With Her Capture

by Lorie O'Clare

  “You’re right. I do love you.” His tone turned soft, but there was no soft emotion behind it. His expression remained fierce. “I will run with you wherever you wish to go. Whatever it takes to make you feel safe.”

  “No!” She sliced her hand through the air. “You would never see your pack again. You would never see your littermate. All life as you know it would be over. If we ever go public with this mating.” She paused, sucked in a breath, and held her gaze up to his. “It would be a death sentence for you,” she whispered.

  Ayden shook his head. “You need to accept that I already know the danger involved. I accepted it when I accepted you as my mate.”

  “You think you know, but you don’t.”

  “Now you have the power to read my mind?” He cleared the distance between them.

  Magda took her one shot and leaped around him. She jumped on to the bed, then off it, spinning around at the same time he did. Grabbing the shirt she’d tossed to the bed, she stuffed it in her backpack and zipped the sides.

  “This time I’m not running from you.” She would get the words out. She had to. It was the only honorable way. If his last memory of her had to be this, he would at least know in his heart that Malta werewolves run with honor. “You think you know the danger, but how can you know something you’ve never smelled? Life as you know it ends forever if you walk out this door with me. I’m not worth you giving up everything you’ve ever known, and everyone you’ve ever loved.”

  She actually stopped him by raising her hand when he started at her. “Ayden, I love you. This is killing me. But I must run alone. You must not run with me. Any werewolf on this planet would kill you for being with me. Keep your honor. Keep your pride,” she choked out, then hurried for the door.

  “Magdaline!” Ayden roared.

  She tore into the hallway. Tears streamed down her cheek. No way would she confine herself in an elevator. Magda reached the stairs and flew down them, her backpack slapping against her shoulder. She slowed when she reached the bottom stairs leading to the large gathering room where the owls probably would be. Rubbing her cheeks and eyes, she did her best to look presentable. Then sucking in a deep breath, she walked purposely out of the stairwell.

  Both female owls stood behind their large counter. They looked at her at the same time with those large round eyes. Their expressions were so relaxed and their scent damn near non-existence it was as if they were asleep while standing, and watching her.

  As much as she wanted to race out the door, Magda had better breeding than to be rude to her hostesses.

  “You have a wonderful nest here,” she said to the two owls. Pausing in front of them at the counter, she worked to master curtailing in her own emotions. “I’m honored to have stayed here.”

  Both females inclined their heads. Only one of them offered a small smile, the other’s expression remained blank.

  Magda then remembered that her hair must look wild. She’d barely finished brushing it after showering when Ayden had barged in on her. Grabbing it at her nape she began twisting it until it held in place in a knot at the back of her head. She let her backpack straps slide to her forearm, then unzipped it enough to stick her hand in and feel around for her hat.

  “Good hunting,” she told the owls before turning toward the door. These final steps out of the bed and breakfast, away from Ayden, would be the hardest she’d ever take.

  “You are Magdaline Keller?” one of the females asked.

  Magda froze. Before turning she fought with all she had to keep panic from rising in her like bile to her throat. If the howlings were wrong and the owls didn’t offer safe haven, her run for freedom was over before it had began.

  Magda shifted her weight, held her hat in her hand but didn’t put it on. Instead she took her time zipping her backpack, a lesson in patience and preventing herself from incriminating herself.

  “Why do you ask?” she said, matching their monotone when she spoke. She made eye contact with the female who had smiled, and who’d asked the question.

  Ayden came trotting down the stairs, distracting their conversation when all of them looked at him.. He’d dressed and had a saddle bag draped over his shoulder. Why hadn’t she noticed that in the room? Ayden already carried supplies to run. Without asking she knew he’d prepared to run with her and had packed what he’d wanted to take. He’d left his pack, and by the slight bulges in the bag hanging over the front of his chest, it appeared he’d brought everything he’d wanted to start his new life with her.

  Magda stared at it, frozen where she stood. He walked up to them and slipped his arm over the back of her shoulders. So much strength radiated from him where his bare arm touched her. The power he displayed with his mere presence made her wish running with him might work out. If he truly accepted never seeing anyone from his pack again, and living in exile with her, should she keep trying to stop him?

  “Did I hear you ask about my mate?” he asked, his voice smooth as silk. Ayden pulled her closer. “What do you want?”

  The female owl speaking straightened. Her tall, slender figure was nicely displayed in her snug fitting, sleek dress. Her skin was as white as her hair. Those dark round eyes never blinked, nor did she appear intimidated in any way by Ayden’s pushing into their conversation, or his gruff tone when he demanded answers.

  She simply redirected the question. “Is your mate Magdaline Keller?”

  “She’s Magdaline Toubec.”

  Hearing him say her name as a mated female did something to her insides. They twisted and her heart started doing this annoying fluttering thing. In spite of her efforts to remain composed and keep her emotions dormant, her scent changed when a wash of excitement and nerves wrapped around this happy sensation deep in her gut.

  The female owl simply nodded once. Apparently she accepted that Ayden had answered in the affirmative since he didn’t deny knowing the name but simply altered her litter’s name.

  Ayden rubbed her shoulder when the owl looked at her. Without too much conscious thought, somewhere in the back of her brain, Magda knew Ayden wasn’t leaving her side anytime soon. Again her heart did that weird fluttering thing.

  “There is a male in Banff who has been asking about a female.” She had a relaxing tone. It seemed as she spoke that she wasn’t concealing her feelings, but simply didn’t have any—other than being at peace and content. “The male is a Cariboo lunewulf,” she added, glancing at Ayden. “He’s been very specific with his questions. We were approached last night when it appeared that he was asking about you.”

  “What is he asking?” Ayden snarled.

  Magda shrugged her shoulder to force his hand to relax when he started gripping her hard enough it hurt.

  “He is asking for this female’s whereabouts on behalf of her litter, who wishes her found.” The female returned her attention to Magda. “When we sniffed out that you were the female he wanted, we had him brought here.“

  “Where is he?” Ayden roared.

  He let go of Magda. She then found herself shoved behind him and almost stumbled over her own boots before recovering. Already Ayden had taken steps away from her, as if he might sniff this male out on his own.

  “We will take you to him.” It was the first time the other female had spoken. She had a deeper, sultrier tone to her voice.

  Ayden snapped his head toward the owls. Already he’d stalked away from the counter.

  “Elaine, Elisa,” he said, his voice so soft the dangerous undertones almost clung to the two names. “Direct me to this male. I’ll speak to him alone, however. You have my word no harm will come to anything that is yours.”

  The females glanced at each other.

  “Very well,” the one with the deeper tone said.

  Magda wasn’t sure which female was which. Apparently they knew Ayden well, though. His word was enough for them in spite of how pissed off he smelled.

  Magda rushed up to him when the females came around the counter. “I’m going in with
you.”

  “Not until we know what he wants.” Already Ayden was heading toward a hall.

  The two owls—both had to be at least six foot—easily took the lead. Magda hurried to keep up, and remain at Ayden’s side.

  “Suddenly you wish to shove me out of the way because there is danger involved.”

  Ayden didn’t slow his pace but gave Magda a sharp look. “You’re right. Neither of us will cower from the smell of danger. We run together.”

  He looked away before Magda had time to say anything. The owls had stopped in front of two large doors and without ceremony opened one of them, then stepped to the side without saying anything else.

  Magda followed Ayden into the room.

  A tall male faced a large display of windows that offered a magnificent view of the mountains behind the bed and breakfast. He turned and fixed his blue eyes on Magda.

  “Magda! Fucking tail,” he gasped, relief instantly smelling up the large room. “I seriously began believing you were dead.”

  Ayden leapt across the room, grabbing the male before he had a chance to say anything else, or react to the assault. Gripping the male’s arms, he heaved him into the air, then tossed him toward the middle of the large room. Magda gave the male credit. He was on his feet before his entire body hit the floor.

  “When did you get mated?” he demanded, but now his attention was completely on Ayden.

  “What do you want with her?” Ayden snarled. If his muscles grew any larger they would rip the shirt he wore off his body.

  “I found you and Leisa.” The male dared focus on Magda instead of Ayden. His blond hair fell in curls around his face. There was a scar on his nose. He returned his attention to Ayden and snarled, causing the puckered skin to look like a bolt of lightning. “I don’t want anything with her,” he hissed. “Not like that. Her litter demanded I sniff her out. They thought she was dead.”

  “Why didn’t they search for her themselves?” Ayden reeked of disbelief, which mixed with his spicy anger, was not a nice smell.

  “Fucking tail!” The male complained. He threw his hands in the air. It wasn’t a sign of giving in. He tried stepping around Ayden toward Magda.

  Magda knew males. Maybe these two were Cariboo and her sire had been a Malta werewolf. Males were males though. This male just dismissed Ayden as too much of an annoyance to waste his time on.

  Ayden didn’t appreciate the gesture. He bull-dozed into the male, shoving him back until they almost flattened a table with chairs in front of a shelf full of books. The male was ready for Ayden this time. He returned the aggression and the two of them looked as if they did a dance across the middle of the large room when he managed to shove Ayden back the few feet he’d progressed.

  His words hit Magda just before first blood. “Wait!” she yelled, leaping at both males. She started swinging at first contact in an effort to get their attention. “Damn it, Ayden! I want to hear about my litter!”

  The male raised his arm, blocking Magda’s onslaught and knocked her backward.

  “Ever lay a paw on my mate,” Ayden snarled, his words garbled as his teeth grew to where they barely fit his human mouth.

  “Can’t say I’ve had the pleasure.” The male grinned, which in truth was one lip curled up. His incisors were also too long and there was a strong growl in his voice when he mocked Ayden.

  Ayden went into a rage. He swung, making contact, and blood spewed from the male’s mouth. Not fazed, the male got a good blow in as well. Ayden doubled over and took a step backward.

  Magda took her only chance. Jumping between both of them, with her back to Ayden, she pointed a finger at the male’s raised fist.

  “Back down,” she ordered, using that cold-as-ice tone that her mother used to use to get her and her littermates to stop fighting.

  The male wiped blood from his face with the back of his hand and straightened. “I never back down from a good fight, especially when I’m attacked. And with all this hunting I’ve been doing for you, figured I should be allowed a bit of fun.”

  He looked over her head at Ayden, who was still behind her. “I’m Jaeger Alger. My litter is up in the mountains.” He inclined his head at Magda and his hair brushed into his face and stuck to the blood still there. “Her littermate is mated with my littermate. So we are related. Katrin wants you up on the mountain with her,” he told Magda.

  “Katrin is in the mountains? You took Liesa there, too?” Neither male would understand the incredible weight that just lifted from her shoulders. Both of her littermates were safe. “Wait a minute. What mountain? They are safe where they are?”

  “Very safe.”

  Suddenly she recognized him. This male—Jaeger Alger—had sniffed her and Liesa out just as they’d been discovered by a few strays. A few females found them in a public bathroom and started howling Malta werewolf. Magda and Liesa had just started to run when Jaeger found them. He’d howled a quick story about Katrin sending him. He had smelled of the truth, but other werewolves were closing in. Magda had sent Liesa running with the male while she’d run in the other direction. She’d managed to get the strays to chase after her, allowing Liesa and Jaeger to escape. At least now Magda knew this male had protected her littermate, and taken her to Katrin. She hadn’t recognized him at first because he’d been clean shaven before and now looked as if he hadn’t shaven in a few weeks. A rough beard grew along his jaw line.

  “My litter was whelped on that mountain. Jarvis and Katrin just built their den. I ran up the mountain with Liesa but when I arrived, Katrin barely allowed me a night’s sleep before insisting that I hunt for you.” Jaeger’s scent changed slightly before adding. “And as mean of a temper as your other littermate has, I had no choice but to begin hunting for you immediately.”

  Magda laughed and took a step backward as she covered her mouth, the news too overwhelming for a moment. She backed into Ayden’s arms.

  Jaeger shook his head, studying the two of them. “How new is this mating?”

  Instead of answering, Ayden let go of Magda and walked to the door. He opened it far enough to stick his head out, spoke softly, then closed it again.

  “We should have drinks and something to eat in a few minutes. The owls will bring you something to clean your face.”

  It shouldn’t have surprised Magda that the owls would have remained on the other side of the door, probably eavesdropping through the entire fight and exchange of words.

  Jaeger waved off the offer, or at least part of it. “My face is fine. I’ve been bloodier,” he said, laughing easily. He smelled as if he needed a shower but his sincere happiness filled the room as well. “I’ll send word to our litters that I’ll be running to our dens with you, and your new mate.”

  Magda’s littermate being mated to Jaeger’s littermate allowed him rank, and made him a male that Ayden should honor. For the first time, in a way, he was meeting part of her litter. Ayden returned to the door when it opened a couple minutes later and took the tray, blocking the doorway so whoever had brought it wasn’t able to enter. Then playing host, he offered the only chairs and table in the room. He would now show his respect to Jaeger as a relation to his mate. All of this was coming at her too fast.

  Jaeger took his chair, sprawling out and stretching his long legs in front of him. There were clean cloths and a bowl of ice that he ignored. Instead he took one of the already opened bottles of beer and tilted it back, taking a long draw from it before placing it down.

  Magda was more interested in questioning him then she was in her beer. “Who is Katrin’s mate? Where did they meet? You must tell me everything.”

  Jaeger kept his beer to his lips when he spoke. “Let her howl her story to you herself. When will you be ready to return to the mountain?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Magda stared out the windows in the room where they’d met with Jaeger Alger. Her dark hair peaked out from underneath her cap in thick swoops. If she truly wanted to hide her hair color Ayden would have t
o buy her another hat.

  With her back to him, he appreciated how her dark denims hugged her perfectly shaped ass. Her legs weren’t that muscular, something he never thought he would find attractive in a female. But Magda was not only sexy as hell, her inner soul was just as beautiful. He doubted her appearance was anywhere on her mind, though.

  Ayden smelled her pain. It was so thick it almost hung in waves in the room. Yet she stood tall, proud of who she was and incredibly protective of her litter. Learning how she’d insisted her younger littermate, who apparently looked enough like a Cariboo lunewulf to pass as one, stay with a pack in Prince George, showed a bit of Magda’s character. But then after running with her other littermate until Jaeger Alger hunted them down, Magda had told her littermate to run with him. She’d said she would catch up with them but if they ran in opposite directions they had a greater chance of not being sniffed out.

  Magda’s plan had worked. Her two littermates were now safe. And she’d spent the last three months on the run, fighting for her life. She was starved and desperate when he’d found her, yet still willing to go at it with tooth and claw.

  Finishing off his second beer that he’d opened after Jaeger had left them, howling that he’d give them time to make plans and sniff them out later that day, Ayden pushed off the couch. He walked over to join her at the windows. She’d been staring out them a long time.

  “Will I ever meet your litter?” she asked.

  Ayden had started toward her and stopped. It wasn’t what he expected her first words, after being silent for so long, would be.

  “My sire and mother are dead. It’s just my littermate and me.”

  “I know.” She crossed her arms over her chest and continued looking at the mountainous view.

  He doubted she saw it. “If you’d like to meet Anthony, I can howl for him to come here.” Ayden wanted his littermate to know that he was mated, and leaving the pack to run with his new mate. He’d considered sending word with the owls after he and Magda were some distance away. Anthony would reek of worry and fear if Ayden were to simply disappear. Already his littermate had his suspicions. Although Ayden knew that Anthony didn’t smell the truth as well as he thought he did.