Free Taken by the Wolf: Collection by Jessica Ryan Page B

returning to brushing his teeth.
    “I don’t need him to do that, though,” Eva said, rubbing the back of his head. “I have you for that now. My wolf.”
    * * *
    Eva felt a little sadness as she watched Rowan’s truck pull out of the driveway, heading to work. She sat down on the bed in her little room, trying to figure out what to do with herself.
    “Two days into captivity and I’m a housewife,” she said, with a laugh.
    She silently cursed herself for thinking of it as captivity still. Rowan was protecting her and he had done everything possible to make her comfortable, yet the thought still lingered in her head.
    It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be here: she was really digging the entire town. After growing up in the fast-paced city, surrounded by enough money to make anything she ever wanted happen, this was a nice change of pace. It was one of the reasons she’d chosen a college so far from home, in a more rural part of the state. Perhaps she was a farmer or druid in a past life; she definitely felt a connection with nature.
    Still, she wanted to be able to tell her rotten parents she was okay. Surely they’d heard their little girl was missing. They had hearts, they had to care. She didn’t have many friends, thanks to Jason, but she wanted to at least let her bosses know she was still alive and not tied up in Buffalo Bill’s basement.
    The lack of freedom to truly do whatever she wanted was what irked her, but Rowan had his reasons. She didn’t know anything about these Satan’s Angels, but they were clearly enough of a threat to shake a mountain like Rowan.
    “Damn it all to hell,” she said, going to her drawer to find some clothes. It would be a lot easier if she’d had a wonderful life back home, one that she couldn’t wait to get back to. Then she’d be escaping while Rowan was at work, although she was forty miles from Cedarville and escaping a town full of werewolves with expert noses probably wasn’t going to happen. The hot sex from the night before was enough to keep her bolted in place, too—she had never experienced anything like that.
    For the first time in my life I’ve found a man who cares about me and wants to protect me, she thought. Why do I want to mess that up and escape?
    Eva walked to the window and stared out at the neighborhood before her. Beyond that was the wonderful little town of Bucklin.
    “Dammit,” she said out loud. “This is my home now. I’m not a captive. I want to be here.”
    Just saying the words out loud lifted a huge weight from her chest. For the first time in two days she felt like she could breathe easily again. No, for the first time since her father had disowned her she felt like she could breathe again. She had spent her time with Jason feeling trapped, alone and unwanted as he toyed with her. Then she spent every day hustling for money, barely able to keep her head above water as she tried to make ends meet on her own, all with the dream of one day making it back to college. She could barely afford electricity in her tiny apartment—how could she ever afford tuition again? This was where she belonged now; she had a whole new life. Eva Thompson the victim was no more, a woman of the past now dead. The thought brought a smile to her face as she got dressed. The walls didn’t feel like a prison anymore.
     

Chapter 12
    Rowan parked his old Chevy in the parking lot behind the police station, as he did every day. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping, another perfect spring day. Sometimes he lost sight of how sweet he had it compared to most humans.
    All those good feelings immediately melted away as he opened the back door to enter the station, a familiar smell creeping up to meet his nostrils.
    “Aster,” he muttered, as he took a deep whiff.
    It wasn’t that he didn’t like his alpha; he used to enjoy the playful banter they’d have when they got together. However, since Aster had become head alpha, his visits had become