An Undying Love Read online

  “You should really think hard about the situation you’re in. If you don’t tell me what I want to know, you’ll never leave here.” He growled.

  “I told you I don’t know anyone called Cora,” she snapped, trying to move her body away from his hip that was against her waist.

  The feeling was too close, and her insides quivered at the brute’s nearness. It was such a strange sensation, one of fear and excitement blended together. She hoped he wouldn’t smell the excitement he’d caused to race over her.

  “You know I can do as I please with you.” Dante seemed to notice her attempt to get farther away.

  Anya hatefully glared at him. He wouldn’t, would he? The unasked question was answered as he moved his hand to stroke the side of her face. She slapped it away.

  “Don’t touch me,” she said with a growl.

  “I’ll do whatever I want with you. Now tell me where Cora is.”

  He yelled the girl’s name as his hand fisted in her hair. The move stunned her, and she gasped in spite of herself. His grip was firm but not painful. It was actually more thrilling, and that more than left her confused. The feeling caused her lips to part slightly, and she saw a surprised look momentarily flash in his eyes.

  “Tell me,” he roared, and that snapped the needful sensation that had flooded over her. His demand only pissed Anya off in spite of the strange attraction she felt. She fed that anger to help wash away the unwanted feelings she had.

  Anya would never tell anyone where Alex and Cora had gone. This man would most likely kill her brother if he knew, and she would rather die herself then let that happen. With renewed courage, she spat in Dante’s face. His glare intensified as he wiped the spit from his skin.

  “Anya, you will tell me what I want to know.” He growled menacingly. “You trespassed. You belong to me, and if you want your freedom, you should really think long and hard about telling me where the fuck my sister is.”

  With that, he released his grasp on her hair and abruptly stood. He eyed her one last time before he stormed out of the room. Anya was a bit dazed. This was Cora’s brother. That was something her brother’s mate had not told her. Tears welled in her eyes, but she fought them. She’d been stupid. She’d been caught on enemy territory. Trespassing on another pack’s ground was like forfeiting your life. It that man killed her, no pack would bat an eye at it. It was the way their kind’s laws worked.

  That was something her brother would not be able to fix, not unless they attacked the island outright, and the last time that had happened the Silverbacks had lost half their men in the battle. With steely resolve, Anya pulled herself up to a sitting position, her lower half useless. Nevertheless, she was not about to let that deter her. With a soft thud, she pulled herself down to the floor.

  After peeling the dress off, she shifted forms and dragged herself under the bed, creeping to the far back corner. Slowly she dug her front claws into the wood, scraping away at it. It would take days to rip a hole big enough for her to get out, but there was no way she was going to stay a captive if she could help it. Not with the knowledge of what they may do to her. After all, it was because of her uncle that a war had broken out between the two. Dante, like herself, had lost loved ones in it, both sides never forgiving the other for what had happened.

  * * * *

  Mitch stormed into his house. Rage filled him as he grabbed the house phone and looked at his mate. “There’s still no sign of her,” he said. He tried to quell the anger and fear rising in him. It was a hard battle. Anya needed to learn to be more responsible, had sworn she would stop these foolish childish games of taking off alone on her adventures.

  When Anya hadn’t shown up by supper, they’d called all the usual suspects, but none of her friends had a clue where she was. Normally, his overly curious sister would at least be back by dark, but as eight o’clock rolled around, and she still hadn’t shown, he knew something was wrong. A search party was now being organized, and his very pregnant wife ushered his older two sons to bed, not wanting them to know their aunt was missing. He could not handle it if anything happened to his sweet little sister.

  His mother had entrusted him to take care of his little brother and sister. Although Alex had left the pack, he knew his little brother was okay. He couldn’t condone Alex’s relationship with Cora. She was an enemy, and their kind had nearly destroyed the Silverback pack when Mitch was just a young boy. Now Alex and Cora were living in Fairbank, a six-hour drive south of there. No one knew Mitch still kept tabs on them, not even Anya.

  As he dialed his beta, Reese, he watched Kari come back from the children’s room, her face showing her worry.

  “Yeah?” Reese asked as he answered before the second ring.

  “Any luck?”

  “No. We’re getting the search teams organized right now at the high school and are starting the grid sweep assignments with the teams.”

  “All right. I’ll meet you over at the school in ten minutes,” he told him and then hung up.

  “No news?” Kari asked. She looked upset, and being so close to her due date, it was the last thing she needed to be.

  Anya was like a daughter to Kari, having only sons so far. Anya was the closest thing they had to a little girl, even if she was twenty-one.

  “I’m sure she’s fine. You know how she gets,” he said, trying to convince himself as much as his mate that there was no reason to worry.

  After leaving home, he drove down to the high school. The parking lot was busy with people getting ready to go out and look for his sister. He prayed that any moment his cell would ring and Kari would tell him Anya had arrived home. It didn’t happen, though, and as the hours passed and they searched, they found nothing. Her scent had long since faded in with many of her older tracks, none of which led to her. Anya was an avid hunter. She loved to run in the woods, and he’d told her on more than one occasion not to go alone. Men still hunted wolves in these parts, and she could get killed.

  Hours drifted by, her scent still in and around the woods, but it was faded, telling them they were older trails of his sisters. When it started to rain, any fresher trails would be dampened, making tracking damn near impossible. As dawn approached, Mitch was tired, wet and consumed with all the worries of losing a loved one when he got a call and he frantically answered it.

  “Yeah.” His heart raced as he hoped it was the call telling him they’d found her safe and sound.

  “It’s me,” Reese said. “We found something.”

  Visions of his sister lying shot dead in the forest, or in the ditch after being hit by a car, flooded his mind. Motorist didn’t tend to stop if they hit a wolf, they just kept going. It’s what had happened to their mother. That memory had him nearly in tears.

  “Anya.” His voice cracked as his worst fears washed over him.

  “No, we’re at the boat launch and your boat is missing,” he said.

  “Was Anya there?”

  “It’s hard to tell if it was her or not, the scent’s there, but it’s too old to tell. Too much time has gone by, Mitch.”

  “I’m on my way there,” he told him and then hung up the phone. It was less than three miles to the tiny cove in which they kept their boats, and Mitch ran the whole way there.

  After they found nothing of real value other than his missing boat, they started the search out on the water as well. Anya was forbidden to take his boat as the bay could get very dangerous without much warning, and the small single engine vessel was really not made for the openness of the inlet. Now he thought she might have gone out and capsized, drowned and was lost to the depths.

  Nearly five days came and went. The search ran nearly day and night. The men and women of his pack doing rotation shifts, but still they found nothing, not even his boat. Hope had faded fast that they would find her. Most believed her dead and gone. Mitch was giving it one more day before he made the call to Alex. He knew she wasn’t there as his little spy in Fairbank had not seen her, but he needed to tell
his little brother what was going on.

  * * * *

  As Dante walked he tried to carefully balance the two trays in his hands. The one with the food wobbled, and he had to stop and maneuver it so the soup wouldn’t spill from the cup he’d put it in. It wasn’t much of a meal—soup, a sandwich and a muffin as well as a cup of hot tea. Hopefully Anya liked tea, he thought as he made the last few yards to the rickety old shed.

  As he walked up to the building that held his prisoner, Dante took a moment to quell the excitement rising in him. He sat the tray of food, as well as the basin with warm water, soap, facecloth and towel on the step so he could unlock the padlock and remove the heavy chain. Dante opened the door and retrieved the things before walking inside. The girl lay on her back, looking at him carefully.

  He tried to control the urge to smile, and again Dante scowled at her. It earned him a hardened glare as he stepped to the small table and set the trays down.

  “Here is some food, and you can wash up,” he said gruffly. He looked at her. She made no move to go for the food, nor did she say anything. Dante reached for the girl, wanting to lift her into a sitting position. Anya slapped his hand before he could touch her. “I’m just going to sit you up so you can eat,” he said with a growl. “Relax for Christ sakes!”

  Anya’s gaze never left his face as he lifted her with ease. Her small frame felt good in his arms, and he struggled not to kiss her as he moved her. The urge was strange to have. She, after all, was an enemy. He should not feel this kind of attraction to her, but yet he did.

  As he moved her into position, their gazes met. He found she had the most brilliant blue eyes he’d ever seen, and for a moment, he was lost in them. Still holding her, he had to struggle to remove his arms from around her, wanting only to continue to feel the warmth of her body. Finally letting go of her, he swallowed hard. The attraction was so strong he had to wonder if she could sense it.

  With her back against the wall for support, he pulled more of the thin quilt over her lap before he took the tray and set it on her. “It’s not much, but it’ll fill the void until supper time.” She eyed the tray without saying a word. “As soon as you’re finished eating you can wash up. If you need help I’ll send for Beth.” He watched her pick up the cup of soup and sniff. “It’s beef and barley. It’ll help you heal. The sandwich is smoked meat, and the carrot muffin Beth made.”

  Dante made sure there was no need for a fork, spoon or knife. Any of them could be used as a weapon, and he was not going to chance her attacking anyone or getting away. As he sat beside her on the bed, he eyed her. Dante couldn’t believe how beautiful his captive was.

  “Anya, you should really tell me what you know about where my sister is,” he said. Anya looked up at him. Her eyes narrowed and turned a darker color, but she spoke not a single word. “I’ll let you go if you tell me.” She cast her gaze back down to the food and seemed to tune him out as she continued to eat. “Very well, Anya, have it your way.”

  He huffed and stood. The girl was more stubborn than a mule. Definitely a sign of an alpha female, and that had his wolf stirring.

  “I’ll send Beth in to help you get cleaned up and to check your wounds,” he said and then turned to walk out. He felt the girl’s gaze on him, and he looked back, catching her staring at him.

  The smile he’d fought to conceal slipped over his lips in spite of himself. Anya was not as scared of him as he’d hoped,; nor did she seem to be as angry as she was letting on either. The look in her eyes told him she was also attracted to him as he was to her. A slight glimmer of hope filled Dante as he chained the door and relocked it. Maybe, just maybe, he could have Anya.

  Dante headed over to his brother’s home. He was still smiling as he saw Beth walking up to the house with two buckets of water. He rushed over to help her.

  “Thanks, Dante, they were starting to get heavy,” she said as she eyed him.

  “Where is Chris?” he asked. Beth shouldn’t have been lugging pails of water in her pregnant condition, he thought.

  “Oh, he and a few of the others went down to the west side field to herd in some of the cattle. They were getting into the corn again,” she told him as they walked the short distance to the house.

  “I see, and your brother?” he asked.

  “Talbot went out this morning with the fishing boat. The mackerel are running, and we hope to have a nice feed of them for supper.”

  “Mmm, that sounds good. Will you bring some over to Anya?”

  “Of course. How is she doing today?” she asked as she watched his face closely while he set the pails inside.

  “Not talking. She ate the food I brought her, but I think she still needs help getting washed up, and I need you to check her wounds.” He hated having to get Beth to do all of that, but out of all the pack members, she was the most experience with caring for the wounded.

  Beth walked over to her large wooden table where she grabbed a basket, which was covered in a tea towel, and turned and passed it to him.

  “Here, I made these fresh this morning,” she said, and Dante peeked under the towel. The basket was full of fresh rolls, and a bigger smile danced on his lips.

  “Mmm, they smell heavenly,” he said and kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek.

  “Well, someone has to make sure you eat,” she said with a lighthearted laugh.

  Beth always made sure Dante ate well, and also ensured his home was kept tidy when he let it go. Guilt flowed over him as she stood there with her large round belly. The woman really went above and beyond what she should for him.

  “You know you don’t have to do this, Beth.”

  “Yeah, I know. And as soon as you have a mate I won’t have to,” she said with a knowing grin.

  Chapter Four

  Anya let Beth help her bathe after the woman had checked her wounds and redressed them. As she helped her, Beth chatted away, not once asking anything about Dante’s sister.

  “I hope you don’t mind the dress. It seems a bit big on you, but it’s all I had,” Beth said as she helped Anya slip it on over her head.

  “It’s fine, thank you,” Anya murmured. The white summer dress fit her like a tent, and was way too long.

  “Well, it doesn’t fit me anymore either.” She eyed the loose garment floating on Anya’s frame as she patted her tummy.

  “How far along are you?” Anya asked the-more-than-obvious pregnant Beth.

  “Seven months. We think it might be twins,” she said with a large smile.

  “Have you decided on names?” Anya asked, not really wanting to be left alone and enjoying having company she could talk to.

  “Well, Gabriel for a boy, Gisele for a girl. If they’re twins, then the other boy name will be Mitchell, and the girl’s is Michele.” The woman beamed with pride.

  “I like the names.”

  “Do you have any children?”

  “No. I have four nephews and another one on the way, though.”

  Over the next two hours, they talked. Beth was a very nice woman, and from her, Anya learned that the pack lived the old way of life. There was no running water, electricity or phones. Everything was as it had been a hundred years ago. A very archaic lifestyle, but one done to appease the Wolf Lord, Jared, whose spirit they all believed still inhabited the island. Beth explained that Jared’s spirit was supposed to be trapped there, forever searching for his soul mate, Terra, who was abducted during a raid on the island centuries ago. The legend went that both had died of broken hearts and never found rest in the afterlife. His spirit trapped there, and hers on the mainland.

  After Beth left, Anya fell asleep. She needed to get rested up for tonight after the village fell quiet, so she could again dig at the floorboards under the bed. Strange dreams filled her sleeping mind of the Wolf Lord, the man named Dante and the temple. She was on the altar, not as a sacrifice, but being made love to by Dante. The feeling that he and the Wolf Lord were one and the same flowed over her as he laid claim to her body
and soul. It was a deliriously delicious dream, and Anya really didn’t want to awaken from it.

  The strange feeling of being watched roused her from her slumber, and she stared into Dante’s dark eyes. A slight gasp fled her lips at the nearness of his face to her own, and her heart fluttered wildly in her chest. It was not from fear, but from a primal excitement, and she forced herself to calm down before he sensed it. The slight tingling feeling on her lips had her wondering if he’d kissed her as she slept. The thought sent another fluttering in her chest, and he smiled again.

  “I brought you your supper,” he said softly, and again he pulled her up into a sitting position so she would be able to eat. The near flurry of excitement at his touch so soon after her dream had her heart pounding, and Anya tried to calm herself once more.

  “I hope you like fish. One of my pack caught a feed of mackerel today, and Beth fried them up. There are new potatoes and baby carrots with it and a glass of milk.” He set the tray laden with food on her lap.

  As she ate he watched her, his eyes seemed to try to hold a hard glare, but every once in a while they slipped and turned soft. Anya was unsure of the myriad of emotions she felt. This man had done nothing to harm her, but yet his demand to know of his sister was more than she could give him. As he again barraged her with questions about Cora, Anya sat there silently, refusing to utter a word.

  Her mind wandered, her thoughts on how stupid she’d been to come there in the first place. Yet a part of her was stirred by this alpha’s nearness. It bewildered her, and no matter how much she tried, she caught herself looking at him. The dark skin, eyes and hair were all classic traits of a Temple Island werewolf. Still, it was the fire in his eyes that drew her to stare into them. Even as he ranted and made demands that she tell him of Cora’s whereabouts, she couldn’t stop from thinking he was a very handsome man. The dominating male alpha attitude attracted her inner wolf as her dream attested to. And that left Anya perplexed.