With Her Capture (27 page)

“Where are you going?”

Magda jumped at the sound of Ayden’s voice.
His eyes were still closed and he hadn’t shifted positions when she
turned and looked at him.

“Just to the bathroom,” she whispered in the
darkness.

“Hurry back,” he grumbled and rolled to bury
his head in her pillow.

She stared at him a moment longer, her eyes
welling with tears. Magda opened the bedroom door and closed it
behind her. She went to the bathroom and didn’t pace as she ached
to do. Ayden was probably listening. As much as she wanted to
protect him from the pain of losing everything he’d ever known, it
was just as strong in Ayden to do the same for her. She expected
him to listen and know she was safe.

Which was why she remained in the bathroom
for a minute before doing her best to open the door without making
a sound. Magda crept down the hallway to the living area. She
didn’t want to run from him again. Both of them had been through
too much for her to dishonor him by even giving it thought. Not to
mention, she loved him. She’d learned how much with all the time
she had to think while locked in that cage disguised as a shed.

Their loving each other would always keep
Ayden captive just as his pack had kept her. There was only one way
she knew of to set him free. Magda began trembling as she reached
the front door. She had to do this. Although terrified, she knew
that while she remained alive, her love would become a steel trap
around Ayden.

“Don’t use your gift. Don’t use your gift,”
she repeated, hoping to engrave the message on her brain when she
reached for the door handle to head outside. Her fingers trembled
and her palms were too damp. The smell of her fear made her stomach
turn.

“Where are you going, female?” a soft, low
rumbling whisper asked from behind her.

Magda spun around, unable to catch her breath
for a moment. She stared at the dark figure sprawled on the couch.
Her own emotions had run so strong she hadn’t smelled Anthony, who
apparently had returned sometime in the night while she’d
slept.

“To—to find you.” Her voice shook as much as
the rest of her body.

“Plan on trying to kill me again?” he
asked.

“No.” Magda sucked in a breath. In spite of
the noticeable warmth from a burning fire that Anthony had
obviously kept going in the night, she wasn’t able to stop shaking.
It was fear. Hell, she was terrified. But she had to see this
through. “I planned on trying to sniff you out to ask you to kill
me.”

“What?”Anthony came to a sitting position on
the couch, looking a lot less wounded than he had hours
earlier.

She walked over to him on wobbly legs. Magda
fell more than squatted on the floor facing him. She might have
appeared the pup before the master, ready for a lesson in life,
except it was the end of life so that another might live that she
wanted.

“Please be quick.” She hated how pathetic she
sounded. No werewolf wanted to die smelling like a fool, or
overcome by fear. Few died of old age. Most hoped they died
honorably in a fight where they accomplished something good before
taking their last breath.

“Wait a minute.” Anthony held up a hand.

It wasn’t surprising that he and Ayden looked
so much alike. They were littermates. What was even more noticeable
was how different they looked. Anthony didn’t hold himself the
same. He wrinkled his brow in confusion, obviously not
understanding, and looked at her with eyes that were nothing like
Ayden’s. This male had never known life as the alpha.

“Why are you asking me to kill you?” he
asked.

“It’s the only way to set Ayden free.”

Anthony continued staring at her. She
wouldn’t look away. After a moment, he nodded once. “You would
willingly give your life for his?”

“I agreed with you earlier,” she reminded
him, wishing that he would just do it instead of asking questions.
She buried her hands in her lap, hating how they kept shaking.
Facing a willing death was terrifying. “I had howled this to Ayden
repeatedly. He didn’t understand that running by my side would mean
continued attacks until we are both dead.”

“So now you believe he’s trapped in a mating
and is too honorable to try and escape it?”

“If he did feel he was trapped by a mating
then yes, I do believe Ayden runs with enough honor that he
wouldn’t try to escape it.” Magda swallowed the lump in her throat.
Her mouth was so dry. “But no, I don’t think he feels trapped in
this mating.”

Again he nodded once.

“But he is trapped.” Since he wanted an
explanation before killing her, Magda had no choice but to give him
as much. She pressed on, determined to get it out without too many
interruptions so he would kill her and be done with it. “I love
him. I care about him so much. You can smell how much he loves
me.”

“Yes,” he muttered.

“A couple days after you and your littermate
and the other Cariboo sniffed me out when the leopards had chased
me up the mountain, Ayden found me hiding in a cave. Did he tell
you that?”

Anthony shook his head.

“He said it was a cave where you two played
as pups.”

He tilted his head, thinking. His expression
changed, and so did his scent, when the memory came to him. “I
didn’t know he was searching for you. That cave isn’t around good
hunting ground.”

Anthony didn’t smell suspicious or angry the
way he had a moment before. He was curious. When he didn’t
immediately say more, she continued.

“He was so pleased that he’d found me. There
was no anger. He never showed signs of wishing to kill me. I was
the one who was suspicious. And when he brought clothes, hauled his
kill to me, and even a tub for me to bathe, it was hard not to
smell the kindness in him.”

“I smelled you on him.”

“I worried about that.” So much had happened
since that cave. Magda knew staying there wouldn’t have made either
of them happy in the end. It was no way for werewolves to keep
living. “After two weeks, I ran. When he wasn’t there I packed what
I was able to carry on my back and ran to Banff. I planned on
running down to the states, to Colorado. There is a Malta werewolf
pack there.”

“Why didn’t you keep running?”

“Because Ayden hunted me down.”

Anthony cursed under his breath. “He’s always
been stubborn about running his way.”

“He admitted that much to you when the two of
you howled at each other earlier,” Magda pointed out. “He ran after
me and even hired an owl to fly over the town until he found me.
Then he brought me back with him. He brought me here so I would be
able to meet his littermate.” She decided not to bring up her
littermates. It was best to keep any thought of them out of
Anthony’s head. “Ayden didn’t want to run to the states without
honoring you with a proper goodbye.”

Again he cursed. Anthony ran his hand over
his face and dragged it through his hair. His straight hair was
long, almost to his shoulders, and at the moment tangled. A few
days growth, at least, covered his jaw. His facial hair had a red
tint to it. There was more red in it than in Ayden’s. She quit
comparing the two and let out a sigh. Somehow talking to Anthony
had calmed her nerves.

“It’s not easy for me to ask this,” she
admitted, and her stomach twisted into a cruel knot. “I like
living. But I love your littermate even more. He doesn’t deserve
this and I can’t bear knowing I’m the cause for him giving up so
much. But I smell the way of it on him. There is so much honor
running in his blood that he won’t leave my side. And I tried
getting him to understand too many times.”

“So it is you who feels trapped in this
mating.” Anthony lowered his hand and narrowed his gaze on her.

“No. No!” She almost cried out but remembered
to lower her voice back to a whisper. Ayden would charge out of
that room the moment he noticed she wasn’t in bed with him. “I’m
the luckiest female in the world to have a male like him.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I know I am. I don’t want Ayden cursed with
the demise of the Malta werewolf. I didn’t mean to fall in love
with him. And I doubt your littermate set out to lose his heart to
someone like me. But it happened. We aren’t trapped. But by asking
this of you, I can set him free.”

“I see.”

Anthony looked past Magda. She lowered her
attention to the floor and closed her eyes. If he would simply snap
her neck, it would be over in moments. Hopefully the pain wouldn’t
be terribly bad before she died. All she needed to do was prevent
her instinct to survive from kicking in. If she tried using her
gift on him, even in a sheer moment of panic, Anthony would
possibly be hurt. Magda didn’t want that. All Anthony was guilty of
was loving his littermate. She didn’t blame him for that,
especially when she did too.

“Are you going to fulfill her wish?” Ayden
asked.

“Fucking tail!” Magda spun around on her
rear, her knees tucking in to her chest as she put her back to
Anthony and stared up at Ayden.

He leaned against the wall at the end of the
hallway. In loose pants, tied at the waist, no shirt and barefoot,
he was sexy as hell. His gaze was cold, focused. But he didn’t
smell mad.

“How long have you been standing there?” she
demanded, and began standing. Slowly at first, in case her legs
were definitely too wobbly to hold her. She managed.

“Long enough,” Anthony answered for his
littermate.

“Are you going to kill my mate?” Ayden asked
again.

“No.” Anthony didn’t hesitate. “But I wanted
to hear her reasoning. She smelled of so much God damn fear I knew
she meant what she asked.”

“Good to know.” Ayden walked over to Magda
and wrapped his arms around her. He didn’t growl any harsh words at
her but simply held her pinned against him while looking at
Anthony. “I see you’ve returned to your den.”

“She was already asleep when I reached her
den.” Anthony shrugged. “So I made contact with someone I know. An
hour or so before dawn several owls will be here to assist in
taking the two of you wherever it is that you wish to go.”

“What is this? Now you’ll help us?” There was
no note of sarcasm or venomous undertones in Ayden’s voice. He
obviously had his emotions very much in check. It was hard sniffing
out how he felt.

“Regardless of what she howls, or how much
you’ve defended what she said, I know you, Ayden. You aren’t the
type of werewolf to run into anything without knowing everything
you can sniff out about it first. You didn’t mate with her then
realize after the fact how life would be with her.” Anthony shook
his head, lowering his attention to Magda. “Female, I promise you,
my littermate knew exactly what his life would be like with you. He
knew what he’d give up, too. And trust me, he did all of that
willingly before announcing his mating with you. You wouldn’t be
setting him free by dying. You’d kill him, too.”

Ayden’s hand moved up her back. Even through
the sweatshirt she’d fallen asleep in, his touch sent a surge of
heat through her.

“You went out in this weather to sniff out
help for us?” Something had changed in Ayden’s scent. It was riper.
“In your condition?”

Anthony laughed. “I’m a very healthy male.
Never has taken me long to heal. You’re not the only one allowed to
help this litter.”

Magda swore she smelled a pride and anger
mixed together. She took a step backward to see Ayden’s face,
expecting resistance. But he dropped his arms and squared off with
his littermate.

“Do you not smell the level of danger you’ve
put yourself in by helping us?” he snarled.

“I’m just as capable of sniffing a situation
out and making up my mind how to handle it. It was help you, or
arrange to have her killed. I can smell how you love her. Just
because I wish you hadn’t fallen in love with a Malta werewolf
doesn’t mean I think I can howl until you quit loving her. It’s
done. She’s your mate. I accept that.”

“Now you’re in danger, too. If anyone saw
you, smelled you, or even heard you talking to owls.”

Magda touched Ayden’s arm. His blue eyes were
so bright when he shot his attention to her. She was right. There
was pride and anger. She wasn’t the only one that Ayden loved.

“Honor him by accepting his help,” she
whispered.

He stared at her a moment, his expression
hard and pinched. The two males, both such tall and powerful,
dangerous Cariboo
lunewulf
, were also equally filled with
pride and determination to run the way they wished. Magda doubted
there were many times when Ayden had ever let his littermate take
lead. This would have to be one of the few times when he did.

“The owls will be here in about an hour.”
Anthony spoke as if the matter were settled. “They have harnesses
and straps to put each of you in. Then they will fly you out of
here. There’s little chance of humans up in this part of the
mountain range so you don’t risk being shot out of the air. They
will take you where you want to go.”

“We’re visiting her litter next,” Ayden said,
not yet looking at his littermate.

“No.” Magda spoke at the same time that
Anthony did.

“Female, if you continue agreeing with me
I’ll reluctantly be forced to like you.” Anthony’s determined
expression didn’t relax. He growled as if the thought repulsed
him.

Magda knew it would probably be the kindest
words she ever heard howled by her mate’s littermate.

“We are seeing your litter,” Ayden stated, as
if neither of them had just said no. “You know it might be the last
chance you get to be with them.”

“It’s not right to risk owl’s lives along
with our own by heading up the mountain range to spend time with
them. The owls can take a message to Katrin and Liesa, let them
know where we went and that we’re safe. And happy,” she added and
took his large, calloused hand in hers and squeezed.