“And I nearly took the bastard’s head,” Alerac finished. “I would’ve…if I hadn’t thought that I needed to keep him alive.”
Her own head was aching. The scent of blood—now she knew that it was Alerac’s blood—that scent was making her hungry.
“I kept him alive because he was the only one left who knew where she was. He killed those who took her to be imprisoned long ago. I needed him.” Disgust thickened Alerac’s words. “But now I don’t need him to live any longer.”
He spoke of death so casually.
To him, it was casual.
Her fangs ached.
Ryan held out his hand. “It’s time for us to go.”
But Alerac pushed her behind his body. “She isn’t going any place with you.”
Uh,
she
was standing right there.
“I let you live because of your blood bond to her, but I haven’t forgotten,” Alerac said as he squared off against Ryan, “not for an instant, about what you did.”
Her heart was pounding too fast.
“You let them take her,” Alerac continued in a voice that sounded like thunder’s rumble. “You didn’t even try to stop them. Didn’t try to help her.”
She eased away from Alerac. Jane saw the fury on Ryan’s face as he leaned toward the werewolf alpha.
“And she took your fucking punishment,” Ryan fired right back at Alerac. “When she never even knew that you were just using her all along. Seducing her, to get the revenge and power that you wanted.”
The fierce pounding in her chest seemed to slow then.
Alerac grabbed the vamp around the throat. Lifted him into the air. “You’re done here. If I see you on my land again, you’re dead.” His gaze shot back to a watchful—and still bleeding—Liam. “I told you before…
get her out of here!”
Liam took her arm. Jane jerked away from him. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She was sick. So damn
sick
of being in the dark. “I want my memories back.”
He’d said that he could get her a witch. If she was under a spell, a witch could break that spell, right? “I want my memories,
now.”
“Careful what you ask for. You might be better off without them,” Liam murmured.
That was her decision. Not his. Not Alerac’s.
Alerac tossed Ryan toward the door. No,
through
the door. The wood broke and shattered at the impact. “Come here again,” he said, “and brother or no brother, you’re dead.”
Ryan cast her one final look. He was just outside of the cabin and—and wolves were coming out from the darkness. They circled him.
The wolves just seemed to be waiting. Their sharp teeth glinted in the light.
“One word from me,” Alerac told Ryan, the words low and vicious, “and they’ll tear you apart.”
Ryan straightened to his full height. “This isn’t over, alpha.”
“Yes, it is.”
Ryan’s gaze darted toward Jane.
Meet me at the stream. Two miles south. Before dawn. Before the sun rises.
She bit her lip to hold back the gasp that wanted to break free. She’d just heard Ryan’s voice—
in her head.
Don’t trust the wolf. Or his pack. Traitors want your blood.
Ryan’s lips never moved, but she heard every word clearly in her mind.
But then Ryan turned around. He walked right through that circle of wolves. Headed out with his head up and never looked back.
Get away from Alerac as soon as you can. You must meet me before dawn.
She watched Ryan until he vanished. Then she moved to hurry away from that cabin.
But Alerac caught her wrist. His fingers curled around the delicate bones.
She tilted up her chin. “You should have told me that I had a brother.” The anger was there, growing and beating inside of her.
“He can’t be trusted,” Alerac said, voice deep. “He was there when you were imprisoned. He didn’t
help
you.”
Not caring for the audience that watched, Jane challenged, “And you did? Is that what you’re saying?”
No, he wasn’t saying anything. Not then.
“I can’t trust him. I can’t trust you. I can’t trust Heath.” Her breath rushed out. “It seems the only person I can trust is myself.”
A hard shake of his head. “I told you that I’d keep you safe—”
“I’m not some possession.” The fury was so strong that she was shaking. “I’m a person. It’s not your job to
keep
me anything.” She’d been afraid, and the fear had led her to this place, this mountain with him.
She should have known to be wary of the desire he stirred within her. But she’d just been so happy to actually be feeling something again. Something—anything other than fear.
He seduced you once.
And he was doing it again. She was so desperate for some security, desperate for someone to
want
her
,
that she’d given in before considering all of the risks.
“Let me go.” Her voice was flat. Surprising, considering that she felt as if she were breaking apart on the inside.
He glanced at her hand. Swallowed.
Released her.
She moved away from him and maneuvered through the smashed remains of the cabin’s door. All of those wolves—they’d sure come out fast enough. She stared at them, suspicion pushing through her. “They were in the woods, weren’t they? When I was coming here…”
“They have orders not to attack you.” Alerac’s curt voice. “Just to make sure that you’re safe.”
“Safe?” Her voice mocked the word as she glanced over her shoulder. “Or that I stay captive?” Her laugh was bitter. “I feel like a prisoner.” She rubbed her arms. “It’s a real familiar feeling.” She started walking then, heading toward the path that would take her back to the main house. “I don’t want to be followed any longer. Keep them back, Alerac!”
She could hear the footfalls from the wolves.
“Keep. Them. Back!”
She wanted to break and run. To head for that stream. But…not yet.
First she had to make sure that no one followed her. She stopped. Took a breath. Then looked back at the werewolf who seemed to be sinking his claws right into her heart. “It’s your land, right? Surely I’m safe here. I can manage a walk back to the house all by myself.”
He studied at her, his gaze unblinking.
Jane realized that she was holding her breath.
Then he inclined his head toward the wolves. “Go back to your other duties.”
They turned. Eased away.
She started walking again.
One foot.
In front of the other.
She headed into the woods. Kept her pace slow. Alerac would still be able to hear her footsteps. She had to wait. Had to plan her moment just right.
When it was safe, then she’d go to her brother.
***
“We should have killed him years ago.” Liam shook his head as his bones began to pop and stretch. The guy had to shift in order to heal his broken nose and his broken arm. “I told you again and again, the bastard deserves a good killing.”
But Alerac had never been able to end Ryan McDonough’s life. Because when he looked into Ryan’s eyes all he could think about was how much she loved her brother.
Even though that same brother had turned his back on her.
Her screams stopped.
Keira and Ryan had always shared a special connection. He should have known that Ryan was linked to her, even during her imprisonment. But if Ryan had been able to touch her thoughts then, why hadn’t he saved her? Why hadn’t he freed Keira?
Liam howled as he took the form of the beast. The others were gone, the small clearing empty. As for Jane…
He couldn’t hear the soft sound of her footsteps any longer.
He marched forward. She wanted a witch, and he’d given the order to acquire one. But now Alerac had to wonder if Jane truly needed those memories back. Her life before the imprisonment had been short, just twenty-five years of freedom. Then two hundred in hell. Why should she be forced to remember that imprisonment? Why couldn’t they just go forward?
The wind shifted, blowing against his face. A storm was coming. He could smell it in the air.
He could also smell Jane’s sweet scent. Only that scent wasn’t coming from the north, as it should have been.
The south.
His muscles locked. He inhaled again. His senses were the sharpest in the pack.
He focused, trying to hear—
Racing footsteps. Heaving breaths.
Jane was running from him. Again. A-fuckin’-gain.
His hands fisted. She didn’t trust him. She’d given him her body, but that hadn’t been enough.
“Why?” The one word tore from him.
He didn’t move, though every part of him wanted to rush after her.
But maybe it was time he stopped chasing her. Jane was right. She wasn’t a possession. She was a person. And if he caged her, how was he any different than Lorcan?
Liam was shifting again behind him. Turning back into the form of a man. “Go…after her…” Liam managed.
“She’s running to her brother.” Obviously. The bond of blood. It was stronger than any bond he could forge with her. “It’s time he told her the truth, anyway.” No more fucking lies or secrets. He was tired of them.
“Kill…him…” A barely human demand from Liam.
But Alerac shook his head. He could admit—to himself—that killing Ryan was beyond him. He could never be the one to take her brother’s life.
That was a sin that Jane would never forgive.
So he didn’t follow her toward the south. He began to walk back to his cabin. The home he’d foolishly made for her.
A home that was empty.
Liam didn’t follow him.
***
She ran frantically through the woods. Twigs snapped at her and scraped across her cheeks. She kept slipping in the dirt and on the roots, and Jane sure hoped that she was heading south.
Then she heard the faint rush of the stream.
Yes.
She burst from the bushes.
But Ryan wasn’t there.
The moonlight fell on the water, making it shine and glisten, as it tumbled through the rocks.
She looked to the left. To the right. “Ryan?” Jane called out. He should have been there.
She hadn’t heard his voice in her mind again. There was nothing in her mind but silence. Nothing around her but the rush of the stream.
The air was cold. The wind blew harder against her cheeks.
Jane knew she didn’t have much time. Alerac would realize that she wasn’t back at the cabin. He’d come after her.
A twig snapped behind her. Jane spun around.
No one was there.
Hunted.
The instinctive awareness was back.
She bent to the ground and wrapped her fingers around a thick, heavy tree limb that had fallen down.
A growl reached her ears. Her head jerked to the right, and Jane caught the flash of glowing eyes from the thick brush. Her breath rushed out. A wolf. Alerac had sent one of his men after her. So much for not having guards.
She started to lower the branch. “I didn’t realize that—”
The wolf lunged at her. A big, muscled wolf, with golden eyes.
She’d seen those eyes before, only they had been in the face of a man.
Liam?
He hit her with his paws, and Jane fell to the ground. Her head slammed into one of the stones that lined the stream. The limb fell from her fingers.
The wolf put his mouth at her throat.
She heard more growls then. Other wolves were closing in on her. She counted at least three of them.
“S-stop!”
They edged ever closer.
Jane realized that the wolves weren’t there to protect her. No, that wasn’t their intent at all.
Then the wolf above her began to shift. His fur vanished from his body as his bones cracked and snapped. The brutal transformation lasted only for a moment, then Liam’s handsome face was smiling down at her.
“You should have listened to Alerac. The fool truly did want to keep you safe.”
He hadn’t shifted completely. His claws were still at her throat. He brought his mouth close to her ear. His breath blew over her cheek. “He would have protected you. But me? I don’t give a damn about your safety. It’s your blood that I want.”
It was her blood that he was about to take.
“No one’s here to protect you, princess. It’s time for you to bleed.”
His head slid down to her throat. She felt the rasp of his teeth against her skin.
No one’s here to protect you.
Yes, someone was there. “I’m here,” she whispered, and Jane lifted her hands. Her own nails had lengthened, sharpened, and she drove them right at his face. When her claws raked over him, Liam screamed and leapt back.
In the next moment, she was on her feet.
A white wolf lunged at her. She caught his head in her hands. Jerked as hard as she could.
When the bones snapped that time, the wolf stopped howling instantly.
The white wolf’s body fell to the ground. Began to shift.
Her breath sawed from her lungs.
Liam circled around her. Blood poured from the deep scratches on his face. But the crazy SOB was still smiling.
“I guess the lost vampire has some bite after all.” He swiped away the blood that rained down his cheek. “But you’re still on your own. Even a vamp at full power couldn’t take us all out.”
She grabbed for the limb she’d dropped before. “Let’s just see about that.” Her words didn’t tremble. Her knees did.
“Yes,” he whispered as his face hardened. “Let’s see.” Then he motioned with his right hand, and two wolves leapt toward her.
***
Alerac froze when he heard the howl. It died away almost immediately, but the sound seemed to echo in his mind.
He turned to the right. Stared into the night.
Jane.
He’d thought to let her go. But—
He took off at a run, and when he jumped over a fallen tree, his body shifted into the form of a beast.
***
She’d knocked one wolf back, snapping the limb in two when she swung it into the beast’s head. The other wolf struck out with his claws. Those claws sliced their way down her leg.
Screaming, she rushed to the other side of the stream. Where was some damn silver when she needed it? Her fumbling fingers grabbed a heavy rock. She threw it at the charging wolf.