Coveted (5 page)

 Chapter Five

“
D
o you know where we are?”

As soon as she spoke,
Aiden pulled away to walk on his own, as if he’d forgotten her presence until
she opened her yap. Shayla cursed and shivered, already missing his warmth. Without
the overpowering stink of the caves, the combination of his body heat and his
masculine scent was both soothing and distracting.

She glanced at the
man, hardly recognizing him with the dirt gone. The female in her wanted to
know what he looked like without the facial hair, but the logical side of her warned
she was better off not knowing. He wasn’t a type of man easily forgotten.

He surveyed their
surroundings, not missing a detail.

Alert.

A predator.

More than six feet
tall, he towered over her, far from the hunched, filthy creature she’d first
seen. He had dark hair, a sharp nose, deep, brooding eyes and firm, sculpted
lips that made her own tingle as she imagined how he would taste.

Despite his haggard
appearance, there was a symmetry to his face that drew her gaze again and
again.

He was attractive.

She tripped and nearly
fell on her face at the realization.

He pinned her with
his gaze, and she shivered at his ferocious expression.

“I have a pretty good
guess.”  

She shivered again,
but this time at the sinful, raspy sound of his voice. It dripped with danger
and sex, and Shayla looked anywhere but at him, grateful the darkness covered
the fiery heat that filled her face. She wanted to banish those thoughts, but
they wouldn’t leave complete, teasing the back of her mind.

She took a deep
breath. This was not the time or the place, and he was most definitely not the
man. “How far to civilization?”

When he didn’t
respond, Shayla peeked up, then swallowed hard at his bleak expression. Okay,
she wasn’t going to make the meeting with her new boss in the morning. If she
even survived the night.

“We’ll head north. If
we can make it to the borders of my land, we might have a chance.”

He didn’t sound very
confident; the accent that had so charmed her was noticeably absent. She wasn’t
ready to admit defeat. They’d made it this far. They’d make it to safety, too.
She ripped a strip from the bottom of her shirt. “Sit. We need to stop your
bleeding.”

At the baying of the
hounds, Aiden’s claws pressed hard against his fingertips. He wanted to shift
and hunt down those mangy beasts, then their owners, but that wasn’t going to
happen while she watched his every move.

He should run, he had
his freedom, but both he and the wolf were content to remain at her side. Chances
were if he left she’d be slaughtered, and everything in him rebelled at the thought.

Most of the time
humans annoyed him. His wolf barely tolerated them. Which was why he’d volunteered
to remain at the castle to watch over the pack. He was one of three alphas, the
enforcer. It was his duty to ensure everyone obeyed the law. When he’d learned
about the drugs being created from wolf blood, he’d been overly confident, positive
he could solve the problem with the pesky humans, and return before nightfall.

That had been nearly
two months ago.

Now, here he stood, in
front of a dainty princess who’d risked her life to rescue him.

Twice.

Despite the pain
riddling his body, Aiden couldn’t tear his gaze away from the delicate belly
exposed by the ragged edges of her shirt. Starved to the point of going feral,
he expected his wolf to salivate.

His teeth lengthened,
but the hunger had nothing to do with food. It took everything in his power to
battle his wolf into submission.

Then his gaze landed
on hers.

“Sit.”

When he didn’t
immediately obey, she narrowed those blue eyes on him and he plopped down like
a meek, domesticated dog coming to heel.

She bent near, and he
curled his fingers into fists against the urge to tuck a strand of wayward hair
behind her ear. He wanted to feel the texture of those silky locks slide
between his fingers too much.

Aiden shook his head
at his own idiocy. Allowing himself to be distracted by the desire to touch her
was not only stupid, it was downright deadly. And her nearness only made his
symptoms infinitely worse.

The insistent need
to touch was the first stage of the mating process.
Once the idea popped
into his head, he couldn’t shake it free.

The Beloved.

They were women
descended from the faeries. Because of their bloodlines, those women were able
to mate with a wolf and survive.

The only problem was
they had died out long ago.

The blow to his skull
must have addled his brain.

When she pressed the
cloth to his head, all his suspicions of faeries vanished. Stabbing pain pierced
his skull as if his beast had stuck his head into a den of porcupines. His claws
slipped free, shredding his pants legs, and he quickly buried his fingers in
the sand to hide their condition. Thankfully, she remained occupied bandaging
his wound, giving him time to collect himself.

He’d become
accustomed to pain in the last few months, but his command over himself was
shot. His breathing became labored under the strain of maintaining his human
form. His fingers dug deep grooves into the sand as he fought to keep from lashing
out.

He needed a
distraction, and decided to study the riddle that was his rescuer. If he could
figure her out, surely his fascination would fade.

She was a tiny bit of
a thing, making him self-conscious about his size. Her touch was brisk and
professional, almost indifferent. She didn’t seem to have any trouble keeping
her distance from him and that only made him more irritable.

The impulse to touch
her again nipped at him with sharp teeth. The need to spread the pheromones
building in the pads of his fingers and make her crave him as much as he wanted
her became a compulsion. The process was part of his wolf heritage, a way to
make breeding easier, and the female more receptive to the frequent needs of
the wolf.

An urge that only activated
when a wolf located a potential mate.

Her scent, a heady
mixture of sea and a tangy citrus, wrapped around him. He inhaled, his chest
expanding until the scent of her seeped into his lungs, imprinting her essence
on his beast.

Only when his body
protested at the lack of air did he regretfully exhale. His beast eased. Claws
retracted. She stood inches from him, the heat of her an invitation to gather
her close, and his body tingled with the need to feel of her against him once
more. It had only been a few minutes, but he missed her touch.

His response
completely baffled him.

Where was his
control?

Months in prison were
no excuse.

“You haven’t heard anything
I said, have you?” Little frown lines creased between her eyes.

Emotions tangled him
in knots. The need to protect her. Be close to her. Breathe her in again. He
gave himself a full body shake, throwing off his fanciful notions.

“We’re wasting time.
We need to leave.” He stood and backed away.

And ruined the effect
by swaying.

Aiden cursed that she
saw him at his weakest.

Poor mating material.

His wolf howled in
protest at the distance between them, quieting only when she rushed to his side,
propping him up like some toddler she expected to topple over at any second. He
wanted to protest, but any thought of separation was repugnant.

It was insanity to
allow himself to be attracted to a human. Lust was fine, but caring would
destroy them both. He was an alpha. He couldn’t abandon his pack to spend time
with a human, nor could he ask her to stay. She could never learn the truth
about werewolves. Not only would it be dangerous for his kind, he couldn’t bear
to see the expression on her face change.

The disgust.

The horror.

Then she’d run like his
wife, so desperate to escape that she’d died to get away from him.

But he couldn’t just
dismiss her, either. At the very least, he owed her his life. He was
honor-bound to do whatever was necessary to keep her safe. Right now that meant
bringing her home to the pack. Relief bled through his system at the decision.
It was based on solid reasoning. It had nothing to do with his need to keep her
by his side, and everything to do with her ability to find his men.

Or at least that’s
what he told himself.

He’d keep her safe in
return for her services. It was a good bargain. She was a human, easily
manipulated. They’d keep their presence secret from humans for generations,
they could keep it from her for a few days while she helped him retrieve his
men and eliminate the threat in one fell swoop.

It was the perfect
plan.

His wolf snorted a
laugh as if mocking his faulty logic, but Aiden ignored him.

“We need to hurry.” He
grabbed her arm and dragged her behind him.

And practically jerked
her off her feet as she struggled to keep up with him.

“Careful!”

“We need to get
moving. They’re getting closer.” He knew he was being an ass, but he couldn’t stop
himself. Her safety was too important. He waited for her to protest his
manhandling, refusing to be disappointed when she gave him the silent treatment.
Then he did something he’d never done before…explained himself to a human.
“They’re coming from down the shore. We need to get back into the water so they
can’t track us.”

* * *

They’d been moving
through the water in silence for ten minutes. Anger seared through her at his domineering
ways. It didn’t matter that he was trying to save her. But as her tempered
cooled, so did her body. Now, even if she wanted to speak, her teeth were
chattering too much. Her legs were like frozen blocks of ice, numb from the
shins down. Her knees ached with every step. Her companion didn’t appear to be
in much better shape.

He plodded in front
of her, struggling to remain upright. The first two times she’d tried to help him,
he snarled and avoided her hands as if he couldn’t tolerate her touch another
second.

Fine.

Let him fall flat on
face.

As if tempting fate, the
water swelled and surged toward her in a giant wave. She braced for the impact
and a frigid dunking. Only to have warm fingers wrap around her arms in support.

Instead of the biting
cold of the sea, she landed against her nemesis. Heat blazed off him, and she
couldn’t stop herself from snuggling closer.

And felt his blatant
arousal pressed against her hip.

They both froze.

Before either of them
could break the awkward silence, the raucous sound of dogs barking erupted
behind them.

Too close.

“Damn it. I was
hoping for more time.”

Her heart pumping
painfully, Shayla scanned the shoreline. “The bluffs go on for miles. They’ll
be on us before we’re halfway there.”

Her rescuer tipped his
head back and smiled in a way that had her backing away. “Not if we travel up.”

“You’ve got to be
shitting me.”

Bright teeth flashed
as he smiled, tugging her out of the water. “Think of it as an adventure.”

“And that’s the only
way to avoid becoming kibble?”

“Unless you want me
to fight them.” He paused, looking serious, as if it was an option. “They’re
not going to give up. They’re going to search every inch of the shoreline until
they uncover either a trail or our bodies. They’re fresher. Stronger. They will
eventually find us unless we alter course.”

“You’re right.” Shayla
flexed her fingers, wondering if she could get enough circulation in them to
hold her weight. “I’ve never been rock climbing.”

She felt stupid for
voicing her fears. What choice did they have?

“You’ll do fine.”

Her stride hitched at
his comment, as if he had every confidence in her ability. She watched him
close the distance to the cliff with those long strides of his, intent on the
finding the clearest path.