Dair's Risk, Book 2 of Vampire Wars

By CR Guiliano

Lead kedge, Dair, was annoyed with his alpha, Kylor. The dyad was arrogant and refused to listen to Dair, humiliating him in front of the whole clan. Well, Dair did what he wanted, and ended up in a predicament he never saw coming.
He also never expected to run into one of his mates. A tiny were spirit, Kymone was everything Dair wanted in a mate, and with the added bonus of finally bringing out the strength in Dair’s own weak were spirit.

But things didn’t go as planned, and Kymone was taken away by Kylor himself before Dair could claim his mate. Alone and hurting, Dair’s anger grew until he couldn’t take it anymore and he left the clan. Risking his life at every turn to relieve the guilt, anguish and depression that overtook him, he lost the will to live.

Between his past and his present, his future looked bleak, until Kylor called him home to save the mate that was destined for him by the fates.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CR Guiliano
• Release date: Jan 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311532251

CR Guiliano

CR Guiliano is an avid reader which logically morphed into the love of writing. She writes in many genres, but is most happy writing the love between two men (or more!) She makes them work hard for their HEA, and considers herself an expert in angst. CR finds her favorite form of writing is in serials, where she can continue to write about characters who have captured her heart, and hopes have captured her readers as well. You will usually find CR cuddled up to her laptop creating stories to entertain, inspire, and bring your emotions to the surface. CR has a huge warren of plot bunnies that is growing every day, and can’t wait to fill out each story idea, and share them all with her readers. CR was proudly nominated in the Goodreads Best Anthology Nominations and was thrilled to be included with the many talented writers from the same Anthology. CR is the author of the Best of 2015 reads on USAToday, with her award-winning title, Omega Born. CR is a committed advocate for the GLBTQ community and does her best to change society’s attitudes, one mind at a time. You can learn more about CR Guiliano and her stories at the following locations and feel free to drop her line as she loves to hear from anyone interested in her, or her writings: Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CR-Guiliano-Author/243814592322136?ref=hl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/crguiliano Author blog: http://crguiliano-author.blogspot.com/ Works-in-progress blog: http://guilianowip.blogspot.com/ Website: http://crguiliano.wordpress.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/pernwish Email: [e-mail]

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Dair’s Risk by CR Guiliano (Book 2 of Vampire Wars)

Dair’s Risk

Book 2 of Vampire Wars

Published by CR Guiliano

Copyright © 2015 CR Guiliano

All Rights Reserved.

Digital Edition

Cover Designer: SelfPubBookCovers.com/Snowmoondesigns

This book is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the author.

Warning: This book contains material that is only suitable for mature readers.

Chapter 1

Dair just barely managed not to slam the door to his room. Seconds later he was prowling in tiger form. It was much better for pacing than when housed in his vampire spirit. It was the second time in as many days that Kylor had reprimanded him in front of the whole clan. The humiliation and betrayal he’d felt was overwhelming and he’d had to turn away quickly or risk Kylor seeing his fangs drop in anger. That would have been disastrous. As pissed off as he was at his alpha, he didn’t want Kylor thinking he was challenging him with his reaction to the dressing down.

Kylor was wrong…and Dair knew it. But the man was arrogant as well, and no matter how hard Dair tried to explain to him that going into Miranti’s clan full throttle was a mistake, Kylor wouldn’t listen. Honestly, Dair was beginning to think Kylor’s mating to both Hillier and Darrian was making him soft. He was too focused on pleasing them to see the truth in Dair’s argument. Dair had too many run-ins with Miranti’s clan before he bonded to Kylor for the alpha to ignore him. The only way to stop Miranti was to infiltrate the clan and destroy it from within. But Kylor not only refused to believe Dair, but scoffed at the idea that Dair actually knew what he was talking about, and had flat forbidden Dair to take a couple of dyads and sneak into Miranti’s clan.

It was the first time Kylor didn’t trust Dair, and damnit, it hurt! Dair let out a roar of anguish, and swiped a large paw across the back of his couch, shredding the material. Fuck! Now he was going to have to replace his couch…again. Dair knew he had a temper, but he was heartily sick of destroying his own furniture when he could be turning that rage on a clan he knew was abducting and abusing humans and turning them into blood slaves. Dair had seen them, witnessed the violence. Hell, he was the one who brought Miranti’s clan to Kylor’s attention to begin with. Even the Vampire Council hadn’t had them on their radar, the clan too small to be of much significance. And Miranti didn’t just snatch humans, but other paranormals as well, for his own twisted amusement.

Dair continued to prowl, his tail twitching in agitation. What was it going to take to make Kylor listen to him? Was there any way to convince his alpha that attacking Miranti’s clan would end badly? Maranti wasn’t like Broman, or even Candlor. He was smart, unpredictable and had a penchant for inflicting pain and ruled his clan with an iron fist and a strong bond. That made Maranti a very dangerous master. Maranti’s vampires were loyal out of fear, not respect or love like Kylor’s clan. But then, they were true vampires, not dyads. Dair wasn’t sure that made a difference, but he was eternally thankful he’d not joined Maranti’s clan when he was a youngling. The way the vampire master had treated humans had turned Dair’s stomach, even if he wasn’t fond of the race himself.

He had no issues with Hillier, even tolerated the human occasionally, and he didn’t know Darrian, but what he’d seen so far was the man was caring. Maybe even too caring if the way Kylor got annoyed when Darrian spent time with Bladen. The pyrina was still unwilling to leave his room, but he was not going to die as they had first thought. He’d refused to feed from Kylor for a long time, and Dair had watched his alpha lose patience, especially since Bladen had still been feeding from his mate. But that ended when Kylor forced a blood bond on the pyrina, and now fed him regularly. Bladen had needed Kylor’s blood to sustain him, or he would have wasted away and died.

Dair plopped down on the floor and growled. Once again, he thought Kylor was putting too much time and attention into his personal life with his mates, instead of thinking about what really mattered. Darrian and Hillier weren’t going anywhere. Kylor had successfully executed Easton, the vamp that had tried to steal Darrian. Any threats to Kylor’s mates were gone. For now. There were always challenges to Kylor and his clan, and Kylor’s mates would forever be targets, but Kylor, along with his clan, including Dair, were more than capable of keeping Hillier and Darrian safe. The failed attempt at kidnapping Darrian by the master vampire from Broman’s clan had proven that. Even when that were pack had abducted Hillier, they had rescued him without much effort.

Dair was thinking his only alternative was to leave, by himself, and try to worm his way into Miranti’s clan without any backup, since he was unwilling to have Kylor’s ire come down on any other dyad’s head but his own. It wasn’t a great plan, and extremely dangerous, but Dair had one thing going for him. His vampire spirit was much stronger than his were spirit, which would make it possible to blood bond with Miranti without losing himself in the process. He wasn’t sure what that would do to the bond he had with Kylor, but something had to be done. Tomorrow, they were moving out to take on another clan. A small one that was attacking were packs. Not a mission Kylor needed Dair for, despite him being Kylor’s lead kedge. Tonight, he would leave and make his way to north Colorado and find Miranti’s clan…and kill the master.

*~*~*~*~*

Kymone cried out as the whip sliced over his back again. Larson, Master Miranti’s lead kedge was angry, and taking that rage out on Kymone. Nothing new there. Kymone was every vampire’s whipping boy. He slumped for a second before the next lash cut across his ravaged skin, making him arch in agony. His wrists stung, the metal cuffs digging in and ripping his flesh, but the pain was nothing compared to the fire that pulsed over his back. And all of that was nothing compared to the fear of what Larson was going to do when he was done using the bull whip. Kymone didn’t want to even think about it, and hoped he would pass out before the vampire was done and…and…defiled Kymone in a very different way. He shuddered, his stomach cramping, hot tears leaking from his eyes. No matter. Larson liked it when Kymone cried.

Minutes later, Kymone heard the whip hit the floor and Larson’s harsh hands were on him. Kymone only wished he had the strength and courage to fight the vampire off, but he knew it was useless. He’d tried, and they’d broken him. Grabbed at seventeen, still a whelp, by Master Miranti’s clan, he’d endured four long years of torture and had given up fighting long ago. Kymone couldn’t stop the scream that ripped from his throat as Larson pierced his body. Blessed relief came as his vision blurred and darkness took him.

Kymone blinked to awareness and saw that he was back in the slave quarters, Milry tending to his back. A whimper escaped him when Milry rubbed over a particularly painful cut.

He was more brutal this time.

Kymone just nodded. He didn’t know why Larson was so angry, and he didn’t care. All he knew was his body paid for it. He wouldn’t even get a respite for being injured. The vampires of Master Miranti’s clan didn’t care that Kymone’s skin was in shreds when they wanted to feed. There were only seven of them for the vampires’ nourishment. Himself, Milry, and Jytis, all of them