Sasha hadn’t wanted to take Torin’s truck but she’d had no other choice, and she really needed to get out of there.  Torin’s wolf was a huge unknown for her. She had to question everything she had felt while imprisoned at his place.

A week later, and the truck was still sitting outside her house. Not exactly outside her house, but a little bit down the road but still near enough for her to see it. Torin still hadn’t come by to pick it up, even though she’d expected him to drop by almost as soon as he could to get the truck back.

Pacing the living room floor, with Bramble at her heels, Sasha bit her lip and tried to settle the growing anxiety in her chest. She just wanted this to be over. She wanted Torin to collect the truck so that she wouldn’t have to worry about seeing him again.

Or was it so that she could stop thinking about him?

Sighing, Sasha pushed one hand through her hair. This wasn’t what she’d expected to happen and even now, it didn’t make sense to her. She shouldn’t be having any kind of feelings for the man who had kidnapped her, even if she could understand why he’d done it.

The crazy wolf man, she thought to herself, shivering as she remembered how he’d changed directly in front of her. Even now she still could hardly believe she’d seen it. Torin had been so matter of fact when he’d talked to her about it, telling her how he could change from one form to another at will, and she’d just accepted it as though he was telling her something normal, like how he took his coffee, or how often he washed his bedding…or how often he thought about her…or jacked off while thinking about her… Get a grip, Sasha! You can NOT have him! He’s a fucking wolf, for god’s sake.

Maybe it was because her mind just couldn’t take it in, or maybe it was because she just couldn’t cope with trying to understand it after everything that had happened. At least it explained the bite marks on the victims, which had been the final, unexplained question she’d had about the whole case, even though Sasha knew she could never tell the rest of the officers about it. For one, they’d never believe her and, secondly, Torin had specifically asked her not to, and Sasha intended to keep her word.

There she was, thinking about Torin again.

“What am I doing?” she muttered to herself, her eyes straying to the truck once more. “Why do I care about seeing him again?”

Marching into the kitchen, Sasha set about trying to make herself a fresh pot of coffee instead of just pacing up and down, waiting to see if this was the day Torin would arrive for his truck. Was she really that desperate to see him again, even if it was only through the window?

Shaking her head to herself, she tried to come to grips with her reactions that night. First, the earth shattering orgasm she’d had (with just his fingers, she reminded herself balefully), and then her panicked response to seeing his wolf in his eyes. She hadn’t realized just how much she’d wanted him until he’d kissed her. The minute his lips had touched hers, her body had burned with raw passion. Every single thought had left her head, every worry and anxiety over what she was doing, had disappeared in an instant when he had touched her.

And then she’d left. Or rather, she’d fled. She had to admit to a little shame when she thought of her reaction. She had always seen herself as both strong, and open. How could she have panicked? It wasn’t like she didn’t know what was happening when his eyes had glowed. But she couldn’t shake the fear she had experienced when his brother’s eyes had done the same thing. Would Torin be able to control his wolf? Or would her become a crazed killer like his brother?

And now, a week later, she still couldn’t get Torin from her mind. It wasn’t that her fear still upset her, it was that she simply couldn’t stop thinking about him. She’d catch herself wondering how he was doing, whether his wounds had healed and if the haunted look had left his eyes. Sometimes in the evening, when she was drinking a glass of wine, she’d think of him and how he’d sat opposite her with his glass of whisky, his dark eyes never leaving hers – and a deep sadness had welled up inside her and she realized, much to her surprise, that she missed him. She missed his company, his conversation. She missed how he had begun to change right in front of her eyes, turning into a vulnerable, sensitive man instead of the angry, vicious beast he’d once been.

And, she had realized, that he must have an iron control over his wolf. Otherwise, there would have been a rash of murders in and around her area consistently throughout the years. The clan had been there for as long as records had been kept in the region, yet no other unexplained murders or missing persons had ever been documented here. To all eyes, this area was one of the safest in the country.

It was foolish, she knew, but yet these feelings of yearning wouldn’t leave her be. In fact, they tormented her.

“What should I do, Bramble?” she murmured, fixing her coffee and wandering back towards the window. “Do I expect him just to knock at the door and tell me that he wants to see where this is going?” She snorted to herself, knowing she had killed any chance of that happening when she had run out, acting as if he was trying to murder her. Rolling her eyes at her question, her heart jumped in her chest as she saw someone moving towards the house.

Her coffee sloshed dangerously to one side of her mug as she moved quickly towards the window, wondering who on earth it could be. Her heart began to quicken in anticipation of seeing Torin – only to realize, with abject horror, that it wasn’t Torin. It was James.

The coffee mug fell to the floor, spilling all over the carpet as Sasha ran to the front door, praying she’d locked it. It wasn’t her usual habit to lock the doors during the day, since she lived so far out on her own and most people who came and went from her road she knew very well. It was one of the things about living in the Scottish Highlands that she’d come to appreciate – but that wasn’t going to help her now.

She reached for the door handle just as a huge force to slammed against it, knocking her to the ground. James came around the edge of the door, a sneer on his face as he looked down at her. She kicked out, catching him in the knee. It crunched under the force of her kick. He staggered back, just outside her front door and fell down the front step. Sasha, seeing her chance, scrambled to her feet and slammed the door shut, her fingers shaking as she tried to turn the key in the lock.

It turned just as he slammed his body into the door, making her jump back in alarm. He can’t get in, he can’t get in, she repeated to herself. The back door and all of the windows were locked, she was sure.

But that meant she was trapped in her own home. And if she called the police, then she’d have to explain to them who James was and why he was trying to attack her. Everything would come out. Torin would be arrested and his entire life would be shattered.

She couldn’t do that to him.

So what was she going to do about James? Sasha paused, her breath coming quickly as she waited for him to do something. Everything was quiet. There were no footsteps, no shouting, no thumping on her door. Everything was just…. silent.

“You forgot to lock your back door.”

Sasha screamed loudly as James grabbed her arms, his evil grin widening.

“You’re coming with me, Sasha,” he said, his eyes focused and dark with malice.  “It’ll be you or his leadership. One way or another, he’ll have to choose and I don’t think we have any doubt as to what he’ll pick.”

Sasha heard Bramble begin to bark, lunging at James aggressively. James simply kicked out, punting the poor dog, who landed hard against the table and stayed down, whining pitifully. Struggling desperately against James, Sasha tried her best to get away from him, but he overpowered her easily.

“Out we go,” he muttered, pulling out a long, thin blade and casually waving it at her as he held her immobile. “No nonsense now, Sasha. I think you know I won’t be afraid to use this.”

He pushed her roughly to the ground, forcing her onto her back. He placed his knee across her hip bones and held the knife to her throat. “Hold your hands out,” he ordered.

Sasha swallowed hard and stopped struggling, holding out her hands reluctantly.

Torin had always battled with himself when it had come to hurting her, but James, she knew, would act without hesitation. He wouldn’t care about hurting her – or even killing her. It was clear he would use her in whatever way he wanted – and right now, that was to get Torin out of the way.

After being led out of the house and forced into his car, Sasha stared blankly out of the window, focusing her thoughts on Torin. Her mind screamed in torment with thoughts of James slicing both of them to ribbons, or seeing Torin in a pool of blood, unable to help him. Her training as a police officer wasn’t as effective when her emotions were involved. It was hard to even think clearly.

“Not long now,” James chuckled, the knife resting on his lap, the blade towards her. “It looks like you’re finally going to prove yourself useful, Sasha.”

Torin muttered darkly as he refilled his whisky glass. He’d done nothing but go to work, come home and drink ever since Sasha had left. The rest of the pack had left him well enough alone, given that he’d had a straight out talk with them all about Thomas. Every word he’d said had been like a dagger piercing through his skin but he’d had to do it. The horror in their eyes had been echoed in his own heart.

He’d been honest with them about everything. He’d told them about Sasha and about James, including the reason why he’d banished James from their pack. They all seemed to understand, or maybe it was just the shock of hearing it all that had rendered them all speechless.

Regardless, he’d had several encouraging words murmured to him, a few handshakes and even a couple of hugs from some of the females in his pack, but nothing had really soothed his heart. He missed Sasha. As strange as it sounded, he missed the woman he’d once blamed for his brother’s death.

He couldn’t get her out of his mind.

He had to go and get his truck at some point but he’d kept putting it off, not sure he could even face her. The way they’d parted was not really conducive to him just showing up at her place to ask how she had been doing. 

His heart ached for her, despite feeling things he’d never thought he’d feel – especially for someone of her species. After all, she was a human and he was a shifter. Shifters were meant to mate with shifters, fall in love with shifters, marry shifters. Getting involved with a human was dangerous ground, even if she knew about his abilities.

The rest of the pack hadn’t liked that James had shifted in front of Sasha, which just proved Torin’s decision to send him away to be the right one. He’d reassured them all that Sasha wasn’t going to tell anyone about what had happened, although he’d found it difficult to explain why she wasn’t going to say anything. He wasn’t sure he really understood her reasons either, although he appreciated her silence more than he could say.

“To-rin!”

A sing song voice caught his ears as a ripple of disquiet ran down his spine. Moving to the window, he heard the voice again – only to see James standing outside with Sasha to his left.

Sasha! She was leaning away from James, her hands bound and eyes wide with fright. James was flashing a knife around in his hand, the other hand holding onto Sasha’s arm tightly.

Torin’s heart leapt in his chest, his wolf trying to rise to the surface and tear James apart. Mine! His wolf howled.  Torin clamped down on his control, knowing that dealing with James was going to require both control and ultimately, deadly violence.

He drew in a few deep breaths and focused his thoughts on his pack. Closing his eyes, he called them to his house, his thoughts filtering easily into their minds. This wasn’t a fight he was going to do alone, not when Sasha’s safety was involved.

And whatever James was doing, this didn’t bode well for anyone.