Authors: Janet MacDonald
Chapter Six
As Dante tracked
Anya, he noticed several times she’d laid down, her scent the strongest in
those areas. His inner animal was more than itching to find her, and he was
having a hard time fighting it for control. He wondered how she’d managed to
pull this off, having been unable to move her legs. She must have healed faster
than they’d anticipated and played on the injury. The hole in the floorboards
had been clawed at so she had to have shifted to do it, and no one had heard a
thing, which meant she’d waited until late at night. Although, her frequent
stops to lie down told him she was still very weak.
A near smile
rose on his muzzle as he tracked her through a steep incline. He could see
where she’d slid down it rather than attempted to walk. A true alpha female, if
he ever saw one. Anya didn’t seem to let the terrain impede her, as her trail indicated,
and she’d managed to avoid his patrols as well. Her scent stayed downwind of
them, skirting their movements as she headed toward the bay. The thought of her
making it to the water scared him. In her weakened state, if she tried to swim
the rough waters she would drown. That fueled the fear in him, and he moved
faster.
Dante crossed
the small river after hearing the howls from the patrol. They had something
cornered, and his fear was that it was indeed Anya. Dante raced into the orchard
and saw several of his pack members had encircled two forms lying in the grass.
The unmistakable smell of a female in heat saturated the air as did the musky
scent of the males trying to dominate her. The yelping from the little female
sounded terrible, and he knew one of them had her as he raced closer and saw a
male on her back. Anya wasn’t being receptive, but the young wolf didn’t seem
to care as he bit her hard, causing another series of painful yelps to echo
over the field.
Rage flooded
over him as his wolf reared ahead and he lunged at the younger wolf attempting
to mate what he had already decided was his. Dante threw all his bulk at the
young male on top of the white wolf, snarled and sank his teeth deep into his
shoulder as he bulldozed him off her. With a hard shake of his head, he tossed
the younger male onto the ground and took a protective stance over the injured
female. Three of the others immediately backed off at the sight of their alpha.
Two snarled and growled a challenge for the female under him.
The first one to
make an attack found out in a hurry it was a bad idea as Dante tore into his
hind leg and forced the male down. He knocked the younger male onto his back
and sank his teeth just enough into his throat to let him know he meant
business. The challenger whimpered his defeat, and Dante released him. The
second one who had challenged him had a prompt change of heart at seeing his
pack mate taken down so quickly.
With a deep
throaty growl, he warned them off, and the five fled out of his line of sight.
He arched his head back, howling his right to mate across the island for
everyone to hear. Dante turned to look at the small delicate female as she
struggled to stand, he smelled the blood. Her tail was still tucked in under
her belly. The young male had not been successful in his attempt to mate her.
Cautiously he
approached her. He whimpered and tried to lick her face. She moved her head higher,
but it only gave him more room to wash her. She didn’t growl so he licked the
side of her neck, cleaning the wound left by the teeth of the other male. She shook
and her hind end went down, and she yelped in pain again. Dante sniffed her
neck, her fur moving from his breath as he smelled her. Slowly he bathed her
with his tongue, washing her many wounds, making sure they were clean. She laid
still for him to do so, her tail going lax behind her and moving to one side. It
was a sign of submission, telling him she’d mate him. If Dante hadn’t had a
little control his wolf would have tried to mount her.
Instead he nudged
her, trying to get her to stand. She whimpered and nipped his chin. He growled
and nudged her again. This time she tried to stand, but as she did he saw her
hind legs were too feeble to hold her up. They shook, and she flopped back down.
She lay with her head resting on her paws, and he licked her muzzle. He could
tell she was weak. He lay beside her, resting his head over her neck to help
keep her warm.
They laid there
in the field for over an hour before she drifted off to sleep. Her body shifted
to her human form as her wolf lost control in its slumber. Dante rose then and
he shifted as well, scooping her up into his arms. He carried her back to the
settlement in the wee hours of the morning.
* * * *
Anya awoke to
the feeling of a warm body beside her. Her eyes flew open, and she saw Dante
lying next to her. The heat of his naked flesh against her own caused her to
blush.
“Good morning,” he
said as he stared at her.
“Oh my god!” was
all she could say as she pulled the covers over her more. Memories of the
previous night filled her mind. He’d fought for her and won. Her wolf had offered
herself to him. Dante hadn’t taken her as was his right, but now he could.
His fingers
crept over her waist under the blankets, causing her flesh to quiver, and
pulled her toward him. Something hard poked her in the side, and she felt more
than a little confused by the feelings washing over her.
“Please…I…” She
wasn’t sure what to say.
“Shh,” he told
her as his body rolled over her and his weight pressed down on her for a
moment. He stopped on top of her. His hardness pressed firmly against her, and
she gasped as his gaze looked between her mouth and eyes. She trembled, the
fear and excitement washing over her in a mix. He smiled before he continued
over top and onto the other side of her.
“I’ll make you
some breakfast,” he said as he stood without removing the coverings from her.
Anya tried not
to look, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she glanced at him. He was
completely naked except for the bracelet of her hair on his wrist. The man was
extremely muscular, and as he pulled his pants on, she caught sight of what had
poked her. She had only seen a penis once, and that was when she’d caught a guy
peeing outside. The thing between Dante’s legs didn’t look anything like that
other guy’s, and she swallowed hard as she quickly looked away.
Her tummy
fluttered for a moment at the thought that they could have mated, that if he
had wanted to, he could have. Instead, there he was going to go make her
breakfast. She was a little taken aback by it. She eyed the room to see if
there was something she could wear and noticed this was not the same place
Dante had been holding her.
The room wasn’t
big, but it did have a window. The bed was very large, a queen by the looks of
it, and both the headboard and footboard were made from carved wood. The corner
posts nearly touched the ceiling, and a sheer material covered the top. Anya
looked over the rest of the room and saw a closet without a door. In it hung a
few apparel items. None of it was anything fancy, just basic everyday men’s
clothing.
Right beside the
bed sat a long triple dresser and on top of it were a few knickknacks, a
mirror, washbasin, shaving brush and razor as well as a long, deep brown braid.
Anya looked closer at the braided hair and saw a man’s wedding band tied to it
with a piece of twine. Cora had told her the old custom they had of women
showing their intentions by giving a man a braided lock of their hair to wear.
Alex had one of Cora’s, and he wore it around his wrist just as Dante had with
her own lock.
Slowly Anya
slipped out of bed, her body sore and tired, her legs still shaky as she made
for the closet and quietly pulled one of Dante’s large shirts off the hanger
and then put it on. It fit her like a tent, hanging to just below her knees,
and the arms she had to roll up several times. Gingerly she crept toward the
door, which was still partially open. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her
and she wanted to see where she was.
Anya used the
wall to help her stay on her feet and walked out into a large open room. It
looked like a rustic old cabin. A couple wooden chairs sat in front of a stone
fireplace, which had a fire burning in it. The walls had no adornments other
than a few wicker baskets, which seemed to be stuffed with odds and ends. A
small kitchen area to her left had an old hand pump over a large metal
washbasin. Above that was a set of shelves that were laden with plates, cups
and such. Beside that was a door that just had a knotted rope handle.
There wasn’t
much else in there. A few throw rugs on the bare wooden floorboards, some coats
hanging by what she assumed was the door out and a large trunk. A small table
was set with two plates and what looked like an old-time percolator glass pot.
It was filled with what she believed was coffee. A few feet from the table there
was a cast-iron stove, and Dante stood there stirring something in a pan. She could
easily hear the crackling of what was frying, and it smelled really good, just
like bacon.
The smells of
the food made her mouth water and her tummy rumbled quite loudly. Dante turned
and looked at her. He smiled as his gaze traveled over her standing there clad
in only his shirt.
“You should be
in bed. You’re still weak.”
He walked toward
her. She panicked, taking a step away too quickly and her legs went out from
under her. Anya’s arms reached out to grab a hold of anything to keep from
falling. That anything just happened to be Dante.
With a strong
set of arms wrapped around her, she leaned against his bare chest as he held
her. Heat washed over her at the almost too intimate contact.
“Please, I’m
tired of lying down,” she whispered as he swept her up into his arms.
“All right,” he
said with a smile still playing on his lips. He walked over to the table and
kicked a chair out far enough so he could sit her on it.
“Breakfast is
almost ready. I hope you don’t mind scrambled eggs.”
He sounded cheerful
as he turned his attention back to the stove. Anya felt strange. He acted as if
she lived there and was not a prisoner, as if this were something they might do
every day.
He took both the
plates and piled pieces of fried meat and scrambled eggs on them and then placed
them on the table. He poured what smelled like coffee into both their cups and
then sat across from her.
“Eat, it’ll help
give you back your strength,” he said before shoveling his food into his mouth.
“Go on now, eat. I’m really not that bad of a cook.” She still hadn’t touched
the meal in front of her. She looked from him to the food and caved in to her
hunger and began to eat.
*
Dante watched
her slowly start to eat. Her gaze darted all over his cabin, and he thought of
how curious she seemed to be.
“You can stay
here until I return from the mainland,” he said as he poured more coffee into
both their cups.
“Are you going
to let me go?” she asked. Her eyes seemed different to him today. Not as angry-looking.
“That will
depend on how cooperative your brother is.”
“And if he doesn’t
know who your sister is either?”
“You know what
will happen.”
“So if you find
out where your sister is you’ll let me go?”
“Anya, you
submitted to me last night. Do you really think I want to let you go?” he asked,
searching for any sign that the human part of her was willing to submit as
well.
The look she
gave him was perplexing. It showed her outrage, but it showed something else as
well.
“That’s only
because of the condition my body in,” she snapped. The anger in her tone
sounded forced.
“Trust me, I
know all too well you’re in heat,” he said sternly. The smell was still heavy
in the air, and it was hard not to sweep her up and take her back to his bed
and lay claim to her.
“What if your
sister doesn’t want to come back here? What if she’s already mated and happy?” she
demanded. Anya’s probing revealed to him that she knew something, and as much
as he wanted to order her to tell him, he knew she wouldn’t.
“If she’s happy
with her mate, then he can be fostered into the pack. Anya, all I want is my
sister home safe and sound. Just like your brother wants you home safely.”
The heavy
knocking on his door interrupted their talk, and he nearly growled out his
anger. “Come in,” he said loudly.
“Hey, I’m not
too early this time am I?” Memphis asked as he stepped inside. His gaze
immediately went to the girl across the table. There was a broad smile on his
face as his gaze continued to travel over her, and Dante growled deeply.
“No, I was just
going to go get ready. Remember, Memphis, the girl is mine,” he snapped as he
stood, and Memphis shifted awkwardly from one foot to another.
“I know…I-I’m
sorry,” he stammered.
“Good. I’ll be
gone until supper time. Make sure she stays in the cabin and only let Beth in,”
he demanded as he walked into the bedroom.
He dressed as
quickly as he could. Dante wished he could have had more time to spend with
Anya before he left. He walked back out and noticed Memphis had made himself
right at home, sitting at the table across from Anya with his own cup of coffee
in hand. Dante could trust Memphis with her. His beta’s son would never tread
that line. Still the way the boy stared at her didn’t sit well with him either.
They were roughly the same age, and although Dante was only turning twenty-nine,
he felt much, much older than that.