Coveted (31 page)

She was strong.

He wanted this enough
for both of them.

Aiden ran his hand down
her shoulder, along her arm, lifting it until the delicate crook of her elbow
rested against his lips. Just thinking about marking her made his fangs
lengthen in anticipation. He closed his eyes and called his wolf forward. His
beast came eagerly, anticipation tightening his body.

He bit down.

His teeth effortlessly
passed through her skin. A knee-jerk reaction against hurting her almost made
him pull back, but he forced his fangs deeper. Blood filled his mouth, and he
swallowed.

His wolf instantly recognized
that she wasn’t prey.

Instead of the
consuming hunger to kill, the sweet taste of her blood sent pure lust raging
through him. His body went taut, struggling against the driving need to
consummate their union, his arms involuntarily pulling her closer. With each
swallow, each drop of the elixir of her blood, yearning for her ratcheted up to
an almost unbearable level. 

Aiden shook with the need
to take more.

They were warned that
the wolf’s bite would be erotic. Wolves craved physical connections, especially
during sex. For some, it was hard to contain the wolf during intimacy, the need
to bite instinctive. He’d heard a few of the men talk about the beast’s kiss,
but he had never allowed himself to indulge during sex.

It was too intense.

Too personal.

With Shayla,
everything was different.

Like coming home.

Only when he was sure
that he had an adequate amount of her blood in his system did he retract his
fangs and lift his head. Aiden licked the wound tenderly until the bleeding
slowed, trembling with the effort not to ravage.

He tucked her arm
against her, while the taste of her exploded in his mouth like whiskey. It burned
down his throat, speeding through his system. The scorching pain sank deeper,
the cinders gathering into his very bones. 

Aiden buried his face
in Shayla’s hair as the pleasure/pain roared through him. The scent of her
eased the ache. Her touch stabilized him.

That’s when he
realized the warmth was the connection.

Elation surged
through him. Aiden grabbed onto the link with all his might and poured every
ounce of his energy into strengthening it. Like vines from a plant, it wove
around his bones, the stalks thickening with each breath, winding itself around
his very existence.

Then Shayla’s
breathing became shallow, and cold panic snarled up in his chest, tightening
its cruel grip on the back of his throat. “Something’s wrong.”

James performed a
quick examination. “Her vitals are weak. The blood loss has put strain on her
system. She’s going into shock.” James straightened. “You either need to heal
her now or hand her over so I can try and save her.”

 Aiden despised the
way the doctor spoke, as if he doubted Shayla’s chances for survival. Not
confident that James would be able to do anything, Aiden waved him off, loathed
letting Shayla out of his reach.

“We’ll move to the
second bite. I’ll be able to heal her then.” At least he prayed it was true. He
couldn’t let her go.

“How dangerous is
that? I’m not sure she’s strong enough to go through more.”

Aiden was grim.
“She’s going to have to be.”

Aiden ignored the man
and brought the full force of his alpha nature to bear on what needed to be
done. He slashed a cut across his forearm with his fingernail, deep enough that
it didn’t heal immediately. Blood spilled down his arm and splashed brightly
against the white sheets.

He cradled Shayla
against him and forced his blood into her mouth, aching to feel her bite. He
tipped her chin back until she swallowed. As if his blood called to her, she
shifted, as if seeking him, and something deep inside him eased at her reaction.
Her teeth brushed against his arm, and his body hardened, aching to take more.

Aiden dragged his arm
away, the agony of losing her warmth nearly crippling him. He slide out of the
bed and knelt, and tilting Shayla until she lay on her side. A quick tug tore
the fragile strap of her top, baring her bandaged shoulder. He carefully
removed the tape, gritting his teeth at the sight of vivid purple streaks
spidering around the wound.

Infection.

Aiden waited for any
sign of change.

Healing.

After a minute, there
was nothing.

“I’m going to have to
force the change.” Aiden wished to hell he knew what he was doing. The last
thing he wanted was to put Shayla into any more danger by fiddling around
inside her head.

“Can you do that?”

Aiden shrugged, feeling
grim but resolved. “I’m an alpha. I control my pack. Whether she knows it or
not, she’s pack.”

“But you’ve only ever
healed other wolves.” Skepticism surrounded from James like a cloud.

“It will be hard on
her, but she’s tough. I’m open to any other suggestions” Aiden gently kissed
her shoulder, her skin was hot against his lips.

James gave a helpless
shrug. “I’ve tried everything. Her injuries are more than physical. It’s tied
up with her gift, and that’s out of my realm.”

Aiden vowed to do the
impossible if it meant saving her. With his men, all he had to do was take
control their wolf and command the injured beast to heal. It wouldn’t be so
easy with her.

He gathered his wolf
and called to the newly formed cells in her body. With each beat of her heart,
blood spread to the wound. He concentrated on healing the destroyed tissue and
forcing out the infection.

Aiden gritted his
teeth, barely aware of his fangs cutting into his bottom lip as he poured all his
strength into healing her. Bile climbed up his throat as the strain on his body
threatened to rip him apart.

Shayla whimpered,
shifting away from him, away from the agony. Aiden tightened his hold, and his
wolf whined in sympathy. It tore him apart to be the one responsible for her
pain.

Flesh slowly knitted
together like strands of a rope twining together. The darkened streaks of
infection retreated as a putrid fluid drained from the wound. Skin bubbled over
the nasty hole. Shayla’s body tensed and a muffled scream leaked past her
clenched teeth.

“Jesus.” James stood
rooted against the wall, all but vibrating against the need to pull Shayla to
safety. “I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.”

Aiden didn’t relent,
only loosening his hold when a small scar remained. Covered in sweat, he fell
back on his ass, unable to stop shaking. Both men remained silent. Needing to
touch her, reassure himself that she was still alive, Aiden ran a finger
lightly over the damaged skin.

Shayla shuddered, but
remained stubbornly unconscious. Frost still glittered on her exposed flesh,
and he rubbed her arms, willing his warmth into her. “She’s healed. Why isn’t
she waking up?” Aiden glared at the doctor, as if it was his fault. “You said
she would wake if we healed her.”

“She’s still under a
lot of strain.” James leaned forward to examine her, and Aiden growled. Even
weak as a pup, he’d protect her to his last breath.

James raised a brow.

It took all his
restraint to call back his wolf and move away. After a short exam, James sighed
and straightened. “I recognize these symptoms. It’s a side effect of pushing
her gift too far.”

“What does that
mean?”

James didn’t look optimistic.
“There’s nothing physically wrong with her. Nothing either of us can heal.”

A snarl rose to
Aiden’s lips. He would not give up on her. Rising to his feet, he crawled up
into bed and gathered Shayla into his arms where she belonged. The chill around
her stung wherever their skin touched. The bindings linking them constricted at
the contact.

His wolf was the best
tracker in the pack.

They’d followed her into
the Frost World once, they could do it again.

He slammed his eyes
shut, opened the connection between them wide, and allowed his wolf to lead him
to her side. The room spun, and he lost his hold on Shayla, smashing into a
stone wall with a jarring thump.

Aiden staggered to
remain on his feet, surprised to find himself in the hallway outside his own
room…put out in the cold like some mutt. He stared at the door, knowing Shayla
was waiting for him on the other side.

An unexpected attack
of nerves made him straighten to his full height. He ran a hand over his head,
smoothing back his hair. He had to tread carefully. He needed a strategy to win
her over before she figured out the truth. He grabbed the door handle, but didn’t
enter. He stared at his callused hands, his fingers more comfortable with a
weapon or claws than wooing a woman.

Would she know what
he’d done?

Would she give him
time to explain before she demanded to leave?

The wolf nipped him
hard for pussyfooting around like some fangless, clawless human, shoving his paws
against his skull to get him moving. He was an alpha. It was time to claim his
prize.

He’d have to gage how
much she knew and devise a plan of attack. But that would only work if she
didn’t discover the liberties he’d stolen. With reluctance, Aiden cut the
fragile connection. The action was painful, as if the vines gathered around his
bones had suddenly grown thorns.

Both mates could mute
and switch off the connection for a limited time, but it was physically taxing.
The loss of connection hit the wolf the hardest. Even now, his beast prowled
around the prison of Aiden’s human body, seeking his mate. If the connection
wasn’t re-established soon, his wolf would go feral and not even Aiden would be
able to contain him.

 Chapter Thirty-two

S
hayla jerked awake,
bolting upright as agony ricocheted through her. The pain was slow to subside,
and a dull ache lingered as if she’d lost something vital. With her heart
thudding like gunfire against her ribs, she surveyed her surroundings,
struggling to remember what had happened.

She was at Avamoore.

In Aiden’s bed.

His scent stole
around her, a haven that made her yearn to pull the covers up to her face and
inhale. Heat crept into her cheeks, and she unconsciously ran her hands over
the sheets, imagining Aiden stretched out beside her wearing only his kilt. His
touch had been so real, she’d swear the bed was still warm from his body.

No wonder she’d been
dreaming of him.

For a few
heart-stopping seconds before waking, she’d felt whole for the first time in
her life, and it had been because of him.

Then he was gone,
ripped from her arms like some cruel trick.

Shayla rubbed her
chest but the emptiness remained. She’d searched for that connection for so
long that she was devastated to discover that it had all been a dream.

Thank the faeries
she’d figured it out before she’d done something foolish when she saw Aiden
again…like throw herself in his arms.

Realizing she was
mooning over him, Shayla scrambled out of the bed, expecting Aiden to burst
into the room at any moment and catch her fantasizing about him.

Again.

But the door remained
stubbornly closed.

The sense of
something being off curdled her good mood.

Aiden would never
have left her to wake alone. He would have wanted to be there to holler at her
the minute she woke.

Had her stalker
circled around and succeeded in killing him?

Shayla stumbled over
her own feet as she hurried toward the door, suddenly conscious her body felt
like one massive bruise. She touched her shoulder and whimpered in pain.

She’d been shot!

Instead of a gaping
wound, only a small ridge of sensitive scar tissue remained.

The last thing she
remembered was Aiden carrying her, cradling her like something precious. Everything
after that was blank. She had to find Aiden, touch him and reassure herself
that he was safe. When she reached for the handle of the door, her fingertips
met smooth wood.

No knob.

Shayla blinked in
confusion, and a new sort of panic blossomed in her chest. She whirled and flung
open the doors to the closet, only to be confronted by a solid stone wall.

There was no secret
passageway.

She was trapped in
the Frost World.

Terror clogged her
throat. To enter the without a purpose was to risk never returning. She had no
connection to the outside world to guide her back.

The possibility of
losing Aiden, just when she’d found him, held her muscles and bones in a
punishing grip so tight she couldn’t move.

He was
the one
for her.

The one she’d been
searching for so long that she’d almost given up finding him, but Aiden had
proven to be too stubborn to be dismissed.

Cold air whirled in
the room, the frost creeping over the walls like pretty lace, enticing a person
to touch. The sound of ice cracking filled her ears, and she watched the delicate
frost spider over every surface, leaching the life out of everything in its
path.

Shayla reached out.
She had to know if she could cross the boundary growing right before her eyes. Pain
spiked in her fingers like needles jammed under her fingernails. She jerked
back, her skin going numb by painful increments. Backing away from the wall,
she circled the bed and stopped short to see the massive old wolf from her
necklace standing guard on the fire.

The dwindling flames
were the only thing keeping the deadly ice at bay. If the fire burned out
completely, she’d be left completely at the mercy of the bitter cold.

Shayla stiffened her
spine, refusing to give up, not when Aiden had finally admitted he loved her. He
protected his people above all else. She’d use that need to create a place for
herself.

She could be
valuable.

Make herself
indispensable.

It would give her the
much-needed time to convince him that he couldn’t live without her. But first,
she had to find a way out of the Frost World. She’d done it as a child. She
could do it now.

The door opened, the
ancient wood groaning in protest.

Shayla whirled, blinking
in surprise to see Aiden enter as if conjured by her thoughts. He stood there,
arms crossed, arrogance and danger wrapped around him like a second skin.

She wanted to throw
her arms around him, but the reality of him being there turned her blood to
ice, and her heart slowly shattered.

Only the dead ever
visited the Frost World.

* * *

Aiden had taken only
a few steps when he spied Shayla waiting for him. Joy spiked through him until
he spied her unsmiling face. Only one thing held him back from closing the
distance between them…he couldn’t risk her learning the truth about the mating
bond before he had a chance to explain.

He stopped a foot
away from her, the pain of keeping his distance a physical ache, and he crossed
his arms to keep himself from snatching her up into his arms where she belonged.
He’d withstood months of torture, but being denied her touch threatened to
break him in less than two seconds flat.

Fire haloed around
her form, and Aiden frowned to see that she’d lost weight in the last week. He would
have to learn to take better care of what was his.

“What are you doing
here?” Shayla advanced on him, looking ready to slap him upside the head.

Aiden was taken aback
by her sharp tone. “Rescuing you?”

But he wasn’t so sure
anymore. He expected her to be happy to see him. Instead, she looked furious.

She couldn’t have known
what he’d done.

It was too soon.

For the first time in
his life, Aiden froze in the face of battle. When she didn’t outright accuse
him of anything, the rigid set of his shoulders eased a fraction.

“I refuse to believe
you’re dead, so that means you must be a dream.” Shayla bit her nail, muttering
to herself, and desire flared in his gut at her confession. A fragile spark of
hope flared to life, and he couldn’t resist teasing her a bit for all the
torture she’d put him through. “So you’re saying you’ve been dreaming of me?”

Shayla narrowed her
eyes, but the blush that colored her face betrayed her. And charmed him down to
his toes and everywhere between. Aiden swallowed hard, counted to ten, then
again, before he could guarantee that he wouldn’t pick her up, spread her out
on the bed, and make his dreams a reality.

But he needed one
touch to tie him over, it had been too long since he’d last touched her. When he
lifted a hand, Shayla flinched. Aiden tightened his lips, reluctantly letting
his arm drop to his side, but he refused to give up at the first little sign of
resistance.

“I came to take you
home.” Aiden couldn’t keep the gruffness out of his tone.

“Home?”

“It’s been three
days.” Aiden shrugged, doing his best to ignore the way she didn’t seem to have
any problem keeping her distance. “Did you think I wouldn’t follow when I
learned you were in trouble?”

Cute lines crowded
between her brows as she frowned.

“You’re not dead.
You’re not a dream. You’re really here.” Shayla’s heart pounded so hard all she
heard was blood rushing in her ears. “You have to go back. This place will kill
you. Even staying a minute can be too long.”

“No.”

He said nothing more,
as if the conversation was over.

“You infuriating man,
didn’t you hear what I said?”

“I’m not going
anywhere without you.”

Aiden got that
obstinate look that told Shayla she wouldn’t be able to budge his stubborn ass.
Shayla refused to accept that. If he got here without her, then she could darn
well get him back out.

“Tell me exactly how
you were able to find me?” Shayla would swear that he’d flinched at her
question, and a sick sort of dread nearly suffocated her. “What did you do?”

“What was needed,”
Aiden yelled and started pacing.

Like hell!

His total conviction
that saving her—no matter the cost—pissed her off and scared her shitless. “I’m
not some damned duty you need to check off.”

“You were shot
because of me!” He marched toward her until he was right in her face. “You had
no right to risk your life!”

Shayla swallowed
hard, unable to speak above a whisper as she remembered what happened. “You
would’ve died.”

Aiden cupped her
cheek, his thumb brushing over her jaw. “Then you understand why I couldn’t let
you go, not when I just found you.”

Shayla shivered at
the raw emotions in his voice. When Aiden lowered his head, she forgot about
everything but the need to taste him.

An annoyed growl rose
from behind her, and Shayla whirled to face the old wolf as he lumbered to his
feet. “What’s going on?”

“I believe he is
deciding if I’m worthy of you.” Then Aiden smiled at her in a way that made her
gulp. The unbending stance he’d worn since entering, the one that was all alpha,
gave way to the man that she craved more than breathing. “He wants me to state
my intentions, because there will be no more talking after I get my hands on
you.”

Shayla’s mouth
dropped open at his matter-of-fact statement, unable to ignore the seductive
drop in his voice that that hinted at pure sin. “Say what?”

Aiden straightened,
his wolf coming forward until his beautiful green eyes glowed as he faced down
the ancient wolf. “She’s my mate.”

It was that simple.

The ancient wolf
lifted his top lip, flashing his fangs as if smiling. Then the wolf turned and
passed clear through the solid wall.

Aiden turned to face
her, looking so determined that Shayla took a step back. She didn’t precisely
feel threatened, but this was a side to him that he’d kept locked away from
her.

Primitive.

Full of raw need.

Before she could gather
her wits and question his claim, Aiden swooped down and planted his mouth over
hers. Pure lust swamped her, and the threads linking them, the ones she’d assumed
were a figment of her imagination, sparked to life.

Emotions trickled
through the connection, the intensity of them robbing her of breath. In shock,
she realized that they were his emotions. Eagerness washed over her, but underneath
lay a heavy dose of fear and such loneliness that it carved out her chest. Buried
in the darkness rested a tiny flicker of devastating hope. The combination
demolished the last bit of her resolve to hold herself apart.

As she leaned into
him, a layer of wonderment and pure lust settled in her pores, invading her
body and soul, and she could do nothing but marvel at the man who wrapped her
so securely in his arms. Shayla swayed forward, her hands coming to rest
against his shoulders, unable to keep from touching him. When he brushed his
fingers along her waist, his consuming need to devour spoke more clearly than
any words.

And he hadn’t wanted
to share that precious connection with her.

Devastation struck
fast and brutal.

Shayla tore herself
away, and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth, then quickly dropped it
when she couldn’t stop shaking. “What the hell was that?”

Aiden didn’t pretend
to misunderstand. “I claimed you for my own. It’s how I was able to locate
you.”

She went lightheaded,
the back of her throat aching with unshed tears at everything he’d sacrificed.
Wolves mated only once. Because she took a bullet meant for him, his damned
duty wouldn’t allow him to let her to die if he could prevent it. “You shit! Do
you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“Saving your ass.
Again.”