Wolf's Law

by Cheyenne McCray

  Wolf’s Law

  CheyenneMcCray

  Chapter One

  Law scented the woman long before he heard the clank of chains. The smell of her terror and her anger overshadowed her pleasing woman scent.

  Two men laughed and shouted, their cruel voices shattering the peaceful quiet of D’euan Forest.

  The wolf slipped between trees, his paws silent upon pine needles and matted leaves. His keen senses absorbed all that surrounded him. The rich perfume of moist earth, spring flowers and cool evening air filled his nostrils, along with other familiar forest smells… A rabbit trembling beneath a bush, just feet away; a fox skirting the edge of Law’s territory; a herd of deer just over the rise. Leaves whispered in the light breeze and wind caressed his muzzle as he loped through dappled sunlight.

  He assimilated everything while never removing his attention from the woman. Her distressed thoughts echoed in his mind as he neared her. Her fury, and again her fear.

  I’ll kill the bastards, she was thinking, and Law would have smiled at her strength and courage if her situation hadn’t been so dire.

  His own fury mounted, raging through him like white-hot fire, and he bared his fangs. For he heard the thoughts of the men just as clearly as the woman’s. They intended to rape her as soon as they made camp for the night.

  Analeen stumbled and dropped to her knees on the hard-packed earth of a wheel rut. Chains binding her wrists clanked as they hit dirt and the rope around her neck grew taut.

  “Get up, bitch.” Dyrke brought his horse to a stop just as she thought he intended to drag her behind him and strangle her to death.

  Her breathing came in hot angry gasps. Tears of fury built up behind her dirt-encrusted eyes, but she refused to cry. Dust covered her aching body and fire burned at her wrists where chains had rubbed them raw. Her bare feet were cut and bloodied from sharp rocks from the one-day journey from her village.

  “If the wench won’ get up, drag ‘er,” Jove ordered as he rounded back on his own horse. Analeen raised her head and her gaze met his cruel, cruel pale blue eyes. “Even if the wench is hav dead by the time we make camp, we’ll still have our fun wit’ ‘er.”

  Analeen would rather die than let these bastards touch her. But she had to live. No matter what they did to her, she would escape and return to her family. Her younger sisters needed her, and she couldn’t leave them in this world alone.

  “She won’ bring much of a price if she gets any uglier.” Dyrke yanked the rope when Analeen eased to her feet. Her foot caught on the hem of her dress and she almost fell again. “Get up, whore.”

  She wanted to rage against the bastards, wanted to claw their eyes out and cut off their pricks. Already she was so exhausted, so weak, she knew she wouldn’t be able to fight them both off. One, maybe, but two… Her chances were not good. Not good at all.

  And it was almost nightfall.

  Dyrke yanked the rope, and Analeen began plodding behind his horse again. Gods, how her muscles ached. She had never been so bone-weary in her life.

  And never in her worst nightmares had she ever imagined being kidnapped from her family to be sold as a pleasure slave. She was not pretty at all. Her life had been relatively dull, and she lived in a tiny village, in a small modest home, taking care of her younger sisters. Her father performed odd jobs in the village while she watched the four girls—that was, when he wasn’t drunk or gambling at the tavern’slitho tables.

  A fierce growl rose up from beside the road.

  Analeen’s heart jumped to her throat.

  “What the devil?” Jove wheeled his horse around. He ripped a dagger from his belt.

  “Wolf!” Dyrke shouted just as a huge black object rushed past Analeen and straight at Jove.

  Analeen’s terror was immediate and absolute.Oh, gods, not a wolf!

  As the wolf attacked the men, she fought against the rope around her neck with everything she had. Dyrke had knotted it too tightly and the loop was too small to fit over her head. She yanked against Dyrke’s hold on the rope as hard as she could.

  While Analeen fought the rope, Jove’s mare gave a high-pitched scream. The wolf snarled and clamped his incisors deep in the horse’s flank. The mare reared and screamed again.

  At the same time, Jove threw his dagger at the wolf. With a lithe movement, the beast released his grip on the horse and dodged the blade. Analeen saw the wolf’s furious gray eyes, the rage in them so intense it iced her spine.

  Jove’s horse bolted into the forest, blood flowing down her flank. The man on her back almost lost his seating. He yanked on the reins and shouted for the horse to stop. The mare thundered through the trees and Analeen could only hear the dying pounding of her hooves.

  Dyrke’s gelding had never stopped whinnying with fear and trying to dance away from the wolf. The horse dragged Analeen. She tumbled forward, dress tangling around her legs. Her face slammed into hard-packed dirt. Stars sparked behind her eyes. She clawed at the rope, trying to breathe.

  The man shouted, “Bloody wolf!”

  Analeen scrambled to her knees in time to see the man cock his arm back, ready to fling his own dagger at the huge black menace.

  The wolf lunged, its fangs flashing white against its black face. Instead of clamping his incisors onto the horse or the man, he snagged Analeen’s rope in his mouth. With one strong snap of his powerful jaws, he bit the rope cleanly in two. This time she stumbled backward. She landed hard on her hip and pain seared her body.

  Dyrke’s features held a mixture of fury and fear as he flung his dagger. Analeen barely saw the blade flip through the air before she scrambled to her feet and fled into the forest. She still couldn’t yank the rope over head, so she caught up the end and clenched it in her fist as she ran.

  Blood pounded in her ears as her bare feet pounded against forest floor. Rocks and sticks poked into her soles and bushes snagged her torn dress, ripping it from one breast and further into shreds. Behind she heard Dyrke’s cries, the horse’s screams, and the wolf’s snarls.

  She didn’t want to die like her mother had. Her throat so mangled and torn that their father wouldn’t let any of the daughters see her before her body was burned.

  Everything behind Analeen went quiet. No sounds came from the direction of the road, and her terror mounted.

  Analeen came to an abrupt stop. She heard only wind murmuring through branches above her. Not a bird, not a squirrel. And nothing, nothing at all from the fray she had left behind.

  A wolf’s howl shredded the silence and another cold wash of fear rushed over her.

  She swallowed, hard. Her body trembled. What should she do?

  A tree. I could climb a tree.Wolves couldn’t climb trees, could they?

  The tree in front of her, the branches rose too high; the one next to it was too spindly to hold her weight. Feeling more and more desperate, she whirled—and slammed into something hard.

  A man.

  She stumbled back. Big hands grabbed her by her shoulders as she started to fall.

  The man caught her to him. Her body flush against solid muscle. Huge hands gripping her arms. Tall, so tall, with long, wild, black hair.

  And silvery-gray eyes as fierce as the wolf’s.

  Renewed terror and fury gave Analeen the strength to fight, to forget her wounds and her exhaustion. She shoved her hands against the man’s bare chest and struggled against his hold, but his grip didn’t lessen.

  “No!” She screamed and clawed at his bare chest, fighting like a forestcat. She tried to bite his arm, kicked at his bare legs and tried to twist out of his grip.

  And then she realized the man was entirely naked.

  Shocked, Analeen went completely still. Her gaze fixed on his cock, a part of her registering its impressive si
ze. And damn it all, her nipples tightened at the sight.

  But the larger part of her grew rigid with fear. She became very aware of her breast hanging through her torn dress and the shreds that barely held the gown to her shoulders.

  Her gaze shot to his.

  “Are you finished attempting to claw my eyes out, kitten?” The man’s deep voice penetrated the haze of terror that suffused her very being. His voice held a hint of irritation that matched the reflection in his eyes.

  Analeen swallowed. Her entire body trembled and exhaustion crept back into her bones. Weariness overcame her so fast her head spun and her body went limp. The punishment she had been through at the hands of Dyrke and Jove, the terror of the wolf and her flight, and now a frightening naked man capturing her—it was all too much.

  Darkness wove itself through her consciousness until everything went black.

  Law frowned as he caught the woman tighter to him. Rage still burned within him at what the men had done to this small creature, and he desired only to kill both of the bastards. He would have hunted them to the ends of Dair if he hadn’t been concerned about the woman running through the dangerous forest alone.

  Analeen, he had read in her thoughts.Her name is Analeen.

  His frown turned into a scowl. What did he care what the woman’s name was? He had no interest in human women. He would simply return the wench to her village and be done with her.

  Yet a deep, primal part of his being did not want to let go. Her scent of woman’s musk and wildflowers mingled with the smells of blood from her wounds, and dirt clinging to her skin and clothing. Her eyes were closed but he remembered their blue-green depths, and her spirit combined with fear in her gaze. He could not help but admire the way she had fought him, the way she never gave up even though she had been physically abused and terrified beyond reason of the wolf.

  Of him.

  Law held the woman against him with one powerful arm, and stroked a clump of matted hair from her face. He couldn’t stop himself. Even covered with dirt, dried blood crusting her wounds, her brown hair wild and filthy, and her clothing in shreds, she was quite simply the loveliest being he had ever seen.

  His fingers left her hair and he trailed them down the slope of her delicate nose to her slightly parted full lips, and over her chin. Before he realized what he was doing, his fingers neared her beautiful bare breast, traveled up its slope and then rested on the hardening nipple.

  A growl rose up in his throat and his cock went rigid against Analeen’s belly. Unbidden visions filled his mind. Of caressing every inch of her bare flesh. Of sucking her jensai red nipples, licking a path down her body, and tasting the heat of her juices between her thighs. Gods how tight she would be, her quim sheathing him as he fucked her hard and so very deep.

  With a cry that neared a howl of frustration, Law jerked his hand away from her nipple as if Analeen’s body had scalded him. His need for her, his desire for this woman, was so intense that his body began to shake.

  No.This woman was human. He would not take a human for a mate.

  Chapter Two

  Analeen moaned in Law’s arms and he sensed dark dreams chasing one another in her mind. He could not leave her, would not leave her. He could do nothing but scoop her up in his powerful grasp and carry her through his forest to his den.

  Cool air brushed his naked skin and his cock remained at full attention. He could not tear his thoughts away from the image of taking this woman over and over.

  When he reached the den he chose to reside in during spring and summer months, he strode in through its opening, down a long passageway, and deep into a crystal cavern. What was left of the day’s sunlight poured in through an opening at the top of the cavern. The minimal light reflected through crystals, causing rainbows to glitter and dance upon the floor.

  He lived alone, having left his uncle’s pack long ago. Once his family had been murdered, he had not wanted bonds of any kind.

  Law carefully set Analeen upon a pile of tanned hides and used a rolled-up doeskin on which to rest her head. He found a knife in his supplies and sliced the rope from around her neck.

  She slept. Her body needed to recover from the trauma she had been through. He covered her with a soft doeskin blanket, checked on her frequently, and gave her sips of water even as she dreamed. He wiped dirt from her eyes, her face, and her neck with a soft wet cloth. When he finished, he cleansed the wounds on her arms and feet. And still she slept.

  He felt fiercely protective of this woman and could barely stand to let her out of his sight, even to hunt for his own meals.

  For two days she slept fitfully, tossing her head. Her eyelids fluttered and her cheeks burned hot with fever. He forced pulverized bits of willow bark through her lips along with sips of water. Finally her fever broke and she rested.

  On the third day, he decided she had slept long enough. He carried her outside the cavern and down to the pool.

  Analeen woke to the gentle brush of a moist cloth against her cheek. For a moment she relaxed into the caress, feeling safe and loved by her mother’s soft touch. She heard the soft slosh of water against shoreline, the call of the nordai and the kiss of wind against her cheeks and over one breast.

  Her eyelids flew up and her lips parted to scream, but a large hand clamped over her mouth. She went entirely still as her gaze locked with the fierce gray eyes of the man who had captured her in the forest. He knelt beside her, his powerful body as naked as before. He was so large he blocked everything from view. All she could see was this huge man who held her prisoner.

  “Scream and I will have to turn you over my knee, kitten.” Amusement flared in those eyes, but they immediately darkened with what looked like desire. He gave a shake of his head and tossed his hair back with the movement, as if shaking away that desire. “I will release you, but if you make a noise, I will gag that sweet mouth of yours.”

  Analeen bit her lip beneath his palm and gave a slow nod. She could tell this was not a man to trifle with. She would escape him, yes, but she would have to wait until the right time.

  He moved his hand from her mouth and resumed washing her face with careful strokes. She flinched when the rag trailed over a wound on her chin, and he frowned. “Bastards,” he growled. He continued wiping the cool cloth over her face and neck until he seemed satisfied.

  “You took care of me,” she murmured as memories came pouring back to her. She had been ill with fever and he had wet her face with cool cloths and had fed her bitter tasting powder that must have been willow bark.

  He shrugged. “You were ill. Three days you slept.”

  Her eyes widened with surprise. “Three days?” She tried to push past him, to sit up. “I must get back to my sisters. They need me.”

  The man grasped her hand as he rose to his feet, pulling her up with him. For a moment the world spun and she sagged against his muscled form. His chest was hot against her one bare breast and her cheeks flushed with their own heat.

  “Are you all right, Analeen?” he asked softly against her hair.

  She jerked her head up and bumped his nose. “How do you know my name?”

  He simply looked at her as if memorizing her features.

  Analeen swallowed. “Who are you?”

  “I am called Law.” He cupped the side of her face and rubbed his thumb along her cheekbone. “You, my lady, have stumbled into my territory. What comes here leaves or stays by my word alone.”

  “Excuse me?” Analeen’s frown was immediate. “You can’t keep me here.”

  His eyes darkened and she took a step back. “You will stay until I allow you to leave.”

  She glared at Law and tried to jerk away from him, but she almost fell, she was so weak. He caught her and held her in his firm grip.

  Before she could respond, he caught her chin in his hand. “Come. You need a bath.”

  Analeen was in no shape to fight the man. He supported her with one arm and led her toward a pool just feet from where she had be
en lying. A springy carpet of moss felt soft against her injured bare feet as she gazed in wonder about her. All thought of what he had just said slipped away from her mind as she took in the beauty of the sanctuary, more beautiful than theMairiSea.

  Trees grew thick around the pool, countless leaves hanging in soft lacy curtains, drifts of the greenest green, spilling down to the water’s surface. Flowers sprouted in haphazard clumps of red, pink, and purple, and the pool shimmered a deep crystal blue-green.

  “The same color as your eyes,” Law murmured, and she glanced up at him in amazement.

  “It’s unbelievable.” It was more than that, but that was all she could think of to say as he led her into the water.