“Then my pack will die, and it won’t matter.”
Her heart froze. “What?” She didn’t want that kind of responsibility. Nothing in her career had been about life and death.
“You’ll see when we get there.” He scratched his feral chin with a sharp claw. “We don’t have much, except a safe home to offer. If you’re unhappy, I won’t stop you from returning to the Payami.”
“What if I want to stay with Benic?”
“You’d be a fool, and I don’t get that impression. Vampires live off others. Once you have no use, he will discard you.” Sorin stretched his arms and back as if relieving cramps. His muscles slid under his fur, luring her eyes like a magnet.
She pried her gaze off him. The basics of survival were food, shelter and warmth. Without a match and a bottle of lighter fluid, she couldn’t even make a fire.
“Your way home is gone, and you need a new one. You’ll also have to learn pack customs and laws.”
“Within reason, I’m willing to do that. I won’t be abused.”
“Abused? My pack is the last place to worry about that.” He shook his head.
“I need to clarify our deal.” Her mistakes with Technocon were still fresh in her mind. She wouldn’t make an encore performance by blindly accepting agreements. Even if Sorin held the things she wanted. “I won’t be raped or used as a slave.” She counted her demands off on her fingers. “No beatings. I can’t eat raw meat, insects or rotten food.” She stepped closer to him and offered her wrist. “And you need to mark me to keep the males away.”
He bared his teeth. It didn’t give her any warm fuzzies. The long, sharp canines could rip her throat out in one bite.
“That kind of attitude will make it difficult for you to fit in with the omegas and most likely attract unwanted attention from the hunters.” He took her hand. “A temporary mark only. We need to wash Ahote’s off you first when we reach a stream. You will you get a permanent home in my den, but once my mark wears off you’ll have to fight for your own spot within the pack. I don’t keep favorites.” Yanking her into his arms, he settled her on his back once more.
“I have legs, you know.”
“We still have a long way to run, and you won’t be able to keep up. Hold tight.”
Chapter Eleven
Sorin shook his mane and let it settle around his shoulders. Once he’d caught his breath after his climb with Susan, he had continued his journey home. Unlike the Payami’s, the Apisi den lay at the other end of his land from the Temple border. He had to cross through a mountain pass to reach it. Thank what little luck he owned that it wasn’t winter.
Rolling his head, he tried stretching the kink out of his neck. Susan’s added weight had placed quite a strain on his already overtaxed body. Lack of sleep and food had left him drained prior to the Payami guards beating him, but every moment away from his sick pack sat heavier on his soul and drove him to keep moving.
After cresting the pass, Sorin paused for another rest. He sat on his haunches. Pinks and corals colored the sky as the sun began to set. The black outline of the branches from the forest rose in worship as Sorin took a sparse minute to rest and appreciate the view before descending the mountain pass to his den.
“There’s water.” He pointed to the mountain wall, where a well-known spring leaked out the side and trickled into a stream not far away. “We’ll rest here for a moment.”
Susan seized handfuls of his fur and pressed against him as if she were growing to his spine. The scent of her fear filled his nose. She tried to control it. He could tell by the way it fluctuated, but it had been growing worse the higher they climbed.
“Let go.” He twitched the muscles on his back and slid her toward his hips. “I’d like to keep my fur attached to my skin.”
With a gasp, she climbed back up. “Stop that. You’re going to drop me.”
“To the ground? Yes. It’s not like we’re hanging off the cliff, Susan. It’s just a pass.” He grinned as her fists tightened in his fur. Definitely not the spirit of an omega in this one—it would take a strong hunter to tame her.
“I’d hate to see your version of a mountainside.” The sweet scent of her sweat coated his nose. It mixed with Ahote’s mark and soured his stomach. The thought of that male touching his strong and innocent Susan raised his hackles. If he ever crossed path with Ahote again, there’d be blood.
He let her press to his back and strode to the spring. Careful not to allow her to pull any chunks from his hide, he reached behind him and pried her hand from his fur.
“What are you doing?” Her voice rose.
“Washing this mark off.” He leaned forward so the water could pour over her wrist and rubbed the area with his thumb. It didn’t take much work. The oily substance of Ahote’s temporary mark washed away easily. That would be the last time he’d ever allow Ahote anywhere near her.
Wind dried her skin quickly, and he brought her delicate wrist to the glands under his jaw by his ear. He’d never marked a female before. Something in his stomach fluttered. Technically, she’d belong to him. He glanced over his shoulder and met her big, brown eyes. Rubbing her soft skin over the gland, he scent marked her. No hunter would proposition her while she wore this.
That would be good. He didn’t want to watch his hunters courting her. It would lead to bloodshed. “There. You belong to me now.”
She tried to withdraw her hand but he wouldn’t let go. “Stop it.” She wrapped her legs around him even tighter as he tried to coax her off his back again. Dark Moon, when was the last time any female had clung to him like this?
“Let go of me.” He laughed as he tried to dislodge her. “You’re like a leech. Get off. I’m holding onto you.” The laugh cleared his head and eased some of his pain.
“No.” She buried her face in his fur. “I’m fine right where I am.”
Until now he hadn’t really noticed how lithe her body felt against his. He needed a rest from her touch before he did something stupid, like claim her. Once they reached his den he’d have to soak in the cold river and forget Susan. “Goddess, save me from stubborn fools.” He bent forward and grabbed both her arms. With one sharp yank, he pulled her free.
Like the parasite he’d named her, she wrapped her limbs around his arm as he set her feet on the ground.
He stroked her long, tangled hair before guiding her in front of him then turned her to face his valley. “I’ve got you, little leech. Relax.” He glanced at her face to experience her first reaction to his beautiful home and let out a frustrated snarl. “Open your eyes and look at the view.”
It took all Susan’s courage to do as he asked. The climb had been the last straw. After the last twenty-four hours she’d finally unhinged. Sorin’s presence was the only thing keeping her sanity intact. She cracked open her eyes.
For once the height of where she stood did not flood her senses. Instead the view held her in rapture. A small, emerald-green forest covered the valley snuggled between the mountains. Sun gleamed off the snow of the highest peaks, and a lazy river cut through the trees.
“My den lies east of the river where it bends close to the mountains. Hot springs feed the river from there.” He turned his head so she could see his feral profile. Bestial in appearance, yet the longing on his face was very civil.
“Do you live in a volcano like the Payami?”
“No, my people aren’t crazy. We live in a small canyon.” He continued to pet her head in slow, soothing strokes, his deep voice a coat of honey on her frayed nerves.