Chapter 20

Nothing had ever felt so right as running Zenya to ground, commanding her to shift, and then being one with her. He would never let her go. Lucian's need to possess her was primal and definitely feral. Her scent had filled his nostrils, and he wasn't certain he'd ever get enough of her. He groaned as he pounded into her—hard and deep. Again and again, he forced her into a freefall of erotic flight. She bit her lip to keep from screaming but he could feel when another orgasm crashed through her like an avalanche cascading down the mountain.

It was only then he felt the shiver at the base of his spine, signaling his own release was imminent. He closed his eyes as he drove into her over and over until he came with a final brutal thrust, roaring and flooding her pussy with seed that sparked small aftershocks of pleasure within her.

"I will have my way," he said, closing his fingers around her throat again. "And no one will stop me—not even your precious Shadow Sisters. The Resistance needs me and the Baihu Clan far more than they need you."

He was finished, exhausted. He allowed himself to rest on her, loving the softness of her body and the way it conformed to and comforted his. Reluctantly, it seemed, Zenya's arms came up to wrap around him and she sobbed softly into his shoulder. He probably should have said something different, but it wasn't his way. But she needed to know he could change. He could compromise if she would only do the same. He nuzzled her gently, lovingly. Could she not feel all that he felt for her? He knew he could spend eternity with her just like this. In this one perfect moment, time stood still.

"My words…" he started.

"You meant every one of them."

"I did. But I failed to tell you that as much as I believe our destiny was always to have been as one, that in this lifetime, I am bereft without you. I love you. My heart can only beat when it hears yours. I may be the alpha of our clan and may have trapped you into bonding with me, but it is you who has held my soul captive for years."

Reality returned and she shivered beneath him but not from desire. It was cold and icy in this remote part of Canada. He would call for the plane to come. He'd had a turboprop plane fitted with landing skis as soon as he figured out she was probably going to head east, but stay in the north. As much as he wanted to truly rut with her and release his barbs to score her pussy and breed her, he would give her some time. Time to come home. Time to heal the breach between them.

Reluctantly, Lucian uncoupled from her, reaching for her duffle and grabbing her anorak. His gear was at the bottom of the hill where he'd left it when he'd spotted her with the binoculars. He handed Zenya a pair of mukluks he found to keep her feet from freezing.

He stood up and helped her to her feet. Wiping away the remnants of her tears, he kissed her gently. "It'll be all right, sweetheart. I can call for the plane when we get back to my gear."

"There's no cell phone coverage."

He chuckled. "No, but I have a sat phone with my gear and a plane that has skis for landing gear."

They trudged down to the foot of the hill and Lucian pulled on his own clothes and helped Zenya into hers.

"Why?" she asked simply.

He quirked his eyebrow at her. "Why what?"

"Why be so nice to me after you track me down, fuck me in the snow, and then drag me down this hill?"

He picked up the sat phone, which was also a two-way radio, started to switch it on and then paused. "Why? Did you miss the part where I told you I loved you? I understand that you may not believe me, but it's true." He switched on the phone. "Charlie? I'm sending you our coordinates. Fly in and figure out where you want to land. Do me a favor and turn the sauna on."

"Your plane has a sauna?"

"Yeah, I figured with skis for landing gear, it would be a cold weather plane and it might be a good idea. Are you hurt in any way?"

"No. Why can't you just let me go?"

"I told you why. My question is, do you really want me to?"

She looked at him. That hesitation. That softening of her expression. The way she yielded to him and surrendered all of herself when they made love. It was that which made him believe.

"I… I don't know."

"Zenya, I know I haven't made this easy on you. I'm not an easy man. I can't afford to be. But I can learn to be the man you need me to be. Our clan needs me to be strong. But they need you, too—your kindness, your compassion, and that damn bobcat needs to quit yowling and hissing at me like he knows it's my fault."

"Is Lucky still at Ice Storm?"

Lucian groaned. "Yes, Lucky is at Ice Storm. We no longer have a rodent problem, although he won't deign to eat what he kills. He much prefers the stuff you were feeding him, which we had to get analyzed to find out how to make. By the way, he prefers it heated with a little warm cream and a raw egg."

He watched as she tried to keep from laughing and failed.

"Oh, that's nothing," he continued. "When I finally made it up to our room on our wedding night—nicely played, by the way—he was sitting in the middle of our bed looking at me as if to say, ‘she's gone, asshole. What are you going to do about it?' And now he thinks he should sleep on our bed. I keep telling him there isn't room for all three of us. I think he believes I should be sleeping elsewhere."

"You two seem to have struck up quite the friendship while I was gone," she said, laughing.

He loved hearing her laugh. It was like the most amazing symphony; one that he wanted to hear every day for the rest of their lives.

"Don't tell him I said this, but he's not bad company. I suppose we could put a nice bed for him in our room."

"You let my pet bobcat loose in the house and let him sleep in our room?"

Lucian shrugged. "He seemed important to you, so he was important to me. We found a way to make peace with each other. I think he knows you and I are linked somehow, so he follows me, hoping I'll bring you back to him."

"So, you think I'd come back for the bobcat?"

"I don't know sweetheart, but at this point I'll use anything I can think of to bring you home. I am willing to admit you outfoxed your brother and I, and I'm willing to admit we probably had it coming, but please tell me that the week that led up to our bonding was not all a lie."

She turned away, seeming to think about something. Then she turned back to him. "It wasn't all a lie."

"Then why? No, wait; you don't have to answer that. I promised myself if I could just get you home safe, I'd give you time. I'd let you and Lucky move back into the other room…"

She pressed her finger to his lips. "I don't want to sleep in the other room. Being a tigress on a long trek gives you time to think. I kept asking myself why when the ache I felt for you kept getting worse. I had almost decided I didn't care if it was pheromones and fairytales, I felt something for you. Something deep and true."

He waited, wanting desperately to press her, but sensing she needed to find her own way.

"I think I was afraid I would lose myself—in you, in the clan, in the children we would have. I loved being a vet and I think with the battle with the Shadow League looming, I'm going to be needed."

"I agree—about being needed. That's why I wanted your clinic to be everything you needed. We got the supplies and equipment you wanted, and several of our people want to work there and learn from you. Ice Storm has worked for many years without a traditional first lady of the clan, so we don't necessarily need one. What we need is you. The role is yours to make of it whatever you will. I love you, Zenya. I always have."

She lightly chucked him upside the head. "Then why didn't you lead with that?"

"Because in case you missed it, your fated mate is an idiot." He could hear the sound of the approaching plane. Lucian picked up the sat phone. "Circle round."

She took the phone from him. "Or you could land so we could get in the nice, warm plane. I believe our alpha said there was a sauna, you know, where I could get warm?"

Lucian took the phone from her. "You heard my mate; she'd like you to land."

Charlie laughed. "I guess it's just like you kept saying, whatever Milady wants, Milady gets."

She smiled at Lucian, winding her arms around his neck and rubbing up against him. Rising up on her toes, she smiled and said, "Let's go home. I believe you said something about wanting to plow my pussy with your barbed cock?"

His cock went straight to rock hard as he held her close. "Yes, I believe I did. Did I also mention this plane has a private bedroom?"

As the plane landed and skied up close to them, Lucian leaned down and picked up both their bags with one hand and scooped up Zenya and tossed her over his shoulder with the other. As he trudged through the snow to the plane, the sound of Zenya's laughter echoed through the mountains.

Willow Carlyle sat with her eyes closed, afraid to open them. It was only when she was asleep that she could find peace. It was when she opened her eyes that her dreams intruded upon her recollection. When she was awake, they became the nightmares that haunted her reality.

"Ms. Carlyle? We need to get moving," said a woman whose name she did not know and probably never would.

Taking a deep breath, Willow opened her eyes and stood, taking the large hobo bag she'd managed to stuff some things into before she'd run for her life. Oh, she thought she'd meticulously planned her escape, but then the whole thing had blown up, and she'd run and never looked back. The only thing about running when the opportunity had reared its head was that it was so unplanned it would take everyone by surprise—including him.

"Come on, love," the woman said, with the faintest of British accents, "we can't stay here. They're expecting us."

Willow had stood and started to follow the woman, but dug her heels in. "Who? Who's expecting us? I don't want to go with people I don't know to some place I've never been."

"It's all right, Willow. Everything is going to be all right. We've got a really nice safe house for you. It's a Resistance stronghold…"

"The Resistance? I don't want anything to do with those people. God, now it'll be my mate and the Shadow League. What have you people done?"

Willow could hear her voice rising in pitch and volume as she fought the panic down. She jerked away from the Brit and began to walk in the opposite direction. When she heard the woman following her, she was determined to get away. Right up until the moment she saw her mate's beta.

Whirling around, she almost collided with the Brit. "Get me out of here now. That man heading toward us is my mate's beta. If he gets his hands on me, he'll kill me."

"Then let's get you out of here," the woman said. Tapping an earpiece, she said, "We've picked up an unfriendly tail; be ready to go, and let the plane know we're coming in hot."

The two women picked up the pace as they walked away and as soon as they turned the corner, they broke into a run, sprinting to the waiting SUV. The vehicle was on the move before the doors were closed. They raced away from the park, taking a left out of the parking lot.

Willow started to sit up.

"Stay down,' said the Brit. "I don't want them to be able to see you."

They sped through the city. Willow knew it was the city because she could hear familiar sounds, and they had to stop for traffic lights. She felt them heading up an on-ramp, gathering speed. She stayed down with her eyes closed. She didn't want to know anything. She just wanted to get away. She wanted out of this living nightmare and away from the abuse she had suffered at her mate's hands.

The memory of how long she let herself stay made her want to vomit. She'd put up with so much just to ensure she had a cushy life. It wasn't worth it. It had never been worth it. It wasn't until she'd overheard him planning to get rid of her permanently that she knew she had to get out for good. She also knew in order to convince someone to help her, she needed to offer them information. Information on her mate, their clan, and their connection to the Shadow League.

They raced along the highway until they turned off, and the road became rougher. Willow was bounced around until she could hear the sound of a jet engine. They screeched to a halt, and she was unceremoniously dragged from the vehicle. She started to scream but it was immediately muffled by a large man's hand clasped over her mouth.

"Treat her gently. She's the one we're trying to protect," the Brit said.

The man said nothing but let her go. Willow grabbed her bag and kicked him in the shin, regretting it the instant she did. If these people didn't help her, she was dead.

"It's all right, love. I know you're scared," the man said rubbing his leg. "I promise you; we're taking you to safety. Come on."

The woman led Willow to the plane. With trembling limbs, she climbed the stairwell to board the private jet. As the plane started to taxi down the runway, she began to believe she might really have gotten away. As the jet lifted off, the feeling of fear she had carried from her past began to blossom into some semblance of hope.

Coming this Summer, Mysterious Mate.