“You’re my wife now,” he said smugly. “Where you go, I go.”

“Not until our marriage is consummated,” she reminded him, and shut the door in his face.

No sooner had she done so than she heard Gideon’s voice in her mind.

Are you all right?

Yes, for now.

A pause. Has he … have the two of you … ?

Not yet. It’s customary for newlyweds to break off from the others during the hunt, and … and … you know.

In wolf form?

Yes, the first time. She frowned when Gideon withdrew from her.

He returned a moment later. If you can get away from him, I’ll meet you in the woods.

I’ll try, but I don’t think they’ll leave me alone. I’ve got to go. My mother’s calling.

Look for me.

“Kiya?”

“Come in.”

Dorothy entered the room. “Your father sent me to look for you. Everyone is ready to go. I thought maybe …” She glanced around the room. “Where’s Victor?”

“I sent him away so I could get changed.”

“You sent him away?” Dorothy frowned.

“Yes.” Kay turned her back to her mother. “Could you help me out of this dress?”

“Of course, but … Kiya, you’re married now. Victor should be doing this.”

“I’m not comfortable with him.”

With a sigh of exasperation, Dorothy unfastened the long row of buttons.

Kay let the gown fall to the floor, then stepped out of it. She quickly removed her shoes and underwear and then, before her mother could ask any more questions she didn’t want to answer, she shifted into her wolf form and padded out of the room.

The pack was gathered on the patio. In spite of the fact that her father had forced her into a marriage she didn’t want, Kay couldn’t deny the heady rush of excitement at the thought of running through the woods with the pack.

Her exhilaration faded when Victor trotted up to stand beside her.

Kay glanced at her mother, who was standing in the patio doorway. What did her mother think when the pack went hunting and she was left home alone? Was she happy to have a few hours to herself? Or envious because she couldn’t join them?

The pack waited restlessly for her father to give the signal. Sensing their eagerness to run, he lifted his head and let out a howl, then loped across the yard and jumped effortlessly over the fence.

The pack followed hard on his heels, their yips and barks of excitement filling the air as they followed their Alpha.

Kay hung back, hoping Victor would go on without her. She should have known better. He stuck to her side like a dark shadow, while her aunt brought up the rear.

Sailing over the fence, Kay forgot, momentarily, how unhappy she was, forgot everything but the damp feel of the earth beneath her feet, the touch of the wind in her face, the myriad scents that assailed her nostrils as she ran. It was always a bit of a surprise, how much she loved being in her wolf form, how different the world looked through her wolf eyes. Everything was magnified. She tasted the wind on her tongue, smelled a rabbit cowering in its hole, heard a deer bounding through the underbrush, the fluttering of an owl’s wings as it hunted prey of its own. Was it this way for Gideon, too? Did he revel in his power?

In her wolf form, it was sometimes easy to forget her human half. Sometimes she wished she could remain a wolf forever. Life was so much simpler for wolves. They didn’t have to worry about the mundane things that occupied human minds.

Flushed from its hiding place, a jackrabbit darted in front of her. With an excited bark, Kay gave chase, quickly leaving her aunt and Victor behind.

There was a crunch of bones as Kay’s jaws closed around the rabbit’s neck, a warm rush of blood down her throat. She growled when Victor nosed her kill, snapped at him when he didn’t back away quickly enough.

The rabbit was hers, and she wasn’t sharing.

He wisely took the hint and backed off.

Minutes later, she was running again.

The pack was scattered now. She heard their barks and howls as they brought down prey.

She ran toward them, her instincts telling her to seek out the pack. There was safety there. Victor trailed behind her, and Greta behind him. Kay ran faster, faster, darting right and left, her need to lose him stronger than her need to reach the rest of the pack.

She paused when she came to a stream. Lowering her head, she drank deeply, then shook her head, washing the rabbit’s blood from her muzzle.

When she looked up, a large, muscular, black wolf stood on the other side of the stream, staring at her.

She recognized him immediately. Gideon. Would their blood link work now, when neither of them was in human form? Only one way to find out. Gideon?

Yep. He turned in a slow circle. How do I look, Wolfie?

Very handsome.

He grinned a wolfish grin. So, what do you say we lose those two?

How?

Follow me.

Without a backward glance, Kay bounded after Gideon, splashing through the water, leaping over a low bush, ducking through a hole in a tangle of berry vines, racing up a low hill and over the other side.

When she reached the bottom of the slope, Gideon was standing there in human form, naked. She had scarcely come to a stop when he scooped her into his arms. Holding her close, he transported the two of them to the room he had secured for them in the bed-and-breakfast in Bondurant.

As soon as he put her down, she shifted to human form. And smiled at him. “That was brilliant.”

“I thought so.” His gaze moved over her, lingering on the swell of her breasts, her flat belly and long, shapely legs. She was slim without being skinny, curvy in all the right places.

And married to another man. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. But she had been his wife first.

“Gideon?”

He shook his head as he reached for her. “I’m not sure where we stand, so you’ll have to tell me.”

“In my heart and soul, you’re still my husband, and always will be.”

“That’s good enough for me,” he said, and kissed her.

Kay wrapped her arms around him and held him close. She didn’t care what the consequences would be, so long as she could spend a few minutes with Gideon. No matter how long she lived, no matter if she was forced to live with Victor for the rest of her life, she could endure it as long as Gideon loved her.

Lifting her into his arms, he carried her to the bed and laid her gently on it. Stretching out beside her, he kissed and caressed his way from the hollow of her throat to the tip of her toes. Drowning in pleasure, she writhed beneath him and when she couldn’t wait a moment longer, she straddled his hips, sighing with pleasure as his body became one with hers. She threw her head back, basking in the wonder of their love, the sense of belonging she had found in this man’s arms and nowhere else.

Gideon stroked Kay’s hair. He would have to take her back soon. Now that he was thinking more clearly, he wondered if whisking her away had been a good idea.

“How much trouble have I just caused you by luring you away from the pack?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t care.”

But he heard the worry beneath the bravado. He should never have brought her here. As long as Victor held Verah prisoner, the werewolves would always be able to find Kay. It was only a matter of time. He swore under his breath. The witch could be tracking them even now. And when Victor found Kay, there were sure to be repercussions.

He brushed a kiss across her cheek. “I’d better take you back.”

“Not yet.”

“I’ve been thinking. Sooner or later, Victor is bound to release Verah. When he does, I’ll talk to her, maybe strike a deal with her.”

“What kind of deal?” Kay asked, although she was sure she already knew what he was thinking.

He shrugged. “What difference does it make if I can convince her to stop following you?”

Kay sat up, one brow raised in disbelief. “Tell me you’re kidding.”

He shook his head.

“There’s only one thing she wants from you… . No! I won’t have it. You’re not putting yourself in that creature’s power for my sake.”

“It seems a better alternative than knowing you’re married to someone else.”

“Oh, Gideon.” Blinking back her tears, she flung her arms around him. “How could you even consider such a thing after what she put you through?”

He shrugged. “Three years isn’t much when you’ve got eternity. I’d give her thirty years rather than see you unhappy, or married to a man you don’t love.”

She rained butterfly kisses on his cheeks, his nose, his brow. “I love you, Gideon, only you, and no one else, ever. Please don’t ever surrender yourself to that witch for my sake. Promise me! I couldn’t live with myself if that happened.”

“I promise, darlin’, unless the choice is you or me.” If he was lucky, Verah would accept his promise that he would supply her with blood as long as she didn’t reveal Kay’s whereabouts to her family or Victor.

Kay hugged him tighter. He was, she thought, the bravest, most gallant man she had ever known. It was beyond comprehension that he would even think of contacting Verah … and even as the witch’s name crossed her mind, the bedroom door slammed open and Victor, his father, and Aaron, one of Victor’s pack mates, burst into the room. Looking past them, Kay saw Verah standing in the doorway. The witch was shrouded in a long black cloak, the hood pulled forward, her hands bound behind her back. Damn the woman. This was the second time in a matter of days that the witch had led Victor to her.

Before Kay could move or speak, Diego Rinaldi flung a pail of water at Gideon, then tossed the bucket aside. Victor and Aaron grabbed his ankles while Diego bound his feet together with a length of silver chain.

Kay gasped as the stench of burning flesh reached her nostrils. It took her a moment to realize the bucket had contained holy water. She stared in horror as the skin on Gideon’s face, chest, and belly reddened and began to blister.