An Undying Love (5 page)

“Okay, I guess
so,” she stated, looking at Beth oddly.

The sound of
feet on the steps drew both their attentions, and a rather enormous man, who
bore a great resemblance to Dante, stepped in. He carried a wooden rocking
chair.

“Okay, honey,
where did you want this?” he asked in a near gravely tone. Anya assumed he was
related to her captor.

“Right there
beside the bed, sweetheart. Oh don’t forget to get Tessa to bring my knitting
and our snacks over please.” Beth spoke to him with such a tone it was easy to tell
who ruled whom.

“Yes, dear,” the
man said. He gave Anya a quick once over as he set the chair in the exact spot
Beth had indicated.

“Oh, Anya, this
is my mate, Chris,” Beth told her.

“Hi, Anya, nice
to meet you,” he said with a near smile.

“Hi,” Anya said
almost sheepishly.

As the man left
he went to pick up the rock and close the door. Beth cleared her throat. He
looked over at her and she simply shook her head.

“I have to close
it,” he told her.

“The fresh air
and sunshine will help Anya heal, dear. Leave it open.”

“But Dante said—”

“I said leave it
open.” The woman gave her mate a hard look, and he put the rock back to hold
the door.

“I’ll see you at
supper time,” she said with a grin as he left.

Anya held her
smile back for only a moment as Beth settled into the rocking chair beside the
bed. The wooden chair was handcrafted like everything else there, and it looked
to have been made not long ago.

“It’s a
beautiful chair,” Anya told her as she eyed the intricate designs craved into
it. The flowers, butterflies and small birds were done wonderfully and by an
expert hand.

“Yes, it’s one
of my favorite chairs. Dante made it for me when he found out he was going to
be an uncle.”

“Dante made that,”
Anya stated almost disbelievingly.

“Yes, he makes
some of the nicest cravings around. You must have seen some of his work at the
general store?”

Thoughts of the
wonderful small carved wooden animals, boxes and other items that were for sale
at the general store filled Anya’s mind. She had purchased a set of hand-carved
wolves from there, the initials D. T. carved in the bottom. Never would she
have guessed that Dante had made them. They were amongst her most prized
possessions.

“I didn’t know
he was good with his hands,” Anya murmured.

“Dante can come
across as a real ass, but he isn’t. He’s a sweet man. He told me he found you
on the floor this morning. What happened?” Beth asked as she rocked slowly in
the chair.

“I fell out of
bed.” The look Beth gave her told her the other woman didn’t believe what she’d
said.

Chapter Five

Dante stood over
the bed again. The small morsel glared at him with a defiant, hateful look on
her face. Inside he smiled at her tenacity, but outwardly he glared down at
her. Over the last four nights, he’d come there to question her. She never gave
him any answers. Although tonight would be different. Tonight he would get the
information he needed, and she wouldn’t even have to utter a single word.

After sitting
beside her, he played with the four long pieces of twine he held in his hand as
he looked at her. “This is your last chance, Anya, tell me what I want to know,”
he demanded sternly. Still she said nothing. She hadn’t spoken a word since her
first night there, and he doubted she would now. He moved his hand toward her and
attempted to run his fingers along her face, and yet again she slapped his hand
away, glaring at him more intently.

With a smile, he
looked at her. So pretty, he thought, and soon she could very well be his. She
just didn’t know it yet.

“I warned you,” he
said. Dante leaned over Anya, then grabbed her arm on the far side and held it
down as he moved to straddle her waist. Her free small, delicate hand formed a fist,
and she connected with his chin. He was surprised it actually hurt. He grappled
the wrist of the hand that had just struck him and restrained her.

“Now hold still,”
he demanded as he forced her arms down under his knees at her sides and pinned
them there with his full weight. He paused for a moment, rubbing his now tender
chin. The girl had spunk, and he liked it. Unfortunately, his body reacted to
him sitting on top of her, and the swelling in the front of his jeans drew her
attention. Her eyes went wide as her gaze snapped up to look him in the face.

Anya’s scent shifted.
He could tell by the smell she was very afraid now, and he leaned over and
gripped her hair, forcing her head still so he could sniff her neck. He took a
deep inhale of her scent, and it was intoxicating. She smelled so good, and the
anger in her eyes added to the desire he had for her. With his face this close
to hers, he could see the subtle shifting in them. The excitement lay there
just under her fear, and it mingled with her scent as well. Surely she knew she
was going into heat? The smell was an aphrodisiac all by itself. It pulled at
him hard, his beast nature taking notice and willing him to have her.

He swallowed
hard and pulled his face from hers quickly, not wanting to be lost to the
animal inside him. Too many years had passed since he’d joined with a woman,
and this was way too tempting. The look in her eyes told him she knew he could
smell her heat. It seemed to fuel the girl’s anger, and her blue eyes flashed
in the light. The fear was nearly gone from them as both anger and excitement
took over.

“Get off me,”
she screamed as she twisted under him. The sound of her voice surprised him.

“I will when I’m
done with you.” He snarled and let go of her hair.

The look in her
eyes told him what she thought he was going to do, and he nearly laughed out
loud. If she only knew how he struggled not to do just that.

“Be good and don’t
move,” he told her, still trying to portray the big bad wolf.

With quick, deft
movements, he took a hold of some hair at the back of her head and tied it with
a piece of twine. He quickly braided the length and then tied it at the end
before moving to the opposite side and doing the same until she had two long,
thin braids. He pushed the rest of her thick, silky mane out of the way, then
pulled the thin braids taunt.

“Now you really
don’t want to move your head.” He pulled his knife from its sheath. Her eyes
went wide at the sight of the large blade, and he snickered.

“Don’t worry. I
have no intentions of marring that pretty face.” With a careful slice, he cut
both long braids free.

Dante placed the
knife back into its sheath before he held her arms down as he got off her. He
didn’t want her to hit him again. As he stood there he sniffed the braid. Her
musky, heady heat was heavy on them, and his smile widened.

“What are you
going to do with my hair?” she asked in a near growl.

“Well, this one
is for your brother,” he told her, holding up one of the braided locks. “And
this one is for your mate.”

“I don’t have a
mate.” She snarled venomously.

“Well, if your
brother doesn’t tell me where my sister is, then you’ll have one,” he said as
he pushed one of the strands into his pocket and then tied the other to his
wrist.

Anya’s eyes
looked shocked. Her face paled at the gesture of betrothal he’d taken the
liberty to declare by adorning his wrist with a lock of her hair.

“My brother will
kill you,” she said, her voice cracking a little this time.

“You broke
werewolf laws, sweetheart. I’ll give your brother until the next moon or I’m
claiming what is my right to claim.” He turned and walked out the door.

Dante locked it
behind him. He heard her sobs, and his heart dropped. This was not what he wanted,
but he needed to find out the fate that had befallen his little sister, and he
knew they had her. All he wanted was her back safe and sound. Now he really
didn’t want to let Anya go either. The fiery, stubborn girl ignited something
in him, something that caused him to crave her touch, and it scared him.

He would never
be able to have her, not completely. He’d gone about this the wrong way. If he’d
simply asked her where his sister was, she wouldn’t have told him, but somehow
he thought there had to have been a better way to get the information. A way
that wouldn’t have her hating him and then maybe she’d possibly even see him as
a mate.

After stepping
into his own cabin, he sat at the lonely kitchen table. Slowly he traced the
braided hair tied to his wrist. It was silly. He didn’t even know her, but
somehow he felt connected with her. It wasn’t something he could even put into
words. Love, lust, need, instinct, it all fit, but it wasn’t quite it either. It
was all of those things but so much more.

Of in the
distance he heard a howl, one of the sentries was reporting, and the call told
him all was quiet. Since Anya had arrived, he’d upped the patrols, sending out
three groups to patrol the island. No word had come from the mainland that her
brother knew where she was. He’d heard they’d been searching for her, and given
enough time, they may try looking there, and Dante didn’t want to get caught
off guard.

After grabbing a
bite to eat and washing up, he then headed for his bed. Staring at it made him
think of Anya. He felt guilty. It was cold out tonight and she only had a thin
quilt. He grabbed two of his blankets and headed back to the shed. If nothing
else, she could never say he didn’t try to make her comfortable, he thought as
he unlocked the door. As he entered the blankets fell to the floor and he
stared at the empty room. The dress she’d worn lay on the bed and there was no
sign of her.

The only place within
the room she could hide was under the bed. After he ducked down, he stared
disbelievingly at the small hole at the far back in the floorboards. A tuft of
white fur was stuck to it. Dante was a little stunned by just how tenacious she
really was as he stripped down and shifted. The smell of her heat hit him hard.
The wolf growled deeply at the inviting aroma and then the man in him
remembered his patrols. All males, all unmated, and they were patrolling the
island with an escaped female prisoner in heat. Anya was in more danger then
she possibly could know. He bolted out the door, trailing after her.

* * * *

Anya let the
tears fall this time. Mitch had no idea where Cora or Alex was. She still couldn’t
bring herself to tell Dante, even if it meant him taking her as his mate. That
thought had done strange things to her insides, and she shuddered with self-revulsion
as it had actually excited her. Although a brute, the man had done her no
actual harm. He was nursing her back to health. Beth had told her a man named
Memphis had been the one who had shot her. Dante had actually saved her life.

Still, she didn’t
feel ingratiated to him or his pack and as she calmed herself, she moved her
wobbly legs off the bed. The feeling was back, though they were still very
weak, but she would have to flee tonight or she would end up mated to a man she
didn’t even know. Tomorrow night was the next moon, and Dante was not giving
her brother any time, considering he didn’t know where Cora was.

Anya peeled her
dress off and tossed it on the bed before sliding down onto the cold wooden floorboards.
Shifting into a much more wiry form would help her slip through the floor she’d
managed to claw a hole through over the last several nights. She crawled under
and pulled her tired weak hind legs behind her. She barely managed to fit
through the small opening at the far back corner. She had to stifle a yelp as a
piece of the rough wood cut into her soft under belly.

She escaped out
from under the building and could see the village. It was a heavily treed area
with many small rustic, weathered homes dotted in between them. Anya stayed low
on her belly, crawling until she reached a thicket. There she paused and
sniffed the air and listened. The area was alive with the scent of wolves and
humans. Some old, some new, it mixed with her scent, and she felt a little
unnerved by her own smell.

Anya was in heat.
That would make this even harder to do, and she prayed no wolves were out and
about. In this form, she’d mate a male if he could prove himself to her wolf. It
wouldn’t matter what the human side of her thought. Countless tales were told
of how young females ended up mated that very way, the wolf taking them over
completely in its need to fulfill its role. That’s why she never turned during
her heats. She’d saved herself for her soul mate, but now she knew that would
never happen. The only thing that came from drinking the stagnant water at the
temple was her being captured.

She would have
to move very cautiously to avoid detection, and was actually grateful the night
sky was overcast as her white fur stuck out in the light of a moonlight night. She
slipped deeper into the forest and moved silently and slowly. Anya had to stop
several times to rest as her legs gave out and her hind end toppled her down
onto her haunches. Nearly two hours went by as she made a slow escape. Once she’d
thought she smelled wolves, and she made sure she stayed downwind of them.

She was moving
in the right direction as she could smell the salty sea air getting heavier. As
she entered what looked like an old apple orchard the winds changed direction
and she all but lost the scent. Tired and damn near unable to walk, she made it
only a few yards into the orchard when she needed to stop again as her hind
legs wobbled precariously. She panted as she sat for a moment, her tongue hanging
from the side of her maw. The winds died out as she sat there, trying to regain
some strength. The clouds in the night sky moved, uncovering the moon, and the light
shone from it over the old orchard.

A soft movement
to her right caused her ears to perk up. There was another sound from her
right. She listened as she looked over the overgrown field. She saw nothing,
but she felt uneasy. A snap of a branch somewhere in front of her had her
trying to regain her feet. They wobbled under her and gave way, not yet ready
to move. A howl resounded from behind her, and it was answered by several more.
They came from all around her. She was surrounded.

Anya forced
herself up and caught the first sight of the wolf in front. He moved through
the tall grasses, his head low and he snarled. Her hackles went up to make
herself look bigger, and she growled a warning. It was answered by another
snarl to her left. She could see another wolf as he came closer. She turned her
head to a quick movement to her right and barely had time to register the male
as he lunged at her.

She yelped as
his teeth nipped her flank hard and sank into her. She tried to move, but he
pawed her hind end, trying to get her to respond. She wheeled her head around
and bit him on the face. He yelped, and another advanced. Their smells were
heavy and musky. Her wolf was eager, but none had proven themselves. She made it
to her feet, tucked her tail in under herself and growled at one as he slunk in
low in front of her. She could see five of them. All of them were dark gray-furred
and much bigger than herself.

The one in front
of her lunged once more, and she tried to step back. Her hind end went down again,
and she saw one of the other males as he tackled the one leaping at her. They
fought for a moment and the first one fell back. It had her wolf interested for
a second, but Anya tried to quell her base nature and forced herself to stand
again. She was prepared to fight off the males if need be. They flanked out
again as she stood there snarling at them on her weak legs.

The sudden slam
of a male toppled her over from her left and she rolled to stay on her belly so
he couldn’t grab her by the throat and force her into submission. They fought furiously,
and she bled from several wounds. The wolf wrestled with her, biting at her
face, forcing her to lie flat. Before she realized what he was doing it was too
late as he pinned her down. His weight lay across her back as his teeth bit
hard into her shoulder. She yelped repeatedly in pain as he tried to mount her.