Page 44 of Pack Captive

"There are some parts of Lykos that are off limits." I nodded to the warded door. "This is one of them. I'm going to let you go now."

She nodded, her breath coming more evenly now. "I'm not running off again. Why do you keep one of Fenris's wolves here?"

I did as promised and released her. She rubbed her wrists as I stepped up to the door, pushing it firmly shut and placing my hand, flat-palmed, against the door.

The runes that Caller Yasemin had marked there swarmed around my fingertips, re-sealing the wards.

Even if Merikh slipped through his bars, he wouldn't be able to touch this door. Not without his own corrupted runes causing him intense agony.

"Where else would we keep him?" I asked, my tone cool. "Should we let him walk around free? Let him run amok in Lykos and slaughter everyone he comes across?"

I looked back at her, and saw she'd gone pale again.

I was dying of curiosity—what had they talked about? But there was no way I was letting her know that.

"Is he that bad?" She wrapped her arms around herself. "He didn't seem..."

Ayla stopped herself, slamming her mouth shut.

I took pity on her. If all she'd ever known was the shadow wolves, she was going to be in for a world of hurt when she went up against one of Fenris's Warriors for the first time.

"Yes. And that's his forte—making himself seem like he's not that bad. He'll smile at you and tell you everything you want to hear while he drives a knife in your back."

She nodded, her lips set. I had the feeling that she'd just made up her mind about something. "That's a shame. I was hoping his runes could be repaired, but—"

"You touched him?"

Ayla flinched at my roar. I hadn't meant to; but even worse thantalkingto the Bloodfang wastouchinghim.

Without asking for her permission, I reached for her, tugging her arms away from her chest.

Her facial runes were still blue, still pure. I knelt down, pushing her skirt aside to reveal her entire leg, running my thumb over the Caller marks emblazoned on the silky skin of her thigh.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice catching in her throat.

"Making sure he hasn't corrupted you," I growled. Her Caller marks were also pure. If she'd actually touched Merikh, then she'd walked away from the encounter luckier than most. "Didyou touch him? Actual, physical contact?"

I looked up, and saw that she was nodding, biting her lip nervously.

And realized my hands were still wrapped around her leg.

She was thin, but there was strong muscle under her warm, smooth skin. And if I moved my hands up only a few inches...

I released her like I'd touched a hot coal, then stood up and brushed myself off. "You're fine for now. Don't touch him again. And stop acting like I'm going to bite your head off."

She looked up at me wide-eyed, and I realized I'd snapped that.

Like I was, in fact, going to bite her head off.

I really sucked at being nice to women. Especially pretty women who made me feel like I'd been caught off-guard.

I heaved a silent sigh. "Come with me, Ayla. I'll get you back to the Dawn Palace. Don't come here again."

She followed me silently as we strode towards the bridge. All of the ways around the island had been blocked to this particular door, so we'd have to take the long way.

"Is there any route that we won't come across other wolves?" she asked, and I nodded, pointing her down a winding side-street that cut through several gardens to the back of the Palace.

"We'll take this one. No one comes here."

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