Bound in Death (Bound #5)(34)

“They have orders not to attack you.” Alerac’s curt voice. “Just to make sure that you’re safe.”

“Safe?” Her voice mocked the word as she glanced over her shoulder. “Or that I stay captive?” Her laugh was bitter. “I feel like a prisoner.” She rubbed her arms. “It’s a real familiar feeling.” She started walking then, heading toward the path that would take her back to the main house. “I don’t want to be followed any longer. Keep them back, Alerac!”

She could hear the footfalls from the wolves.

“Keep. Them. Back!”

She wanted to break and run. To head for that stream. But…not yet.

First she had to make sure that no one followed her. She stopped. Took a breath. Then looked back at the werewolf who seemed to be sinking his claws right into her heart. “It’s your land, right? Surely I’m safe here. I can manage a walk back to the house all by myself.”

He studied at her, his gaze unblinking.

Jane realized that she was holding her breath.

Then he inclined his head toward the wolves. “Go back to your other duties.”

They turned. Eased away.

She started walking again.

One foot.

In front of the other.

She headed into the woods. Kept her pace slow. Alerac would still be able to hear her footsteps. She had to wait. Had to plan her moment just right.

When it was safe, then she’d go to her brother.

***

“We should have killed him years ago.” Liam shook his head as his bones began to pop and stretch. The guy had to shift in order to heal his broken nose and his broken arm. “I told you again and again, the bastard deserves a good killing.”

But Alerac had never been able to end Ryan McDonough’s life. Because when he looked into Ryan’s eyes all he could think about was how much she loved her brother.

Even though that same brother had turned his back on her.

Her screams stopped.

Keira and Ryan had always shared a special connection. He should have known that Ryan was linked to her, even during her imprisonment. But if Ryan had been able to touch her thoughts then, why hadn’t he saved her? Why hadn’t he freed Keira?

Liam howled as he took the form of the beast. The others were gone, the small clearing empty. As for Jane…

He couldn’t hear the soft sound of her footsteps any longer.

He marched forward. She wanted a witch, and he’d given the order to acquire one. But now Alerac had to wonder if Jane truly needed those memories back. Her life before the imprisonment had been short, just twenty-five years of freedom. Then two hundred in hell. Why should she be forced to remember that imprisonment? Why couldn’t they just go forward?

The wind shifted, blowing against his face. A storm was coming. He could smell it in the air.

He could also smell Jane’s sweet scent. Only that scent wasn’t coming from the north, as it should have been.

The south.

His muscles locked. He inhaled again. His senses were the sharpest in the pack.

He focused, trying to hear—

Racing footsteps. Heaving breaths.

Jane was running from him. Again. A-f*ckin’-gain.

His hands fisted. She didn’t trust him. She’d given him her body, but that hadn’t been enough.

“Why?” The one word tore from him.

He didn’t move, though every part of him wanted to rush after her.

But maybe it was time he stopped chasing her. Jane was right. She wasn’t a possession. She was a person. And if he caged her, how was he any different than Lorcan?

Liam was shifting again behind him. Turning back into the form of a man. “Go…after her…” Liam managed.

“She’s running to her brother.” Obviously. The bond of blood. It was stronger than any bond he could forge with her. “It’s time he told her the truth, anyway.” No more f*cking lies or secrets. He was tired of them.

“Kill…him…” A barely human demand from Liam.

But Alerac shook his head. He could admit—to himself—that killing Ryan was beyond him. He could never be the one to take her brother’s life.

That was a sin that Jane would never forgive.

So he didn’t follow her toward the south. He began to walk back to his cabin. The home he’d foolishly made for her.

A home that was empty.

Liam didn’t follow him.

***

She ran frantically through the woods. Twigs snapped at her and scraped across her cheeks. She kept slipping in the dirt and on the roots, and Jane sure hoped that she was heading south.

Then she heard the faint rush of the stream. Yes. She burst from the bushes.

But Ryan wasn’t there.

The moonlight fell on the water, making it shine and glisten, as it tumbled through the rocks.

She looked to the left. To the right. “Ryan?” Jane called out. He should have been there.

She hadn’t heard his voice in her mind again. There was nothing in her mind but silence. Nothing around her but the rush of the stream.

The air was cold. The wind blew harder against her cheeks.

Jane knew she didn’t have much time. Alerac would realize that she wasn’t back at the cabin. He’d come after her.

A twig snapped behind her. Jane spun around.

No one was there.