An Undying Love

by Janet MacDonald

  The only place within the room she could hide was under the bed. After he ducked down, he stared disbelievingly at the small hole at the far back in the floorboards. A tuft of white fur was stuck to it. Dante was a little stunned by just how tenacious she really was as he stripped down and shifted. The smell of her heat hit him hard. The wolf growled deeply at the inviting aroma and then the man in him remembered his patrols. All males, all unmated, and they were patrolling the island with an escaped female prisoner in heat. Anya was in more danger then she possibly could know. He bolted out the door, trailing after her.

  * * * *

  Anya let the tears fall this time. Mitch had no idea where Cora or Alex was. She still couldn’t bring herself to tell Dante, even if it meant him taking her as his mate. That thought had done strange things to her insides, and she shuddered with self-revulsion as it had actually excited her. Although a brute, the man had done her no actual harm. He was nursing her back to health. Beth had told her a man named Memphis had been the one who had shot her. Dante had actually saved her life.

  Still, she didn’t feel ingratiated to him or his pack and as she calmed herself, she moved her wobbly legs off the bed. The feeling was back, though they were still very weak, but she would have to flee tonight or she would end up mated to a man she didn’t even know. Tomorrow night was the next moon, and Dante was not giving her brother any time, considering he didn’t know where Cora was.

  Anya peeled her dress off and tossed it on the bed before sliding down onto the cold wooden floorboards. Shifting into a much more wiry form would help her slip through the floor she’d managed to claw a hole through over the last several nights. She crawled under and pulled her tired weak hind legs behind her. She barely managed to fit through the small opening at the far back corner. She had to stifle a yelp as a piece of the rough wood cut into her soft under belly.

  She escaped out from under the building and could see the village. It was a heavily treed area with many small rustic, weathered homes dotted in between them. Anya stayed low on her belly, crawling until she reached a thicket. There she paused and sniffed the air and listened. The area was alive with the scent of wolves and humans. Some old, some new, it mixed with her scent, and she felt a little unnerved by her own smell.

  Anya was in heat. That would make this even harder to do, and she prayed no wolves were out and about. In this form, she’d mate a male if he could prove himself to her wolf. It wouldn’t matter what the human side of her thought. Countless tales were told of how young females ended up mated that very way, the wolf taking them over completely in its need to fulfill its role. That’s why she never turned during her heats. She’d saved herself for her soul mate, but now she knew that would never happen. The only thing that came from drinking the stagnant water at the temple was her being captured.

  She would have to move very cautiously to avoid detection, and was actually grateful the night sky was overcast as her white fur stuck out in the light of a moonlight night. She slipped deeper into the forest and moved silently and slowly. Anya had to stop several times to rest as her legs gave out and her hind end toppled her down onto her haunches. Nearly two hours went by as she made a slow escape. Once she’d thought she smelled wolves, and she made sure she stayed downwind of them.

  She was moving in the right direction as she could smell the salty sea air getting heavier. As she entered what looked like an old apple orchard the winds changed direction and she all but lost the scent. Tired and damn near unable to walk, she made it only a few yards into the orchard when she needed to stop again as her hind legs wobbled precariously. She panted as she sat for a moment, her tongue hanging from the side of her maw. The winds died out as she sat there, trying to regain some strength. The clouds in the night sky moved, uncovering the moon, and the light shone from it over the old orchard.

  A soft movement to her right caused her ears to perk up. There was another sound from her right. She listened as she looked over the overgrown field. She saw nothing, but she felt uneasy. A snap of a branch somewhere in front of her had her trying to regain her feet. They wobbled under her and gave way, not yet ready to move. A howl resounded from behind her, and it was answered by several more. They came from all around her. She was surrounded.

  Anya forced herself up and caught the first sight of the wolf in front. He moved through the tall grasses, his head low and he snarled. Her hackles went up to make herself look bigger, and she growled a warning. It was answered by another snarl to her left. She could see another wolf as he came closer. She turned her head to a quick movement to her right and barely had time to register the male as he lunged at her.

  She yelped as his teeth nipped her flank hard and sank into her. She tried to move, but he pawed her hind end, trying to get her to respond. She wheeled her head around and bit him on the face. He yelped, and another advanced. Their smells were heavy and musky. Her wolf was eager, but none had proven themselves. She made it to her feet, tucked her tail in under herself and growled at one as he slunk in low in front of her. She could see five of them. All of them were dark gray-furred and much bigger than herself.

  The one in front of her lunged once more, and she tried to step back. Her hind end went down again, and she saw one of the other males as he tackled the one leaping at her. They fought for a moment and the first one fell back. It had her wolf interested for a second, but Anya tried to quell her base nature and forced herself to stand again. She was prepared to fight off the males if need be. They flanked out again as she stood there snarling at them on her weak legs.

  The sudden slam of a male toppled her over from her left and she rolled to stay on her belly so he couldn’t grab her by the throat and force her into submission. They fought furiously, and she bled from several wounds. The wolf wrestled with her, biting at her face, forcing her to lie flat. Before she realized what he was doing it was too late as he pinned her down. His weight lay across her back as his teeth bit hard into her shoulder. She yelped repeatedly in pain as he tried to mount her.

  Chapter Six

  As Dante tracked Anya, he noticed several times she’d laid down, her scent the strongest in those areas. His inner animal was more than itching to find her, and he was having a hard time fighting it for control. He wondered how she’d managed to pull this off, having been unable to move her legs. She must have healed faster than they’d anticipated and played on the injury. The hole in the floorboards had been clawed at so she had to have shifted to do it, and no one had heard a thing, which meant she’d waited until late at night. Although, her frequent stops to lie down told him she was still very weak.

  A near smile rose on his muzzle as he tracked her through a steep incline. He could see where she’d slid down it rather than attempted to walk. A true alpha female, if he ever saw one. Anya didn’t seem to let the terrain impede her, as her trail indicated, and she’d managed to avoid his patrols as well. Her scent stayed downwind of them, skirting their movements as she headed toward the bay. The thought of her making it to the water scared him. In her weakened state, if she tried to swim the rough waters she would drown. That fueled the fear in him, and he moved faster.

  Dante crossed the small river after hearing the howls from the patrol. They had something cornered, and his fear was that it was indeed Anya. Dante raced into the orchard and saw several of his pack members had encircled two forms lying in the grass. The unmistakable smell of a female in heat saturated the air as did the musky scent of the males trying to dominate her. The yelping from the little female sounded terrible, and he knew one of them had her as he raced closer and saw a male on her back. Anya wasn’t being receptive, but the young wolf didn’t seem to care as he bit her hard, causing another series of painful yelps to echo over the field.

  Rage flooded over him as his wolf reared ahead and he lunged at the younger wolf attempting to mate what he had already decided was his. Dante threw all his bulk at the young male on top of the white wolf, snarled and sank his teeth deep into his shoulder as he b
ulldozed him off her. With a hard shake of his head, he tossed the younger male onto the ground and took a protective stance over the injured female. Three of the others immediately backed off at the sight of their alpha. Two snarled and growled a challenge for the female under him.

  The first one to make an attack found out in a hurry it was a bad idea as Dante tore into his hind leg and forced the male down. He knocked the younger male onto his back and sank his teeth just enough into his throat to let him know he meant business. The challenger whimpered his defeat, and Dante released him. The second one who had challenged him had a prompt change of heart at seeing his pack mate taken down so quickly.

  With a deep throaty growl, he warned them off, and the five fled out of his line of sight. He arched his head back, howling his right to mate across the island for everyone to hear. Dante turned to look at the small delicate female as she struggled to stand, he smelled the blood. Her tail was still tucked in under her belly. The young male had not been successful in his attempt to mate her.

  Cautiously he approached her. He whimpered and tried to lick her face. She moved her head higher, but it only gave him more room to wash her. She didn’t growl so he licked the side of her neck, cleaning the wound left by the teeth of the other male. She shook and her hind end went down, and she yelped in pain again. Dante sniffed her neck, her fur moving from his breath as he smelled her. Slowly he bathed her with his tongue, washing her many wounds, making sure they were clean. She laid still for him to do so, her tail going lax behind her and moving to one side. It was a sign of submission, telling him she’d mate him. If Dante hadn’t had a little control his wolf would have tried to mount her.

  Instead he nudged her, trying to get her to stand. She whimpered and nipped his chin. He growled and nudged her again. This time she tried to stand, but as she did he saw her hind legs were too feeble to hold her up. They shook, and she flopped back down. She lay with her head resting on her paws, and he licked her muzzle. He could tell she was weak. He lay beside her, resting his head over her neck to help keep her warm.

  They laid there in the field for over an hour before she drifted off to sleep. Her body shifted to her human form as her wolf lost control in its slumber. Dante rose then and he shifted as well, scooping her up into his arms. He carried her back to the settlement in the wee hours of the morning.

  * * * *

  Anya awoke to the feeling of a warm body beside her. Her eyes flew open, and she saw Dante lying next to her. The heat of his naked flesh against her own caused her to blush.

  “Good morning,” he said as he stared at her.

  “Oh my god!” was all she could say as she pulled the covers over her more. Memories of the previous night filled her mind. He’d fought for her and won. Her wolf had offered herself to him. Dante hadn’t taken her as was his right, but now he could.

  His fingers crept over her waist under the blankets, causing her flesh to quiver, and pulled her toward him. Something hard poked her in the side, and she felt more than a little confused by the feelings washing over her.

  “Please…I…” She wasn’t sure what to say.

  “Shh,” he told her as his body rolled over her and his weight pressed down on her for a moment. He stopped on top of her. His hardness pressed firmly against her, and she gasped as his gaze looked between her mouth and eyes. She trembled, the fear and excitement washing over her in a mix. He smiled before he continued over top and onto the other side of her.

  “I’ll make you some breakfast,” he said as he stood without removing the coverings from her.

  Anya tried not to look, but her curiosity got the better of her, and she glanced at him. He was completely naked except for the bracelet of her hair on his wrist. The man was extremely muscular, and as he pulled his pants on, she caught sight of what had poked her. She had only seen a penis once, and that was when she’d caught a guy peeing outside. The thing between Dante’s legs didn’t look anything like that other guy’s, and she swallowed hard as she quickly looked away.

  Her tummy fluttered for a moment at the thought that they could have mated, that if he had wanted to, he could have. Instead, there he was going to go make her breakfast. She was a little taken aback by it. She eyed the room to see if there was something she could wear and noticed this was not the same place Dante had been holding her.

  The room wasn’t big, but it did have a window. The bed was very large, a queen by the looks of it, and both the headboard and footboard were made from carved wood. The corner posts nearly touched the ceiling, and a sheer material covered the top. Anya looked over the rest of the room and saw a closet without a door. In it hung a few apparel items. None of it was anything fancy, just basic everyday men’s clothing.

  Right beside the bed sat a long triple dresser and on top of it were a few knickknacks, a mirror, washbasin, shaving brush and razor as well as a long, deep brown braid. Anya looked closer at the braided hair and saw a man’s wedding band tied to it with a piece of twine. Cora had told her the old custom they had of women showing their intentions by giving a man a braided lock of their hair to wear. Alex had one of Cora’s, and he wore it around his wrist just as Dante had with her own lock.

  Slowly Anya slipped out of bed, her body sore and tired, her legs still shaky as she made for the closet and quietly pulled one of Dante’s large shirts off the hanger and then put it on. It fit her like a tent, hanging to just below her knees, and the arms she had to roll up several times. Gingerly she crept toward the door, which was still partially open. Her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she wanted to see where she was.

  Anya used the wall to help her stay on her feet and walked out into a large open room. It looked like a rustic old cabin. A couple wooden chairs sat in front of a stone fireplace, which had a fire burning in it. The walls had no adornments other than a few wicker baskets, which seemed to be stuffed with odds and ends. A small kitchen area to her left had an old hand pump over a large metal washbasin. Above that was a set of shelves that were laden with plates, cups and such. Beside that was a door that just had a knotted rope handle.

  There wasn’t much else in there. A few throw rugs on the bare wooden floorboards, some coats hanging by what she assumed was the door out and a large trunk. A small table was set with two plates and what looked like an old-time percolator glass pot. It was filled with what she believed was coffee. A few feet from the table there was a cast-iron stove, and Dante stood there stirring something in a pan. She could easily hear the crackling of what was frying, and it smelled really good, just like bacon.

  The smells of the food made her mouth water and her tummy rumbled quite loudly. Dante turned and looked at her. He smiled as his gaze traveled over her standing there clad in only his shirt.

  “You should be in bed. You’re still weak.”

  He walked toward her. She panicked, taking a step away too quickly and her legs went out from under her. Anya’s arms reached out to grab a hold of anything to keep from falling. That anything just happened to be Dante.

  With a strong set of arms wrapped around her, she leaned against his bare chest as he held her. Heat washed over her at the almost too intimate contact.

  “Please, I’m tired of lying down,” she whispered as he swept her up into his arms.

  “All right,” he said with a smile still playing on his lips. He walked over to the table and kicked a chair out far enough so he could sit her on it.

  “Breakfast is almost ready. I hope you don’t mind scrambled eggs.”

  He sounded cheerful as he turned his attention back to the stove. Anya felt strange. He acted as if she lived there and was not a prisoner, as if this were something they might do every day.

  He took both the plates and piled pieces of fried meat and scrambled eggs on them and then placed them on the table. He poured what smelled like coffee into both their cups and then sat across from her.

  “Eat, it’ll help give you back your strength,” he said before shoveling his food into his mouth. “Go
on now, eat. I’m really not that bad of a cook.” She still hadn’t touched the meal in front of her. She looked from him to the food and caved in to her hunger and began to eat.

  *

  Dante watched her slowly start to eat. Her gaze darted all over his cabin, and he thought of how curious she seemed to be.

  “You can stay here until I return from the mainland,” he said as he poured more coffee into both their cups.

  “Are you going to let me go?” she asked. Her eyes seemed different to him today. Not as angry-looking.

  “That will depend on how cooperative your brother is.”

  “And if he doesn’t know who your sister is either?”

  “You know what will happen.”

  “So if you find out where your sister is you’ll let me go?”

  “Anya, you submitted to me last night. Do you really think I want to let you go?” he asked, searching for any sign that the human part of her was willing to submit as well.

  The look she gave him was perplexing. It showed her outrage, but it showed something else as well.

  “That’s only because of the condition my body in,” she snapped. The anger in her tone sounded forced.

  “Trust me, I know all too well you’re in heat,” he said sternly. The smell was still heavy in the air, and it was hard not to sweep her up and take her back to his bed and lay claim to her.

  “What if your sister doesn’t want to come back here? What if she’s already mated and happy?” she demanded. Anya’s probing revealed to him that she knew something, and as much as he wanted to order her to tell him, he knew she wouldn’t.

  “If she’s happy with her mate, then he can be fostered into the pack. Anya, all I want is my sister home safe and sound. Just like your brother wants you home safely.”

  The heavy knocking on his door interrupted their talk, and he nearly growled out his anger. “Come in,” he said loudly.