Jensen stepped closer.

"Isn't it, Lizzie?"

Jensen heard a small noise that he knew must be Elizabeth, but he couldn't make out what she said. If

anything. Her response sounded like little more than a whimper.

Jensen suddenly felt her pain, both physical and mental, and he knew he had to get in there. He had to protect her. The urge was so strong, he hurried toward the cabin, giving up on the stealth attack. She

needed him, now.

But as he grabbed the doork.n.o.b, her captor's words stopped him again.

"So do you agree, Lizzie? You will come back with me? You will be the perfect mate? Or I will carry

out my threat. You know I will."

Jensen listened closely.

"Yes" was Elizabeth's quiet, heartbreaking answer.

"We will change soon. If you pull anything stupid like trying to escape, I will kill you. And then go back for the human. And the old man, too."

Jensen's muscles tightened at her captor's words, most of which he didn't understand, but he did understand this guy was very dangerous.

He turned the door handle, gripping the old metal k.n.o.b slowly and carefully. Make no noise. Surprise was his best strategy.

He eased the door open, trying to peek in. To get an idea where the captor was. He couldn't see the man, but he could see Elizabeth. And she saw him. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to call out to him. But before Jensen could react, the door jerked violently open, hauling him into the room.

Elizabeth let out a squeal and pushed up to her feet, getting ready to run to him. Without thinking, he straightened, quickly getting his bearings, and took a step toward her. But before he could reach her, a large arm clamped around his neck. He choked as the strong arm squeezed. Again Elizabeth cried out, but all Jensen could really register was her face. Her eyes wide with horror. The bruises on her cheek, her tangled hair.

Rage replaced the disorientation of the attack from behind. He dug his fingers into the arm holding him, using it for balance. Then he shoved backwards, using all his body weight.

The large man behind him stumbled, surprised by Jensen's move. They both toppled to the ground. Jensen used the opportunity to break free. He scrambled to his feet and ran to Elizabeth. Instead of grabbing her, he just placed himself between her and her captor, for the first time seeing who he was up against.

The man was already on his feet, which brought him to Jensen's height, but he was much wider. s.h.a.ggy, dark hair shrouded his rough, large-boned features and empty, dark eyes. He looked more animal than human.

Which he is, his mind told him. He didn't understand the thought, but he accepted it. He braced himself, expecting the huge man to come after him.

Instead, the man tilted his head, surveying Jensen. "How brave, human. But very stupid."

Elizabeth made a noise, but Jensen didn't hazard a look at her. He couldn't let this animal have an opportunity to attack.

But obviously, the hulk didn't feel the same way. He glanced at the window out at the darkened woods, then he laughed, the sound as coa.r.s.e as he was.

"Well, this is going to be a pathetic fight."

"Please," Elizabeth begged. "Jensen, just run. Please." Then she spoke to the animal. "Brody, he doesn't even know what's going to happen. He can't fight. Please. I will go with you. I will help you."

"Help him what?" Jensen asked. And what was going to happen?

The hulk stepped toward them, and Jensen steeled himself and made sure Elizabeth was behind him, blocked.

Just as Jensen thought the man would reach for him, he stopped, standing right in the shaft of faint moonlight that came through the window.

Jensen frowned as the man just stood there, watching them. His face blank. His eyes unreadable. Suddenly his face contorted, twisting into a horrific mask of distorted muscles.

Jensen opened his mouth to ask what was happening, but no words would escape. All he could do was watch him in amazed horror.

Before Jensen's eyes, the man's body began to twist and alter, muscles warping. Loud cracks echoed in Jensen's ears and he realized it was the man's bones.

Dear G.o.d!

"It's okay," Elizabeth whispered from behind him, although her voice sounded strange, thick and slurred.

And filled with pain.

Jensen's eyes darted from the man, or whatever he was, to Elizabeth. A dismayed noise escaped him as he saw Elizabeth. She was doing the same thing, her face distorting.

"Elizabeth!"

She grimaced, her eyes intense as if she was trying to control the incredible changes that were happening.

"Please just run. Please!"

"What?" This was insanity. It was unbelievable. But yet, wasn't it the very thing that he'd been toying with in the back of his mind? That Elizabeth was...

"We are... werewolves."

Jensen looked back to the man, who was now on his hands and knees. His skin looked as if it was bubbling, his muscles shifting, his bones rearranging.

"This is real," he murmured. He knew it. He could feel the truth in himself.

"Yes. I'm so... so... sorry."

Jensen looked back to Elizabeth to see her fall to her knees. He knelt beside her.

"You... " A cry of pain escaped her, but she dropped her head, managing to calm herself. "You... have to go. Now!"

He shook his head. "No. I can't. I can't."

"Brave," the creature in front of him growled, the words barely intelligible. "Brave and stupid."

"Jensen-he will kill you. Please." Elizabeth's features had changed, but her pale eyes were the same.

Begging him.

"No," Jensen said. "Make me like you. Give me a chance to fight him."

Elizabeth shook her head, her hair now a mane. "No. No."

Suddenly, the creature near them growled, the sound loud and eerie. Jensen stood, backing away from the animal, the large and black and deadly wolf.

Elizabeth, now fully changed, stepped in between them, snarling at the other werewolf. Her wolf form was larger than her human form, but she was still smaller than Brody.

Jensen watched, stunned by what he was seeing. Then something triggered in him-the need to protect his woman. The need to protect his... Brody's words returned.Brat .

Elizabeth was pregnant.

Before he realized what he intended to do, he rushed in between the snarling wolves, just as they reared up to lunge. The impact was like two battering rams pounding into him, knocking him to the floor. The wolves fell apart, both obviously stunned by his move.

Jensen looked at Elizabeth, praying that even in wolf form she understood that he wasn't going to leave her.

"Make me like you," he shouted. "Do it."

Elizabeth's pale wolf eyes blinked. Then she did as he asked, her paw coming up to score the skin of his shoulder. The impact of the scratch was instantaneous. He fell back, the shallow wound burning like h.e.l.l. He was vaguely aware of the two wolves again lunging at each other. Elizabeth working to keep Brody away, while Jensen changed.

Time elapsed and distorted, just as his body did. And the next thing he knew he was changed, moving on all fours, leaping into the fray. Going for the huge one. Attacking the male that would hurt his mate.

The fight wasn't long. Even as big as the one wolf was, he wasn't a match for the two of them. Soon Jensen had Brody on his back, his fangs at the male's throat.

Then time seemed to shift again. As did reality. Soon, the whole cabin was teeming with wolves, all of them snarling and nipping and circling Jensen and Brody. Then time and reality lapsed again.

When Jensen woke, he was on the floor of the cabin. Elizabeth lay beside him, her body curled protectively around his. She lifted her head as soon as she felt him rouse.

She regarded him with wide, worried eyes. Then they filled with tears.

"Jensen, I'm so sorry."

Jensen sat up, frowning around him. The cabin was empty, though signs of struggle remained. "Where is he?"

"Brody is gone. Members of my old pack came and took him. They'd been tracking him. They will deal with him."

Jensen's frown deepened as he touched Elizabeth's face, brushing aside her tears. "Then why are you apologizing?"

An inelegant sob escaped her. "Because I made you into a monster."

He considered that. "I asked you to. And I have a hard time believing you are a monster."

"I'm a werewolf!" The cry was followed by another loud sob.

He nodded, giving her an indulgent smile. "Yes. And so am I. Because I want to be. Because I love you." She stared at him, tears rolling down her cheeks. "G.o.d, I love you, too." She flung herself at him, and all he could feel was love as he held her tight. He supposed what had happened last night had been beyond weird and should have terrified him, but it didn't. Not in the least.

What he felt was right and natural. Elizabeth was his mate. And she was having his child.

He leaned back to a.s.sess her, looking for any signs of injury. "Are you okay? Is the baby okay?"

She blinked at him, managing to smile through her tears. "Yes. We're fine."

He hugged her again. G.o.d, he loved this woman. Fur and all.

"You know, I think we have bigger problems," he said, managing to speak, even though his emotions threatened to choke him.

"What's that?" she asked against his shoulder.

"The fact that we have no clothes."

Elizabeth made a noise, the sound between a laugh and another sob. "Yes, that's just one of the problems with being a werewolf."

He kissed her, his hand moving down over the smooth curve of her back.

"Or not," she added, her hands moving over him in return.

They kissed and touched for several moments, until Jensen broke the kiss to peer at her.

"Are your brothers really vampires?"

"I'm afraid so."

Jensen considered that. "Well, we should probably ease Granddad into all of this."

Elizabeth laughed.

Chapter 26.

Elizabeth stepped into the barroom, her arm looped through Rhys's. The chairs, which she, Mina, and Jolee had draped in white cloth and satin bows, were lined up in straight rows. White lights twinkled from the rafters and along the walls, replacing the usual colored ones. And up on the karaoke stage was an archway, also draped in white with flowers and greenery. Underneath, waiting for her, stood Jensen.

He looked sinfully handsome in his black tuxedo, his green eyes watching her, that lopsided smile curving his beautiful lips. Granddad stood beside him as his best man, a smile on his lips and affection clear in the eyes so like his grandson's.

"Ready?" Rhys murmured.

Elizabeth nodded.

They started down the makeshift aisle as all her friends and her family watched her, smiles on all their faces. Christian looked impossibly handsome. Sebastian winked and grinned. She grinned back.

"When I imagined giving you away, it wasn't quite like this," Rhys said, although he smiled, too.