Page 21 of Her Wolf Protector

"You do not need my help, Tate Mortimer. Not in matters of the heart. What does your heart want?"

"I want...she's in heat, like an animal. Begging for release. The moment I catch her scent, she's all I want. And I know once we come together, I won't stop. But she's trapped as a wolf. If I got her pregnant...the birth would kill her. I can't be with her until she learns to shift back. Please, Ylva, you have to help me. I can't lose her."

"You don't need me. She's your mate. Her heart wants what it wants, and so does yours. Only you can save her. But you must go to her now. Time is short..." Ylva held out the cup.

The leaves had settled into a heart shape, around a red, round shape he couldn't quite make out. Was it a mushroom, or an apple? From one angle, it looked like an apple, but from another...

"Go now, Tate Mortimer. Or lose her forever."

Tate scrambled out of his seat, and bolted for the door.

As he drove off, he heard Ylva call after him, "Follow your heart, Enforcer."

By all the powers that be, he would.

EIGHTEEN

Daylight brought no relief. Again, Arwen awoke on the cold, tiled floor, with a cruel chain about her neck. Wolf Man's scent had faded.

Had he left her here to die, chained and alone? Instinct told her he would not be so cruel. No, if he had not returned, something terrible must have happened to him. He needed her!

Arwen scrambled for the door, but the chain would not let her reach it. So she sat down and howled. Long and loud so that they'd hear her in Glasgow. It had to be Ravenna. Well, she hoped Ravenna heard her howl and it struck fear into her breast. Fear that she'd be next, if she harmed a single head on Wolf Man's...anything.

She howled until no sound came out, and she was forced to lie down, panting. Now she wanted to stick her whole head in that stream outside and drink it dry. But she could not reach it. She was in a bathroom, but not even the damn toilet was in reach. And she might be an animal, but she was too much herself to drink out of a toilet bowl, even if she could reach it. The shower taps, though...

Arwen stretched up the wall, pawing at the tap. It was no good. She needed hands with thumbs to grasp the thing and turn...

A shiver ran through her body. Almost electric, like she'd touched a live wire and all two hundred and thirty volts were thrumming through her bloodstream. Like a heartbeat...

Her fingers scrabbled at the tap, her already torn nails breaking further.

And the chain. What had seemed heavy and choking if she pulled on it too hard before was burning against her skin. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. So thirsty...so weak...

Arwen slid down the wall, into a heap on the floor once more. Like someone had turned up the gravity and she couldn't get up. Couldn't keep her eyes open. Couldn't fight the...

Dark.

NINETEEN

Before the pickup door had slammed behind him, Tate had transformed into a wolf, streaking down the most direct trail to the cabin. The strongest scent on the trail was his own from the early hours of that morning, so whoever was after Arwen, they hadn't come this way. If it was that turkey vulture shifter or some other flyer...Tate put on an extra burst of speed, leaping over the stream to follow the deer trail that would get him to Tarn Cottage faster.

He flung open the door to the cottage, shifting before his forepaws could hit the floor. And there she was, collapsed on the tiles. Naked and barely breathing, with that damned chain still around her neck.

Carefully, he lifted the metal links, sliding it over her head until she was free. Then he gathered her unconscious body in his arms and carried her to bed.

She was cold to the touch, but the only injuries he could find were her dry, cracked lips, so he pulled the blankets up over her and fetched her a drink. A few drops of water, licked away with her pink tongue. Hope prickled in his chest. He helped her to sit up, and poured the water into her mouth. She drank, and she swallowed, but her eyes never opened. Barely alive, but alive nonetheless. He'd reached her in time.

But she was too cold. Lying naked on an unheated floor as the Scottish winter night approached could kill as surely as any poison. He needed to get her warm. So he climbed beneath the blankets with her, wrapped his body around hers, and begged the universe to let his mate live.

TWENTY

The dream came again. Wolf Man's body twined around hers. Only this time, when she reached for him, there was hot, hard muscle beneath her hands.

Then he said her name. "Arwen. My mate."

A sense of rightness thrummed through her. Yes. That was what the blood bond between them felt like. Fated mates, the stuff of fairytales. The holy grail Headmistress Laima claimed all Mirror Academy girls should strive for.

Well, she'd found hers. Claimed him, too. And then...