CHAPTER 4.

Carson walked into the outer room of the cabin. He had just checked on their captive for what felt like the thirtieth time in the last three hours.

"What is it with you, anyway?" Donovan asked as Carson shut the door. "I haven't seen you show this much interest in a female since-"

Carson held up a hand. "Don't say it. Don't say her name."

Sybilla. Carson's mate. The woman who had been murdered because he hadn't been there to protect her. It had been years now since her death, and the nightmares had lessened somewhat, but he could never forget. He saw the look of devastation on Donovan's face and realized that his brother would never forget her either.

"It wasn't your fault." Donovan had been there and had almost been killed himself. If Carson and Treynor hadn't returned when they did, he'd probably have ended up dead as well. The a.s.sa.s.sins hadn't been able to carry all three bodies out of the woods at the same time. Their younger pack brother, Kyle, and Carson's mate, Sybilla, were gone, only a trail of blood left in their wake. Their bodies were never found.

Carson and Treynor had arrived home after a supply trip into the city to find him lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

There'd been no time to ask questions. They'd gotten him out as quickly as possible to a safe place and then gone back to34 try to track Kyle and Sybilla. The trail eventually led to a dead end.

Like the Dalwin brothers, they'd eventually made their way to Vampyre Falls to seek sanctuary for what remained of their pack. Unlike the Dalwins, Treynor's pack never discovered what happened to Kyle and Sybilla. For them it had been worse to have no closure at all.

"I should have been able to do something. We shouldn't have been taken by surprise. I still don't know how they did it."

"You can't claim all the guilt, Donovan. You're lucky they didn't kill you as well."

His pack brother looked at him with dark, tortured eyes.

"If it could have saved Kyle and Sybilla, I'd gladly have died in their place."

Carson walked across the room and put his hands on his brother's shoulders. "I don't seem to be able to say the right things. I'm better off staying away from all of you. I only cause you to hurt more."

Donovan glanced up at him, shock evidenced in his expression. "That's why you spend so much time down in Silver Creek? Because you think you're not welcome at the house in Vampyre Falls? Dammit, Carson, that's just crazy.

We're family. We belong together."

"I loved Sybilla. She was my mate. You and Treynor deserve a chance to move on, and sometimes I think I'm just a reminder of what happened."

"We all loved Sybilla in our own way, you know that. She was a part of all of us, just as Treynor's wife is. We're family."35 "We're not a human family though, are we, brother? We're shifters and we do things and feel things differently. Sybilla shared the same blood of our ancestors and the bond was permanent. I will never mate with another, there could never be a bond as close as I had with her." Why was it he kept seeing Petra Thornton's image pop into his head? Why did he carry her photo in his wallet? Why did he act so possessively to a woman that should mean nothing to him? It felt like such a betrayal to Sybilla.

Donovan nodded. "I know. We all miss her. It's the blood; it's from the cursed blood of our families. We're all tied. Too closely maybe." Donovan looked at him. "What is it with this woman? There's something going on with you. Tell me what it is."

Carson shook his head. He wished to h.e.l.l he knew.

Somehow he was drawn to the woman, but he didn't know why. Drawn in a way he hadn't been-since the death of his mate. And his kind supposedly mated for life.

This woman was human. His reaction to her didn't make sense, and it shouldn't be this strong. She was the enemy.

"I don't know what's wrong with me. Her parents are responsible for the deaths of my mate and our brother. I should feel nothing but hate for her."

"Deborah and George Thornton are two of the most dangerous people a.s.sociated with the PIA. They could only have sp.a.w.ned a child with a black heart. You know that.

You're leaving yourself vulnerable and setting yourself up to be killed."36 Carson sighed. "I know that. There's just something about her. Something that's not right."

"Well, of course something's not right. If she knows you've got a weakness for her, she'll use it against you. She's going to cut out your heart if you don't watch out."

Carson lifted his head to look at Donovan. "I don't have a heart left for her to cut out."

"Then f.u.c.k the b.i.t.c.h and get it out of your system. Scratch the itch and be done with it. But don't let her get to you.

Don't let her play you, Carson. And she will if she gets the chance."

"Screw you," Carson retorted. d.a.m.n, his brother had a coa.r.s.e way with words sometimes. "That isn't the problem."

"When was the last time you were laid properly? You haven't had a woman since the bonding ritual with Rainna, have you? Binding with Trey's mate. That was over a year ago."

"It's none of your d.a.m.n business," Carson growled back.

So what if he didn't hump everything in sight the way Donovan had a habit of doing. All the women loved Donovan's charm. He doubted there was an unmarried woman in Silver Creek that Donovan hadn't taken to bed at one time or another.

Donovan's intent focus was like a blowtorch shooting right through him. His brother saw more than he should and it unnerved Carson to think that anyone could see into his soul so clearly. "Or maybe I should screw her and prove she's nothing special," Donovan challenged him. "Just a viper we have to keep under lock and key until a deal is made."37 Carson reeled back at his brother's words. "You don't touch her, brother. Keep your hands off her."

She's mine, his mind shouted at him. His blood surged until it reached a boiling point as the anger blasted through him. He felt the change coming, the shift of bone and sinew about to erupt. A growl erupted deep in his throat. What the h.e.l.l was happening to him? Why was he reacting with the territorial possessiveness of an alpha mate for a human woman he didn't even really know? She was the enemy, dammit.

Through a narrowed gaze he saw Donovan's eyes widen in surprise at his forceful reaction to his suggestion.

"Jesus, Carson, what's gotten into you? What kind of spell has she put on you?"

Carson tried to calm down, to think rationally. He knew Donovan didn't mean what he said. He wouldn't have f.u.c.ked the woman just to prove a point. He was just as confused as Carson was by the man's powerful response to their captive.

Now was not the time to lose control. Shifting to his wolf form would not solve this problem. He needed to be here in human form. He wished Trey were here. Trey was the alpha of their pack; he was the peacemaker, the level-headed one. He was the one to ground them all.

But their older pack brother couldn't leave the mountain right now. It was a crucial time with Rainna in the last months of her pregnancy.

Carson couldn't blame him for refusing to leave her alone.

Especially after what had happened to Sybilla. Even though they all knew Rainna was as safe as being locked in Fort38 Knox, her mate wasn't taking any chances. Trey had been torn, knowing the a.s.signment could be dangerous. Tangling with the Thorntons was not a simple a.s.signment.

Carson managed to calm himself. "Sorry. But you're right, there's something about her. It goes beyond my common sense. Whatever it is, it's rooted in my primal side-the wolf side. I don't understand it. I don't want to be protective of her, but I can't help it. So don't bait me. Right now this is something I can't control."

Carson sat in a chair on the other side of the room. They were both silent for a long time, staring into the fire that Donovan had built in the fireplace. "We need to know more about her," Carson finally broke the silence as he turned to look at his brother.

"What more is there to know? We've seen the file provided by the council."

Carson got up to throw another log on the fire. Sparks shot out as the hungry blaze consumed the new fuel. "It didn't go deep enough. She told me she was adopted. She said she had a brother. Neither of those facts is in the file we have. There has to be more. I don't know how deep it goes, but my instinct tells me there are things about Petra Thornton that we don't know, and it would benefit us to have that information. We've got friends inside the PIA. See what they can dig up."

"Dammit, Carson, you know we don't contact them except in an emergency. It's too dangerous. Both for them and for us. We use that route only when the information we need is vital to the success of an operation."39 "Do it, Donovan. There's more here than meets the eyes. I want to know everything about her. We miss something vital and it could endanger all of us."

Donovan stared at him for a long time and then he stood.

"If it's that important to you, I'll do it tonight. Ben doesn't have a phone and the cell reception stinks up here. I'll go into town and make the call and I should be back by morning.

Unless, of course, you want me to be the one to stay and guard her."

Carson found himself against narrowing his gaze and set to pounce. "Stop baiting me. I don't know what's wrong with my instincts when it comes to her." He fought to rein himself in once more. "Just go and get it done. I need to know. I need to understand why I have this reaction to her. There could be something in that file that can help me figure this out."

"d.a.m.n, the things I do for my brothers," Donovan grumbled. "You should be safe enough up here until I get back. Just keep an eye out. I placed the motion sensors around the perimeter earlier tonight, so if there's any action out there at all, you should know about it. Just make sure she stays put."

"She's not going anywhere. She's handcuffed to the bed, remember? And the cuffs aren't human police issue-they were made by the blacksmith in Vampyre Falls. I don't care how powerful she is, these are cuffs she's not going to be able to break."

Donovan stripped his clothes off. "Might as well leave these here. I'll need them when I get back. They'll have a change of clothes for me in town." One of the nice things40 about the relationship between the residents of Vampyre Falls and Silver Creek. They took care of each other and had come to terms over the years that benefited both communities.

Carson walked outside with Donovan and stood on the step. He watched his brother shift to his wolf form and then lope off into the moonlit darkness toward Silver Creek, which was about five miles from where the cabin was located.

Before going back inside, he looked up at the night sky and noticed how close the full moon seemed to be tonight. He felt a portent of danger bleed through him. His wolf instinct was fighting for control.

Turning to head back inside, he heard the most blood- curdling scream he could imagine. And then he heard the deep, unmistakable snarl of a wolf. He slammed the front door shut and shot across the room to the bedroom. The place where Petra Thornton was bound to the bed with no way of escape. He should have known better than to leave her alone.

41

CHAPTER 5.

The weight of the rocks crushed Petra's chest, making it hard for her to breathe. Each draw of breath was painful and sharp. In the darkness she heard Jamie moaning, yet she couldn't move, couldn't reach out to help him, beyond the grasp of a single hand. She felt so helpless.

"Jamie." The word was no more than a whisper. She knew they would die in the black darkness of this bleak, terrible place.

"Watch out for her, Petra. She'll hurt you. Badly."

"Stay with me, Jamie. Stay with me."

The scene shifted and she could breathe again. Rocks no longer weighted her down. She was racing as swift as an antelope across a wide open field. Except she was chasing the fleet-footed animal. On four legs she felt the power of her animal form. The instincts of a predator bearing down on its prey. A dog? No, a wolf. The beat of her heart was strong and vital. She stretched out, intent on catching her prey. She could smell its fear. She could sense it was tiring.

And then she felt the presence of another running beside her. Bigger, faster, potently male. She recognized him as her mate. The antelope faltered. The moment they'd waited for.

The two wolves launched themselves forward, taking the animal down together, smelling its fear. It would keep their bellies full for some time.

Snow and ice blanketed the landscape, the chill of the air settled like a hovering cloud above the ground, a spectacular42 glittering panorama of pristine white. The cold didn't touch her. The steam of the newly killed prey drifted upward to meld with the cloud of frigid, still air. She ripped at the flesh with strong, sharp teeth, eating her fill, alert and listening for any signs of danger. Three more wolves joined them. Nothing to fear. More of their pack. Males. She was the lone female.

She stared at each of them, recognized and knew them by name. She turned her gaze upward to the moon. Its light glistened on the virginal white of the newly fallen snow, making it appear as though flawless jewels littered the fine surface. Paw prints tracked a path to where the antelope had fallen. Crimson blood spattered and seeped into the ground around them. A vivid display of survival of the fittest in this wild land.

She heard the low growl of her mate and watched him back away from his feast as the alpha of their pack tore at the choice antelope flesh. His dark gaze met hers across the exposed ribs of the downed prey. Blood dripping from his mouth.

His gaze shifted to another of the wolves. He snarled and snapped his powerful, hungry jaws and the pack brother skittered away, deferring to their alpha. The scent of fresh blood permeated the air as he turned back to devour the flesh.

Petra understood she was rooted in a dream world, but it was one she didn't understand. Yet, she couldn't seem to wake herself up.

Glutted by the kill, she watched the alpha turn and trot away from the carca.s.s. The others moved in quickly to gorge43 themselves. By right of the alpha, the female should have been mated to him, not to the other one. Even though she knew this was a dream, Petra was confused by the dynamics of the pack. Why was she here? What did it mean?

And then understanding of their nature flooded her as she watched the males shift to human form. Furry bodies began to undulate and lengthen. Muscular male legs filled out and formed, arms and hands no longer covered with fur. Muzzles narrowed and flattened to define human noses and mouths.

Fur receded to expose male, bronzed flesh. None of them were simply wolf, there was human as well. She felt herself shift and when it was completed, they surrounded her. It was a different heat she now felt, burning from within, coiling in her belly. The heat spread throughout her body, like a flare lit and brought to life. The glare of animal pa.s.sion rose fiery hot, demanding to be quenched. Her hungry gaze stroked over the naked male bodies...o...b..ting her. Dark slashes of crimson blood painted their bodies as they tightened the circle, eyes glowing and dilated. Dark, primal worlds all focused on her, drawn to her by the pull of the full moon shining above and the animal heat of pure s.e.xual desire.

She raised her face up to the moon, so big, so close, and felt herself falling into the huge, shining orb as the heat of her pack males closed in and claimed her. She felt the surge of l.u.s.t consume her, and her female juices dripped from her c.u.n.t onto her pale thighs, the scent of arousal permeating the air around them.

Yes, she knew their names. Carson, her mate. The one she loved more than her own life. Treynor, the pack alpha. Pack44 brothers, Donovan and Kyle. Her gaze fastened onto her mate who now stood directly in front of her. She had chosen him above the others, yet she was linked to them all. She heard the possessive growl as he swooped forward and lifted her against his hard chest. She felt the brush of his pelt against her throbbing nipples. She allowed her fingers to travel through the lush silk forest covering his chest. Not as thick as the fur of his wolf form, but reminding her of the nature of the soul inside his body. The wolf she ran with, who protected her, possessed her, was undeniably linked to her for all time.

The others closed ranks around the pair. It was a moon ritual unlike any other.

Triumphant and affirming. Her plump b.r.e.a.s.t.s were pressed against Carson's chest. One of his hands cupped her a.s.s and she drew her legs up to wind them around his narrow waist.

His rigid c.o.c.k pressed to the valley between her l.a.b.i.a. So hot and hard and demanding. She saw his breath cloud between them, opened her mouth and inhaled his essence, claiming it for herself, making it a part of her.

She felt the press of bodies closing in, the others of her pack, as strong, male hands stroked over her arms, her shoulders, her legs. Carson pressed his heavy p.r.i.c.k to her weeping c.u.n.t and then he was buried inside her, sealing with her, and she cried out with the pleasure of the claiming.

The others supported her, mouths and sharp teeth flaying across her flesh as Carson's thick member pumped into her.

Demanding and stroking as Carson wedged himself deeply inside her v.a.g.i.n.a. Her mate. Oh, G.o.d, how she loved him.

Loved being with him, touching him, running with him.45 She dropped her head back and looked at the moon. It was Trey who claimed her mouth, wedged his tongue deep inside, circling and demanding. She sighed with pleasure as they possessed her. She embraced the huge, shining sphere that drove the animal l.u.s.t this night. Petra knew it for what it was, although she had no idea why this was happening to her. She embraced it with pa.s.sion as the unyielding hands claimed and wooed her body. She felt the cold touch of frozen ice pressed against her hot flesh as Donovan trickled ice water onto her overheated body. She shivered with the delicious hot and cold sensations that ran rampant through her. A reaffirmation of life, of earth, of the connection of animal, earth, and human. Cold, wet fingers pressed into her tight a.n.u.s. Trey released her mouth and as his taste still clung to her, it was melded with that of her beloved mate as Carson plunged inside, his tongue thrusting forcefully between her lips.

Trey knelt down and his mouth fastened on her hip, his tongue blazing a fiery trail downward along her thigh, circling, nipping and then traveling upward, to follow the curve of her leg to her narrow waist. Upward still until he reached the mound of a breast and sucked at the silhouette of flesh. To her shoulder, her neck, and the pulse of flesh at her throat.

She moaned and cried out at the ecstasy that filled her as these men claimed every inch of her body.

Carson's c.o.c.k was like a fiery beacon of sizzling fire driving into her forcefully again and again. Her c.u.n.t clutched at him, claiming him, refusing to release him. Thick, long fingers opened her a.n.u.s, preparing her to take another into her46 smaller orifice. Donovan still trailed melted ice over her steaming flesh, dribbling it over her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, down her back, wetting her, preparing her, drenching her with the heat of her males, saturating her with their wild scent and primal desire.

Some rational part of Petra's brain wondered how she could know these men so intimately. But she did and she wanted them, she needed them, just as they needed her. She was the focus of this ritual. And although Petra didn't understand it, she claimed the moment for herself.

The broad head of a searing c.o.c.k pressed into the entrance of her smaller hole, slowly widening her, slipping past the tight ring of muscle, burying tightly inside her r.e.c.t.u.m. She felt so full, so completely possessed, like riding a wild avalanche that tossed and claimed her, submitting herself to the surging dominance of her pack.

Trey and Donovan pressed to either side. She was coc.o.o.ned in a blanket of male bodies, the sizzling heat of s.e.x surrounding her, enveloping her.

Carson lifted his head to look at her, capturing her in the swirling pa.s.sion of his eyes. Donovan moved in to ravish her lips, and Trey pushed her hair aside to suckle her neck. The tip of Carson's c.o.c.k pressed against her cervix and Kyle's p.r.i.c.k rooted deeply into her a.n.u.s. She gasped for breath, consumed and completely possessed by all of them, just as it should be. She closed her eyes, yielding herself to them and to the moonlight. Other demanding lips captured hers; a mouth snagged a nipple, tugging sharply to send a flood of intense pleasure rushing through her body. She felt the heat of his claim, the grip of his teeth.47 She screamed as the pa.s.sion-the pleasure and pain mingled and collided, grabbing her and drowning her in sensations that owned her completely. The thrill of the hunt, consumed by her pack, the reaffirmation of the moon shining down upon them all served to drive her to the heights of frenzy. The thrusts burned her, pleased her, filled her. Her hands curled around the heavy erections of the two men kissing and suckling her body. Oh, G.o.d, yes, they melded into one, cemented together as one, never to be parted. She couldn't bear the ecstasy, the epicenter about to explode.

The scene shifted suddenly as she was ripped from the embrace of her lovers. She was again a wolf, this time circled by dangerous humans. She was crouched in a corner, backed there by men who meant her harm, strangers she did not know. Glancing frantically to the side, she could just make out the fallen outline of two of her pack brothers. She howled with pain as she saw her pack, their blood oozing from mortal wounds.

There was no hope of escape. She felt the shift pull upon her. And then the pain as a bullet struck her chest, another in her leg. The blackness and pain surged through her. The sorrow filled her.

"Carson, my love," she wailed in agony as she lay dying.

Petra shot up in the bed, anch.o.r.ed there by the handcuffs, she screamed, a blood-curdling sound that erupted from her soul. And then she realized something else. She was shifting.

But that was impossible. She wasn't a shifter. This couldn't be happening. She screamed again. But this time it formed into a name.48 "Carson!"