Chapter 19

It was hard not to feel defeated, but as soon as she spotted the woman outside the kitchen, a faint flicker of hope ignited. If the Shadow Sisters were here, she might not be doomed to her fate. But was it really doomed? Hadn't Lucian showed her that he had feelings for her other than those of a possessive alpha male? He'd built her an amazing clinic and made her feel like he valued her skills and training. Was he telling her the truth or was he merely trying to lull her into acceptance?

"Did Colby try to talk you into making it work with Hendrix?" the woman asked, a smile playing around her lips. She seemed to know the alpha of Windsong well.

"He did, but it's not what I want. And you are?"

"Aubry Hawthorne, leader of the Shadow Sisters. You don't have to explain yourself or your situation to me. I would like you to know two things. The first is Colby will never betray you. Period. End of. And the second is that he really does believe Hendrix cares for you."

Zenya smiled. "I think Colby is just a hopeless romantic."

"If he made you believe that, he was lying. There's nothing about Colby that I would characterize as hopeless. He is, however, a hopeful romantic. He believes in fated mates and that love conquers all."

"What do you believe?"

"I believe it's freezing cold, and we need to get you out of here. Mark my words, Hendrix is coming—whether it's because he loves you or just because he thinks you belong to him. He isn't going to let you go without a fight. We're kind of having to do this on the fly, so we need to get moving."

"I'm ready to go."

"Good. Let's get away from the main house," Brie said, leading her away from everything. "I grabbed you a waterproof duffle and put some other things in it. We're going to get you out of here and then set you down with a GPS tracker and have you shift and go to the safe house like that."

"I'm fine with that. That had been my plan when I left Ice Storm: travel as a tiger, shift and get out of Alaska and into Canada as a human, then shift back. How am I getting away from Windsong?"

"Well, that's going to require a little magic." Zenya looked at her quizzically, and she continued. "Did you know that most people think caribou and reindeer are the same creature?"

"I had no idea. And I need to know this because?"

"Because they aren't really. Caribou are the purebreds. Reindeer are caribou-shifters. You know what the difference is?"

"Uh, one can shift into a human?"

"Well, that too," laughed Brie.

"And the other difference?"

"Reindeer really do know how to fly."

Zenya laughed nervously, thinking the leader of the Shadow Sisters had lost her mind and gone off the deep end. "Sure, they do," Zenya said, nodding slowly.

"You know, Brie, I find it easier just to show people," said a pretty young woman with hair the color of gingerbread.

Brie introduced them. "Noel Samuels? This is Zenya. Zenya, Noel."

"She's joking right? Like you've got caribou hitched to a sleigh or something…"

"I'm afraid nothing quite so fancy. It's just me. I'll shift; Brie will help me into a harness and attach your duffle bag to the back, then give you a leg up. You hang on tight, and off we go."

Zenya was now convinced either both of them were crazy, or she was. There was a swirling mist full of ice and lights the color of the aurora borealis. Instead of thunder, she was almost sure she heard jingle bells. And in the place where Noel had once stood, there was a reindeer. An honest to god reindeer—antlers and all.

"We're not crazy, I swear," said Brie as if she could read Zenya's mind. She held up a harness and put it on Noel. "Come on," she said, drawing Zenya forward. "Up you go."

Brie helped her up onto the reindeer's back. Brie attached the duffle to the part of the harness behind Zenya. Noel trotted around in a circle, stopped, and turned back to look at Zenya. Grinning like a fool, Zenya gave her a thumbs up. Noel began to trot again, then picked up speed until she was galloping. Then, as if by magic, the ground began to fall away. Zenya knew she should be terrified, but she wasn't. It was smooth and wonderful. She'd never wanted to be anything but a tiger-shifter, but she was pretty darn sure she'd have traded that to be a reindeer in that instant. She started laughing, and Noel looked back at her.

"Nothing. I'll tell you when we land," Zenya said, smiling.

Zenya had no idea how long or how far they flew. She was pretty sure that somehow they had moved like hellhounds between the worlds. Everything around them had gone on soft focus. She knew she would never forget the enchanting way it felt to be flying through a velvety night sky on the back of a reindeer—no motors, no gliders, nothing—just her, Noel, and the night. Brie was right. It was magic.

The sun was just starting to peek over the eastern horizon when Noel began her descent. It was as smooth as when she'd taken off. Zenya removed the harness and stood back as Noel shifted back into human form.

"Did Brie put some clothes in here for you?"

"No, I won't need them."

"Well at least take this," Zenya said, pulling off her jacket and handing it to Noel, who was shivering. "The least I can do is keep you from freezing to death."

"No worries," Noel said slipping the anorak on. "As soon as I know you're okay on your own, I'll shift back and make my way back. I'll find a place to hang out today and then tonight, I'll shift and head back to Mystic River and my mate, who will be torn between being pissed and thinking what we did was really cool. Trust me, really cool will win."

"I'm fine. I'll check the GPS, strip down, and shift. Thank you so much for your help. If I can ever do anything for you…"

"What made you start laughing?"

"I was thinking I've never envied any other shifter. I always thought being a white tigress was like the ultimate, but I do think I'd swap it for being a reindeer. That was amazing." Noel grinned. "Then I thought if I was a reindeer, Lucian's idea of eating me for hours would probably be vastly different."

Noel started to laugh. "Okay, that's kind of gross, but really funny."

"I know. I thought the same thing."

"You sure you're going to be all right?"

"Yes. I don't think I'm going back to the beach. I did love the Outer Banks, though."

"Maybe someday."

"I won't risk it. Lucian is a man possessed. He'll hire someone to keep watch over my place there."

"I'm sorry. That must be hard."

"It is, but it's the choice I made."

"I understand." Noel slipped off the jacket and handed it back to Zenya, giving her a hug. "Take care. I had Brie program my number into the cell in your bag. If you need help, call me."

"Thank you for everything."

She stepped back as Noel shifted again and then with one look over her shoulder trotted off. There was a moment when Zenya couldn't ignore the ache in her heart and almost called Noel back. Instead, she shoved the feeling down into the depths of her soul and looked at the GPS and looked up the coordinates. They looked to be somewhere in Labrador.

She looked at the brief on the tablet that was also in the bag and saw she would be working as a traveling vet for the Canadian government. She wouldn't be able to use her real name, but that was probably for the best. Securing the GPS tracker and tablet in the waterproof pouch, she shed her clothes and stuffed everything in the duffle. After shifting, she turned toward the rising sun and started to make her way to her new home.

The journey was long, but not especially difficult. She traveled as a white tigress throughout the day. Granted, tigers weren't indigenous to Northeast Canada, but she was traveling in remote areas, and she never encountered anyone. In some ways it was good for her soul, but in others it gave her far too much time to think.

It was midday when she stopped to take a breather, to get her bearings and scan the horizon—not quite certain what she was looking for. A short while earlier, she thought she had heard the sound of a small airplane engine somewhere in the distance, but it was quickly drowned out by the howling wind. Sound tended to travel long distances in country like this, but the landscape and the winds could distort or amplify it. Without seeing a plane, it was difficult to tell where the sound was coming from, how far away it might be, and even if she had heard it at all.

She wouldn't be as noticeable as a white tigress standing on the snow-covered ridge. She wasn't sure if it was her catching his scent or her scent reaching him. Whichever it was, it felt for her as if the world had shifted on its axis. She turned slowly and spotted him. How the hell had Lucian managed to sneak up on her? More importantly, how the hell had he found her?

Slowly he began to stalk her, his white tiger blending into the snow. His nostrils flared and his lips drew back in a grimace as her scent reached him. She knew she was too far to see him up close, but she would have sworn she saw his pupils grow larger and darker, or had she just imagined it?

She could hear as well as feel the low rumbling in his chest rushing down the link and reverberating throughout her system like some crazy pinball machine on crack. The vivid memory of their time together flashed memories of his strong hands wrapped around her, pinning her to the bed and showing her what it meant to be made one with a mate. She could feel her pulse thrumming, as the blood rushed through her veins and her muscles twitched.

Zenya now understood what the rabbit felt, for she felt it, too. The way he stalked her… the way she didn't seem able to look away was like more of a terrified prey animal than a white tigress. When her stalker was an alpha predator who wanted nothing more than to take her in the snow and rut with her, there was nothing more she could do other than run.

Whirling on her hind end, she leapt in the opposite direction of Lucian.

Lucian.Damn the man; damn his clan; and damn the link that existed between them. Bounding through the snow, all she could hear was the blood rushing in her ears and her own panting breath. The sound of her footsteps, as well as his, were mostly muffled by the thick carpet of snow. His scent closed the distance between them.

She relinquished complete control and allowed her inner beast to take over. Lucian was stronger and faster. He was using the power of the rut to flood the link between them—disorienting and overwhelming her—so much so that she failed to hear him close in.

Lucian slammed into her like a brick wall of instinct, anger, and lust. He dragged her to the ground, grappling with her until Zenya was pinned beneath his much larger bulk, shifting so he was once again human—naked and incredibly aroused.

"Shift!" he commanded.

Human worries like modesty or dignity were not even a consideration. All she could do was respond to the rich aroma of his musky scent as she shifted and reached out to hold him once more. A need and desire rose up, feelings she had suppressed and resisted from the time she left him until just this moment—neither of which she'd ever thought to feel again.

"Let me go, Alpha, please…"

He wouldn"t, though, and they both knew it. With both of her wrists in one of his huge hands, he pulled her arms over her head and held them tight. Her body was stretched out on the ground, naked and glistening with sweat. She should have felt the cold from the snow, but she didn't. Lucian took advantage of her immobility to press his nose into the crook of her neck and inhale. After he filled his own lungs with her scent, he growled again, then marked her with wet, open-mouthed kisses that turned to ice from the cold before immediately melting from the heat that arced between them.

"Alpha, please..."

"You will call me by name, mate, when I rut with you, and you will submit to me."

Zenya hissed at him, showing him her fangs, but her swollen, ripe pussy pulsed in need to the razor's edge of pain. She was almost too far gone to care about dignity. All she could think about was the way he'd made her feel on the nights leading up to the wedding and of the way their invited guests and members of their clan had celebrated, oblivious to her plans to be free of him.

He dragged the length of his cock down her crease. Keeping her pinned to the ground, he forced her legs apart so he could settle himself between her thighs as he guided his cock to the opening of her core. The hot, velvet skin of his crown teased at her lips, making her cry out when he didn't press in. Instead, he used his hard length to smear her slick over more of her skin, his chest now rumbling with a pleased purr at the sight and feel.

Her hips bucked up of their own accord as if begging for something...anything. More. Lucian held her steady and still. There was nothing she could do but lie there and take whatever he wanted to give her, whatever way he gave it to her. Trying to soothe herself or disengage—either in mind or body—was useless. His scent, his touch, his body, all of it caged her and held her tight.

When he finally pushed his length inside her, she couldn't bite back the whimper. She only hoped he would think it was from pain and not from need. His cock was thick and long, but her body opened up greedily, needing to be filled. Her inner muscles clenched around his shaft, attempting to pull him deeper.

"I'll have you yet, my untamed tigress," he said, holding her throat in his hand, squeezing lightly, keeping her in place. "But I will tame you, and I will never let you go."

Refusing to give him the satisfaction of pleading, she bit her lower lip. What she really feared was that she wouldn't plead with him to stop, but to take her and drive her insane with need, pushing her over the edge into a bottomless well of pleasure.

Zenya's fingers clutched the snow, making hard snowballs. She wanted to make one hard enough and big enough that she could hit him upside the head, rendering him inert and unconscious. But she couldn't do it. Instead, she groaned as he rutted with her, his hips slamming into her, sending the head of his cock to kiss her cervix.

He groaned as he pounded into her—hard and deep. He kept at her until she came again, calling his name as he ground into her, his cum filling her with its warmth as her pussy clamped down, greedily milking him dry.

That's when she began to question whether or not she wanted to be with him. He called to her in a way nothing and no one ever had. The ache deep in her soul when she'd turned toward the east after her magical ride on Noel had almost been her undoing. It had taken every ounce of her will to not call Noel back and return to him. Had thwarting Lucian and Zaiden become more of a habit than the fulfillment of what she really wanted? Zenya tried to remind herself as he lay on top of her, giving her his full weight, that Lucian was a man used to getting what he wanted—one way or another.

The problem that still remained was, what did she really want?