“The bite of a werewolf infects the blood of a human. It changes them into a shapeshifter. Aldrich knew the shapeshifter mutation is in the blood. We believe this was the reason he drank Valor’s blood. He was trying to change his own.” Darian was watching her closely.
“Did it work?”
“It changed his blood if that’s what you mean, but he is not a werewolf. He is more like a rabid human. Aldrich craves blood, violence, and power. The werewolf blood he drank from Valor gave him great strength. However, not so great he can survive a fight with the pack.”
Cara felt his gaze on her mouth. She ran her tongue over her suddenly dry lips. “Why not destroy the wall and get him?”
“He knows our weaknesses. Aldrich was the one who killed the children and scared your people into building the wall. A wall laced with elements that are poisonous to our kind. The water you climbed out of that surrounds the wall, it too is poisonous to us.”
Cara took another step back from Darian, as she thought of Aldrich. He was like a wild animal, but Darian actually was half wolf. His promises were worthless.
“And Aldrich never leaves the town,” Cara finished for him. “So, you’re waiting out here, and he sends desperate men to come and hunt your kind down.”
Darian looked at the space she’d created between them. “I’d never thought of the hunters like that. They come at us armed with silver, and we can’t just allow them to kill us.”
Cara didn’t respond because she didn’t know what to say. He was right about that, but since his kind were so much bigger and stronger, she felt they should do something to stop the hunters. Couldn’t they stop them, and spare them?
“Your turn,” Darian said.
“My turn?” Cara arched a brow.
Darian gestured to her cheek. “The bruise on you face.”
“Oh. My father hit me,” Cara answered she didn’t know why he was so determined to know.
“Your father hit you, and was going to allow you to be taken by Aldrich?”
Cara shrugged. “You haven’t been trapped in a cage for years at a time. You couldn’t possibly understand the kind of pressure my father is under.” Darian didn’t look the least bit convinced. “Aldrich would have starved my father to death if he refused him.”
Darian closed the space between them so fast that she didn’t even see him move. He framed her face with his hands not allowing her to back away. “I would starve to death if it meant saving you from Aldrich. I would fight an army to keep you safe, Cara.” The look in his golden yellow eyes was full of sincerity and something else.
Lust? Like Aldrich?
“You want to have sex. That’s why you’re being nice to me?”
Darian exhaled releasing her face from his hands. “No, Cara. I don’t want to have sex with you. I don’t want to care about you. I don’t want to be tied to you. I don’t like feeling protective of you or sorry for your horrible circumstances.”
“I never asked you to feel sorry for me.”
“It doesn’t matter what I want. It only matters what is and will be.”
He wasn’t making any sense. “If you don’t want to have sex then why do you keep touching me and trying to get me to become accustomed to you?”
“You’re a part of my pack now.”
Cara’s eyes widened as her heart seemed to trip mid rhythm and stumble into a run within her chest. “Because you bit me?”
“Yes.”
That must be why it feels so funny when he touches me. It must be why I want to accept everything he says as the truth.
Cara turned away from him and walked over to the open window. Fresh air blew her hair up and off her neck. Not even a hint of the mote staining the air. It was clean and fresh.
I should be furious. Shouldn’t I?
she leaned on the windowsill.
If I’m a shifter I can protect myself from Aldrich, from my father. I can fight Darian when he attempts to control me.
A smile curved Cara’s lips and she shut her eyes enjoying the feel of the wind on her face. “What does being a member of your pack require of me?”
“Require of you?”
Cara looked over her shoulder at him. “Yes. Do I have to kill the people who come out of Aldrich Town?”
“You won’t be a wolf for several weeks yet. It usually takes at least a month before your first shift. You will be required to support the pack. Defend the pack as you would a family, because now they are your family.”
Darian watched Cara, waiting for her to freak out. To explode in anger. She hated shifters only this morning. Where was all that hatred now?
“You are not upset?”
“Upset?” Cara asked, the smile on her face the first genuine joyful expression Darian saw on her face. “I should thank you. You’ve given me just what I need so that I can take care of myself.”
“You’re not alone anymore. The pack is your family and we will protect you.”
I don’t need their protection.
“The hunters will kill you if you venture outside of Rizer land without the pack. As you say, they are desperate.”
“Not if I walk up to them before I turn, right?”
Darian’s fisted his hands at his sides. “Do you wish to return to Aldrich Town?”
When she didn’t answer, Darian frowned at her. “I command you not to leave Rizer land without a member of the Rizer pack.”
Her spine stiffened. She was feeling the power of the alpha. Just like that Darian had snatched away the freedom he’d just given her. She glared at him with as that trapped, claustrophobic sensation returned. “You’re forcing me to stay here?”
“I am protecting you.”
She narrowed her sharp gaze further. “That’s what they said when they built the wall.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
“You seem less than happy,” Killian stated as Darian stomped down the hallway, away from his chamber leaving Cara behind. “She does not wish to marry? Surely the fated bonding will begin to take hold with her soon. She’s a shifter now, even if she has yet to shift.”
Darian eyed his friend. “I didn’t tell her that we’re destined.”
“Why not? You seemed quite certain before.”
“I am certain,” Darian growled. He looked up and down the hallway for prying ears. “Just because I feel protective of her, attracted to her physically doesn’t mean I’m ready to pair myself with her just yet.”
Killian chuckled. “Too late for that, Darian. You’ve already announced to the pack she’s to be your mate. You need to make it official.”
“I won’t command her to have me. Trust me, she would hate me if I commanded her to submit.”
“Like she hates you for commanding her to stay on Rizer pack land?”
Darian stopped walking. “You were listening?”
“I was returning to be sure she was healing. I did not intend to intrude. Now that I have,” Killian continued. “She doesn’t seem the type at all who will be suited to the life of a Rizer pack member.”
“You’ve already said it’s too late to back out of it. You’re wrong anyway, Killian. She’s not suited to be a beta. Cara is meant to be the female alpha to my male alpha.”
Killian’s lips pressed together and he inclined his head. “Where are you going?”
“For a run. Watch after Cara. See that she doesn’t get herself in too much trouble. I won’t be long.”
****
The white wolf that streaked across the stretch of green land, had to be Darian. Cara was quite certain she recognized him as the same wolf that bit her arm.
I’ve got to get out of here. No way in hell am I allowing myself to be trapped inside another cage.
Cara went over to the closet. True to the traits of his gender she found most of the clothing piled up on the floor. There were a few shirts hanging in the closet. She ran her hand over the thick material in awe of the quality.
The green shirt would probably serve as the best camouflage. She
removed the shirt from the hanger and slipped it on over her head. It hung low on her, almost to her knees. Cara opened up drawers and found torn shorts with elastic waistbands.
Sifting through the pile of them she found a pair that would be long enough to offer her a bit of warmth. Once she had them on she went to the closed door and listened.
Nothing. Maybe they are all sleeping?
She turned the knob and pulled the door inward, peeking out into the hallway she met the eyes of a man similar to Darian in coloring and in the look of distain Darian gave her in his wolf form.
Uneasiness knotted in her stomach. This shifter did not look as tolerant of her as Darian had and even he told her he didn’t want her around. He was just stuck with her since he bit her.
Cara stood a bit straighter meeting his distant gaze. “Darian said that I’m part of the pack.”
“I know.” The man with dark curly black hair answered.
The tone of his voice left no mystery as to how he felt about her presence. Good, so he won’t stop me from leaving.
Cara exited the room and turned left. It was the way she’d seen Darian go when he’d left the room.
“Where are you going?” The shifter asked.
A quick glance over her shoulder and Cara saw that he was following her. “Are you my prison guard or what?”
“This isn’t a prison. It’s our home.”
“So, leave me alone and let me explore it,” Cara snarled right back. She continued walking. The shifter waited until she was several yards away before he began following her again.
You are my prison guard, aren’t you?
Cara jogged down the wide stair case and pushed open the double doors at the bottom. She thought she was outside and free to make a break for it but she was wrong. The double doors opened up into a large courtyard.
People were talking but as soon as she stepped out silence filled the courtyard. A woman reached down and snatched up a small child holding the toddler close as if saving him from Cara.
The man at her side began shifting. It was like a train reaction. Once he started shifting so did the rest of the pack. Everyone except for Cara and the young children.
Cara was terrified but what could she do? Run? They’d just catch her and besides she already knew that predators liked to chase, catch and kill.
She remained still for several moments listening to the low growl emitting from the pack collectively.
“Remain still,” the man with the dark curly black hair told her from behind her.
Cara spotted another door across the way.
I need to try that door and see if I can find an exit in this place.
Putting one foot in front of the other Cara started across the courtyard. The steady growl grew louder the closer she came to the pair in the center of the courtyard.
“You don’t like me, and I don’t like you,” Cara said. “Let me pass and I’ll get out of here and leave you alone.”
The black wolf with green eyes snarled. Its ears flattened as its black lips curled back, revealing sharp teeth. Cara looked past the black wolf at the doors.
Live in this cage or escape Cara. Pick one.
Cara continued forward as though the wolf wasn’t blocking her path.
“Cara, stop,” the guy at the double doors told her. “Jules is warning you to stop.”
“She’s not the alpha though, is she?” Cara said looking directly at the green eyes of the wolf.
A pair of yellow and white wolves walked in front of Cara blocking her path by Jules. These wolves were not behaving in the same aggressive manner.
Cara walked around them and continued to the door. There was only five more feet to cross and she’d make it to the doors.
Just as she neared the door a black and gray wolf circled into her path. The dark eyes of the wolf peered at her around the snarl and flash of teeth he was showing her.
“If you were going to hurt me you would have done it by now,” Cara told him, but really, she was trying to reassure herself. The clap of his jaws made her jump inside. She managed to keep a calm exterior. Cara refused to back away.
The werewolves behind Cara began to shift back into their human forms.
“Rafi, stand down. She is not threatening you,” A woman with long blond hair said.
The black and gray wolf didn’t budge.
Cara thought she saw anger in the eyes of the wolf.
Darian will be back soon and I won’t be able to escape.
She stepped forward. Rafi snapped at her ankles and despite her best efforts she stepped back.
The snarl that cracked through the air was like whip. Everyone behind her seemed to shrink back and away. Cara had an overwhelming need to bow low to the ground. She fought the urge but it was like fighting against gravity in a freefall. Cara fell onto her hands and knees as the white wolf of Darian attacked Rafi.
Powerful hands took hold of her and pulled her back and away from the battle. Cara couldn’t take her eyes off of the two wolves rolling, and crashing into columns. She saw flashes of white teeth, around clash of black and white fur standing up on end.
Blood.
Red marked the ground where they continued to war.
“Stop it,” Cara yelled at them but they didn’t even slow.
“Stay back,” the blond woman told Cara.
Cara took a small step back not sure what good it would do. “Why are they fighting?”
“Rafi threatened you. He snapped at you.”
But, he didn’t even touch me. I’m not even part of this pack.
The concrete cracked as Darian slammed Rafi onto the ground. It was a brutal sound, filled with pain, and unyielding power. The black wolf rolled onto his back with an anguished whimper.
Right away the white wolf began to shift. His golden eyes were on Cara, they were intense.
Cara knew he was angry. It was obvious she’d been trying to leave even after he’d told her, commanded her, not to do so. The white fur fell away from his skin evaporating as it fell to the earth. His bones moved under his skin in ripples and sharp points until he was standing in front of her.
His golden eyes ran over her from head to toe. The scowl on his face softening. “Are you hurt, Cara?”
Am I hurt?
“You’re bleeding,” Cara told him.
“Was she hurt, Killian?” Darian demanded of the shifter with the black curly hair.
Killian didn’t say anything. He must have indicated to Darian that she wasn’t hurt. Cara didn’t know because she was too afraid to take her eyes off of Darian. Any moment he would strike her to the ground. It would hurt but she’d live through it now that she had shifter blood. Right?
“No one, threatens Cara,” Darian’s powerful voice echoed through the courtyard. He looked over his shoulder at Rafi who was still in the submissive position on his back.
Darian approached Killian, his golden eyes were blazing. “I told you to protect her.”
“She is unharmed, Alpha,” Killian answered, his eyes lowered. “She is the warrior you said she is, I did not interfere because Cara was earning the respect of the pack on her own.”
I was?
Darian’s frown remained in place. “When were you going to step in? After Rafi drew blood?”
Killian’s dark blue eyes rose up to meet Darian’s. “I believe Rafi was responding out of injured pride when Cara did not cower from him. If you had not interfered, I believe Cara would have won the stand-off.”
“Cara, hasn’t shifted. She doesn’t have a prayer of fighting off Rafi.”
“I fought you, off,” Cara said before she could think better of it.
Darian looked at her, his annoyance with her clearly growing. “I held back.”
That much was obvious from the fight she’d just witnessed. Cara lifted her chin anyway. “So was I.”
“I’m sure you were,” Darian said. His tone dismissive.
Cara’s cheeks burned, her teeth clenched together.
The woman with the short black hair and green eyes, Jules, they called her when she was a wolf, was smiling at Cara’s discomfort. Cara lowered her gaze turning over the fact in her mind that Jules was exhibiting the same bully mentality that Cara identified with men.
Suddenly, the realization that there was so much she didn’t know about the world, about anyone or anything outside of Aldrich Town. The feeling was like a burning cold ooze swimming through her system.
Cara walked away from the pack meeting in the courtyard. She could feel Darian watching her. Cara didn’t turn back to get permission or offer an explanation of where she was going.
The door she’d tried to take earlier led into an oversized room, Cara didn’t stop to notice more than the high ceilings and large space she needed to cross. She found herself standing in a hallway and then another oversized room.
How do I get out of here?
“Darian asked me to escort you. Where do you want to go?” The blond shifter woman asked.
“Outside. I just want to get outside.”
The woman nodded her head and led the way back down the hallway taking the opposite direction than the one Cara tried. She opened the double doors at the end of the hallway. Cool air rushed inside.
Cara followed the woman outside and continued walking even when the other woman stopped. Cara passed her and just kept on moving. She started to run up the incline. The mountain that she’d dreamt of climbing, she was on it.
I want to see the other side.
Tears rolled down her face. She swiped at them and kept climbing. The blond woman was following at a distance. Cara knew she wasn’t getting away but if she accomplished one of her dreams, that would be something. Wouldn’t it?
CHAPTER NINE
Darian stood on the roof of the Rizer fortress.
He could see Cara climbing the mountain with the wind in her hair the cold stone under her feet and that same determined stiff spine he’d seen when she’d pushed herself in the forest.
“Will you follow her?” Killian asked.
“I haven’t decided yet. Kate is following her.”
Rival Love (The Blue Falls Series Book 1) Page 13
