Chapter 18

Zander

Piper"s gaze settled on mine from across the dining table. I"d been unable to stop myself from reimagining her in the pool. The mounds of her breasts, her slender stomach, and the curve of her ass in my palms.

To see her happy at the sight of the pool made my wolf turn circles. Seeing your mate happy, because of you, was priceless. But nothing compared to the heat from her skin, and the way she felt wrapped around me. The pool, underneath the pelting rain, had intensified the atmosphere and built the tension between us.

It"d taken every ounce of strength in me to tell her she could leave. It wasn"t what I wanted, or what I needed. I needed her to stay, and as sad as it hurt to say, love me. But none of that would happen with her being held captive. What was that stupid old saying? If you love something set it free. Stupid wives" tales.

Vivian had towels ready for us when we made it to the dining room. Piper sat with her elbows on the table, the towel wrapped loosely over her shoulders. My gaze traveled the path of her neck, and down to her breasts covered in a lacy bra that I wanted to pull off with my teeth. My wolf had ten different positions he wanted to place her in on this very table at any given moment.

The fact she still had anything on was proof of my inner strength. The sight of her in underwear, drenched in water, inches away from me, was the devil"s temptation. The sin that faulted Eve.

I twirled my fork around my pasta, and took a slow bite, savoring the silence of the table. Vivian cleared her throat after several minutes. "How is your lunch, Sir? You haven"t eaten much."

I leaned forward. "I"m not too hungry for food right now, Vivian."

She seemed to understand and did her best to hide the blush on her cheeks. The only thing I craved sat across from me with a stupid promise that she could leave in just a few days. Piper caught my gaze, her chest rising quickly, sending my blood into overdrive.

"The food tastes great, Vivian," Piper said, lowering her gaze back to her plate.

William joined us midway into lunch. He avoided my gaze, which told me he hadn"t found out anything new about the voodoo queen. Suddenly my promise that Piper could leave felt stupid. What had I been thinking?

Standing, I turned to Vivian. "Can you please put my lunch in the fridge? I will eat it later."

Vivian agreed, looking concerned as I walked up the stairs toward my room. Shutting the door behind me, I went toward my closest and stared at it. I rarely looked at it, like the rose on my forearm, because it brought back too many memories. Ones that I didn't want to remember.

I fell to my knees and braced my palms on the hardwood of my walk-in closet. It was one of many things the witch did to me. She left it there for me to see. To remind me that she had my life—literally—in her hands.

My heart sat in a glass case with her elongated black fingers wrapped around it. I wasn"t sure which was worse. The rose tattoo there to taunt me, or my heart resting there for anyone to see.

It had been an accident, but she didn"t care.

I rested my forehead against the floor and tried to calm my nerves. It was only lunch; I had plenty of time before the beast took over. I needed to reach out to Piper, soothe her, woo her as William suggested, but I couldn't. My depression was getting the best of me.

I wanted to sit in my self-pity and cry like a girl. Sitting back on my shins, I heard William enter the room. "No news?" I asked.

"No," he said. "I haven"t gained any knowledge of her whereabouts. No one knows anything," he said. I nodded, already knowing the damage. After several minutes, he asked, "What did you say to her?" he asked. "She seems tense. You seem tense."

I rubbed my eyes with my palms and stood up slowly. "I told her she could leave once the police got here."

William"s silence made me look over my shoulder. The anger on his face surprised me. I was the alpha, and pack members, direct family or not, did not stand up against an alpha"s decisions. "You"re going to let her go, Zander? She"s going to draw the town here—,"

"She won"t," I snapped, turning to face him. "She wouldn't do that." And I truly meant it.

His gaze traveled over my shoulder toward the glass case behind me. "How do you know? Because she"s your mate? She doesn"t understand that. She doesn"t understand what she is doing. You think because you had one good dip in the pool that she won"t send the townspeople with pitchforks?"

I walked forward, while he backtracked out of the closet, and I shut the door behind me. "She doesn"t hate me, William. I"ve not harmed her. I"ve kept her here, but she believes enough not to have me killed. I can"t keep her here and her fall in love with me. Don"t you get it? She"s been in a terrible relationship, and she needs trust. Kidnapping her, no matter how my wolf calls to her, or how badly she wants me, she won"t fall in love with me. And that"s what I need."

William turned quickly from me and faced the drawn blinds. "I hope you"re right. I can"t lose my only brother."

I slapped his shoulder. "You"ve always been sentimental," I teased.

But he didn"t find the humor in it. He left me in my room. Nightfall came too quickly, quicker than I would have liked, but it always seemed that way. The days were short year-round for me.

After my shower, I didn"t bother dressing, because the beast would rip any of my clothing. I sat down in my nighty spot between the chains and waited for William.

The moonlight brightened my room from a slither between the curtains. How I wanted to shift into my wolf and run the woods with my pack again. To let myself be free. Free with my pack. Free with my mate.

I screwed my eyes shut, and didn"t open them until I felt William lift my hands and snap the restraint cuffs around my wrist. "I"ll see you in the morning. You don"t need to stop trying. You have a few days. Try your best. Reach out to her. Appreciate her."

I chuckled. "I"ll never stop trying, William."

He walked out of my room and shut the door behind them. The minutes danced by, and I felt the beast stir awake. The moon was up, but my body felt more alive than ever.

My body distorted into an odd position, shifting my bones for the beast. I turned and yanked, my head rolling backward and forward. The pain never grew easier. It wasn"t like shifting into my wolf form. My body had been made for that kind of change. This change was forced upon me. It was unnatural and went against nature.

The seconds felt like minutes, sweat raced down my temples and back. My body twisted and turned, and finally, the beast broke free. Every night it was the same. He wanted out to roam, but it was always a chance that we encountered someone, and I hurt them.

Or they call the police. Or they die of a heart attack.

It was easier to stay chained to the wall like an animal. On occasion, when I couldn"t take it anymore, I would let him out for a walk. Hence the night I found Piper. Though her scent, fate or whatever you want to call it, had lured me from the castle that night.

The beast roared and cried at Piper"s scent nearby. Though he was beastly, he was still my wolf—or some part of my wolf. The agony inside of him transferred to me and sliced pieces off my soul.

This was the ultimate torment, and my only chance at escaping planned to escape herself.

The door to my bedroom slowly squeaked open. I knew it was her because I smelled her close. The beast roared loudly, yanking on the chains in an attempt to get to her.

Piper pushed the door inward with her foot and stood in the doorway in a short silk nightgown. Dear God, have mercy.

She didn"t speak. What would she say? She"d only truly seen me as the beast the night I captured her. This was new. Seeing the beast vulnerable. At her mercy.

She stepped closer, and I wanted to scream for her to leave. Run the other way. He was unpredictable. But she didn"t look afraid. With bare feet she tip-toed over toward me, stopping a foot away.

The beast roared loudly, her hair blowing back from its strength, but she didn"t flinch.

Piper sat down on her knees in front of me and stared.

I imagined what she saw at the moment. A huge beast with yellow ghoulish eyes, and a face only a mother could love? None of it seemed to bother her. She reached forward carefully, touching the beast"s face, and he stopped.

It was a rare occurrence for him to be still, but he did.

Her touch settled him, set him on fire, and seared his heart. She took a deep breath and tangled her fingers into his hair. "All bark and no bite, huh?" she whispered.

He seemed to like it, and I knew she could say whatever she needed to him because he was at her mercy. The mate bond was strong. Even as a beast, my wolf was putty in her hands.

Piper pulled back, and sat on her shins, staring at us like we were the last unicorn. Moments went by, and I expected her to get up and leave, but she didn't.

Casually, as if she owned the place, she walked over toward the end of my bed. She grabbed the folded blanket at the end, and crawled over toward my side, closest to me. I watched as she curled up on my pillow and glared at me.

"Are you calm?" she asked, and when I didn"t answer, she said, "Maybe we can both get some uninterrupted sleep tonight."

Piper"s eyes closed quickly, and the beast watched her sleep. He never made a sound. Never tried to escape. He just sat there, and I was able to rest within the beast for the first time since I was cursed.

Piper was the cure for it all. Now to get her to stay. To get my mark on her neck, and finally seal the mating bond. I could still taste her mouth on my tongue. I was sure all of her tasted that good.

I knew then, watching her sleep with her chocolate-colored hair spread over her shoulder, that I was going to win her over. Little One wasn"t leaving, and not because I would force her to stay, but because she wasn"t afraid of the beast.