by Anya Bast
“Torrent!” She cried in alarm.
“They’re in front, too.”
Awesome, they were trapped.
Torrent stopped and dropped her gently to her feet. Blinking, she looked up into his face for the first time and could see him. Holy flipping Adonis from Heaven, he was the most beautiful piece of manhood she’d ever seen. He had short dark hair, a strong, handsome face and blue-gray eyes.
His body was simply…guh. Massive and muscled.
He pulled a long glowing baton from where he’d secured it at his belt. She recognized it as a Magica weapon. He must have taken it from one of the guards he’d jumped. He tossed it to her. “I have no idea how they work, but I know if you hit someone with one, it hurts.”
Good enough for her. “But don’t you need one?”
His teeth flashed in a feral smile. “No.”
She stood back to back with him and tried not to vomit up her moldy bread and tepid water as the guards barreled down the corridor toward them from both directions. She was an office worker, not a fighter. How the hell was she going to manage this? Especially after the abuse her body had taken in the last week of her imprisonment. All she was fit for was the fetal position.
Too late to worry about any of that. Their pounding boots brought them closer and closer, their mouths open with the feral screams of the terrified. They were still running toward them, but now they looked scared…. Were they frightened of her? A low growl issued from behind her. What a second…..
She whirled and confronted a huge wolf. It was silver and had silky fur, its body powerfully corded with muscle. She screamed a staggered back a step. This was Torrent in dire wolf form. Oh. My. God!
Torrent lunged at her and she screamed again, diving away from him and hitting the wall, the baton falling from her fingers. Flattened against the corridor, she watched Torrent roar at the guards who had been only a breath’s space from her a moment ago. The guards quailed, eyes wide, staggering back, their reluctant bravado clearly failing them. But they were closing in on the other side too. Surely Torrent couldn’t fight off all of them.
At the exact moment that realization bloomed, a guard managed to strike Torrent’s haunch with one of the wicked batons. Torrent roared in pain and anguish.
“No!” she cried. “Bastards!” Caroline groped for her fallen baton and struck out at the nearest guard, crashing him over the head with every ounce of her energy. The man looked stupidly stunned for a moment, then fell over.
Torrent flipped one of the guards about ten feet down the hallway, then swung his massive head toward her. His big wolf eyes locked gazes with hers for a moment and suddenly she just knew what he wanted—he wanted her to climb on his back. He roared at the guards near her again and they fell back, allowing her a moment to leap onto his back. Abused as her body was, she was all adrenaline right now. Terror had a way of doing that to a person.
Clutching the baton in one hand, she flattened herself against his silky back as Torrent lunged forward, jumping over the heads of the clutch of guards attacking them. Then he whirled and gave a massive, spittle spewing roar that made them all quake in their black polished boots.
Collectively, they cowered backward. One turned, dropped his baton and ran in the other direction. The others hesitated, then surged forward, finding their courage.
Torrent turned and bounded down the hallway, away from them. He pushed through the doors at the end of the corridor and up a dimly lit flight of stairs. Behind them the guards yelled, giving chase, emboldened by Torrent’s flight. He pushed through double doors at the top of the stairs and skidded on slick marble floor into the middle of a huge, bright foyer thronged with people dressed like pilgrims.
This place just got weirder and weirder.
Silence.
Everyone in the foyer stared at them, motionless, stunned. Then the screaming started and the running. Apparently seeing a dirty, starving woman atop a giant wolf was cause for sheer pandemonium.
Unfortunately, not all the people were running away from them. There were more guards with batons and they looked braver than the ones downstairs.
“Uh. We better go!” she yelled at Torrent.
Torrent lunged forward, nearly knocking Caroline off his back. He bounded toward the front doors while guards took swipes at his haunches with their weapons. One of them grazed his side and Torrent jolted with pain. The shock radiated through his massive body and into her, gathering between her teeth and flavoring her tongue with metal.
Torrent burst through the doors, turned and ran down the street, gathering speed to a flat out run. Buildings and surprised people blurred past them faster and faster. Forced to let the baton she clutched clatter to the street, she gripped his fur two-handed, lay down against his back and held on for dear life. Clearly his plan was to outrun the guards. Caroline thought it was the best plan ever.
Torrent skidded around corners and jumped objects in the street. All she could do was grip him with her legs, curl her fingers into his fur, close her eyes, and hope like hell they’d make it through this.
Finally, Torrent slowed and she opened her eyes to look around. He’d run them right out of the city. Now they were in the forest with the skyline rising behind them. He trotted ever farther into the trees as twilight descended, sometimes finding long stretches of stream to run along, concealing their tracks, presumably. Of course, it seemed the Magica possessed abilities and powers that the Lycaon didn’t. Maybe there were nonphysical ways they could be tracked.
They traveled well into the night. Caroline drowsed on his back, exhausted and hungry, nearly toppling off him several times. Finally Torrent deemed it safe to stop. She slid from his back and stumbled to a tree. She desperately needed food and sleep.
“We’re within Lycaon boundaries now. We should be safe.”
She looked up to find Torrent had shifted back to human…full, glorious, naked human male.
Quickly, she jerked her gaze away. He was gorgeous, but she was not in the mood to ogle. “Should be safe?”
“We can eat, sleep a little. Then we’ll continue home.”
His home. She sank down at the base of a tree and closed her eyes. She’d give anything for her apartment, her soft bed, the food in her refrigerator. Would she ever see that place again?
There was too much here to process. She just wanted to go to sleep, to escape everything.
“Torrent? Eat what? There’s no food.” She opened her eyes but he was gone. Shivering, closed her eyes again. It was strange how much she trusted him. She simply knew he’d be back. The heavy hands of sleep dragged her under despite the chill in the air.
She woke to the sound of a crackling fire and the delightful scent of cooking meat. Torrent sat at the opposite side of the campfire.
The warmth reached out and touched her skin through the tattered, filthy prison dress she wore and she salivated at the scent of whatever was currently roasting over the fire. Though, as hungry as she was, she wanted to escape back into sleep. Maybe when she woke it all this would have been just a crazy dream. A girl could hope. Her gaze met Torrent’s over the fire, his face partially obscured by the smoke.
Torrent removed the meat smoking over the fire, set a portion of it on a wide leaf, then walked over and handed it to her. He’d tied a skirt of leaves around his waist to hide his nakedness, and she was grateful. “Eat something.”
She pushed it back at him. “You should have it. You just expended a huge amount of energy.”
“I already ate.”
“Oh.” Of course. He’d likely hunted in dire wolf form. She accepted the food. “Thank you.”
She took a bite, letting the hot, salty meat fill her mouth and groaned. It was the best thing she’d ever tasted.
“If we travel the rest of the night, we should reach my village.” He returned to his place and sank down to the ground. “That means we’re not far from your sisters.”
Caroline jerked with surprise and swallowed hard. “Really?”
He nodded. “I will send a message telepathically to have them meet us.”
“Tele—never mind.”
“We can press on after you’ve eaten.”
“Don’t you need to rest?”
“I’ll be fine. I want you safely out of the reach of the Magica.”
“So, we’re not safe right now?”
“Not as safe as Id like us to be.”
She nodded and went back to eating. He looked exhausted. Dark circles marked the skin under his blue-gray eyes. In her twenty-four years she’d never met a man as protective and self-sacrificing as this one. Sad, but true.
“How are they?” she asked between bites. “My sisters? I mean, I know you said they’re happily mated shifters, but I’d love a few more details.”
He shrugged one broad shoulder. “Kaitlyn loves being a hawk, loves the freedom of flying. She has a beautiful garden she tends in the warm months and seems to really enjoy using vegetables from it in her meals. Paige still dances. There’s a theater in the village and sometimes people come to watch her perform. They are joyful. In love. Healthy. As far as I know, in all ways they are good.”
She smiled. “And…you and me…” She wasn’t sure she wanted to go there, but her curiosity was powerful.
His eyes went dark and he looked away from her, throwing a branch into the fire. “You were not supposed to come here. I’d hoped—” He bit off the end of his sentence with a word in a foreign language she guessed was a curse.
“Hoped what?”
“I’d hoped to avoid this torment.”
“But you escaped from the prison. Doesn’t that mean you’ve avoided the prophecy?”
He shook his head. “It means nothing. Prophecies can never be escaped.” He lowered his voice and seemed to talk to himself. “The prophecy is still to be fulfilled, I’m sure of it. I feel it.”
“Tell me more about this…prophecy? In my world prophecies are only plot devices in fantasy novels.”
He locked gazes with her over the fire. “I am to die. My final act upon this world will be to end the war between the Magica and the Lycaon, but my fate is to find my eternal rest in the soil of my ancestors.”
“Oh.” She swallowed her final bite and tossed the bone aside. A dark, sinking feeling replaced the hunger in her belly.
He nodded. “It’s even worse if I have a woman to love, isn’t it? Worse still if she loves me back. Worse that we are fated to be together in perfect love and trust, that the force of our perfectness brought us together from two very different worlds only to have our relationship torn asunder by my death.”
“When you put it like that…”
“There is nothing good about this situation.”
“Hey! Who says I even want to be with you? Some force I can’t see or comprehend? How do I know any of this is even real?” Anger jolted her to her feet. “And if this unseen force is so powerful and wise, why the hell did it bring me through if we’re doomed?”
“I’m doomed, not you.”
“If I’m supposed to be head-over-heels in love with you, if we’re fated to be together for the rest of our lives. I’m just as doomed as you.”
Torrent said nothing in reply.
Fuming, she stared at him, then stalked away from the fire, her voice rising. “So, screw your invisible force or whatever it is that brought me here. Screw your prophecy. Screw anyone or anything that tells me who I’m going to be with. I’ll make that decision, thank you very—” She turned and came nose to chest with Torrent, the end of her sentence dying in her throat.
“You can question our spirituality and curse our ways, you can condemn the prophecy, but never question we were meant to be together.” His husky, emotion filled voice rolled over her, lifting every hair on her body. Then he pulled her up against his chest and covered her mouth with his.
Chapter Three
She jerked, then melted as his lips skated over hers, exploring every crease and smooth surface before leisurely slanting over and pressing his tongue deep within. Shivers ran over her body at the heat of him melting into her and the masterful way he possessed her mouth. Every single female part of her sat up and took notice.
He broke the kiss and she staggered back away from him on shaking legs. “Holy shit!” Then she clapped a hand over her mouth. Had she just said that out loud?
Torrent was stalking back around the fire. “We leave in five minutes.” He sounded pissed. Was he mad because she’d dared doubt their link? Well, he’d need to get over that. Not even the best kiss in the world—and that definitely had been—would be enough for her to decide to spend her life with a man right after she’d met him. Not even if that man was a guy like Torrent. Not even if his life was fated to be short.
She rubbed her mouth with her hand. That kiss…..
“Are you ready?”
She gave a bark of laughter. She was so not ready for any of this. “Am I ready for you to transform into a giant wolf and ride you through the forest?”
“Yes.”
She laughed again. She couldn’t think of any other response. “But I’m supposed to be a dire wolf, too, right?”
“You could be one of many different things, a bear, a hawk, a—”
“Well, let’s find out what I am, shall we? It would be easier for me to travel as an animal, wouldn’t it?”
Torrent looked doubtful. “Caroline, normally the mate bond needs to be fully forged for a mostly-human to shift to her animal.”
“Is it always that way?”
Torrent shrugged one shoulder. “Most always, yes.”
“Well, you don’t know me very well yet, Torrent. I can be pretty determined.”
“I suspected,” he answered wryly.
She stood, shaking her arms and bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Okay, what do I?”
“It’s not something you do. It’s something you feel. Close your eyes and feel your beast. Let it rise to the surface.”
“That sounds easy, but I bet it’s hard.”
“Try it.” His tone of voice clearly let her know that he expected failure. He crossed his muscled arms across his massive chest.
She closed her eyes and dug deep; entering the unfathomable stream of consciousness she dived into while she meditated at home. In her mind, images of animals flitted. A rabbit, a cougar, a bear, an eagle…a dire wolf with dark fur.
The dire wolf stood in the middle of a clearing, staring at her with caramel-colored eyes. She felt close to this animal, a deep bond.
Tingling began in her arms and legs. The sensation intensified, radiating out through her body and enveloping her. She let out a surprised cry, as her body stretched, growing smaller and then larger. A flash of pain bowed her spine.
She blacked out and woke closer to the ground. Had she collapsed? No…wait…. She stood at an abnormal height. She opened her mouth to speak and a low growl came out.
Stepping backward, she looked down and saw she had paws instead of feet.
Holy hell! She was a dire wolf! By the looks of it, she’d transformed into the dark wolf she’d seen in her vision.
Looking up, she saw Torrent staring at her with an amazed expression on his face. His mouth broke into a smile—a rare occurrence, she suspected.
“You are incredible,” he murmured, shaking his head.
A moment later and he had also transformed into the sleek silver dire wolf of his other self.
Together, they bounded into the trees. Muscles stretching, fur rippling, Caroline knew joy like never before.
Utter freedom.
* * * *
Dawn had just begun to lighten the horizon when they trotted into the yard of a well-maintained two-story house in a clearing.
Caroline thought about being a human again and shifted immediately. Naked, she stumbled forward, exhausted from the trip.
A woman wearing a long flowing skirt burst from the front door of the house and ran across the dewy grass toward her. She carried a large blanket.
<
br /> Another woman ran at her heels. Caroline squinted her exhausted, bleary eyes and recognized her sisters. Tears clogged her throat as she tried to call their names.
Kaitlyn practically tackled her, catching her up in her arms and enfolding her in the soft blanket she carried. Paige wrapped both them in her embrace. All three women could do nothing but sob. Finally, they were reunited. The three of them tipped over as one into the grass, crying and hugging.
Dimly she was aware of a group of men talking in low tones near them. They were undoubtedly her sister's mates. Torrent's voice was lower and louder than the others. He sounded weary. A part of her wanted nothing but to see him somewhere warm, get food into him and let him sleep—to protect and take care of him the way he had of her.
Kaitlyn cupped her face in her hands. "I can't believe you're really here."
“Are you all right?" asked Paige. "Did those bastards hurt you?"
She shook her head. "I'm okay. Just really tired, dirty and hungry."
Kaitlyn smiled. "We can fix all that."
Torrent walked over to her and held out his hand. Someone had brought him a pair of trousers, leaving his powerful upper body bare. "Let get you inside."
"We're safe now?" she asked, taking his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. She pulled the blanket more securely around her.
"We're in the safe boundaries of Lycaon territory," answered a tall man with dusky blond hair and almond shaped eyes standing near Torrent. She glanced around at the four strange men. So these were her sister's mates.... She'd need to get her mind around the plural part of that of truth.
"That's Rafian," said Kaitlyn at her side. "My husband." She nodded to a dark haired man with tribal tattoos snaking over one arm and up his throat. "And that's Lucas, my other husband." She gave a nervous laugh. "We probably have a lot to talk about."
"And that's Kaiden and Jarek," Paige cut in. "The two best men I've ever known." Pride and happiness clearly rang through her sister's voice.