Free Hunger Untamed by Pamela Palmer Page A

hell.

Chapter Five
    Ariana jerked awake to the feel of powerful arms lifting her amid a cool night breeze. She blinked at the sight of the unfamiliar landscape of thick woods pierced by the early light of dawn. Kougar's scent hit her, and it all came roaring back--the confrontation in her house, his removing the moonstone cuff. Hookeye. Her heart began to pound.
    The Mage she called Hookeye knew she was alive.
    Carrying her, Kougar closed the door of an expensive-looking sports car with his hip. Her wrists were bound together with duct tape, no doubt to keep her from reaching her bracelet and disappearing on him again.
    She'd known the moment she saw him standing within the walls of the Grand Corridor that his reappearance in her life was going to spell disaster. But she'd never guessed it would happen so quickly.
    Goddess, she had to warn Melisande and the others!
    "Kougar, let me down," she commanded, staring at the hard, shadowed lines of his arresting face. "Let me go. My maidens could be in danger!"
    "Have you turned to mist?"
    "No, of course not."
    "Then they're safe. Isn't that what you implied?"
    "I can't be sure." But he was right. The greater danger was that Hookeye would pump more poison into the mating bond itself. Too much for her to control.
    She squeezed her eyes closed against the fear that threatened to overwhelm her, then opened them again on a shuddering breath. All she could do was hold on and fight the poison attack when and if it came. And she would fight. To the end. She hadn't held on for so long only to give up now.
    As Kougar carried her across a wide, circular drive lined with vehicles, her gaze took in the monster of a house looming before her. No, not a house. A mansion, with dormers on the top floor and black shutters framing each of the windows. Though sunrise was still a good half hour away, light glowed from all the downstairs windows and several of the upper ones--three brick stories lit up like a prison after an escape.
    A prison full of shape-shifting Feral Warriors.
    Her pulse faltered, perspiration dampening the back of her neck. No one but Kougar knew the Ilinas still existed. Now he was about to wrench that secret wide open.
    At least before he'd kidnapped her he'd taken the time to dress her in the pair of jeans she'd left hanging on her bedroom doorknob and a fitted red T-shirt from her closet. If she wasn't mistaken, he'd even found her a bra.
    At the base of the stairs leading up to a massive front door that was easily half again as wide as most, and a good eight feet high, Kougar dropped her bare feet to the walk and grabbed hold of her arm.
    She fought him as he tried to propel her forward.
    "Kougar, no. Let me go to them, let me see for myself that they're all right. Then I'll come back."
    He didn't reply, which was answer enough. He didn't trust her.
    And he shouldn't. The moment she got free, she was leaving. The Ferals would try to force her to turn to mist and save their friends, regardless of the consequences. If her race perished as a result, it would simply be an unfortunate case of collateral damage.
    She had no reason to trust them. Not since the Daemon War had the two races been allies, and both their peoples had disapproved of her and Kougar mating. While she'd loved Kougar, she'd never really trusted any of the other shape-shifters, with the possible exception of his two closest friends. And at least one of them, she knew, was dead. No, the Ferals weren't going to have it their way. No way in hell would she allow them to sacrifice her people to save their own.
    Kougar led her up the front steps and through the wide door, ushering her into a high-ceilinged foyer. Lights from a large, crystal chandelier sparkled upon the heavy green-and-gold floral wallpaper that belonged to a bygone age, while twin staircases curved downward in a sinuous dance, drawing the eye to the floor, where a lush painted mural enchanted with all manner of mythical creatures.
    As Kougar closed