Page 37 of A Wolf's Treasure
Flowers. Flowers everywhere.
His hands shook so hard he finally gave up fastening his jeans and left the button undone. He whipped around at every noise, real or otherwise, searching the forest around him. But it wasn’t the dark, mountain forest of his home he saw.
Instead, it was the moss-covered stone interior of a cave deep within the northern mountains, lit by a rainbow of colors from the glowing eyes of thean olc. In his ears, he no longer heard the whisper of the trees or the pattering of the rain. No. He heard the grunts and screeches of the soul suckers as they fought within their cages. The rain became the rush of a waterfall. And in his ears, the calm voices of his captors whispered in a language he didn’t understand as they sent him to the deepest depths of a masochistic hell with nothing but words and magic.
The growls of creatures he couldn’t see but could only sense came at him from every direction. Duncan spun around, arms flailing at things that weren’t there, his eyes wide and unseeing, burning from his tears.
“Get away from me!” he roared.
His wolf paced beneath his skin, wanting to escape, but even that great beast was held captive by a terror so overwhelming it could not force its way out. A familiar feeling of helplessness washed over Duncan.
More growls.
Footsteps all around him.
No. No! They would not take him. Not this time! “Stay th’ fook away!” he screamed. His knees gave out and he dropped to his haunches, arms coming up to protect his head even though he knew it would do no good. The things that were coming weren’t something he could hit or bite or claw. They held him down with unseen hands and bared him for all to see while they whispered sick scenarios in his ears. Starved him and kept him from sleep until he believed those things were actually happening to him.
Even though Cedric swore to him no one had touched him. Told him he was a whole man yet. Stood him in front of a mirror and made him look, made him see there was no blood, no missing parts, no physical pain, nothing that wasn’t always as it was.
Except his mind.
But Cedric had been wrong. Even after the horrors had faded and he no longer woke screaming in the night, he’d never again been a fully functional male.
And now they were back. They’d sent Ryanne, a lass he wouldn’t be able to resist. Sent her to fuck with him some more. To make him believe his lonely existence was finally over.
She was here, somewhere. He could still sense her. And the others were with her now.
They were coming for him.
A keening cry tore from his throat just before he was hit from the side and knocked into the mud.
Chapter 12
Ryanne heard Duncan scream into the rainy night. She was a good mile away, yet still, she heard him. The pain and fear in that scream cutting through her like shards of glass.
She had no idea what she’d done to bring about this change in him. And as she wiped the rain drops from her face—or were those tears?—she considered going back and trying one more time to talk him out of whatever black pit of suffering he was sinking into.
Walking in circles, she chewed on her thumbnail and tried to figure out what to do. Give him some space? Go back and make sure he was all right? Disappear from his life forever?
A sharp pain cut through the center of her chest until she could barely catch her breath.
One thing she did know—she’d never been loved like that wolf had loved her. All he’d needed was a little encouragement, and she was so glad she hadn’t given up on him.
At least, until he’d taken one look at her afterward and lost his mind. She’d done nothing but smile at him.
He’d stared at her like he’d seen a ghost.
He’d stared right into her eyes…
Ryanne came to an abrupt halt.
Oh, gods.
Her eyes. It was her eyes.
He didn’t know what she was. He’d assumed she wasna maithe, a faerie of the light and happy variety, so to speak.
Well, at least until now.
