He should have known she would even have prepared for feeding him, attempting to get him into good enough shape for a fast escape.

Skyler shook her head, obviously reading his mind. Josef was the one who remembered you would need more blood than just mine. All I could think about was taking away the pain and trying to heal you. Her lashes swept down, hiding the shame and guilt in her eyes. I should have thought of it, though. I’m sorry.

Dimitri took her chin between his finger and thumb, raising her head until her lashes lifted and her gaze met his. We have good friends in Josef and Paul. I’m certain between all three of you, every detail of my rescue and escape has been attended to. Thank you for coming for me. You have such courage, Skyler. I tried to shield you from what was happening to me . . .

She shook her head. You were wrong to do that. I don’t want you to keep anything from me—good or bad. We’re a team—partners. We’re lifemates, and I want to be that in every sense of the word.

He nodded his chin toward the path, indicating they could start out again. The guard had completely moved away.

I think you’ve more than proved your abilities to be my lifemate, Skyler. We are tied together, bound, soul to soul. Before she could rise, he wrapped his arm around her and just held her for a long moment. She felt warm and soft, her body fitting into his burned and battered one, bringing a soothing balm to him.

Skyler rubbed her cheek gently over his burned chest, taking care to keep the gesture featherlight, but he felt it through his entire body, a gossamer touch that reached deep inside and sent his heart soaring.

I love you, Dimitri. We’ll make it out of here and start our life together.

He brushed a kiss along her temple. He would give anything to have her anywhere else but where she was right then. Somewhere safe. He nodded, and she rose and began to walk along the narrow, inviting path between the two rows of thick brush.

He struggled into a standing position, shocked at how weak he was. As a Carpathian he’d always had strength, and as his blood had mixed with the Lycan blood over the centuries, he had become even stronger. His body needed healing inside and out. He also desperately needed the rejuvenating sleep of his kind, deep beneath the earth in the richest of soil.

Skyler picked up the pace, jogging slightly, just enough that he had to extend his strides to keep up with her. He had a difficult time keeping his feet on the carpet of grass. He concentrated on staying to that small strip.

I didn’t want you in danger, but I can see that you’re a woman who will stand with me through anything. I’m not so old, sívamet, that I can’t learn. In spite of the dire situation, his ravaged body and weakness, Dimitri still managed to laugh at himself.

Skyler had always been drawn to his gentle ways and his sense of humor. She knew he was a predator and that any Carpathian male who had fought off the temptation of darkness for centuries was a strong, dangerous man. Still, with her, there was always tenderness and his humor.

She could barely look at his burned body. Had he been able, she knew he would have changed his appearance, but he was too weak. The damage done to him only served as a reminder to her that she’d waited too long. She’d been too concerned about hurting others, lying to her parents, getting in trouble. That seemed so trivial in comparison to what he suffered.

I didn’t know how much I loved you until I nearly lost you, she admitted. I’ve always known there was no one else for me, that I was your lifemate, but it’s so much more, it’s everything, Dimitri.

She had loved him, but almost with a teenage crush, an infatuation that seemed obsessive at times. She’d leaned on him, counted on his strength, and she’d been selfish without even realizing it. She knew it was difficult for him to wait to claim her, but she hadn’t really considered the consequences to his soul. To his honor. She’d been a child, playing at being an adult.

Why do you insist on being so hard on yourself, Skyler? I would not have claimed you when you were sixteen. Even in terms of human years, you deserved time to find out who you were and what you wanted.

His response to her thoughts only made her love him more.

A gun went off, four shots in rapid succession, the sound loud in the stillness of the night.

We’re blown, csecsemõ, just run. The pack will be coming after us hard. They’re fast, faster than you can possibly conceive.

Skyler knew the moment she heard the shots ring out that the pack was signaling to the guards. They’d found their prisoner gone and were hot on their trail. She sprinted along the grass carpet.

Dimitri, try to stay on the grass. Mother Earth will hide our scent. We can make a few more kilometers before they discover us. Both Paul and Josef are armed.

They can’t hope to fight them. We have to find a place for all of you to give me blood. If I’m near full strength, I might be able to hold them off until help arrives.

She heard the doubt in his voice. He was severely wounded, starving, weak. She couldn’t imagine, any more than he could, that he would be able to fight off an entire Lycan pack in his present condition.

If they catch up with us, I don’t want you to try to fight them. If we can’t escape, you and Josef must leave us. Paul and I are human. They probably won’t harm us. Their stupid silver won’t do the damage to us that it has to you. If you and Josef escape and you get to full strength, you can come back for us.

No.

Skyler sighed. That was an absolute. Dimitri rarely gave her that tone, but he meant business when he used it. No one dared disobey him when he spoke like that, including her. He would never harm her, but he would use whatever means available to him to ensure obedience—and he had quite a few options.

She ran along the path, determined not to get caught—to put as much distance as possible between the pack and them. If they managed to reach her safety zone in the clearing, the pack wouldn’t be able to touch them.

We can’t start a war, Dimitri said. Make certain Josef and Paul don’t shoot unless we have no other alternative.

He wouldn’t mind killing a few of the Lycans. Some were unnecessarily cruel. He had his suspicions about them and their motives. But there were others who clearly were uneasy about the council sentencing him to Moarta de argint. They had avoided him, averting their eyes. A few brought him water and shook their heads, but didn’t speak. Only Zev talked to him and encouraged him. He seemed to be actively trying to reach the council members who were in the Carpathian Mountains with Mikhail, the prince of the Carpathian people. Cell phones weren’t working very well where they were, and he had been unable to reach any of the people in power who could reverse the death sentence.