He might have said more, if Ali hadn't slammed her mouth against his. The tears still came unbidden, but the raw ache in her heart that had been her constant companion since he'd locked her inside her room the night before was gone. In that instant, it had been replaced with a relentless need.

For him.

She wanted to show him that she meant every word. She hadn't tried to disobey. Until that moment, she hadn't known exactly how true that had been. If she'd had it her way, she probably would have stayed at his mansion forever, lost in the feel and taste and utter intoxicating nearness of him.

The kiss was savage, ruthless. She tried to thrust her tongue between his lips but he was faster, sliding into her mouth and unleashing all the fury he'd been carrying. It slid through her, satiating only a small portion of the hunger that burned inside her veins. He tasted like mint and pure, savage male, and she wanted all of him, in her mouth, her p.u.s.s.y, her a.s.s.

Everywhere. Now!

"Victor," she breathed against his lips as his fingers dug harshly into her skin. She knew there would be bruises, and didn't care.

She didn't have to give voice to what she wanted. As before, he seemed to be attuned to her thoughts, reading her mind. He lifted her off her feet and pushed her inside the back seat of the car, gentler than he'd been when he'd yanked her out of it. He slammed the door behind him, and she was suddenly enveloped in his scent, raw and masculine. His body pressed against hers, pinning her down.

There was no tenderness, no build-up or foreplay. There was only the promise of release, of sharing themselves with one another. Victor tore at her bonds, freeing her wrists and ankles before tugging at her jeans. In return, she yanked down his zipper and ripped the top b.u.t.ton in her haste to free his c.o.c.k.

When she had his hard, pulsing length in hand, she spread her legs as far as the bunched-up jeans around her knees would allow, offering herself to him, his c.o.c.k compelling the obedience that little else would.

He plunged into her with a ferocious urgency that knocked the breath from her lungs. His rod pierced her inner core, stretching her wide with the thick, warm length of his shaft.

Ali laughed, the sound startlingly loud within the confines of the car, giving in to the pure joy of having him inside her again. She'd never thought she'd feel the all-encompa.s.sing sensation of being stretched to capacity by his c.o.c.k again, and the feeling was euphoric.

"Yes," she whispered, biting down on his earlobe. "Harder."

He rammed his rod into her, withdrawing it then plunging it inside her tight channel until she screamed his name with every thrust. Ali clung to him, desperate for every bit of him he was willing to share. Her p.u.s.s.y clenched, her muscles milking him as they fluttered and tensed around his c.o.c.k.

Pa.s.sing headlights illuminated Victor's face as he raised his head and looked into her eyes. His c.o.c.k never stopped its relentless motion, and each thrust was like pure liquid ecstasy flowing through her veins.

Holding his gaze, she knew the moment his climax was too close to be stopped, and felt her own self-control shatter. His shaft swelled even further inside her. Her p.u.s.s.y squeezed down on his rod, her inner muscles pulsing as the cresting wave of o.r.g.a.s.m washed over her with the same intensity as their lovemaking.

"You didn't try to escape. You really didn't."

The words seemed almost wrung from his lungs a moment before he gave in and his seed flooded her channel. He growled, and the sound sent a shiver down her spine. She remembered that sound, remembered the feel of his palm slapping her a.s.s, but the fear had dissipated, the ecstasy of o.r.g.a.s.m taking its place. The thrill of their coupling and the euphoric sensation that came with knowing he believed her made her head spin.

Dizzy and rapturous, she pulled his head down to her for another kiss. His tongue had barely slid inside her mouth when a thought struck with lightning speed.

Ali broke the connection between them and raised herself on her elbows. Victor made no move to get off her. His c.o.c.k remained embedded in her p.u.s.s.y, and she absentmindedly squeezed her muscles around his softening length, keeping him inside her.

"Why would the Alpha of a rival tribe be sniffing around outside your garden?"

Victor groaned. Leaning his forehead against the backrest, he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. "I called him. I wanted to know if he'd take the bait."

"Bait?" The word was barely out of her mouth when understanding hit her like a punch to the gut. "Me. That's where you're taking me tonight. To him."

Her fist flew out toward his face before she could form a coherent thought out of her intentions, but Victor was faster, catching her punch in his raised hand. Bile rose in her throat. She wiggled her hips and tried to push him out of her, but he wouldn't budge.

"Listen to me. If this was to be your final night, then it was going to be mine, too."

She stared at him, not comprehending. He sighed and reached down to the floor. After a moment of struggling, he pulled out a small, black object and held it before her. A breath caught in her throat.

"A gun? Pack law demands --"

"I know what pack law demands," he answered harshly. "Better than anyone."

Ali bit her lip. For centuries, rival werewolf packs settled their disputes using nothing more than their muzzles, claws and the sheer strength of their feral bodies. As time pa.s.sed and technology grew more sophisticated, an unspoken, unchallenged rule arose among the tribes. Disputes would continue to be settled by pitting the combatants against one another empty-handed. Old-fashioned weapons, such as staves and swords, were permitted if necessary, but gunpowder and the instruments of war that required it were not only unwelcome, but also considered distasteful. The elders dealt with anyone caught using such a weapon privately. The punishments were harsh but fair by pack law standards.

"In a fair fight, you'd never need a gun," Ali said softly.

"Is that what this is? Would a fair fight include a formula meant to wipe out an entire pack?" Victor's black brows slashed down over his eyes. "Or perhaps you think it was fair that Daniel sent you to us under the pretense of a long-lost member of our tribe returning for a joyous occasion."

"Fine, then. I get it. But you thought you'd... what? March in there like a superhero and take Daniel out in front of all his men with nothing more than a tiny gun?" And it was small, she thought as she glanced at the weapon. Small enough to fit inside his boot. She gritted her teeth and continued, "They'd have found that on you in an instant. If you're actually going to the compound, they'd never let you get through the front gates without thoroughly searching you. And then they'd have killed us both."

He shook his head, vehement denial etched on his features. "I had to do this. I could have killed him last night, but what would that have done? His men would have killed me instantly, and then they'd have ravaged my entire household." He trailed his knuckles over her cheek. "And you. I couldn't allow that."

She wet her dry lips with the tip of her tongue and watched Victor's gaze follow the motion, his eyes widening with desire. She fought to ignore it, but her c.u.n.t fluttered in a purely feminine response, tightening its grip on his semi-soft c.o.c.k.

"J.C. wanted me dead, didn't he?" Ali asked, silently relieved when her voice didn't waver.

Victor swallowed hard and tossed down the gun. It clattered on the carpeted floor. Outside, a rig went by, sending a shuddering vibration through the car.

"He allowed me to do what I could, but he made it clear that the moment I believed I couldn't get through to you, I was authorized to do whatever was necessary to eliminate the threat to the pack." He grazed her eyebrows with his fingertips, then caressed the sweep of her cheek. "I thought I'd failed, Ali. When I saw you run, I thought I'd failed you, J.C.... the entire pack. This was one thing I could do right."

She sucked in a breath, realizing then that what she'd mistaken for cold, calculating cruelty had been resignation. Acceptance.

"You wanted to make a statement by killing Daniel inside the compound, in front of his pack. And if it meant getting rid of me in the process, well, so much the better." To her surprise, there was no venom in her tone, no hatred clenching her heart.

She understood. h.e.l.l, she'd have probably done the same in his position. That thought wouldn't have been comforting twenty minutes ago. Funny how a bout of rough s.e.x could change someone's perspective. She almost smiled at that, if not for the drowning sorrow she saw in Victor's eyes.

He nodded. "I couldn't have lived with myself knowing I'd caused your death any more than I could have if I'd killed you myself. This way..." His voice dropped to a low whisper. "Maybe it's cowardly, but this way I wouldn't have to live without you. And perhaps the pack would get something out of my death. Something I couldn't give them in life."

Ali reached out and slid her fingers through his hair, then tilted his head so he'd look at her. She had to know. Had to hear it from him. "You couldn't have let me live?"

Anguish filled his gaze. "Not as long as you were still a danger to the pack. Now that I know differently, things have changed. Everything has changed."

Hysteria rose in Ali's throat. The faces of all the members of the pack swam before her eyes. Everyone who had touched her so intimately returned now to haunt her. "Don't you understand? It's too late. You might as well finish what you've started. I've already destroyed our pack."

She bit her lip, watching his eyes widen as she gave voice to that final bit of acknowledgement. d.a.m.n it, she refused to take it back, even though the acceptance made her heart squeeze painfully. The Zante were her pack as much as they were Victor's, Brad's and J.C.'s.

And she'd killed them all.

Unexpectedly, Victor grinned. "Brad and Sean will have a mating ceremony of their own. It's been scheduled for a week from tomorrow. Even the elders didn't oppose it, though there hasn't been a formal ceremony performed between two males since...

well, never, actually."

Ali stared at him, open-mouthed. "You mean Brad Hennessy is getting married?"

Victor's laugh was infectious, and she felt her own lips curve upwards in response. "I'm afraid so, sweetheart." His features grew serious again. "You didn't destroy our pack, Ali. You might have meant to, and that counts, surely. You'll still have to face the elders before they'll allow you to return within our ranks, but you didn't kill anyone. Eve is working on a cure for our pack. She thinks she may have succeeded."

Ali rubbed the bridge of her nose. The wealth of information was too much, too fast. "J.C.'s mate? She thinks she's found a way for the Zante females to bear male pups?"

Victor wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "She thinks she may be the first to give birth to one in over a decade. I guess we'll find out in a little under nine months or so."

"Wow." Ali allowed her head to fall back and rest against the cushioned upholstery. She swallowed past the lump in her throat and closed her eyes. "This idea you had about Daniel. It wouldn't have worked the way you'd planned it, but it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. We can still make it happen."

For a long minute, Victor didn't respond. Ali listened to the sound of tires rolling down the highway and focused on the rhythmic comfort of Victor's steady breathing in the otherwise quiet interior of the car.

The springs in the back seat squeaked as he shifted to hover above her. His c.o.c.k rapidly hardening, he pushed it inside her to the hilt. Ali blinked her eyes open and met his dark gaze, her hips lifting upward of their own accord to meet his thrust.

"All right, baby. Let's hear it. What did you have in mind?"

It was thirty minutes past the agreed-upon meeting time when Victor pulled the sedan up to the front gate of the Kolen compound. Between the tryst by the side of the road and the time Ali had needed to prepare, the delay couldn't have been helped.

If this had been any other meeting, it might not have mattered. But it did. Too much was riding on Daniel's driving need to possess Ali -- the final prize in a long list of payoffs. If the Kolen turned them away for being late, they'd never be able to get close enough to Daniel to do what had to be done.

Victor tightened his grip on the leather-wrapped steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. For the sake of the Zante clan's continued survival, he hoped Daniel would overlook a simple matter like a few minutes of unwelcome delay.

His gaze flickered to the rearview mirror. "Well, babe, I hope you're ready for lesson three."

Ali quirked an eyebrow. The gag stretched taut between her plump lips, preventing her from asking the question so clearly reflected in her dark eyes.

"Conflict," Victor said, answering her unspoken query. "Trust and complete openness are integral to a relationship between a dominant Master and a submissive slave." He chuckled at the way her nose scrunched up at his words. "But it's really conflict that drives every experience worth having... both in and out of the bedroom."

He watched her eyes soften with desire and knew she understood. His c.o.c.k pulsed, a delicious ache settling low in his b.a.l.l.s in response to the sultry look in her direct gaze.

Showtime.

"Are you ready?"

Ali nodded once, firmly, no hint of hesitation marring her perfect face. If not for the strip of cloth she bit down on and the rope tied around her wrists and ankles, there would be nothing to indicate her captive state.

Or her submission, he thought faintly, a slight smile tugging at his lips. That was reserved for him. Only for him.

He flashed his high beams three times in rapid succession, then settled in to wait, gritting his teeth. Anxiety swam through his veins, turning his blood cold. If anything went wrong...

He swallowed hard, refusing to think about that possibility. Instead, he focused on the bright white light that his headlights spilled through the barbed-wire fence surrounding Daniel's compound. The yard stretching up to the front of the building gaped gray and barren, empty of vegetation. Craggy rocks and dust pounded by dozens of paws stood out in sharp relief to the tall, imposing mountains that lined up like silent sentinels against the black night sky.

The base itself had once been a warehouse used to store dangerous substances. The skull and crossbones sign warning trespa.s.sers away still hung on the front gate, its morbid grin sending another icy chill down Victor's spine. The harsh gray facade of the building and the blocky, barred windows hid all traces of movement within.

Just as Victor began to wonder whether they meant to ignore him altogether, the front metal door was flung open from within and two men left the safety of the compound to cross the length of the courtyard toward the car. Victor recognized the men as two of the guards who'd accompanied Daniel the previous night. Of Daniel himself, there was no sign.

As they approached, Victor tried to smooth his features into a calm mask, but the turmoil roiling in his gut made his teeth gnash.

If we fail...

For the second time in as many minutes, he suppressed a shudder. Forcing himself to meet the gaze of the closest man, he pushed the b.u.t.ton to roll down the driver's side window.

"You're late." The man made no attempt to disguise the menace in his voice.

Victor lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug. "Traffic," he growled back, matching the guard's scathing tone.

Dressed in faded jeans and tight white tee shirts, both men looked more like college frat boys than Daniel's personal guard, but Victor knew better. The steel in their gazes and the scowls permanently etched upon their faces told him everything he needed to know.

These were ruthless wolves who wouldn't hesitate to kill him. If she was very lucky, they'd kill Ali, too. If she wasn't, she'd experience more cruelty than she'd ever thought possible.

The second man moved forward, his hand wrapped around the end of a long staff thrust through a loop in his belt. He pulled out the weapon and slammed it against the windshield with a fierce blow. The gla.s.s shattered, sending clear shards flying through the interior of the car.

Victor grimaced as some of the smaller pieces cut into his cheek.

"Get out of the car."

Arguing would have been pointless. The guards stepped back just far enough to give him s.p.a.ce to open the door. He did as they commanded, fighting the impulse to glance through the rear window at Ali.

One of the guards did it for him. Stepping close to the car, he brought both hands up to shield his face from glare and peered through the unbroken gla.s.s. Victor's head pounded. A sudden blow from behind would send the man to his knees. Another sharp slam to the back of his neck and he'd be unconscious, leaving only one guard to deal with. Tension tightened his muscles, and the need to strike -- to do something -- made him clench his fists at his sides.

He blew out a breath between gritted teeth. Attacking the guard would only alert Daniel to their intentions. No, it wasn't yet time to reveal their plan. Besides, Ali would never forgive him if he messed this up.

And if we fail, what will it matter then?

"Victor. A pleasure, as always. You've brought my gift, I a.s.sume?"

Daniel's voice cut through Victor's dark thoughts like a beacon, giving him something solid to cling to. He spun on his heel and fixed Daniel with a fierce glare. Behind him, six more men surrounded their Alpha, drawn weapons clutched in their hands. True to pack law, the instruments ranged from long staffs like the one he'd already seen to small, slender daggers and a curved b.a.s.t.a.r.d sword.

Before he could respond, the guard who'd been checking on Ali lifted his head. "Yes, sir. The package is secure. She looks to be unconscious."

The package is secure? Who are these guys? Navy SEALs in wolves' clothing?

"She better not be dead, Victor. You promised you'd hand her over to me alive. What I have planned for her won't be nearly as much fun if she can't... enjoy it." His cruel laugh rang out through the night air, then faded as quickly as it began. "Search him."

Victor pressed his lips together. A muscle jumped in his jaw. Daniel's men set upon him with undisguised glee, their hands flying over his body, patting him down, leaving no area untouched.

One of the guards cupped his groin. Squeezing his b.a.l.l.s and finding his c.o.c.k still erect, the man chuckled. "The only weapon he's wielding is no threat to us."

"Check his feet," Daniel commanded.

A soft metallic squeal caught Victor's attention. He glanced at Daniel to see if he'd heard it, but the man gave no indication of noticing anything amiss.

Heart pounding violently against his ribcage, Victor bent down and pulled off one boot, then the other. If he'd gone with his original plan, it would have all been over by now.

I hope you know what you're doing, Ali. For all our sakes.

Standing in his socked feet, Victor waited until the guards completed their examination.

"He's clean," one of them proclaimed.

"Good." Daniel grinned, showing perfect white teeth. "Hold him. I'll search Ali myself."

Two of the guards obeyed, their ma.s.sive hands closing on Victor's upper arms. He fought against the urge to struggle and watched as Daniel headed for the vehicle, every muscle in his body coiled in antic.i.p.ation.