Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,111
of her mind was the knowledge that Annie needed them, that Alex waited for them, and after what felt like forever but probably lasted mere minutes, Lily slowly allowed her side of the link to fade.
Sebastian did the same, slipping out of her innermost thoughts, though the link didn’t close entirely. They were truly bonded. Finally she understood what her parents had found with one another.
She’d never felt a link so close, had never known such a feeling of satisfaction, of pure, unadulterated love. Sebastian’s love. She shifted, becoming human as quickly as Sebastian, and they lay there in the damp grass, staring at one another in the darkness.
A tiny sliver of moonlight reflected off his fascinating teal blue eyes, and the magnitude of their bonding was swamped by that stark reminder of the mission ahead of them. “The moon is rising over the ridge,” she said.
Sebastian nodded. “We need to hurry.”
She stood and gazed about her to get her bearings, but Sebastian was behind her, wrapping his big arms around her body, and kissing the side of her neck. “We have time. We’re not that far from the site,” he whispered. “Goddess, Lily. That was amazing. I was with you when you met the Ancient Ones. I know the Chanku history, just as they gave it to you. You have lived such an amazing life, it will take me months to assimilate all I’ve learned.”
He kissed her lips, sliding softly over her mouth, and his mind was open to hers, his thoughts cascading through her mind in a rainbow of images. His dreams for the two of them, for the children he hoped to have one day. His own family to love. “I’m so sorry we had to rush. I promise to make it up to you.”
She turned in his arms and kissed him hard and fast before whispering against his lips. “You’re damned right you’ll make it up to me. We’ve got a job to do, but I’m holding you to your promise, big guy. I love you, and right now you know me better than I know myself. Just as I know you, but when it comes to this ridge, I think you’re more familiar with the area than I am. What’s next?”
“Link with Alex. Find out if he’s heard from Annie. I’ll concentrate on Aldo. But, Lily? Be careful. He’s a dangerous man, and I don’t know anything at all about the rogues, what kind of control he’s got over them. They’re not quite human, even when they look human.”
She nodded and hugged him again. It was so hard not to touch him with the link still buzzing between them like an electrical charge, with arousal and desire and just plain old lust a living, breathing entity, but this was not the time. Then, just at the moment she prepared to shift, Alex’s voice popped into her head.
Lily. I see her! Rogues are carrying Annie out. She’s alive, but she’s not in my head. I can’t contact her. I don’t know what . . . shit! They’re tying her to the oak. Hurry, Lily. I don’t think we have much time.
17
Thank the goddess they’d taken her out of that damned sack, though what they had planned for her couldn’t be anything good. It was dark out, but Annie knew she was on the mountain not far from home. It smelled familiar, like home should smell, though the air was tainted with some kind of herbal stink, something she didn’t recognize.
The only ones around were more of those huge men, and two of them were carrying her. One held her arms, the other her feet, and it didn’t matter how much she tried to break out of their grasp, these jerks were strong. Annie fought them, anyway.
She’d tried shifting, but something blocked her so that she couldn’t find her wolf. That had never happened before. Since the very first time she’d shifted, when she was just a little girl, her wolf had answered. She’d even tried other creatures. None had responded. It felt as if part of her had died.
She was naked, and while no one had raped her, they’d had their filthy hands all over her body, pinching and poking, leering at her and making stupid threats. She’d ignored them. One thing she’d learned from some of the older women in the pack—evil men could do terrible things to a woman’s body, but they couldn’t touch her soul.