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Gregori to one side. "I am Mikhail Dubrinsky and we are in your debt."

"I know who you are." She couldn't keep the bitterness from her voice. "I gave my aid freely to the child, and this man has more than repaid any debt owed to me." Farkas, on your feet now.

The wolf rose obediently and stumbled, nearly falling again. She cursed, knowing he was too weak to cross the distance on his own. She couldn't go back to her lair, not wounded and bleeding. She'd leave a blood trail in the sky. It wouldn't be visible, but the droplets could be scented and anyone who wished to could find her.

Gregori took a step closer and her other hand went to her holster. Ivory shook her head. "I do not wish to do battle with you, but if you insist, I will do so."

"I wish only to aid you."

"Do so by giving me free passage through your land. I will take my pack and go."

"You are a Carpathian woman without a lifemate and in need of our protection," Gregori said, his voice soft and compelling.

"I am an ancient warrior with a lifemate and I fight my own battles. I have no allegiance to your people and none to your prince. Know this, dark one-I will fight to the death to retain my freedom. I wish only to be left alone." She took another step back.

"If you leave without aid, you will be vulnerable to any attack," Gregori answered, his voice more gentle than ever. "As a Carpathian warrior, a male, the healer of our people, I cannot allow you to go without first seeing to your care."

Her sword swung up, her dark eyes catching fire even as despair swept through her. "Then know it will be a fight to the death. I want no help from you or from any of your people."

Her wolves spread out, even Farkas, facing the Carpathian males-enemies now-circling the men with teeth bared.

CHAPTER 4

Razvan came aware slowly. At first he thought he was dreaming, but dreams such as lying in soil had long ago disappeared from his imagination. He was certain though, absolutely certain, he could feel loam, rich in minerals, surrounding him like a warm comforting blanket, the earth cradling him, his body warm, hunger a distant memory. And that made no sense.

His eyes snapped open, power consuming him, shaking him, more than he'd ever imagined, more than he'd ever conceived of or dreamt. It ran through his body like a rising tidal wave, rushing through veins, pumping through his heart, exploding through organs and sinew until he was filled with power. Light radiated from his body as he burst through the layers of soil to the surface. Dirt geysered up, hitting the high rock ceiling above his head and spraying across the room.

He landed in a crouch, senses flaring out, scanning, his mind racing, trying to fit all the pieces of the puzzle together. He had escaped at last. His mind almost couldn't grasp the truth of it. He remembered running through the snow, shivering, his strength so far gone he couldn't control his body temperature, but he forced himself to keep going until he didn't have a single ounce of strength left. He had to get far enough away that Xavier and his servants wouldn't find him before the sun rose. The sun. Every Carpathian's last resort was to cleanse their soul with the bright white light. Even that had been denied him.

Xavier had been careless. Fear had been his downfall. Fear that if he fed Razvan too much, he would lose control of him, so the mage had forced his grandson to go for weeks without blood. Yet Xavier took from him daily-until finally Razvan was too weak and sick to stand, or to supply the greedy mage with the life-giving Carpathian fluid.

He remembered that empty, weak feeling, the near insanity of hunger, his body crying out, his teeth sharp and needy every moment that he was awake. Chained, he couldn't hunt for his own food. There were not even animals near to call to him. Every cell, every organ cried out, until his brain was nothing but a red haze of need. Now he felt only mildly hungry, not the constant gnawing hunger that had ruled his life for so many centuries.

He looked around him, realizing he was still deep beneath the earth, but it was warm. Somehow, glittering moonlight streamed in from above, yet he was deep beneath the