Page 64 of Dark Embrace

There had been so many moments when intimacy had blossomed between them, but at times like these, it was clear he would be set against her forever, if it was up to him.

She trembled, aware that her feelings were raw. But her heart was decided. “Then go and do what you have to do, Aidan. Go find a few women and take power, so when Moray returns, you can send him to the fires of hell. I’ll be okay,” she said, turning away from him. It was a lie. She just couldn’t understand how he could take another woman in his arms after all that had happened to them.

She reminded herself that she was a Rose, with her own destiny. He was clearly a part of it, but not exactly the way she’d like him to be.

She felt him staring at her back. He was inside her mind and he knew he’d just hurt her. When he finally spoke, his voice was low and quiet but strained with tension. “The sooner ye go to Iona, the better, so that when I next confront Moray, I dinna have to guard ye, too. Yer a distraction now.”

Still turned away from him, Brie rubbed her face. She didn’t want to be his Achilles’ heel, but she couldn’t go to Iona and leave him to face such a horrific and determined evil alone.

Brie didn’t know what to do. As Claire had said, women in love could not think straight. But she knew she had better get her head on straight now. His life and future were at stake. Grandma was right. Brie was too involved. If she could, she had to get a grip on her heart and stop loving him. Brie knew that might be impossible. And she’d never stop being his friend.

Brie slowly turned; he was still staring.

“I can’t go to Iona like a coward and leave you here to face Moray alone.”

“Oh, ye’ll go,” he said dangerously.

Brie did not like the sound of that, but she didn’t want to fight. It was too hurtful. Suddenly he cocked his head, listening to the night.

Brie wondered what had caught his attention, alarm beginning to rise in her. She prayed he hadn’t felt Moray. And then a pack of wolves started howling.

She froze, and looked at Aidan, certain the pack had come for him.

Aidan had stiffened, listening acutely to the pack, and she knew he had become unaware of her. His perfect profile was turned to her now, and his expression had changed. It was harder and fiercer than before. His excitement began to change, too.

The wolves’ howls grew in fervor, cresting.

His mouth curved, coldly.

Brie hugged herself, alarmed. “They’ve come for you, haven’t they?”

He gave her a sidelong look. “Aye. They want to hunt tonight.”

Dread began. “You want to hunt,” she accused.

He turned his brilliant blue eyes upon her. He did not speak—he didn’t have to. She felt the predatory bloodlust rising up in him, replacing his interest in her—the prelude to a long and savage hunt.

“I’m not leavin’ ye,” he said softly. “Even if they want me to lead them.”

The wolves howled long and fervently again.

Brie started to feel sickened by that bestial bloodlust. “Can you control the Wolf?”

He went to the tent flap, lifting it. Even his stride had changed, becoming looser, yet menacing. Outside, the sky had turned purple. An orange moon was rising, oddly streaked—the way it had been her first night at Awe, when Aidan had shifted into the Wolf to grieve. “Sometimes.”

Brie shuddered. The Wolf was vicious and ruthless, more so than Aidan, the man. But animals did not have consciences, and wolves were predators, at the top of the food chain. The Wolf liked to hunt, and it ate its prey.

Aidan remained in his human form, but she felt the beast with them, snarling and hungry, scenting innocent blood.

“I don’t like the Wolf,” she said tersely.

He glanced briefly at her. “Ye should fear the Wolf. Everyone does.” He stared back outside at the fiercely streaked orange moon. “I dinna trust him, either.”

Brie sat on the edge of the bed, her stomach upset, pulling her legs up beneath her. Even though the Wolf had destroyed her enemies and spared her, she wouldn’t mind never seeing the creature again. “Are you about to shift?”

He glanced at her, his eyes odd now. Still so very blue and so very human, but the stare was somehow inhuman and lingering, direct. “Nay,” he said, low and soft.

Brie flinched, because his tone sounded almost like a growl.