Dark Celebration

Skyler sat on the railing of the porch and stared out into the glistening world of white. Pain vibrated through her body-through her very soul, until she felt so weighed down by it she could barely breathe. Inside the house she could hear Gabriel and Francesca laughing as they played with Baby Tamara. Every now and then she felt their light touch, as they assured themselves that she was close by.

She made certain that they only touched the surface she presented to them, a teenage girl in a strange, exciting new place looking forward to a Christmas celebration. The Carpathian blood they'd shared with her made the facade easier, and a lifetime of hiding her emotions from others made the task simple.

She bit hard at her lower lip and studied her long fingernails. She bit them all the time, but they grew back quickly, stronger and better than ever thanks to the Carpathian blood Gabriel and Francesca had shared with her. She still couldn't touch people without reading their emotions. If anything the blood had enhanced her abilities, and it could be dreadfully uncomfortable. She disliked attending school, and preferred the tutors Francesca provided, although she knew her adopted parents thought she needed the company of younger people. She didn't. She needed to be alone.

"Skyler? Are you all right?"

The male voice jerked her head up. Josef stood in front of the railing, hands jammed in his pockets.

Biting down hard on her lower lip, she was careful not to let the misery show on her face. The pain was making her sick to her stomach. Even her vision seemed blurry. "Sure." She could barely manage to get the word out, and she didn't bother trying to flash him a false, cheery smile.

This wasn't her pain. Somewhere out there in the forest, the man who claimed to be her lifemate was suffering agonies. She wanted to ignore it, but she couldn't. Guilt clawed at her insides. She knew pain intimately-and despair. In spite of everything, she was intrigued with the man. He was way old, of course. And too dominating. He would definitely expect her to obey him, and that wasn't her style at all. She conformed to the wishes of Francesca and Gabriel because she loved them, not because she had to.

"Skyler." Josef's voice broke again into her thoughts. He hopped onto the rail and crouched close to her. "Look at me."

"Why?"

He dragged a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped her face. "You have little drops of

blood on your forehead." He pretended not to notice when she winced away from him, refusing to allow his fingers to brush her skin. He simply wiped, careful not to touch her, and drew back to huff out a long stream of air. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." How could he not feel it? How could Francesca and Gabriel not feel the pain and sorrow weighing so heavily in the forest? The wolves did. She could hear them off in the distance, their mournful song filled with sadness and distress. Didn't Josef at least hear the animals?

Skyler wiped her hand over her face, as if she could draw a veil over the truth. That man, so invincible-looking, so stern and cold and bleak, a man with ice in his veins and death in his eyes, had looked at her-looked right through her-and touched her somewhere no one else had ever been. She pressed her hand hard against her aching heart. It hurt. It shouldn't, but the feeling was like a vise squeezing with a steady, relentless pressure.

"It isn't 'nothing' when you're sweating blood, Skyler. We're friends, aren't we? You can tell me what's wrong."

Skyler didn't know if she had friends. She trusted her adopted parents and Lucian and Jaxon. Other than that, she never allowed herself to be alone with anyone. Francesca thought time was going to heal her, but Skyler doubted it. In order to preserve her spirit¨C her sanity, she had retreated from the world as a child, and perhaps she'd stayed away too long. She didn't know how to be a friend-or a partner.

"Yes, of course we're friends," she said, giving the obligatory answer. Over the years she'd found if she just said what people expected to hear, they went away happy and left her in peace.

Josef relaxed visibly. "Why didn't you come over to Aidan's and play the new video game? It's way cool."

"I was helping Francesca make the gingerbread houses for tonight." She wrapped her arms around herself protectively.

"Antonietta's making some cool thing for this dinner tonight. You should come over and help. I'm heading back there now."

"I've met you a dozen times already and know you from online, but haven't met Antonietta. It's intimidating to think about meeting her. She's so famous."

"She can play the piano," Josef conceded, "but she isn't stuck up or anything. She was blind before she was with Byron, but I don't think she sees much better even now." He grinned, white teeth flashing against the dark outline he used around his lips drawing attention to his tongue-piercing as well as the hoop in his lip.

"I thought when one is converted, all the scars and imperfections disappear." She touched the crescent-shaped scar on her face. "And how can you be pierced? Doesn't your body heal

itself?"

Josef sighed. "It's a real fight," he conceded. "I don't wear them most of the time because the holes are always closing up within minutes, but I have to keep up my rep, so I just concentrate on it all the time around everybody and I can keep the piercing with no problem."

"Is that why the skin's grown over the diamond on your nose?" Skyler asked, rubbing her chin along the top of her drawn-up knees. She stared out into the sparkling white world. It seemed a fairy tale, all crystal and ice. Cold-like she was. She closed her eyes briefly against the sorrow pressing down on her, trying to listen to the wolves, trying to sort out their song. She'd always loved them, always had such an affinity for them, and now the sound called to something lonely and primal in her.

Josef clapped his hand over his nose. "Not again! I hope it wasn't like that when the prince saw me." He regarded her with a narrowed gaze. "You are coming over, aren't you? Antonietta's really nice. Byron is too, but he doesn't want me to know he is."

Skyler shook her head. "I can't right now. I'll catch up to you later." She needed to be alone, to think things through for herself. She liked Josef, but he was a distraction and he didn't have a clue that she was upset. Dimitri would have known. The thought came unbidden and filled her with shame-with regret. With anger.

"Come on, Skyler, don't be a big baby. Just because your parents think you need a babysitter doesn't mean you can't come with me. I'm over twenty-one."

She glared at him. "Really? I thought you were Joshua's age. You aren't going to goad me into doing something wrong, Josef." Which made her feel even guiltier. He might not be able to goad her, but she intended to disobey her parents. The terrible weight in her chest pressed harder, the sorrow nearly choking her. She had to make it stop-make Dimitri understand it wasn't about him or her rejection of him. It wasn't personal. She would have rejected anyone. He had to move on.

"You're just angry because I made fun of you having to wait for an adult before you could walk home," he said. "I was only teasing you. There's no need to be upset."

"I'm not a baby," she snapped, pressing both hands into her wildly churning stomach. Maybe if she threw up on him he'd go away. "You didn't have to tease me."

"Sure I did. That's what friends do."

That brought her up short. They were friends-of a sort. She liked Josef. She just didn't like being alone with him-with any man. With anyone. She swept one hand through her hair and tried not to cry.

Josef, reading her expression, tried again. "The prince came by while I was at Aidan and Alexandria's and he said he was going to have Gregori play Santa Claus tonight. Man, that's

gonna freak out all the kids. It ought to be fun."

"Freaking out a bunch of little kids isn't funny, Josef. Especially not when it comes to Santa Claus. You could traumatize them."

"You're beginning to sound more and more like Francesca." He didn't make it sound as though he was complimenting her. "I'm not traumatizing them. Gregori is-and I didn't choose him-the prince did."

"Tonight, make sure you don't help scare the children, especially Tamara."

They glared at one another for a long moment in silence. When Josef went to turn away with a sullen expression, she cleared her throat. "Can you shapeshift?"

He puffed out his chest. "Of course."

She glanced toward the house. "Do you think someone who is only part Carpathian can actually shapeshift?" She avoided his gaze by rubbing her chin thoughtfully on her knees as if in deep contemplation. Josef might act like a dork around adults, but he was as sharp as a tack and he might be able to read her expression.

"Well..." He frowned. "That's a good question. Natalya turned into a tiger, which was very cool by the way, but I've never heard any of the adults mention anyone else who could do it."

"How do you shift?"

He shook his head. "Don't even think about it, Skyler. It isn't that easy. I practice all the time and I still make mistakes."

"You don't practice all the time. You play video games all the time." With another surreptitious glance toward the house, she slid off the rail into the snow. Unlike Josef, she couldn't regulate her body temperature and she was stiff from sitting on the railing with the cold wind adding to her chill. At least it had stopped snowing-she glanced up at the ominous sky, laden with heavy clouds-for the moment.

Josef scowled at her. "Hey! I can shift. Watch this." He backed up a few steps and stood, arms out. Feathers began to sprout over his body, his face reshaping several times until he had facial discs-dusky white with gray-brown mottling bordered by black. His irises turned a bright yellow, and his developing bill was gray-green with tufts of bristly feathers around its base. His body compacted, shifted, slowly shrinking with a few stops and starts until he was sitting in the snow in the perfect form of a very small owl. The body of the owl was gray-brown with an intricate pattern of stripes and bars and even spots in places. It sat very still, the body so small she was really awed that Josef had managed. The large eyes blinked up at her.

Skyler walked around the tiny creature. "Amazing, Josef. How did you get it so tiny?

Can you actually fly? Or should I just have you stuffed for ornamental purposes?"

The owl issued a whiny note and hopped several times, wings extending and flapping until it awkwardly took to the air. Josef flew around her several times, rose higher and darted back, straight at her head.

Skyler threw up her hands and ran out into the snow, scooping snow from the edge of the porch to fling it at the errant bird. "Stop it, that's not funny, Josef."

The bird rose again and circled her, once again building speed for the attack. Skyler ran back toward the house, close to the structure as the bird rushed her. She ducked and covered her head just as Josef swooped on her. The little screech owl hit the side of the house and fell like a stone onto the ground. The bird lay perfectly still, its little feet pointed straight up, just like a cartoon.

Skyler let her breath out in a slow hiss of displeasure. "That's not funny, Josef. Get up." There was an ominous silence. She lifted her head and took a step toward him. If he was trying to scare her-as usual-she was going to wring his neck. The little owl remained motionless, feet stiff. Her hand fluttered to her throat as fear crept in. She was afraid to move, afraid to examine the small little creature.

"Josef!" She hurried over, dropping to her knees in the snow to reach for the screech owl. Just as she went to lift it, the huge eyes popped open, the bill yawning wide and wings flapping. Skyler couldn't stop the startled scream that escaped.

"Gotcha!" Josef sat up laughing.

Skyler leapt to her feet, her heart pounding. She wanted to smash something over his head and she never had violent tendencies-well, almost never. Josef just brought out the worst in her. He loved pranks and she seemed a great target. "You're not funny."

The smile faded from his face. "What's wrong with you lately, Skyler? Screech owls often fly into things and knock themselves silly. People think they're dead, but they're just out. I read about it and thought it would make you smile. Honestly, you're no fun." He jumped up and backed away from her. "We're not grown up yet. There's nothing wrong with laughing about stuff."

He walked off without a backward glance. She told herself she was glad to see him go¨C that he was being ridiculous, but inside the loneliness grew stronger. She didn't laugh like other kids-she didn't know how. Online, when she talked to Josef, she could be different, be someone else. No one could see her or touch her and she could just relax and have fun. But here... everyone was too close. She could feel every emotion, and it ripped at her skin and clawed at her heart until she felt so raw she thought she might just cease to exist. Sometimes, even the earth seemed to scream in pain at her.

In the distance, a lone wolf howled mournfully. The single drawn out note struck at her.

The wolf was as lonely as she was. She reached up to wrap her fingers around the pendant lying between her breasts. Suddenly, it felt warm instead of icy cold, almost pulsing in her hand. She knew better. She was going to get in such trouble if Gabriel and Francesca discovered she'd taken off again, but she had to go. She couldn't stop herself.

Skyler drew her white, fur-lined parka around her and took off at a light jog in the direction from which she'd heard the wolf. Was it Dimitri? Her heart jumped at the thought. His eyes had been so blue-so intense-and so filled with pain. She knew pain intimately ¨Cshe knew people. They hid terrible inclinations, terrible secrets beneath falsely smiling faces. Was she any better than the rest of them, leaving the man to suffer because she was afraid?

She shivered in spite of her jacket. Gabriel would be furious with her and she didn't like it when he was really angry. Mostly he just gave her a look, but if he was angry, he insisted on punishing her. That usually meant she had to spend time with other kids. For others, it would have been easy, but it was always the most dreaded of all retributions. Her feet dragged in the snow and she halted, glancing back in the direction of the house. She couldn't see it anymore, having entered into the tree line. The wolf howled again, a plaintive note this time, as if he too searched for answers.

Skyler squared her shoulders and set out once again, picking her away through the snow drifts as she tried to follow a shallow trail that wound along the streambed. The tip of her nose grew cold along with her ears. She pulled the hood closer around her, trying to keep the cold out. It was impossible. She stumbled and nearly fell. The abrupt action rattled her enough that she shook her head hard, trying to clear out the soft pitiful cries of the wolf that just wouldn't let go of her.

For so long she'd thought her answer was to live in the Carpathian world, but she'd realized she couldn't relate any better there than in the human world. She brushed at the tears that should have been in her eyes, only there were none there. She felt them burning deep inside, locked away like her memories. Only Francesca and Gabriel seemed to be able to accept her with all of her differences-all of her shortcomings. She was never going to overcome her past-or her psychic abilities. She might have more control than she used to, thanks to her adopted parents, but it wasn't enough to allow her to be like other people.

She tripped on a branch buried in the snow, and glanced around astonished to realize she had been walking the entire time and had no idea where she was. She turned in a circle frowning. Which way was home? She could call out to Gabriel, but he'd be furious with her. It would be so much better to find her own way home. He'd still be upset with her when he found out, but his anger would be somewhat tempered by the fact that she was safe.

An almost humanlike scream of agony shattered the silence sending chills down her spine. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, blood nearly freezing in her veins. She gasped for breath, looking wildly around. It was close, so close she could hear the accompanying snarling and snapping of a wolf in distress. Propelled by something outside herself, Skyler ran, allowing the reverberation of the struggle to guide her.

Beneath a large misshapen tree a huge male wolf, reddish in color, fought with the clawed vise clamped around his leg. Blood sprayed across the snow, and the wolf chewed at his own paw in an effort to free himself. As she skidded to a halt, the creature whirled around to face the new threat, lips drawn back in a vicious snarl, yellow eyes gleaming with malice as he warned her off.

Skyler backed away, keeping a safe distance as the animal lunged at her. The trap brought him up short and he yelped, spun and bit at his leg again, before whirling to keep a wary eye on her. His sides heaved and sweat made his fur even darker. His entire body shuddered. She could feel the pain rolling off him in waves. It wasn't Dimitri. The wolf couldn't be a shapeshifter or he would have freed himself. It was truly a wild animal caught in a vicious snare. Looking into his eyes, she realized his freedom was gone, but his spirit refused to surrender. He snarled at her continually, showing his teeth, salvia dripping from his mouth, and all the while, his yellow eyes never left her face.

Had she already given up when this magnificent animal held on valiantly? When it was willing to chew off its own paw to survive? Skyler couldn't turn away from the beast, her compassion rising quickly. She held up one hand, palm outward. "Just relax," she soothed, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. She drew in a deep breath and let it out.

The wolf rumbled deep in its throat, but stopped growling. She nodded as if they were conversing. "That's it. That's good." Sometimes she could hold an animal, even a wild one, while she checked injuries, but she'd never tried to hold a wolf to her. It took a touching of two spirits, and that was never easy in the best of times. She concentrated on the animal, calling silently, relentlessly, to the very essence of the beast.

The wolf grew silent, staring at her with intent eyes. She stepped closer, feeling the warming tingle that always spread throughout her body and mind before she connected solidly. Her stomach unexpectedly knotted and her throat burned. There was a bitter taste in her mouth. A shadow slipped against her spirit, something oily, slimy and evil. Her soul shuddered and drew back.

Horrified, Skyler lifted her head to stare at the wolf. She saw the paw reshaping, the animal's body twisting and contorting, the muzzle elongating into a hideous bullet head sitting atop something half human and half wolf The mouth pulled wide in a parody of a smile showing stained, pointy teeth.

Her breath froze in her lungs. She couldn't move, couldn't form the thought to call Francesca or Gabriel. She could only stand there waiting for death to come for her.

A large black wolf burst from the trees, running full out, using ground-eating leaps that covered several feet at a time. The animal struck her with its shoulder, driving her away from the vampire. Ice-blue eyes burned with glacier cold as the black wolf whirled in midair and sprang for the throat of the shifting vampire. Heavily muscled, the wolf drove the creature backward before it had a chance to change fully into one form or the other. Powerful jaws clamped around the exposed throat and tore.

Look the other way.

The orders rang sharp and clear inside Skyler's mind. She squeezed her eyes shut tight, but that didn't begin to drown out the sound of ripping flesh, high-pitched screams and the snarls and growls of the undead. The voice slashed at her brain, cutting deep. She felt droplets like white-hot cinders burn through her gloves and skin to her very bones. It was impossible to keep the small cry of startled pain from escaping.

The snarls grew louder, the shrieks more violent and terrible. Skyler covered her face with her hands to try to keep from looking, but she couldn't stop the morbid terror and spread her fingers enough to peek through. Dimitri was once again a man-no-not a man. He was fully a Carpathian warrior, his eyes blazing with fury, his mouth drawn into a cruel, merciless line. Muscles rippled in his back and bulged in his arms as he slammed his fist through the vampire's chest and wrapped his fingers around the blackened, wizened heart. There was a terrible sucking sound and the shriek rose higher. Blood sprayed in a black arc. Skyler's hands protected her face, but this time blood splattered across the backs of her gloves, melting the material and skin instantly.

Skyler gasped with pain and pushed both hands into the snow, staring in horror as Dimitri extracted the heart and tossed it some distance from the vampire. The undead clawed and bit, fighting viciously, tearing deep lacerations in Dimitri's skin. Acid burns streaked the hunter's neck, chest and arms as he called up a storm and lightning sizzled and crackled overhead.

Movement caught her eye, and Skyler turned away from the mesmerizing sight of a vampire to see the blackened heart wiggling across the snow-covered ground in an effort to get back to its master. As it rolled along the path back toward its master, the heart drew close to her hands buried in the snow. With a cry of terror she dragged her hands clear, turned away and was sick, her stomach heaving in protest at the abomination.

A whip of lightning streaked from the sky to incinerate the heart. The lightning separated at the last moment, forming two tendrils to strike at the vampire while it also hit the heart. Noxious fumes filled the air and black smoke rose, along with the wailing shriek that faded along with the vapor.

In the ensuing silence, Skyler heard her heart thundering overly loud in her ears. She lifted her face to meet Dimitri's eyes, and her heart abruptly skipped a beat. He looked so strong-so invincible. His eyes were so cold, so blue, yet they burned through her skin to her bones, branding her. He moved and she blinked, the mesmerizing spell broken. Skyler backed away from him, his anger washing over her in waves. The force was so powerful she hunched, nearly driven to her knees. A sound of distress escaped her throat, instantly drawing his intent gaze to her pounding pulse.

At once the anger was gone. He held out his hand. "Come here to me. You're injured. Don't be afraid, Skyler. I couldn't harm you, no matter the circumstances."

She swallowed hard and stepped back another step, her mouth going dry as he crooked his finger at her. Why couldn't she scream for Gabriel or Francesca? They were her lifelines when terror invaded and her spirit retreated. Physically, she was incapable of running away from him. She had learned a long time ago that all that brought was swift reprisal. She could be beaten into physical submission, but her mind could go where no other could follow. She could stay safe, huddled far away in a place inside her mind.

Dimitri could see stark fear in his lifemate's eyes. Every vestige of color drained from her face, leaving her so pale her skin looked translucent. The anger he was holding in check receded as protective instincts he didn't know he had rose sharp and fast. He wanted to gather her into his arms and shelter her there, but he could actually feel her soul shying away from the wild need in his. He had never imagined anyone could be so fragile. Approaching her called for a finesse he wasn't certain he possessed.

"Listen to me, little one." He made a supreme effort to gentle his voice. He was rarely around people and his throat felt rusty. "You shouldn't have had to witness that. The killing of a vampire is always a messy and violent business. I want only to heal the burns on your skin. Will you allow me to do so?"

She didn't answer, simply stared at him numbly.

His heart shifted in his chest. "If I frighten you too badly, I will call Francesca to you. She is a great healer, but it must be done soon. Vampire blood burns like acid. This one had recently turned or it wouldn't have been so easy to..." He hesitated wanting to avoid the word "kill." "Destroy."

Skyler swallowed several times. "How?" The word came out barely a whisper.

He touched her mind, found her hands throbbed and burned. She looked as if she might faint, even felt faint in her mind.

"It won't hurt. I'll be very careful."

She took a deep breath as she lifted her chin and forced herself to take a step toward him. Her body trembled visibly. He could see the effort cost her dearly, but he was proud of her for the attempt. He didn't make the mistake of going to her. He was too tall, towering over her diminutive frame, and he knew it would only frighten her more if he moved. He waited, holding his breath still in his lungs, regulating his heartbeat to hers in an effort to help steady her. She took a second step and then a third, reaching out with both hands so he could see the streaks of acid burn where the vampire's blood had melted the material of her gloves. Her hands shook as she placed them in his open palms.

"Would you rather I call Francesca?"

She shook her head. "They don't know I followed the call of the wolf. They'll be angry with me." She raised her eyes to his. "Disappointed in me."

His call. Inwardly, Dimitri swore. He had not bound her to him, but his blood-his heart ¨Chis very soul called to hers. Of course she had answered. No lifemate could resist her other half in need. And he needed her desperately. He closed his fingers around hers.

"I'll do this then. I cannot call down the lightning as you are not fully Carpathian, so I must use my own healing powers. It can feel-intimate. You'll have to trust that I am not taking advantage, but only doing what is necessary."

He lowered his head, inch by slow inch, giving her plenty of time to change her mind. His gaze held hers captive, refusing to allow her to look away from the familiar act he was performing on her. His lips moved along the streaks, feather light, just skimming, brushing small caresses over the burns. His tongue stroked, velvet soft. She jumped and nearly pulled her hand away. Instinctively he tightened his fingers, holding her skin against his lips.

Surely you know our saliva heals.

Skyler nodded, still unable to pull her gaze from the deep blue of his. It doesn't feel the same as when Francesca or Gabriel have healed cuts on me. It feels... Intimate. Too intimate. Sexy. Erotic even. Faint color stole into her cheeks at her thoughts. She couldn't control the rush of heat in her bloodstream, or the way her womb clenched in anticipation when his lips touched another long burn. She was so mesmerized by him, she didn't even notice she'd used the most intimate form of speech of all-mind-to-mind on a private path only the two of them shared.

His tongue swirled, taking the sting from the burns. It felt like seduction-and as if he were stealing away more than the pain. She could see every detail of his face, the strong jaw and nose, the shape of his mouth, most of all, those glacier-blue eyes she couldn't escape. His lashes were heavy and very black, just as his hair and brows were. The color of his eyes was more dramatic, more intensely alive, with the contrast. She felt almost dizzy, as if she were falling into his intent gaze.

She drew air deep into her lungs and found his scent. Her heart matched the rhythm of his. Her mind actually relaxed its guard and allowed him to slip inside. His soul brushed up against hers. He didn't push, or take, merely touched, so light she barely felt it, barely felt the merging, her soul reaching instinctively, yearning for his-for him.

She wanted to snatch her hand away, to tell him she'd have Francesca help her after all, but she couldn't. Nothing had ever felt so right in her life. In that brief moment there was no past or future, only this moment and this man.

Dimitri was careful to find every burn on her skin, every thread the vampire's blood had left behind. They could be like spoors, spawning the most malevolent things if not eradicated. Fortunately, the vampire had been one that was more recently turned and hadn't yet grown fully into the power of evil. Dimitri took his time, brushing the pad of his thumb along her inner wrist, savoring the feel of her skin and the fact that for this one small moment in time, she relaxed a little with him.

It was with great reluctance that he lifted his head and allowed her hands to slip through his fingers. "There. It is done."

"What about your wounds? I can't heal you."

"I can do that myself." But he couldn't breathe without her. He looked away from her before she glimpsed that in him-the need to gather her up and take her far away where she had no choice but to accept him. The beast struggled to rise, demanding its mate. Ruthlessly, he pushed it down. Nothing would mar this moment with her.

"I wanted to see you again. I needed to talk to you."

He bowed slightly from the waist and reached out with that same slow deliberation, giving her plenty of time to object. When she didn't, he tucked a stray strand of blond hair behind her ear. "I am at your service."

Her smile was tentative-an olive branch. "I needed to tell you that it isn't you. It's me. I know what a lifemate is and this is a mistake. I'm-flawed. I can't be like other women¨C not ever." She ducked her head, avoiding his gaze. His eyes just seemed so alive, almost burning her skin, yet so cold she shivered.

"It takes a great deal of courage, little one, to tell me these things. I thank you for making the effort." He kept his voice gentle, resisting the urge to drag her into his arms. She was utterly adorable standing there trying to reject him and not hurt his feelings. They were all wrong-Francesca and Gabriel and even Mikhail. She wasn't too young. Even now, when she should have been little more than a girl emerging from her childhood, he knew she was already an adult. His soul had brushed hers. She had been ripped from her childhood, and the young woman so close-so elusive-was simply too fragile. So beaten down, so sensitive with her enormous psychic talent-the atrocities committed against her had driven her spirit too deep, too far, and she was barely able to stay in the world. "Time will sort this out for us. In the meantime, allow me to escort you back to your home."

"Aren't you angry with me?"

"Because you are not yet ready for my claim?" He took her hand, his fingers warm and sure when she was so uncertain. "Of course not."

Snow plopped down from the nearest tree and both turned toward the sound. Branches swayed as a small owl took to the air, wings outstretched, body wobbling as it launched itself into the air. The screech owl dove straight at them.

Dimitri leapt to place his body between the creature and Skyler. He timed his attack, swatting the bird from the air even as she yelled, panic evident in her voice.

"No! It's Josef. It has to be Josef." She tried to get around Dimitri, her protective tone raising the hackles of the wolf, triggering the response of his beast at the idea that she would shield another man. He moved without seeming to do so, keeping her from rushing

around him.

The owl shook, the movements jerky, arms breaking through where wings had been. It fell into the snow and a young man sprawled out, all arms and legs, looking slightly shocked and very scared, but determined. He scrambled to his feet, balled his fists, and glared at Dimitri. "Leave her alone."

Dimitri might have overcome the instinct of his species, but he felt Skyler's response to the stranger, the instant flash of amusement tinged with admiration. He bared his teeth, a snarl rumbling deep in his throat, a challenge to the other male. At once the small clearing was ringed with the pack, the wolves pacing, eyes glowing, answering his snarls with agitation and aggression to match his own. Fire burned in his mind, his heart, raged in his soul and was reflected in his eyes, now a fiery red.

Skyler tried to push past him, but he caught her arm, his grip like steel. "Who is this man to you?"

"My friend. Don't you dare hurt him." She would fight for Josef when she couldn't fight for herself.

The wolf pack bared teeth, edged closer, narrowing the circle. Skyler could make out the large shaggy animals, all in good health, all focused on Josef.

"You do not need to have male friends," Dimitri bit out, his strong white teeth flashing, showing a hint of his lengthened canines as well as incisors. His muscles rippled beneath his skin, crackling and popping as he fought off the change.

Frightened, Skyler began to back away from him again, sensing the wild rage rising, the animal taking over. But something, maybe desperation, pain, sorrow, something gave her pause. She touched him, her palm flat on his chest, looking up into his eyes. Even in the guise of a wolf, his eyes were always going to be blue, and right now they were turbulent and stormy. "Dimitri. He's a friend. Not a boyfriend." She shouldn't have to make excuses, but she couldn't stop wanting to soothe him. The need was every bit as urgent and strong as the desire to run.

He caught her hand, carried it to her lips and waved his hand to the slavering wolves. The circle opened reluctantly. "Go. Go now," he bit out, "while I'm still in control."

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

Skyler and Josef ran, careful not to touch each other, Skyler with a heavy heart and guilt clawing at her. She ran with tears streaming down her face wondering where they came from, feeling inadequate and a coward. She ran from Dimitri's pain and her own fears. Was there never going to be a safe refuge for her?