An Undying Love

by Janet MacDonald

  Chapter Eight

  The crease in Beth’s forehead furrowed as Dante tried to explain how he felt. It wasn’t easy for him. He tended to keep his emotions carefully guarded. As he tried again to explain it, she actually laughed out loud. A silly grin sat on her face as she listened quietly for several minutes before she interrupted him.

  “You’re in love with her,” she said between light chuckles.

  “No, I’m not,” Dante retorted defensively. Although he’d never felt this way before with any female.

  “Yes, you are.” She laughed. Beth, he noticed had to keep her hand on her rounded tummy. She winced a little. He imagined it was uncomfortable for her at that stage to laugh.

  “You don’t fall in love in a matter of only a few days,” he retorted gruffly, not believing that to be possible, but his heart told him something different as did his wolf. “What do I do now?” he asked after several long, silent moments of self-reflection.

  “Well, you can’t force her to love you. Now you could try to get her to fall in love with you.”

  “I don’t know how,” he told her with complete honesty. He never had to think about falling in love or getting someone to love him. It was something that really wasn’t all that important before now.

  “You could try being nice to her, talk to her about everyday things. Take her for a walk, a romantic picnic. Dante, you need to show her the real you. Not the alpha male trying to dominate her into being submissive.” Beth rubbed her belly with a smile dancing on her face.

  “You knew this was going to happen.” He eyed her.

  “I had a hunch she was special the moment you brought her here.”

  “Be myself?”

  “Yes, Dante, just be true to the person inside. Forget for once you’re the alpha. Just let it happen naturally.”

  She was right. The only way to win Anya’s heart was to be himself around her. However, tomorrow night Mitch was to bring Cora there. If not, he was to take Anya as his mate. Not to go through with it would be a show of weakness on his part.

  “I can’t do that, Beth. There’s no time.”

  “Then she’ll be lost to you and never be truly yours, no matter how much you try to force her to be.”

  Dante made his way back toward his cabin, his thoughts consumed with the deed he may have to do. He didn’t even feel the coldness of the rain pelting him. He was numb inside, lost as to how he could make Anya love him before tomorrow night. It was impossible, he knew that, but a part of him still clung to the bleak hope it could happen.

  After Memphis told him everything had been quiet and that Anya was asleep, Dante decided it was also something he needed. He stepped into his room and saw the oil lamp burning softly on the dresser. The light showed the sleeping woman in his bed. The longing in him grew stronger as he breathed in her heady scent. Now he wished he had a spare bed.

  After stripping down, he gingerly crawled in beside her. He tried not to wake her as he unraveled her from the bedding and took one of the pillows for himself. She wore one of his shirts, and a smile crept over his lips at the sight. This was how every night should be, he thought. Always sharing a bed with her and being his mate. Maybe someday that wish would come true, he prayed.

  He curled up as close as he dared and smelled her heat. It would make it harder to control himself. Dante closed his eyes and tried to dwell on other things. The coming winter, the harvest, anything to keep his mind from painting images of him and Anya in the throes of ecstasy. Eventually sleep stole him away.

  Anya’s fitful sounds woke Dante up. The lamp cast more than enough light for him to see by and he watched the woman beside him murmur softly. He saw the heat rising off of her body. The ability to see wavy heat patterns of living things was a benefit to their kind, and he could tell she was throwing off a lot of heat right now. She’d tossed the bedding away, exposing most of her to him. The soft mound of her pelvis and the sexy curves of her hips were completely uncovered.

  He was going to turn his head and look away, but a moan passed her lips. Dante smelled her intoxicatingly delicious fragrance, and she suddenly arched her back. The shirt rose just enough to expose part of her breast. He grew more aroused at the thought of sinking into her silky depths, and as if she knew what he was thinking, she shuddered again. He knew what kind of dream she was having as the heavenly musk of her body wafted toward him as she moaned a name he couldn’t quite make out. He wanted to touch her badly as he watched her twist about. She had to be climaxing in her sleep. Never before had he watched a girl have a wet dream. The image gave him all kinds of ideas. His self-control waned as the beast’s need to have her began to overrule his human nature to not just ravage her. Then she suddenly stopped moving and her breathing changed. She was awake.

  * * * *

  Memphis and his girlfriend were in the other room talking quietly, too quietly, for Anya to overhear what they were saying. She couldn’t help it. She was not only curious but a bit nosey as well. She heard the girl giggle softly and thought how sweet it was for Memphis to have someone. The young couple had her feeling the loneliness she’d felt for most of her adult life. The years of looking at others and being without a mate and never truly believing she would ever find hers. Now she knew she may never, but the wolf within her had. It’d made its mind up about Dante, it seemed. Although she truly was happy for Memphis, she also was jealous of the lovebirds.

  When Memphis came in and found her trying to leave, he’d apologetically told her to go back to the bedroom. The guy was too sweet to be mean, but even so he would go get Dante if she pushed her luck. So she did as he asked and went back inside the bedroom. The place was comfortable, and she hated to admit that to herself, hated that she felt at home in the enemy’s residence.

  She had no idea how long Dante had been gone, but as she lay on his bed surrounded by his scent, her wolf ached for him. It was such a confusing thing. They weren’t mated. She shouldn’t feel this way, she kept telling herself. It didn’t abate the urges coursing over her. A far off rumble of thunder caused her to jump, and that quelled the feeling. A bright flash of lightning illuminated the room, and fear gripped her. Anya was terrified of thunder and lightning and had been ever since she was a small child.

  Anya curled up into the warmth of the blankets and pulled the pillows close. This was going to be a very long night, she thought as another clap of thunder echoed outside. This time it seemed closer. Softly she sang to herself. It was a lullaby her brother used to sing to her when there was a storm. Slowly she murmured the words, her voice warbling as she began to drift off to sleep.

  Dante sat on her bed as the sun peeked through the windows of her bedroom. The array of stuffed animals had seemed to have multiplied. She almost felt suffocated in the sea of them surrounding her. Strange, she thought. She wasn’t sure how she’d gotten there or why he would be in her bedroom.

  “Hey there, you were having a nightmare,” he whispered ever so softly. He reached out and lightly stroked her hair. Somehow he’d gotten into her home, passed her brother and Kari. It was strange, but it felt as if he belonged there with her.

  “You want to talk about it?” he asked.

  “I don’t think I can remember it,” Anya told him. “Where are Mitch and Kari?”

  “They went into town.” He moved closer. The stuffed animals he pushed out of his way and they soundlessly toppled onto the floor.

  “The storm passed?” she asked, knowing there had been one last night.

  He looked at her and ran his fingers down the length of her hair. “Yes, it has,” he whispered as he leaned over and slid his hand behind her neck.

  He pulled her face toward his and kissed her passionately. Anya trembled all over as his free hand caressed her left arm and then slid down to her waist before slowly finding its way back up to her chest under her nightshirt. He traced all around her breast and then his fingers found her hard nipple. She moaned into his mouth as he rolled it between his finger and thumb.


  Anya reached out to touch his face with one hand while her other slid up under his shirt. With shaky fingers, she traced the outline of every muscle. His skin felt warm to the touch, and he smelled so good. He pulled away from her lips and kissed her jaw line. Slowly his lips trailed down the side of her throat. His tongue slid along her flesh sending shivers of delight through her body.

  Anya slid her hand down the front of his chest over his stomach and down to the edge of his jeans. As one of his hands found its way between her legs, her breathing got heavier. She moaned out Dante’s name as he brought her close to ecstasy. He was the one, her true mate, and her wolf rejoiced with their union.

  Anya woke up suddenly with the feeling of being watched. She opened her eyes ever so slightly and saw there was a low glow still emanating from the oil lamp. It was casting just enough light to be able to dimly see by. She’d kicked the covers off herself sometime during the night. The oversized shirt she’d worn to bed had ridden up to just below her breasts.

  Through partially closed eyes, she saw Dante lying beside her in the bed. He was wide awake on his side, and he seemed to be watching her sleep, a smile playing on his lips. Anya’s whole body flushed as she remembered her dream. She rolled over and grabbed for the blankets with her eyes shut and pulled them over herself. She lay there praying he thought she was still asleep, and that she hadn’t talked or moaned anything while she’d been dreaming of having sex with him.

  * * * *

  Dante woke up after a very restless night and felt a warm body snuggled up close to him. He opened his eyes and saw Anya had curled next to him sometime during the night. She lay with her head on his chest, their hands entwined on his belly. He smiled to himself as he wrapped his other arm over her and settled back in, taking a deep inhale of her sweet scent.

  It’d been years since he’d cuddled a woman. It felt so right to him. Now all he had to do was show Anya this was where she truly belonged. That thought brought the tranquil moment he enjoyed to a halt. Tonight Mitch was either going to come through or Dante would have to do the unthinkable. His own worry that the Silverback alpha might not be able to deliver seeped into his mind.

  Dante was banking on the threat of taking Anya as his mate would force Mitch to bring Cora home. But what if he really didn’t know where she was? Then what? He couldn’t imagine forcing himself on Anya. She would hate him, even though they would be together for the rest of their lives. It would be hell for him, knowing he’d forced her to be his mate when she really didn’t want him. But what if she did want him?

  Dante stroked her long, silky hair as he laid there, every scenario playing in his mind. He didn’t want to lose Anya, didn’t want to her to leave. If Mitch managed to come through then he had no choice but to let her go. Dante’s heart lurked in his throat at the thought of her not being there with him. Beth was right. He was in love with her.

  It made no sense to him. They didn’t even know each other, hadn’t mated or connected at any other level. How the hell was this possible, he wondered. It was as if she’d always been his and he hers. Like true soul mates from the old tales told to them as children. Lovers preordain to be united as one. As Anya shifted closer, he remembered how he’d first seen her in the temple.

  The near ghostly visage of her within the sacred building was something he would not forget. He’d been in awe of the sight. She was so graceful, delicate and beautiful. Why she’d drunk the stagnant water was still beyond him. Then it dawned on him. It’d been said that to drink the water from within the temple would bring a person’s soul mate to them. A silly old tale he knew, but one his great-grandmother said was true.

  Dante craned his head to look at Anya’s sleeping face on his chest, he had a hunch now of exactly why she’d come there. It was the only thing that made sense. Though, part of that tale was not told outside of Temple Island’s pack members. As he ran his fingers in her hair, he had to wonder if it could have happened to her.

  It was the reason no one was allowed there. A male and female were supposed to drink the water together, tying theirs soul as one, binding them as soul mates. It was also said to drink from the pool would imbue the person with another’s soul. The soul of the Wolf Lord or the soul of his mate, Terra, would fuse with the imbiber, depending on the drinker’s gender. It was something outsiders didn’t know. Was it even possible, he wondered. Could she be? Nah, he thought. It was just a legend.

  But then he got a shiver. It raced through him to his core, and he knew.

  Chapter Nine

  Anya awoke all alone in Dante’s bed. She blearily remembered her dreams from last night, and again felt herself blush. She moved as quietly as she could and slipped out of bed. Her bare feet touched the cold floorboards and she shivered. Walking stealthily toward the partially opened bedroom door, she could make out Dante talking to Memphis.

  “We do rotating shifts today. I want the entire shoreline patrolled at regular intervals,” Dante said.

  “You really think he would invade?” Memphis asked.

  “No. But I’m also not going to take that chance either.” Dante snorted.

  “But what happens to Anya if they do?”

  “I’m not going to hurt her, Memphis. I told her brother the terms. It’s up to him now to deliver.”

  Anya was anxious. Tonight if her brother didn’t show up with Cora, Dante would mate her. It sent a mixed rush throughout her. Part of her wanted him, part of her was scared and still a part of her couldn’t imagine not being without him. She waited until the conversation ended and stepped out. The smell of bacon, eggs and toast wafted to her nose and her tummy rumbled.

  Both men turned to look at her, and she was suddenly self-conscious as she stood there in Dante’s long shirt. The two of them looked her over. She saw Dante smile briefly, then it vanished again.

  “Your breakfast is almost ready,” he told her in a near growl.

  “Umm, maybe I should leave,” Memphis said. He looked uncomfortable as Dante gave him a hard stare.

  Anya sat at the table and looked at Dante as he ate. The man seemed restless, uneasy and almost sad. He kept taking furtive glances at her, but didn’t maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds. He spoke not a word to her the entire time they ate, and after she finished he took her plate and put it in the washbasin on the small counter. The silence was killing her.

  As he busied himself with cleaning the few dishes, Anya got up and walked over to where he stood. She took the tea towel from the hook and dried the dishes. It felt normal, as if this were what she should be doing with him. She glanced at him as he passed her a wet coffee cup and saw him smile softly. It reached his eyes, and she saw the tenderness in them.

  Her heart fluttered at the look. What the hell was happening to her, she thought.

  “If you want we can go for a walk. I can show you around the village,” he told her, breaking the long silence.

  “Yes, I would like that,” she almost whispered.

  “Would you like to bring a lunch? I can pack us up a little snack or something, if you want.”

  Dante seemed suddenly shy, and she couldn’t help the smile that stole over her lips. She nodded and watched his face brighten.

  “We can take a blanket. I’ll show you the old swimming hole and the Drummers Caves,” he said with a hint of excitement in his voice.

  “I’d like that.”

  “Great. As soon as we’re done we can get ready.” She noticed he now hurried to clean the dishes.

  Anya almost laughed out loud. Something had changed. The alpha acted more like a schoolboy, and she liked it. She watched as he rushed to get a small lunch packed and grabbed a blanket to bring with them. As he finished getting ready, she went back into the bedroom and slipped on the dress Beth had given her. It dragged a bit on the floor as she walked back out.

  Dante eyed her from head to toe, a silly grin on his face. “Umm, that’s way too long on you. You’ll trip.” He walked over and drew his knife from the sheath at his
side, then squatted in front of her. “I’m just going to cut it off enough so you can walk.” He proceeded to slice the bottom part of the dress away.

  Now the garment fell to halfway down her calves, and she eyed his handiwork. The ragged edges were far from a seamstress’ job. On the other hand, it allowed her better movement, and she smiled as he held the door open.

  “Thank you.” Her voice sounded meek. For some reason, it didn’t bother her to sound so docile this time.

  As Anya stepped outside, she found she needed his arm to help her walk. Her legs were still quite weak. She saw the inhabitants going about their daily chores. Some were cutting wood, others weeding gardens and a few herded a flock of sheep into an enclosure. Several young children ran by them, clutching baskets of eggs. They giggled as one of them dropped a few and they broke on the ground.

  The place looked like something out of a western movie, minus the cowboys. All the houses were made from rough-hewed logs with stone chimneys jutting out from the tops of their roofs. Many of them had smoke drifting lazily out of them. The air seemed so much cleaner there, even with the heavy smells of the animals and wood smoke.

  As Dante led her around, he introduced her to members of his pack. Everyone seemed pleasant, telling her how nice it was to meet her and inviting them in for tea. Dante declined their offers and continued to guide her on the tour around the village. It was such a peaceful, tranquil place. With the absence of modern conveniences, it actually made it more serene.

  They made it to a narrow path at the edge of the village and she saw it wound through the forest. It seemed well-used, as the grass was gone and all that remained was the hardened earth trail.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as they started down the path.