With Her Capture (26 page)

“I’ll do whatever it takes to insure you’re
safe.”

He took in the enticing curve of her long
neck. Her shoulders sloped into finely tuned muscle. And he enjoyed
watching suds float down her dark skin. Taking the wash cloth, he
dunked his hand into the water and began rubbing it up her spine.
Magda arched into the caress. Her nipples were covered with soap
that dripped free when they lifted out of the water.

“Did you plan on killing Puck?”

“Something like that,” he grumbled, entranced
by her hard nipples that forced water to trail in paths around
them. “I thought they’d killed you. I focused all my attention into
nursing my littermate. Otherwise I would have created a blood
bath.”

Magda shot him a side glance. “You would kill
for me?”

”Yes,” he answered without hesitating.

Grabbing the bar of soap, he began washing
her body meticulously. When he lifted her long, black hair, he
spotted the marks on her back that he instantly recognized as
healing bite marks. There were fading bruises. He looked closer and
saw where she’d been scratched, and where other wounds had been
around her hips. Ayden put his arm around her and leaned over the
bath to lift her from the water.

“Ayden, what—“

“How many hauled you to that cage?” he asked,
barely managing to reign in his fury as he took a really close look
at her body.

Magda started to curl into herself and goose
bumps spread over her flesh. “I—uh—don’t remember. It was dark.
Three. Maybe four.”

“What did they do to you?” Ayden snarled his
words. He started seeing red. Whoever had touched his mate would
die before the night was over.

“Ayden,” Magda said. “Ayden!” she yelled
louder. “Put me down. I’m fine.”

Ignoring her protests, he lifted her until
she stood in the water. Ayden squatted, staring at her nudity, but
for the first time only seeing what might have happened. And he’d
carried her to the tub so any scent left on her was now washed
away.

“What are you doing?” Magda snapped, hugging
herself and trying to sink back into the water.

“What did they do to you?”

Magda squatted sideways in the bathtub,
facing Ayden and matching his position.

“They herded me up the mountain. I didn’t
know where I was going and all I saw was white fur everywhere. They
were all males, and large. There was no way of seeing over them,
and looking up only caused me to bump into them. They bit at me to
keep me running in the direction that they wanted. Apparently the
shed door was already open because when they reached it they ran me
to the door. I ran inside, not realizing what I’d done. Suddenly
there was no more white fur surrounding me. I heard the door slam
behind me and the click of the lock. I stayed in there for three
days with only beef jerky and granola bars to eat.”

She stopped talking and stared at him. Her
eyes were large and opened wide as her pupils shifted to study his
face. Suddenly her mouth formed a tight, small circle.

“Oh,” she breathed. “They didn’t do
that.”

Magda lifted a hand that dripped with water
and touched the side of his face. The water was warm. Her skin was
warmer. And her scent so refreshing it broke the dam of icy hatred
building inside him. He turned his head, kissing her palm, but
didn’t take his gaze from hers.

“Ayden,” she whispered. “It was easily the
worse experience of my life. But now that I think about it, had I
been a rogue Malta werewolf, they would have killed me on sight. I
was thrown in there because they knew I was your mate. In spite of
hating what you’d done, your pack respects you enough not to kill
me. And I promise, my handsome white male, none of them did
anything to me. I never saw any of them after they locked me in
there.”

The anger and hatred that had climaxed in him
so quickly, dissipated with a deflating rush. This female, the
beautiful creature who gazed at him smelling of love, had just been
through hell. Yet she squatted in front of him, bruises still
mending on her flesh, and growled reassuring words to make him feel
better.

“How did I get a female as incredibly perfect
as you?” he asked, seriously wanting the question answered.

Magda laughed. Her smile lit up her face and
her dark eyes glowed. The bathroom filled with the clean scent of
happiness and it continued hanging close in the steam built up in
the small room even when her expression grew serious.

“I’m far from perfect,” she murmured. “But I
have wondered the same thing about you many times.”

If there situation weren’t still so grim and
dark, Ayden might have whistled when he left Magda in his bedroom
and went to the kitchen for food. Anthony lay on the couch, where
he’d been most of the past few days, with his eyes closed. His
breathing was slow. Ayden studied his littermate for a moment,
searching Anthony’s face. He looked so relaxed and at peace asleep,
almost the way he had looked as a pup.

Ayden worked to make as little noise as
possible while gathering food and putting it on a plate for his
mate. Over the past few days, those he loved most had come close to
death because of horrendously wrong decisions that he’d made.

He’d been a selfish bastard, and too
self-focused to smell past his nose. Ever since first sniffing out
Magda, he’d been content to keep her in that cave, because it was a
safe place for him to run to her. But then she’d run from him.
Ayden had instantly jumped to the hunt, not once thinking her
reasons for running might have been worth sniffing out first.

The other morning, once again Magda tried
leaving. She had stressed to him that she wouldn’t run from him
twice, but was howling first that she was leaving. Again, all Ayden
smelled was his scent on her. He knew what love smelled like; and
was sure he’d picked up on that emotion.

Ayden had worked his angle. He was positive
he’d be able to convince Magda to run in the direction he wanted
her to run. And he’d succeeded. All he’d really smelled was his own
happiness. He hadn’t taken time to try and smell Magda’s fear. And
he hadn’t wanted to notice his littermate’s wariness and concern
over Ayden sneaking away from their den all the time.

All he’d known was that he’d fallen in love.
That had been the only thing he’d gotten right. He most definitely
loved Magda, with all his heart. But it had been a selfish love,
one that had hurt Magda and Anthony.

Shaking his head, he picked up the plate he’d
piled with food and started around the counter. “Asshole,” he
mumbled.

“I can smell your pity party in my sleep,”
Anthony grumbled.

“What?” Ayden looked at his littermate.
Anthony’s eyes were still closed and he didn’t look as if he’d
moved.

“I smelled how happy the two of you were in
the bathtub. Now you are doped up on your own sorrow. Fucking tail,
Cariboo. Quit with the mood swings already.”

Ayden swallowed the snarl on his lips. “I
should have told you about Magda sooner.”

“Yeah, you should have.”

“Would you have accepted her?”

Anthony opened his eyes and turned his head
slightly so that his blue eyes impaled Ayden with raw emotions. “I
would have tried and howled some sense into you.”

Ayden nodded. Maybe that was the truth. No
matter how he had played it out, the same outcome would have
happened. Maybe after a good night sleep with his mate cuddled in
at his side, all of this would be clearer to him.

“And I wouldn’t have succeeded. I think
you’ve made the biggest mistake of your life. But I smell how much
you love her, and you’re happy.” Anthony looked away first and
stared at the ceiling. “These past few days are an example of how
your life will be from now on.”

Ayden nodded, hearing what Magda had howled
to him before they’d run here.
Life as you know it ends forever
if you walk out this door with me
.

“That’s what Magda told me before we ran
here,” Ayden said.

Anthony only nodded. “It’s the only life
she’s ever known. Maybe you should have listened.”

Floorboards creaked in the small, dark
hallway. Ayden glanced that way as Anthony shifted, turning so he
was also able to sniff out the noise. Magda appeared at the end of
the hall, but hesitated in entering the living room. Her shiny,
long black hair fell in moist strands well past her shoulders and
down her back. Its shade contrasted with the thick, white bathrobe
of his she wore. It fell to her ankles and her feet were bare. She
had the cloth belt that went with it tied so that it showed off her
narrow waist. Magda held its lapels closely together, which had her
hands pressed together just below her neck.

She shot Anthony a wary look before focusing
on the floor between them. “I told Ayden that I wasn’t worth him
giving up everything he has ever known, and everyone he has ever
loved.”

“And I didn’t listen,” Ayden said before
Anthony spoke. “I was so sure my way was right that I didn’t take
time to smell the truth.”

“So now you’re feeling sorry for yourself?”
Anthony snarled.

“You regret your decisions,” Magda said, her
tone bland. She nodded as if this made sense to her.

“Wait a minute.” Ayden put the plate of food
on the counter and walked over to Magda. He pulled her forward and
planted her in the comfortable chair which had been his mother’s
favorite. Then returning to the food, he brought it to Magda and
placed it in her lap. “Eat,” he grumbled. “I’m not feeling sorry
for myself. And I don’t regret my decisions. I do regret not
thinking out their repercussions. And I regret believing that I was
so loved in this pack that those who did love me would love you,
too.”

“Sure smells like a pity party,” Anthony
grumbled, and moved slowly to a sitting position. “But since you’re
taking time to smell the truth”—he pointed at Magda—“She’s right.
She isn’t worth your throwing away everything you had, everyone you
have ever known or loved. Because that will be what you’re doing.
Stay with this female and you lose your world, your
life—everything. She’s a freak of nature, Ayden. You must see that
by now.”

“What I see is that my mate smelled trouble
and protected her mate in the best way she knows how. But because
that way of protecting is different than yours, she’s a freak?
Leopards are different from us. So are owls. Are they freaks?”

“Leopards and owls can’t make things fly
through the air that shouldn’t be able to fly through the air,”
Anthony howled.

“So because they’re on the same playing field
as us, then you’re totally cool with them,” Ayden concluded.

“That’s right.”

“You can’t stand leopards. You’re being a
hypocrite. Owls fly. We can’t. Again, Anthony, you’re a hypocrite.
I would have thought better of you. Magda is who she is—and she’s
my mate!” he snarled. “Next time, maybe take time to sniff out the
situation for yourself and form your own truth before running to
save
someone.”

“She dropped a God damned boulder on me,”
Anthony growled, his teeth growing as he began stinking of anger.
“Our laws say she’s to be killed on sight. That’s conclusion enough
for me.”

Ayden leapt toward Anthony, wishing his
littermate were more mended so he could beat some sense into his
head. “You took off running with whoever would join you on a hunt
to take her down! And don’t you dare how about laws to me,” he
roared. “Did you think for one moment that I had enough sense to
run with a female who had honor?”

Anthony pushed to his feet. He didn’t look
that stable but held his own. “Next time she might kill someone
before you can stop her,” he said, his voice a rough whisper. Then
walking around Ayden, he headed to the door.

“Where are you going?” As pissed as he was,
his littermate was in no condition to try for a night run.

“I have other dens where I can stay. Leave
with your mate. Escape the pack if you can. I won’t stop you.”
Anthony opened the door and closed it silently behind him.

Magda stood staring out Ayden’s bedroom
window while snow fell outside. With his bedroom door closed, it
was cold enough in the room for her to see her breath in the dark.
Her thoughts tormented her too much to feel the cold, or to
sleep.

Maybe she’d slept a few hours. If she had,
they’d been loaded with dreams that repeated the arguing she’d
witnessed between Ayden and his littermate. Magda remembered Ayden
before meeting him. She’d sniffed him and Anthony out while hiding
from the leopards in the woods after managing a near escape from
them racing up the mountain. She’d been exhausted, hungry and in
her fur for far too long. Yet the moment she’d smelled Ayden and
Anthony and the Cariboo who’d run with them, she’d picked up on the
bond.

It was how she’d known that all three of them
weren’t littermates. The third Cariboo had been someone close, but
the tight connection between littermates who trusted and loved each
other was an unmistakable aroma. Magda knew. There had been that
same close bond with her littermates.

It tore at her heart knowing the male she
loved now knew a rift between himself and his littermate because of
her. Ayden really did love her. She knew he was prepared to leave
all of this behind, the den he’d been whelped in, the pack who
obviously held him in a high place of honor, and the only world
he’d ever known. That made her hurt even more.

Magda hadn’t told Ayden she wasn’t worth it
because she thought little of herself. No werewolf, regardless of
who they were or how they ran, should give up all they knew, all
they loved, in order to have love. It just wasn’t right.

She shivered when she turned from the window.
Suddenly it was cold. Not just from the deep chill that had settled
in the room after being closed off from the fire for part of the
night, but from an aching chill that sunk deep inside her clear to
her bone marrow. She stepped lightly toward the door.