoughts, control minds. Your own mother possesses those powers, so you know what he is capable of.”

  She choked back on a rising sob. “You don’t know anything about me.”

  “I know you were his prisoner for two years and escaped without so much as a scratch.”

  Without a scratch? Her anger dimmed and she fell silent, thinking about those terrifying nights when Balkathan’s wolves had picked her from the harem and had brutally raped her. She thought how she had fought back until Balkathan had deemed her an unsuitable mate for his wolves and had sent her to isolation. For months, she was kept in a dark, filthy cell with very little water and food, and ants everywhere, crawling on her face, her skin, her head.

  Katya couldn’t remember isolation too clearly because that was when she had gone mad.

  “I escaped with scratches invisible to the eye. Scratches that will never heal,” she said numbly. Damn him for making her remember.

  “I have my reasons for being sceptical,” Malek said grimly.

  She recalled what her mother had told her. “It has something to do with your brother,” Katya said. She noticed him visibly stiffen.

  “Aye,” he responded.

  Katya wanted to ask him more, but he flicked his reins and his horse galloped to the front of the caravan. She gazed at his broad back as he talked to Nolan and Falk, his men nodding in response.

  Unbidden, a strong sense of curiosity welled in her breast for the fierce Lycan warrior.

  Chapter Two

  It was nearing nightfall when the caravan drew to a stop and Katya gave Malek a questioning look.

  “We camp here for the night,” he said brusquely, dismounting from his horse.

  The terrain was a dry, flat land with mountains in the far distance and a wooded area to the left. Katya slid off her horse and stretched. They’d been riding for hours and she was happy to walk. She saw the mountains on the left and narrowed her eyes, her Lycan blood stirring with rage. Balkathan’s lair was just behind those hills, and she growled softly under her breath.

  “Milady, are you all right?”

  Gasping, she spun around and saw Ortega watching her with a careful glint in his dark eyes. “I’m…I’m fine. Bad memories,” she replied.

  Grim-faced, he nodded. “I understand, milady.” And he strode away.

  Katya glanced around the camp and saw the rest of the guards unpacking crates and setting up tents. Nolan caught her eye and she saw him fashioning a corral of sorts for the horses.

  Her stomach gave an involuntary jolt as she rested her gaze on Malek. He was kneeling next to a stake, hammering it into the ground. He stopped his actions midair and slowly turned his head, his dark stare meeting hers. Warily, she approached him.

  “This clearing is to your liking?” he asked once she neared him.

  “Yes.”

  He returned to his task of setting up the tent, stretching one corner before he attached the loop to the stake. His body stiffened and he gave her a dark look. His expression was a mixture of irritation and annoyance. “Is there something you require?”

  She glanced at all the crates around him and frowned. “Can I help? I know how to pitch a tent.”

  His mouth tensed. “You can set up the inside once I have this up. Your cot is in that crate over there.”

  “I can set up your cot as well. Where is it packed?”

  With his bare hand, he smashed another stake into the ground and Katya gasped. He was obviously angry and she couldn’t fathom why when she was just offering to help.

  He stretched another corner of the tent. “I will not be sleeping in the tent with you,” he said. “I will be standing guard outside.”

  Her eyes widened. “You won’t sleep?”<
br />
  “Nay.”

  “That’s ridiculous.”

  “Do not worry about me. I will close my eyes during the day on horseback.”

  Katya looked around her, splaying her hands. “What possible danger is there out here?”

  “Do not be fooled by the quiet terrain. There are bandits living in these parts who do not take kindly to strangers, especially bandits who fight with silver. I should have this tent set up in ten minutes.”

  He was obviously dismissing her and Katya tensed with frustration. Spending any time with him was exhausting, she thought as she stalked away.

  He was always so tense around her and the increasingly strained energy between them was becoming almost unbearable. What had she done to make him dislike her so? She knew it couldn’t only be his mistrust of her. Surely, at the back of his mind, Malek must have reasoned that when her mother’s mind powers had cured Katya of her madness, she would have detected any hold Balkathan may have still had on her?

  Katya made her way to the small woods and looked around for a secluded spot where she could relieve herself. She chewed her lower lip, looking back at the camp. If she didn’t want to expose herself to the men, she needed to go deeper in the woods.

  After a few minutes, she found a thicker area of trees. She felt behind her waist for the fastening on her pants and tugged. Nothing. She tried again, this time pulling hard at the odd snap. Gritting her teeth against nature’s call, she gave the snap another yank. Katya released a frustrated breath, realising too late she should have asked her mother to show her how to get out of these pants.

  She gasped as a pair of hands pushed hers aside and slid beneath her waistband. Memories of Balkathan’s wolves dragging her into the shadows rose to the surface and she growled ferociously, spinning around, her hand raised and ready to punch whoever was behind her.