Dark Slayer by Christine Feehan

Ivory Malinov is a dark and beautiful slayer who deals death to any vampire she comes across. With her pack of Carpathian wolves who can either travel in their true forms or as Tattoos upon her skin, she spends her time slaying Vampires and doing research to destroy the man who nearly killed her, Xaviar, a mage who seeks eternal life through the blood of the Carpathians.

Ivory once had five brothers who idolized her as their little sister, but when she was torn apart by Vampires, they betrayed her by joining Xaviar and becoming vampires themselves. Ivory, meanwhile, somehow managed to draw her body back together after healing in the earth for 100 years. But when she rose again, the world had changed, and so had she. Unable to bear the slightest touch of sun on her skin, brutally scarred and emotionally fragile, she kept to the wild places with only the wolves for company.

And there she lives today, although one night, on her way home from killing another vampire, she finds a male Carpathian near the entrance to her lair and her home, and when she goes to check on him, she discovers something that takes her completely aback- this man is her lifemate, destined to be her one and only mate. But he is near death, having been imprisoned and tortured by Xaviar for almost his entire life.

And for Razvan, the man she saves, the worst part for him is that he chose to do it, to give himself up to Xaviar to save his sister and his daughter as well, giving Xaviar a piece of his soul. In return, Xaviar imprisoned him, drank his blood and often took over Razvan's body, using it to perform horrible deeds and letting people think that Razvan had given himself over to be evil. When Xaviar was forced to move Razvan following an attack on his lair by Razvan's daughter Lara and her mate, Razvan took the chance to finally escape and hopes to kill himself so that Xaviar can no longer use him as he has.

But Ivory isn't willing to let him die, not when she has just found her lifemate, and she throws herself into healing him, after knocking him out to ensure that Xaviar will not be able to find her lair through Razvan, and making sure that Razvan gets the blood he so desperately needs to survive. Even though she isn't sure that she wants the complications of a lifemate in her lonely existence, she will only allow him to choose death when he is healed and in his right mind- and once he has regained his strength, he finds himself only wanting to spend eternity with her. If, that is, he can be freed of Xaviar's mental control.

But to truly fight Xaviar, Ivory and Razvan will have to make contact with the other Carpathians, one of whom are sure they can trust either Ivory or Razvan. But they desperately need Ivory's help to defeat the mutated organisms that cause miscarriages in Carpathians or kill the babies when they are small. But can Ivory find the key to destroying the organisms that are killing her own race? And what use will it be to destroy them when Xaviar can only make more? Ivory and Razvan know their is only one solution- taking out Xaviar himself. But that is easier said than done...

Another excellent novel by Christine Feehan. And this one is very unlike her earlier Carpathian novels. Where most of the early books had the men falling in love with human women who were no longer in touch with their heritage, which the man would have to reveal to her and get her to accept. Here, the vibe is very much different. Ivory knows who and what she is, but she just isn't sure that she wants the change to her existence that a lifemate would bring.

Razvan, too, is very different from those "Just this side of asshole Alpha" heroes. He's actually very laid back- willing to support Ivory 100%, but not assuming that because he is male and Carpathian, that he automatically knows best. In fact, he realizes that ivory is a a better fighter and tracker than he is, and he wants to learn from her, and far from telling her what to do all the time, he lets her decide and then backs her up. Both of them are so very very damaged, but he brings fun and joy back into her life, and she enjoys his cool head and calm emotions, while he gets someone who loves him and doesn't fear him at all, or treat him with suspicion. And she knows what he has done, with Xaviar in his body, and yet accepts him for who he is.

Seeing these two damaged souls come together and find true, deep love was wonderful, and I liked that their Alphaness was rather low-key, making them true Alphas, relaxed enough not to be always demanding their own way. It was a refreshing change, and I'm hoping to see more like this in the future. Highly recommended.