Free Savage Satisfaction by Lila Dubois

asked, voice cold.
    She flinched at his response and with a trembling voice
continued, “When will you train me?”
    “After that last attempt I am hesitant to do anything with
you.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Are you?”
    “Of course.” Her eyes were glistening with tears. It made
her almost unbearably lovely.
    “Are you sorry you didn’t escape?”
    “No, I’m sorry I hurt you. I didn’t want that.”
    “It was a mistake you gouged my face?” William asked,
indicating his bandage.
    “No, I mean yes. It’s true I was… I was aiming for your
face, but that was a mistake. I should not have done it.”
    “Then why did you?”
    “I need to fly,” she said quietly. “You were stopping me
from that. It was instinct.”
    “If your instinct is to attempt to blind me, then you will
continue to stay as you are.” He turned away.
    She’d walked right into that trap, Christoffer thought,
wincing a little for her. There was nothing she could say that made it better.
Either she’d done it knowingly, in which case she was dangerous, or she’d done
it by instinct, in which case she couldn’t be trusted.
    Your instincts haven’t been tested , a malevolent
inner voice reminded him. It’s easy to obey while locked in this room, but
what about in the forest, when you give over mind and body to the wolf? Will he
still smell like Alpha, and will that protect him, or will he smell like human,
weak and tasty?
    “Please, my lord!” Mirela was pressed against the bars.
William hadn’t returned her clothes, so her trim waist and breasts were on
display. Christoffer felt a bolt of lust as he looked at her. She was gorgeous,
and rather helpless and supple-looking—just the way he liked women.
    William stopped, his back to her. “Perhaps we will try
again. In a few days.”
    She opened her mouth to protest but Christoffer glared at
her. Honestly, the girl didn’t know when to quit. His lust faded as his general
annoyance with her returned.
    William bowed his head to Christoffer. “Tomorrow we’ll go
out, into the woods.”
    Christoffer couldn’t stop the grin that spread over his
face. William frowned. “Don’t make me regret this,” he said, letting himself
out and locking the door securely.
    * * * * *
    “The collar stays on until we’ve come to the location of my
choosing. Do not try to run. The gun is loaded. Especially do not try to run
when you are human, as the tranquilizers in the gun are for horses and might
kill you.”
    Christoffer warily regarded the rifle draped over William’s
back. It was very big and very black. Christoffer didn’t like guns.
    “You’re not going to shoot me, are you?” He desperately
wanted to get out, but he also didn’t want to get shot. In here and alive was
better than out there and dead.
    “Not unless you make me.” William unlocked Christoffer’s
cell and let him out. Mirela was pressed against the bars, her face a study in longing.
Christoffer glared at her to remind her to keep her foolish mouth shut.
    William unlocked the front door and motioned Christoffer
out. For the first time in a week, Christoffer felt the sun on his face.
    It wasn’t until that moment he realized how greatly he’d
been suffering from being cooped up inside. He could go weeks without changing
into a wolf, as there were very few cities with parks wooded enough for him to
run in, but during those weeks the wildly careening life he led satisfied the
wildness of his dual nature.
    The quiet boredom of this week had been painful.
    “This way,” William said.
    Christoffer followed him into the woods that butted up
against their little home, which Christoffer had several times heard William
refer to as the “pen”. He’d forced himself to laugh at that.
    Branches and leaves cracked underfoot. It was early autumn
in England and there was a bite to the air. The simple shirt and jeans, which
reeked because he’d been wearing them all week, were little protection from the
cold.
    A gust of wind