His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and once again he trained those searing eyes on her.
Heat built slowly deep in her belly as she sat nearly mesmerized under his watchful gaze, watching his lips, waiting in anticipation for his answer.
“Because I don’t think what he did was something he had ever done before. Don’t get me wrong. I wanted to kill him just for touching you—would have without second thought if he had left a mark on you—but I have a duty to my race. We have to try to save the rogues with potential. The lycans are starting to die out.”
“Why?” For some odd reason she felt sorry for him, even though the demise of the lycans had been her main goal.
“I know you think you know a lot about us, but it seems that you’ve only seen one side of our race—the rogue side. You’ve based all of your feelings on the actions of the ones we are trying hard to suppress. Rogues do not represent a true lycan’s nature. Do you understand the difference between a rogue and me?”
She thought about it for a moment and realized she had branded all lycans alike—mean, brutal, and bloodthirsty—but Knox didn’t seem that way. She’d never deny he was a predator, and was sure he could and would be lethal if the situation called for it. She hadn’t missed the way the anger had burned in his eyes when he’d found her in the woods, and had been fairly certain most of it had been directed at the rogue rather than at herself. Had she allowed one instance, albeit brutal as it was, to be the precedent for her judgment of an entire race—a race she was now learning she might have badly misjudged? Yes, because she hadn’t considered the possibility that there was any other type of lycan but an evil one.
“No.”
“Rogues are lycans that have no guidance or fall into the wrong pack at a young age. They are no different than misguided, abused, or neglected kids. Rogues believe that those marked with the main scent are to be used for their own pleasure. They have tortured, raped, and killed potential mates to the point where we are on the verge of extinction. I, along with many others, am an ancient, and the ancients abide by ancient law. All potential mates with the main scent are supposed to be protected until their destined mate is found. It is essential for our survival.”
Her stomach started to churn slowly as the weight of his words came down on her. “What do you mean
‘destined mate’? And how can you be certain there is a destined mate for one who has the scent?”
He pinned her with his stare as if he was afraid she was about to run and he could hold her in the chair with his eyes. “Everyone who has a main scent also has a mated scent. All lycans can detect the main scent, which is how we know to protect potential mates, but the mated scent can only be detected by one lycan—the destined mate.”
“Are you trying to tell me that I am supposed to breed with a lycan?” She set her fork and knife down as the implication of his words made her heart pound in her chest. She’d known about the main scent from the start, courtesy of Russell, but she’d had no idea about this second scent.
“We don’t have to talk about this right now. Only know that you do have the main scent, and any lycan that gets near you will scent it. You are in danger from rogues.”
“I have always been in danger, but I’m good at what I do. You are the only one—well, the second one—
who has gotten close to me.” Then it dawned on her. She’d almost killed Knox. How many others had she killed mistakenly, taking them for rogues? My God, how many innocent lycans have I murdered?
Knox leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and propping his chin on his hands. He was close enough that the warmth of his skin seeped into her leg. She was beginning to think that maybe she was no better than the supposed monsters she’d hunted over the years. She’d never stopped to consider that there were good and bad lycans.
“Hey.” Knox waited until she looked at him to continue. “I’d be willing to bet that the only lycans you’ve killed have been ones that have deserved it. You’d never get an ancient.”
“I almost got you.” She cringed when he smiled. This was no laughing matter.
“You didn’t almost get me. Yeah, you shot me, but it would have taken much more than that to take me down. You are good at hunting, but I’m better. Besides, I was aware that you had been following me for nearly a month before you tagged me, almost had you a few times, but you were always smarter than I gave you credit for. Of course, I did think you were only an overzealous hunter for the most part. I never really took you seriously, thought you’d either eventually give up or I’d catch you.
“I found it a mystery as to why you were following me in the first place. It was disconcerting to think a human might be hunting me because I was a lycan. That knowledge could end up being the end of all lycans. I couldn’t have realized how close to the truth I actually was. And it was all due to the careless behavior of a rogue.”
She sucked in a breath. How had he known that? She hadn’t told him about Tammy or that horrible night, although, she supposed it was a logical assumption on his part.
“How did you know that?”
“I didn’t, lucky guess, but now I know. Is that where you got the scars on your legs?” His eyes glowed, and his lips tightened into thin lines.
“I didn’t realize you’d noticed them.” He must have seen them when he’d carried her back to the house while she’d been wearing only his T-shirt. “I got them later, after I’d found out about lycans. They are badges of war, I assume much like the ones you wear.”
“I notice everything about you, Rose.”
Her eyes widened in surprise when another thought occurred to her. “How did you know I’d been following you for a month? I used the deer urine, and no other lycan has ever caught on before.”
“Rogues haven’t been around as long as ancients. The deer urine trick is a good one, but if you’re going to follow a lycan around for longer than a day or two, you should probably get more than one bottle. After all, what are the chances of that same deer following you around place to place? I was on to you within the first couple days, but you are good. I’ll give you credit for that. Every time I thought I had you, you’d disappear like smoke.”
She hadn’t thought about a lycan scenting the same urine from the same bottle, but it was a logical conclusion that she should have come to. She was beginning to realize how much of a role luck had played in her survival all these years. She had skills, but her approach had not been infallible.
“I think you and I are closer to being on the same page than you think. I hunt rogues. If I think they have a chance to be reformed, they get that chance. Otherwise . . .” He shrugged.
“I don’t have that luxury. I kill all the ones I can.”
“Do you still believe I should be killed? I am a lycan, but I am also a man. I don’t hurt others, Rose. I don’t enjoy inflicting pain on anyone, and I don’t like to kill others of my kind, even though sometimes it’s necessary. I think you are narrow-minded on this subject. After all, we aren’t all that unlike humans. There are good people, bad people, murderers, molesters, and every other type, but you don’t go around killing everyone you come across because some of them are monsters. Yet, that’s what you chose to do with us. Why?”
She couldn’t deny he had a point, and she couldn’t say that she believed he deserved to die now after spending time with him, but she couldn’t allow any of the real monsters to get away. All it took was one to wreak havoc on someone’s life, just one to create a tragedy that could kill or scar emotionally for a lifetime. If she had it in her power to make sure not even one more person like Tammy died because of these monsters, she had to continue on. But Knox isn’t a monster, is he?