Page 5 of Mated Exile

"Yes, you did."

"You shifted of your own free will."

He shakes his head, amber eyes glowing like warm round jewels. "I haven't shifted back to my human form in..." His voice trails off, and his brows draw together. "I don't know. Years, at least."

"Oh."

That shouldn't be possible; eithermebringing him back to human form, orhimsitting here in front of me, sane and talking easily. Few werewolves have ever gotten stuck in one form or the other, but those who wander the earth as wolves for years tend to become them, forgetting all about human things like speech and heartache.

As he puts his hands behind him and relaxes back on them, I warily eye him, then decide I might as well sit down as well. Clearly he's not going to attack me right here right now—though he never did answer my questions about the guard schedule. Folding my legs beneath me, I sit opposite him and spend a long moment considering his words.

"You said I forced you to shift back," I murmur, the very idea wild to me. "How do you know if it was me?"

"I heard a woman's voice in my head," he says simply. "Like an alpha's call. Then I woke up, and the same voice was coming out of your mouth, going on about guard schedules. There will be no escape, by the way—the vampires have made sure of that."

"Oh." I don't know how to respond to either of the things he's saying. "That's... interesting."

"My name is Bastian, by the way." Picking up his right hand off the ground, he holds it out to me, and I stare at his scarred and dirty palm. "Nice to meet you...?"

"Delilah." I slip my hand into his, and watch his hair fall over his shoulder like a waterfall. "You said you were stuck in wolf form foryears?"

"Yeah." He pushes a tangled lock of black hair behind his neck, his mouth turned down at the corners. "And I've never wanted a haircut more than I do right now."

Based on the length of his hair, Bastian has been stuck in wolf form for at least three years, if not longer, depending on how slowly it's been growing. He's telling the truth, I think—both about being stuck as a wolf, and about hearing my voice in his head just before he shifted back.

But I don't think that means Imadehim do it. I must have just been the first werewolf he fought who managed to reach him telepathically. There's no such thing as a non-alpha who can force other werewolves to shift—and not even an alpha can do it to those not in their pack.

He has to be mistaken.

It's the only explanation.

"If you don't think we'll be able to escape, what do you think will happen next?" I ask him, worrying at my fingernails with the edge of my thumb, picking dirt out from under them absentmindedly. "Not that I asked, but they haven't been very forthcoming with me about their plans for me."

"Isn't it obvious?"

I shake my head. "If it were, I wouldn't have asked you."

"Right. I guess I forgot... it's been a while since I've had a conversation that wasn't in my own head." He shakes himself off. "They brought me here to kill their least favorite vampires for them, and fight the occasional wolf. As to why they put you in the pit with me—I think it's obvious they wanted you to do something, show off your strength somehow, so they could see whatever is in you thatdoesn'tsmell like werewolf. No offense."

I decide to let his comment slide. "What do you think they'll do once they see whatever it is they're looking for?"

"Give you as a gift to the vampire quorum," Bastian says succinctly, "and let them eat you alive."

Three

Lance

She isn't here.

It's bewildering. Impossible. Enraging. My wolf's heart mourns her absence, pawing at the ground, desperately trying to dig up a sign of her. I can't find her scent trailing through the air or sinking into the ground. Even Finn, the best nose of the whole pack, shakes his head wearily as he hops around on three legs to double-check for her.

Delilah washere,and we fought for her, to protect her and keep her safe. Then suddenly the land rose from its slumber, remembering its purpose in keeping the pack safe, and an entire lake rushed across the earth to take our enemies. Somehow it took her too—or the vamps did, and now she's with them.

I want nothing more than to run into the darkness and search for her. I'm still whole enough, even given my aches and pains from the battle; I could do it. But the smell of blood in the air, and Finn's wobbling gait, is a reminder that I'd be abandoning my duties if I ran off alone.

I know what happens when the pack is separated. I've felt that tragedy keenly in my heart, and still suffer the scars of it. While I'd love nothing more than to blindly chase after that strong, wild, impossibly vulnerable and sexy woman, I know better.

She's strong enough to survive on her own. I have to believe that. And as soon as we're healed as a pack, we'll go out to find hertogether—the right way. The only way.

---