Page 25 of Pack Captive

I braced myself, planting my feet on the marble floor and trying not to think about the dirty footprints I was probably leaving behind. "Hmm...no."

Ryden's blue eyes flashed.

He moved so quickly I didn't realize what had happened until it was over—he’d scooped me up and gently tossed me over his shoulder.

I braced my wrists against his lower back, unable to ignore the taut muscles under my hands, and looked up with a scowl into Calian's face as he followed us.

"You really love to make things harder for yourself," he said in amusement.

I growled, and he laughed.

"Are you going to fight having a real bath, too?"

I decided to change tack, smiling sweetly. My irritation only entertained them. "As long as you're not around, I'm sure I'll enjoy everything."

But Calian only lifted one brawny shoulder in a shrug. "Too bad. Someone needs to make sure you don't try to escape through the window."

"Ah." Ryden had already climbed three flights of stairs, apparently used to the steep incline. My window was going to be too high to escape through unless I wanted to break a leg and crawl out of Lykos. "Can someone less...well, lessyoukeep watch over me, then?"

To my surprise, the amusement faded from Calian's handsome face. "Lessme?Oh, look. It only took you five minutes in the Dawn Palace to decide you were better than everyone else."

I stared back at him. While he'd been laughing, the obsidian of his eyes had been warm. Now they were as cold as ice again.

"I never said I was better than you," I said quietly.

He showed a flash of sharp teeth, making his thoughts on my apologies clear.

Fine. Fuck him, then.

I wasn't going to apologize to a wolf who tied me up, anyways.

I lowered my head, bracing it against my forearms and closing my eyes. Ryden's shoulder flexed under my stomach as he moved, and his hand and forearm were curled around my thigh, keeping me in place.

If it inched any higher...

I found myself fearing that despite my tent bath, I still stank, and his sensitive wolf's nose was going to be put off.

Wait.

What was wrong with me? They'd taken me captive, absorbed my pack, and now I was worried if he thought Ismelledbad?

I was about to berate myself for that when Ryden's steps leveled out.

I raised my head again and found us in a long corridor, with windows overlooking the entire city. All of Lykos, and its numerous waterfalls and lakes, were displayed like a portrait.

Calian gave me an unpleasant smile. "You can enjoy lording it over everyone else from up here."

I stared out the window, doing my best to ignore him. It was easy until Ryden pushed a door open, then gently knelt down and lowered me to the floor.

My bare feet touched thick, plush carpet. I looked down at the dark blue rugs underfoot, then at the wall of windows, and a massive bed piled with furs and blankets that looked like puffs of cloud.

I'd never seen this much grandeur in my life. Back home, even in the temple, we slept on simple beds. Most of us chose to sleep as wolves on the ground.

This was almost painful; a far cry from the home I'd left and would likely never see again at this rate.

Ryden gestured to the far wall, and I followed his gaze. There was an enormous copper bathtub set on a floor of sapphire blue tiles.

"We hold a celebration after the return of every raid," he told me. His good humor from the camp tent was gone; now he was the Alpha, giving orders he expected to be obeyed. "You will be there tonight. A Caller is a huge prize for our people. You will be clean, you will be pretty, and you will smile like you mean it."

---