Free Untamed (Wolf Lake) by Jennifer Kohout Page B

her. Wrapping her hand around Maddie's neck, she drew her in for a slow, sensual kiss. "But it's time to get back." Sam rose to her feet, pulling Maddie up with her. "It's getting late and I can feel Nafarius' concern for us both."
    At Sam's words, Maddie became aware of a distant buzzing along the pack bond. She'd been so focused on Sam that she hadn't sensed Nafarius' agitation.
    Instinctively, Maddie reached out to her alpha, sending him reassurance that she was okay through the bond. The buzzing continued for a time before settling down to a dull hum, Sam surely having done the same check-in through the mate bond.
    "Come on," Sam said, taking Maddie's hand and walking them back the way they had come in. Reaching the steep wall she'd charged down, Sam paused. "Please tell me you know of another way out of here."
    Maddie nodded. "But it will be faster if we shift."
    "Warmer, too," Sam said, giving Maddie an appreciative glance. "Not that I mind the view."  
    Maddie laughed, flashing Sam a bit of her flank as she knelt.
    Sam knelt as well, the two women face to face, groaning at the first ripple of pain.
    "Still hurts?" Maddie asked, her own shift starting to flow.
    Sam gritted her teeth against the pain, nodding her head.
    "It gets better," was the last thing Maddie said before she lost the ability to speak.
    "Yeah, like how going to the dentist gets better," Sam grumbled.

CHAPTER FOUR
    My, What Big Teeth You Have...

    Dimitri wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Elbows on the table, he sat hunched over his plate, slicing off another chunk of meat, and spearing it with his knife.  
    "Bring me some water," he ordered.
    Kate, a pretty brunette of indeterminable years, jumped up, banging her knee against the table and upsetting William's dinner plate.  
    William caught Kate's hand before she could hustle off, giving his pack-mate's fingers a reassuring squeeze.
    "And none of that bottled crap," Dimitri said to her back.
    Craig reclined at the other end of the table. Ignoring his alpha's commeny, he sipped his sparkling water.
    Kate hurried back inside, her skirt swirling wildly around her ankles, and a pitcher of water held carefully with both hands. "Fresh from the river," she said, her lips turned up at the corners in an attempted smile. "Still cold."
    Dimitri ignored the bitch-wolf. Small and weak, just like the rest of them. But not his daughter. No, she was strong. Nothing like these bitches, nothing like that bitch that had birthed her. His only young...
    Dimitri scanned faces, settling on Craig. "Where's my daughter?"  
    Craig paused, his fork halfway between his plate and his mouth. Sitting opposite Dimitri, the pack at either side of the table between them, Craig answered quietly. "She's gone, Sire."
    Along the bond, the pack buzzed with stinging agitation. Craig clenched his back teeth together to keep from snapping at them. He understood their fear of Dimitri, but it made it damn inconvenient for him to get a read on his alpha.  
    Dimitri's eyes slid out of focus.
    William and the others tensed, heads bowing towards the table.
    "She's gone," Dimitri said, unable to feel his young through the pack bond.
    "Yes, Sire." Craig wondered how long it would take for Dimitri to remember.
    "She's with Nafarius?" Dimitri growled.
    "Yes, Sire." Craig decided not to mention the pesky part where Natasha tried killing her father, leading Dimitri to beat his daughter, severing the pack bond and leaving her for dead. Details. Details.
    "TRAITOR!" Dimitri bellowed, his fist slamming down on the table, scattering silverware and overturning cups.
    Ah...there it was, the alpha's trusty memory.  
    Dimitri clenched his fists convulsively, knuckles cracking in the sudden silence as his breath sawed in and out of his lungs.  
    Control. Power. Control. Power. His father's voice hammered in Dimitri's head. Those with power must have control.  
    Deep breath in through the nose, out through the mouth. Repeat.
    Carefully, Dimitri