With Her Capture (16 page)

Ayden knew Magda had run because she feared
for her life. It bothered him more than a little bit that she
didn’t believe him capable of protecting her. She might also think
she was doing him a favor by running. Like it mattered to him what
breed of werewolf she was. She was
his
werewolf.

There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she
cared about him. He smelled her happiness every time he came to
her. Ayden had spent every minute away from her rushing as fast as
possible in order to return to her side as soon as he could. The
moment she spotted him nearing the cave, if she’d been outside, she
would perk up. Her expression changed. And her scent—that
wonderful, alluring aroma—fragranced the air when she hurried to
meet him.

There were also times when he’d returned and
Magda had been in the cave. She was either preparing her kill for
him, preparing her bath, or once even cleaning the cave. He had
loved how the fire had made her dark hair shine and her tan skin
glow. He found himself standing in the middle of the room, at the
end of the large bed that he doubted would get any use that night,
and remembering the smile on Magda’s face when he’d entered the
cave the day before.

Magda had been standing in the middle of the
cave. Her scent was thick with satisfied pleasure. Other than after
fucking her senseless, it had been the first time he’d seen her
look so happy. There had been an ornery grin on her face while she
watched a broom move in front of her. She was sweeping the cave
without touching the broom.

Magda had started to explain to him, laughing
and pointing at the broom, that she had begun using and learning
the extent of her gift after running from the den she’d been
whelped in with her littermates. Ayden hadn’t allowed her to share
the story of how her gift was developing. Not that it bothered him
hearing her howl in excitement every time she mastered a new feat.
The smell of her, the way she had looked, slightly dirty from
cleaning the cave, and the pure pleasure on her face had drawn hot,
hard and needy lust from deep inside him. Ayden had cleared the
space between them and ripped her clothes from her body. The broom
had clamored to the cave floor. Magda had laughed and wrapped her
arms and legs around him. She then rode him hard and drained him
fast.

“I’m going to find you, Magdaline,” he
muttered out loud then shot his attention to the door when there
was a soft knock. “The hunt begins now.”

Chapter Eleven

Magda sat on a barstool at the busy bar
inside the human night club and stared, her gaze unfocused, at the
crowded dance floor. She’d sent the third human male, who had
offered to buy her a drink, on his way and sipped at the draw of
beer she’d purchased. Her funds were limited, very limited. Not to
mention she couldn’t risk getting drunk. She needed her wits about
her and her cash to travel into the states to Colorado. Since she’d
decided not to spend money on a motel room, passing the time among
humans beat hovering on the outskirts of town in her fur until her
bus left—sort of.

“May I buy you a drink?”

“No thanks. My boyfriend will be back from
the bathroom—“ Magda cut herself off when she turned on her bar
stool to face the young man who had just spoken. She lowered her
voice, which was probably unnecessary considering the noise from
music and hundreds of humans laughing and talking around them.
Looking into the round eyes of the young male owl, she frowned when
she didn’t pick up his scent. “Odd place for you to be,” she said
softly.

The owl didn’t smile, or blink. “But not so
odd for you to be here.”

Did he think she enjoyed hanging out with
drunken humans? “Why is that?”

“A place like this makes it very hard for
someone to sniff you out.”

It was none of his business that she was here
because she needed to kill time before going to the bus station.
She could sit here without spending too much money, and yes, maybe
she wanted to hide, but that was really none of his business.

Magda smiled and did her best to appear
relaxed. “You found me.”

“It was the second place I looked,” he
offered.

“You came here looking for me?” Magda’s
stomach twisted in knots. “Who sent you?”

“Not who you think. It might be easier to
speak outside.”

With that the young male turned and easily
disappeared through the crowd. Which was an accomplishment since he
stood at least as tall as Ayden. He didn’t have a fraction of the
muscle tone, though. Magda left her half-drank beer at the bar and
hurried off her stool after the owl. It was impossible to see
around the crowded night club but she sniffed the air for any smell
that wasn’t human. Was Ayden somewhere in the club?

As many times as she’d told herself to not
think about him, to simply act and make the trip to Colorado where
the Malta werewolf pack was, her brain wasn’t doing a good job of
listening to her reasoning. Magda continued sniffing the air and
almost choked on the human stench surrounding her.

The moment she stepped outside, she fought
the urge to gulp at the night air. Humans repressed emotions all
their life. With their inability to change and release their
emotions, as they grew older their smell increasingly grew worse.
Magda wanted to run to the nearest group of trees, planted on the
edge of the large parking lot, and fill her lungs with fresh air.
As it was, she breathed in the car exhaust and continual smell of
humans from those lingering outside.

It was something she would have to endure.
For the next few days, at least, she would be surrounded by humans.
It was the only way to stay alive. As long as she stayed away from
all packs, no one would notice that she was a Malta werewolf.

Except now an owl had sniffed her out.
Glancing around the parking lot, Magda took a few steps away from
those lingering at the entrance. The young male had walked past the
parked cars and motorcycles and stood on planted grass under two
large saplings in the middle of the surrounding cement lot.

“Owls don’t care about werewolves.” Magda
muttered under her breath as she walked toward him. He’d said he
hadn’t been sent by who she thought, and the owl probably had
sniffed out her curiosity and trepidation as soon as he’d uttered
the words. “Which means he knows a hell of a lot more about me than
I do about him.”

When she remembered how well owls could hear,
even in their human form, Magda glanced up and quit talking.

“Interesting,” the young male owl murmured
when Magda stepped onto the curb surrounding the grassy patch in
the middle of the lot.

She joined him under the two large saplings.
“What’s interesting?” she demanded.

“All I know about you is what I have been
told,” he said in answer to her question.

He had heard her talking to herself on the
way across the parking lot to join him.

“You’d think you would have enough manners
not to eavesdrop,” Magda snapped.

If she offended him, he gave no indication.
“There are times when it’s important to step into someone’s life.
That is, of course, depending on how their feathers lay.”

Magda crossed her arms, her irritability
growing because she had no idea how he smelled. Actually, that
wasn’t exactly true. The tall—he stood well over six feet—thin
male, with his almost white hair, long pointed nose and chin,
narrow face, and eyes that were too big for his head, smelled of
laundry soap, bath soap and deodorant. So she now knew he had good
hygiene.

“And how do mine lay?” she asked dryly.

He tilted his head to one side and studied
her a moment, then made a humphing sound.

“I’m not sure and doubt I’ll find out,” he
said, his tone quiet and annoyingly soothing. “I was told to fly to
you and deliver a message.” Without preamble he continued. “There
is a male Cariboo
lunewulf
at the Hampton Bed and Breakfast
who is searching for you. The Hampton nest has no problem allowing
their guests to hire owls like me to hunt and return with
information that he is paying to have delivered.”

Magda glanced away. It wasn’t like a werewolf
to have someone else do their hunting for them. But the owl hadn’t
just said werewolf, he said Cariboo. Why would Ayden ask owls to
find her?

“What’s his name?”

“That isn’t part of the information I’m
ordered to tell you.”

“You know his name?” She looked at the owl.
“You do know his name, right?”

“When I return to the Hampton’s, I will give
the Cariboo
lunewulf
the information he has paid to
receive,” the owl said, ignoring her question as if she hadn’t just
asked.

Magda knew owls didn’t lie. It wasn’t just
because of the stench of the lie. Owls didn’t see the logic in
lying. If asked something they didn’t want to answer, or believed
the answer might be detrimental, they would probably do what this
owl had done just now—avoid the question.

“What did he pay to receive?” she asked,
hoping he would give her at least that much.

“To know exactly where you are.” The owl
looked away from her for the first time.

Magda felt as if a spotlight had been trained
off of her. She didn’t have a lot of experience with owls, but the
howlings seemed accurate. Their logical manner, and void of
emotional aromas, was as annoying as what she’d heard.

“Why would he want to know that?” Maybe with
the right questions, she would confirm the owl was sent by
Ayden.

Not that she really had any doubt. There
wasn’t another Cariboo who knew about her. Magda was sure she
hadn’t raised any suspicions, or grabbed the attention of any
werewolves since running from the cave. If someone she didn’t know
recognized her as a Malta werewolf, they would try killing her, or
alert their pack, who would then hunt and kill her. They wouldn’t
bother with owls.

“While the Hampton nest has no problem with
providing information to their guests, they won’t do it if it is to
bring harm to someone innocent of a crime. It’s clear to us that
you aren’t being pursued because you have done harm to anyone. I
will return and share the knowledge that you are a Malta werewolf,
something their guest didn’t reveal to us. I’m not under the
impression that is why you are being hunted.”

Hunted. The word, and thought that Ayden
hunted her created an instant swelling between her legs. Her pussy
began throbbing and she shifted her weight, then walked a small
circle. It was to put distance between her and the owl while
forcing her thoughts to remain neutral. Magda hoped it appeared she
was antsy, a common werewolf trait, and standing still too long
when the urge to run was part of her very make up, caused her to
pace. Of course, on the small patch of grass with two small trees
surrounded by the cement parking lot, there wasn’t much room to
pace.

“What impression are you under?”

“If your mate has harmed or dishonored you,
our parliament will offer protection.”

She stared into his large, round eyes. He had
spoken with Ayden directly. How else would he know that she carried
his scent and vice-versa?

Magda smiled. The male’s neutral expression
didn’t change. As frustrating as that was, it was part of the owl
culture. She’d be the last to dislike someone because they didn’t
behave the way she thought they should. Some howled that owls were
incredibly violent in their feathers because they used that form as
a way to release emotions they kept too suppressed in their flesh.
He was being honest, and she would honor him by doing the same.

“I’m not running from an abusive mate. I’m
running from a stubborn one who refuses to smell the truth.”

Once again he tilted his head and raised his
eyebrows. It was likely a lot of reaction for an owl.

“Why did you mate with a Cariboo
lunewulf
if you knew you would have to run from him because
your species is hunted and killed?”

Did she pick up on the slightest smell of
curiosity?

“We aren’t officially mated,” she offered.
Like he would understand if she told him it was because she’d
fallen in love.

“Interesting.” He gave a quick nod. If it all
made sense to him then he understood her relationship with Ayden
better than Magda did.

The owl turned and began walking away from
her.

“Wait,” she called out, and was forced to run
after him. His long legs allowed him to move fast, even if he was
simply strolling across the parking lot.

The owl looked over his shoulder at her.
“Yes?”

“So that’s it? What happens now?”

“I tell the Hampton guest the information he
has paid to receive.”

“You need to tell him to return to his pack
and find a female he can actually have a life with.”

“Do you wish to return with me and relay your
message?”

“No, I do not,” she said, fighting to remain
calm. “I want you to tell him.”

“There is a charge for delivering
information.”

Magda sighed. The owl wasn’t mocking or
making fun of her. He simply stated a truth that in his mind was
unwavering.

“Fine.” She waved him off and this time was
the one to turn away first. “Oh,” she said, spinning around
again.

The owl had begun walking again. A car drove
between them, turning at the next row of parked cars. It drove
slowly, probably searching for a place to park. It left fumes of
exhaust and the steady thumping of hip-hop music in its wake.

“How soon will you tell him where I am?”

“In twenty-three minutes.”

She frowned. “Twenty-three minutes?”

“It will take me fifteen minutes to fly to
the bed and breakfast. More accurately, nine minutes to walk to the
edge of town, one minute to change, and five to fly. I will spend
another five minutes briefing the Hampton nest on what I have
learned. It is a courtesy to honor those who bring me employment,”
he offered. “I haven’t factored in the precise amount of time it
takes to climb the stairs. There is the unknown variable of how
long it will take the Cariboo
lunewulf
male to answer his
door once I knock on it. Since he smelled anxious for the
information, I believe it won’t take him long.”