by Amy Pennza
His snort echoed around the room. Ass. He deserved every bit of her scorn.
He braced his elbows on the desk and dropped his forehead into his hands. What bothered him the most, though, was the pain he’d seen in her eyes when he refused to say he loved her.
For his entire life he’d believed the lux catena made it possible for wolves to mate for the right reasons—and love wasn’t necessarily one of them. Other things mattered more. Pleasing the family. Matching similar Gifts to ensure children inherited the best traits from both parents. The beauty of the lux catena was that it allowed wolves to marry for advantageous reasons, if not the ones love stories liked to talk about. For most wolves, love was a nice bonus, not a prerequisite.
But Lizette was different.
She needed love, perhaps more than anyone else he’d ever met. He hadn’t lied when he said he cared about her. Hell, he might even love her. But how could he know? How did anyone know? His wolf would kill for her. Remembering her sad blue eyes was tearing him apart. Was that love?
The study door opened.
Max jerked his head up as Dom rushed inside. Irritation shot through him. “Beta, a knock would have—”
“Lizette’s gone.”
Max’s stomach dropped. He stood and, drawing on his Gift, reached Dom in less than a second. He gripped Dom’s shoulders. “Gone? Where?”
Dom winced, and Max realized he was about to break his Beta’s arms. He dropped his hands.
“We don’t know,” Dom said. Before Max could interrupt, he rushed on. “I already have Hunters searching inside and out. Remy brought food up and found a bunch of pillows stuffed under the comforter, so we don’t think she was taken.”
Anger boiled up in Max’s chest. Didn’t she realize the danger she was in? Jonah Hallerton was from a neighboring territory. He’d attacked her in the forest. What other evidence did she need to understand that kidnapping was now a constant threat?
He shoved past Dom and headed to the door. “I want every wolf in the Lodge looking for her.”
“Alpha.”
Something in Dom’s voice made Max stop and turn. “Yes?”
“We…” Dom took a deep breath. “We tracked her scent to the balcony in your suite. We found it on the railing…and on the other side of the railing. Then it disappears. As if she jumped…”
Max’s heartbeat thudded in his ears. Later, he wouldn’t remember how he got from his study to the balcony. One minute he was staring at Dom, the next he was on his knees gripping the metal bars of the railing. Lizette. Her name crashed through his skull, each syllable a scream of agony.
It took him a minute to realize it wasn’t in his head at all. His mouth was stretched wide, and pain ripped through his throat.
Because he was screaming her name.
Dear Jesus, he’d done this. He’d driven her to her death. His ancestors had pushed their enemies into that gorge. Now his mate lay broken at the bottom because he’d been too much of a conceited asshole to tell her he loved her.
He loved her. God in heaven, he loved her.
And it was too fucking late.
Strong hands gripped his shoulders. “Alpha. Max. Max.”
He stood and spun on the wolf who dared to touch him. His fangs punched through his gums, and a growl sizzled in his throat.
The wolf—dimly, he registered it was Remy—bowed his head. “Alpha, I have someone here you should talk to.”
“You dare…” Max’s chest heaved. Remy dared speak to him right now? Dom and two other wolves appeared behind Remy, their faces grim.
Remy turned and gripped someone by the arm. A female.
Haley. Lizette’s friend. Max’s legs almost gave out as fresh agony pounded through him. The scent of Haley’s tears reached him, like a spring rain on moss. God, in a minute he was going to join her.
Remy tugged her forward. “Tell him,” he said, a growl in his voice. “Before he kills us all.”
Haley took a hiccupping breath. “I-I’m s-sorry, Alpha. I sh-shouldn’t h-have agreed.”
The wind shifted, carrying a better sample of her scent to Max’s nose. Those weren’t tears of sadness. She was…afraid. And regretful. He looked between her and Remy. “Agreed to what?”
Haley sniffed. “Lizette wasn’t running away. She promised. She said she just needed to get away for a while. I watched the door while she took the back stairs to the garage.”
Slowly, realization dawned. Lizette wasn’t dead. Relief washed over him, the feeling so intense his knees loosened. As fast as it came, anger marched on its heels. Lizette had left the Lodge after he’d expressly forbidden it. She’d put herself and every latent in the territory at risk.
Remy must have seen the change in Max’s temperament, because he let out a breath. “I can’t believe she used the old stuff the pillows under the blanket trick. I told her years ago that never works. She might as well have left a note that said catch me.”
Max growled. “You better hope I don’t catch her.” He turned to Dom. “Call off your wolves. This hunt is mine.”
14
Lizette fiddled with the SUV’s temperature settings. After a second, warm air filled the cabin. At last, she relaxed in her seat. She’d spent the first fifteen minutes of her drive looking in the rearview mirror, braced for a cadre of wolves to appear out of the darkness. Apparently Max assumed she was too cowed to think about leaving.
A joke Haley had told her filtered through her mind. “Know what happens when you assume? You make an ASS out of U and ME.”
Ha. She’d have to tell that one to Max. The look on his face would be worth it.
The town of Penitentiary Gorge lay ten miles south of the Lodge, but it might as well have been ten thousand. The humans who lived in the sleepy village had no idea that the forest bordering their homes was teeming with supernatural creatures.
In recent years the area had experienced an economic slump as younger people left to seek factory jobs in neighboring Champlain. The community left behind was tight-knit and loyal to Penitentiary Gorge. They were proud, hardworking, and conservative—the kind of people who went to city council meetings and church bake sales.
Among the locals, Max had a reputation as a reclusive millionaire who valued his privacy and wouldn’t hesitate to enforce it. Although the occasional teenager ventured into the forest on a dare, for the most part the townspeople went about their lives without giving the forest much thought.
It was amazing how easily humans could be tricked into ignoring things that didn’t conform to their worldview. Werewolves counted on this willful ignorance to protect their secrets.
Lizette gripped the wheel as the SUV bumped over a tree root. The road leading into town was more of a glorified footpath. A heavy fog had rolled through the forest, reducing visibility to almost zero. She squinted and eased her foot off the accelerator. If she crashed Dom’s SUV, there’d be hell to pay.
The fog swirled thick in front of the headlights, and condensation beaded on the windshield. She swore and fumbled with the controls until she found the wiper button.
A black blur streaked past the driver’s side window and across the hood. She screamed and jerked the wheel sideways. A tree reared in her path. Oh God. Her heart jumped into her throat. She slammed on the brakes.
The front half of the SUV lifted into the air and the vehicle jolted to a stop, tossing her hard against the seat. The engine roared and the smell of burnt rubber filled the passenger compartment.
Lizette’s mind raced. Had she hit the tree? The fog swirling around the windshield cleared.
A naked Max stood in front of the SUV, his biceps bulging from the effort of holding the front half of the vehicle in the air. The thick tree trunk loomed behind him.
Her heart skipped a beat. She met his eyes across the hood and flinched. He wasn’t angry…he was enraged. The color had bled from his irises, leaving them an icy blue so pale it was almost white. Fog curled around his shoulders, wreathing him in an eerie mist. Sh
e put her hand on the door’s latch.
He smiled, displaying elongated canines. “Run from me. I dare you.”
“S-stop this.” Sweat trickled down her back.
He tilted his head in a wolflike gesture. “Are you afraid?”
“Yes.”
“You should be.”
Her heart raced so fast she felt light-headed. When she went to college, she’d never worried about walking home alone at night. Why would she? She was stronger and more terrifying than any human. She was the thing that went bump in the night. Nothing could hurt her.
Now she knew it was a lie. Bigger, stronger monsters haunted the night. And the one staring out of Max’s eyes looked ready to tear her apart. Memories of that fateful night in the forest rushed up. He almost killed Nathan, and he’d bitten her so hard he left a scar—something unheard of in a species with supernatural healing abilities.
He’d lost control of his wolf. She couldn’t endure a repeat. She couldn’t.
“I wasn’t running away,” she told his beast, putting as much passion behind her words as she could. “Use your nose, remember? I’m not lying.”
“I told you not to leave the suite.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to argue that wasn’t technically accurate. She asked him if she was a prisoner. He told her to think—he hadn’t specified where. She bit back her reply. Now didn’t seem like the right time to point out his mistake.
“I just wanted to get out of the Lodge for the night,” she said. “See the town. It’s been five years.”
“It looks exactly the same.”
Exasperation penetrated her fear. “I’m not used to being cooped up, Max. I’m not nineteen years old anymore. You’re not my father or my guardian.”
He released the car. The front thunked to the ground, jolting her a second time. Her teeth clicked together. He studied her across the hood. “Believe me, I’m well aware that you’re not nineteen.”
The faintest lick of heat curled in her stomach. She’d told him to use his nose, and now she couldn’t mistake what hers was telling her. The angry Alpha glaring at her on the other side of the windshield was very, very aroused.
“Open the trunk,” he said.
The order jerked her out of the haze of desire clouding her thoughts. “What?”
“Button by your left knee. Release the trunk.” Branches snapped as he walked behind the SUV.
She fumbled for the button and pushed it. The rear hatch opened, flooding the interior with light. “What are you doing?”
He ignored her. She twisted so she could keep him in her line of sight. He pulled a bundle out of the back and closed the trunk. Seconds later, he opened the passenger door and got in.
“Max, what are you doing?”
He glanced at her. “What’s it look like?” He slid down in the seat and pulled on a pair of black sweatpants, the muscles in his ass flexing.
Lizette looked away, but not before she caught a glimpse of the nest of black hair between his thighs…and the thick penis emerging from it.
“The diner in town has unlimited pancakes,” he said.
She jerked her attention back to his face. And she was not disappointed that he’d covered his hips. She wasn’t. “What?”
He tugged a plain white cotton T-shirt over his head and surveyed her with the look of a patient man trying to explain a complicated subject to a toddler. “You want to see the town? Fine, let’s go.” He ran his fingers through his hair, smoothing the black waves back off his forehead. He gave his beard the same treatment, his palms making a scratching sound against the short, bristly hairs.
“I… We should probably just go back to the Lodge.” She pointed to the digital clock display. “It’s almost midnight.”
“The diner’s open twenty-four hours.”
“I’m not that hungry anyway.” On cue, her stomach growled.
He raised an eyebrow.
Ugh. She blew out a frustrated breath and put the SUV in reverse. Her damp palm slipped on the gear shift, and she got stuck in neutral.
“You want me to drive?” he asked, his voice mild.
“No.” She backed up onto the path, shifted gears, and headed toward town.
She should have felt in control, being in the driver’s seat, but Max’s presence seemed to fill the entire vehicle. It wasn’t just his physical size, although that was part of it.
He’d reined in the mysterious force that made him Alpha, but the power hovered around him like a cloak. She imagined it surging and rippling below the surface, an electric current nipping at its bindings. When he touched her in his bedroom, his hands had been so hot. What would it feel like to be touched by him when he unleashed that current? An image of his dark head bending over her breast flashed in her mind. Her nipples tightened.
Max gripped the armrest attached to his door. Leather creaked.
She flicked the air on. Cold blasted through the vents, tossing her hair away from her face.
“Are you warm?” he asked.
“Yes. How much farther to town?”
He pointed. “There.”
She squinted through the fog. “I don’t see anything.”
“Around the next bend, petite.”
She darted a look at him, certain she’d heard amusement in his tone, but then lights appeared on the horizon. The forest opened up and Penitentiary Gorge spread before them.
He leaned forward and closed his air vent. “You remember the way to the diner?”
“Of course. Remy and I used to live for their cottage fries.” The diner served them slathered in melted cheese and bacon bits with a side of sour cream. Her stomach growled again.
Max chuckled. “You can drive faster. No one will give me a ticket.”
“Let me guess, you bribed the cops.”
“I’m told that Penitentiary Gorge’s finest enjoy their new patrol cars very much. They were grateful for the donation.”
She shook her head and turned onto the main street. “Don’t you feel bad, abusing your power like that?”
“Not in the least. Happy humans don’t often get curious. One should never underestimate how dangerous they can be, yes?”
She bit her tongue to stop herself from responding as if he’d asked a question. Even in English, his speech patterns followed the French patois, and he often ended sentences in a lilting inquiry. And it was not sexy. At all. She gripped the wheel and focused on the road.
The diner’s neon sign cast a red glow over the SUV as she pulled into the parking lot. She took the spot nearest the door and shut down the engine.
He stared at her, his eyes human blue once more. “Shall we?”
“There’s no one inside. Maybe they’re closed.”
“They’re not.” A smiled played around his mouth. “Are you afraid to be alone with me?”
Yes. Especially when he smiled like that. She huffed a breath. “Are you going to behave yourself?”
His smile broadened. “Now, what would be the fun in that?”
15
A bell tinkled overhead as Max opened the diner’s door and held it for Lizette. She hunched her shoulders as she slipped inside, obviously doing her best to avoid touching him.
No matter. His wolf was content now that she’d promised not to run. The beast emanated a smug satisfaction.
Don’t celebrate too soon, Max chided. We haven’t won the war.
The wolf didn’t reply—at least not in any way a human would recognize. The animal side of his nature was simpler and more straightforward than his human half. It operated on instinct, and it didn’t bother with the twists and turns of emotion that plagued a more advanced brain. The beast wasn’t capable of speech or even higher thought, but it could discern a lie—even ones without words.
Lizette had been aroused in the car. The wolf didn’t care what she said, only what she felt.
Max guided her to a booth in the corner. She settled across from him and buried her nose in one of the plastic menus tucked i
n the napkin holder. A lock of glossy dark hair fell over her shoulder, and she nibbled her plump lower lip. His cock tightened. He quickly unrolled his napkin and draped it across his lap.
A waitress bustled out from the back. She plucked a white apron from a hook behind the counter and tossed it over her head as she made her way to the table. Slim and pretty in a girl-next-door sort of way, she wore her dark blond hair in a messy bun. Max judged her to be in her mid-thirties, but a human would likely mistake her for a decade younger. “Sorry,” she said as she stopped next to their table. “We haven’t had any customers in two hours.” She smelled of cooking grease, the paperback novel she’d just been reading, and inexpensive shampoo. She ran her eyes over Max’s shoulders.
And arousal.
He smiled. “No worries—” He glanced at the plastic name tag pinned to her apron. “—Stephanie. We’re in no rush.” Lizette gave him a sharp look. “Are we, mignonette?” he added.
The waitress’s face lit up. “Are you two French?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
Max raised an eyebrow at Lizette.
“Half,” she mumbled. “On my mother’s side.”
“Huh,” the waitress said. Her eyes strayed to Max.
He stretched his arms along the back of his booth. “I’m full-blooded. Head to toe.”
The waitress’s brown eyes widened, and her heart rate sped up. Her lips parted. “Oh. Well that’s…good.”
Lizette closed her menu with a snap. “I’d like a cheeseburger. Rare.”
“O-of course.” The waitress shook herself. She dug in her apron pocket and produced an order pad. “I seem to have misplaced my pencil…”
Max took pity on her. “In your bun, chère.”
“Oh, my goodness!” She pulled it from her hair. “I always do that.” She scribbled Lizette’s order and then looked at Max.
“I’ll have the pancakes. Extra syrup.” He leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “I have a bit of a sweet tooth.”
Her fingers around the pencil turned white. She stared at him. “Okay.”