Taken (Sinful Series - book 1)
Chapter 4 - Encounter

Violet was certain, she hated being a rogue. Even her new-found freedom lost its appeal the longer they traveled. She was constantly hungry, cold and alone. Violet decided, she was far too domesticated to live like this.

Over the last couple of days as they made their way southeast, she discovered she missed certain aspects of her previous life. Hot showers and warm meals were on top of her list. After that first night, she had burned her clothes as her companion informed her they would need to stay in wolf-form the rest of the trip.

‘For a couple of days,’ Violet mocked his voice in her mind as she trotted, careful not to lose his trail. He had kept pushing forward relentless of the weather. Her fur was soaked, her paws muddy, her body aching, and yet the stupid bushes never changed. It felt like they weren’t making any progress at all.

Couple of days, his bony ass!

It’s been four days since that first night, and by the looks of things, they right where they started - nowhere. She had no idea how far they had traveled, as the scenery remained constant – bushes and pines to no end. There was less now here, wherever here might be.

The worst of it all was how desperately isolated she felt. He had helped her break the pack-bond, and now she was completely left to her thoughts. That was a torture she hadn’t considered. She felt alone, ever more so now that he kept scouting forward, not even gracing her with his presence at supper. She felt the mating bond tug whenever he got too far away. As the unidirectional exchange of blood established a unilateral bond, she could ‘feel’ him. Where certain aspects of the bond were innate – such as being able to trace his skinny hide’s location, others offered challenges. She should had been able to at least listen in his emotions, but couldn’t. It only seemed reasonable to conclude, he was doing some major mind-blocking or shielding, or whatever he called it, to keep her away.

There was no mindlink between them. So even if Violet wished to complain of his counting, she couldn’t. The mindlink was a connection between pack members, or fated mates. They were neither, and Violet had no aspiration to change that. The few times her beast had sprinted off to give him a math lesson, he had only pushed further ahead of her, remaining out of reach.

Firstly, Violet assumed, he was cautious to be around her. It would only take one bite on her neck, and their marking would become permanent. For the first couple of days, she entertained herself with the hots his wolf had for her to push him so far out. It was something to fill the long hours as she trotted, chasing his sent. Her wolf even barked at the realization that the big bad rogue was running away from a she-wolf half his size. He had unintentionally become the prey, and she – the huntress.

Violet was convinced he had come to the same conclusion. His attempt to defy their situation was to leave kills for her to eat. His masculine ego must have taken a blow right to the nuts, if he was resorting to such traditional gender roles. While Violet found it beyond entertaining, her wolf was furious. Just as Violet particularly hated the silence, her wolf started loathing the kills, he left for her to eat. Her wolf took it as a direct insult, and itched to prove to him she was more than capable of providing for herself. He was not her mate and her wolf refused the first offerings. As the days rolled by, her wolf listened to reason. There was no point of letting perfectly good meal spoil. Who was she proving a point to? It wasn’t as if he would know, if she ate them or not. So she gulped down the rabbits and small animals he left for her to replace. Besides Violet was convinced, her wolf was starting to get attached to his.

In a way their whole trip was remarkable. While Violet never thought he would be able to walk, much less fight, he had proven her wrong. His agility and good tracking skills hinted of a lineage. In the silence of her own mind, his mysterious past and her questionable future become her focus. How did her rogue, as she still had no name for the man, even cross paths with Gagon? And when was that? Violet tried remembering pack announcements for raids or attacks, but everything beyond the night of their escape was a blur. Violet could bet money, his story was interesting, and she was dying for some good gossip. All kept her mind engaged for the next three days.

As day six came by, Violet found herself considering an alternative. He was that far ahead, because he was trying to ditch her, but the bond did not allow it. She tried to push her wolf, resorted to even taking detours to ensure the wind did not carry her scent forward to him, and tried to shorten the distance between them. Her wolf was cheering on, enjoying tracking her pray.

On day seven as exhaustion settled, Violet did not give a damn if he had left her or not. She started looking for signs of civilization. Her existence was narrowed down to wanting a good meal, shower and a set of clothes. Simple. Plain. Easy.

It wasn’t until they almost neared a settlement, that she finally saw him, snaring at her, pushing her into the woods. Violet shifted, no longer concerned about standing naked in front of him. She was so angry and badly wanted to give him a piece of her mind.

“So this is what it took for you to grace me with your presence? I haven’t seen you for days!” Violet started, only for him to shift.

“It’s not safe, we’re almost with my pack. Let’s go,” he continued and turned back into the woods. Violet swore then reluctantly followed him, as the mud caked her toes, and made plopping sounds as she walked through it. Violet had no problems with mud by itself. But she especially hated the wet and cold sensation, whenever her toes dipped into the goop. How he managed to gracefully cross the mud, without cringing or falling down was something she needed to replace out later. Now she needed answers.

She caught up with his human, and reached for his hand, pulling him to a stop.

“It’s been a week.”

“We’re almost there,” he grunted, starring at her mudded hand over his forearm. Violet immediately wanted to retract it, but chose to let it linger longer over his biceps, just on the principle alone. She was not going to let him intimidate her or bully her. She was done with that sh*t. Besides, if she was holding him, it was less likely for him to dash in front of her again.

“Your time approximation sucks. You said couple of days, it’s been a week. Are you sure you are not just dicking around?” Violet snapped.

His eyes lifted from where her fingers touched him, to her face. There was only one word to explain the fire in his eyes – rage.

“It would have helped if you were staying on course instead of taking whatever round-about you saw fit to explore, or sniff every damn bush,” He argued.

“So you were watching me? Perfect, you’re not just a hermit, but a creep,” Violet spat.

“You mean, a good creep as I kept my end of the deal.”

“Your people skills need improving…. Big time.” Violet announced. “And nah, I don’t want to hear any excuses. You could have said few words here and there. I haven’t talked to a single soul in days!”

“Listen,” he interrupted her, but Violet continued with her tirade.

“Do you know what too much thinking does to a person? I’ll tell you what. It drives you insane. Overthinking, overanalyzing everything, scrutinizing your life choices, and reflecting on how f*cked up your life is. Besides, aren’t you familiar with the studies proclaiming staying in one form is not healthy? It drives your other part up the wall. I don’t know about you, but I did not go through all of this to lose myself in my wolf, and become berserk now that I finally taste my freedom.”

“Violet,” he cautioned her, looking somewhere behind her.

“Yes, that’s my name. See how nice it is to know who you are speaking to. I don’t even know your freaking name. And that’s just one,” Violet continued raising her finger at him, “aspect of how irritating this had been. What’s your name?”

She questioned him, ignoring his protest just as he had done to her multiple times.

“Xander, now will you shut up?” he growled at her, then narrowed his eyes behind her, whispering, “Run.”

“What? Why?” Violet turned only to see a brown grizzly bear barreling towards them.

“Run,” Xander pushed her behind him as he shifted into his wolf rushing towards the grizzly, trying to focus her attention on him. However, the grizzly had plans of its own, and charged after Violet, who did not have time to shift before the claws caught the back of her thighs, teeth barely missing her fresh. Violet panicked knowing that was a bite that would really sting. Violet rolled into the wet mud, trying to gain her grip, while Xander jumped on the bear’s back, attempting to take it down by himself. The bear tried to claw him, but soon discovered he’s out of reach; tried shaking him off its back, before smacking him in a branch. Violet knew the exact moment the bear smelled her blood trail.

Shifting was painful when one form was injured, but Violet did not have any other options. Running wouldn’t help and her rogue was out for the count. The shift took seconds, but felt like multiple pins stabbing her legs. Violet hunched, snarling at the incoming bear, putting more of bravado than possessing any actual danger. Her hind leg was shredded and rendered unusable. For the second time in the last week she realized she was doomed, and there was no savor coming to rescue her. She could only rely on herself. As the bear came closer, Violet used the grizzly’s momentum and mass, to slide under its soft underbelly shredding it. The mudded fur helped her smaller body pass right under the bigger predator. The bear was focused on it, while Violet sunk her teeth into the bear’s neck and tugged. She knew she would not be able tear the windpipe away, but crushing it would be just as effective. It was more of a gruesome death, that she would wish on any animal, but it was the grizzly or her, and Violet chose life.

Xander

Too late.

That was the only thought which ran in his mind as he surveyed the area where their camp had been. He had been too late to catch them before they headed home. Although it was a long shot, he had hoped the search party for him would have lasted long enough for him to replace them here. Driving was much preferred mode of transformation through vast lands. Highways are considered no-man’s land and could be used by all pack or rogue without rattling antsy Alphas and bruising Egos. Too bad that wolves roaming the highway were not a human friendly sight. Exposing werewolf existence to the mere mortals was a whole other sh*t pile he did not want to replace himself into. Pissy Alphas were preferable than running into Pack Order, the authority tasked to protect supernatural from exposure. With luck he hoped to leverage their stealth and quick departure from any pack lands on their way home. The sad thing was he couldn’t ask for shelter in allied packs. Xander knew that many will be apprehensive of harboring a fugitive Breeder, even if she had claimed him. They would probably give him an ultimatum to complete the mating or leave her behind. He just couldn’t break his promise to her, not because of the mating pull, but because he was a decent person.

The predicament he found himself was ironic in all the wrong ways. Here he was, the wolf had ventured to try to search for his mate’s scent, marked by an impostor. Violet was a sweet little thing, but not his mate. His wolf craved his own person, and the imposed mark Xander bargained and agreed to had pissed him off to no end. That’s the only way he could explain how his wolf just pushed to reach the campsite with blatant disregard to the she-wolf behind him. If she had went through choice marking, she was old enough to track and replace her own god-damned way.

The emotions were burning through him and pushing him from one opposite to another. His wolf would push forward whenever her scent reached his nose. She had been forced to make an impossible decision. Xander was not the only victim in this. Besides she had asked his permission. He had agreed. As shame pushed past the anger, he would go out of his way to hunt, leaving his kill for her. It was the only thing he could do for her as he could not stand being in her presence. The further away from her he got, the mark on his neck tugged. He hated her for doing this to him. He hated himself for not being strong enough to accept death, rather than cheat on his fated. He was not supposed to feel a pull to anyone else, but here he was, worried sick about her speed, checking up on her when she was sleeping, leaving her food and just about doing everything he was supposed to do for his mate. The betrayal his wolf felt soon became fury.

Xander understood him, but just as Violet had pointed out, what good would it have done if he had died, and doomed his mate to wait for his rebirth. He knew she was out there, his wolf had started stirring, and he had managed to pick the general direction, only to be side-tracked by Alpha Gagon’s warriors.

Violet had showed spirit and he liked her sarcasm, but the hatred and the resentment of her mark boiled deeper. As the days went by, he managed to reign in his wolf, and work out the raw emotions. It has been a very eventful winter. A winter he wished to forget.

The closer they got to Devil Creek, the more often he tried to reach his Alpha. He needed his friend to help process his situation.

Xander still did not know what made him go back to check on Violet. He blamed it on the fading bond last attempt to pull them together. The stubborn girl was actually thinking of ditching him. They were too much alike, which made him feel for the petite she-wolf.

Where the grizzly had come from, Xander could only speculate. It was an older female, a seasoned one if the scars on her hide could foretell she had seen fights in her life, and came out victorious. Grizzlies were mean bullies to begin with. Bears in Bear Claw territory were especially vicious as they shared the woods with their were-counterpart.

Before the werebears had time to process the gurgling noises the grizzly was making, Xander scooped up Violet and took off. He needed to get across the border before they discovered the bear. He still couldn’t believe the absolute insane stunt the she-wolf in his arms pulled off.

Her bruised body awoke pain and she pressed her nose in his chest, before groaning.

“It hurts.”

“Of course, it does. Maybe next time you’d actually listen to me,” Xander responded, trying unsuccessfully to limit bouncing her as he ran.

“Promise me, you’d make sure I am dead-dead before they have me.”

Before knowing Violet, such a statement would have been met with a repy, “Drama-queen”. Now he knew better. There were indeed vicious things one did not even wish to consider being inflicted to anyone, much less someone they knew.

“Nobody is dying today. My pack is beyond that ridge,” Xander told her.

“It must be bad, if you are finally giving up your pack’s location,” Violet groaned.

He chuckled. They surely had seen better days.

“Nothing that a warm shower and meal wound fix,” Xander encouraged her.

“Yeah, you stink. Not in a good way,” she mumbled into his chest, her words slurring.

“Wake up,” he quickly patted her back only to evict a cough from her.

“That hurt, asshole!”

“Breeder,” he insulted her. If she kept holding to the anger, she wasn’t going to quit. They would be all right.

“Jerk, I know what you’re doing,” she retorted. “I will have you know your bedside manners suck.”

“Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?” Xander prompted her. Keeping her engaged in conversation was one way of keeping her conscious.

“Your mate will have so much fun setting you straight!” Violet replied.

“I can’t wait,” Xander honestly told her. He doubted the bond could explain his sudden honesty. No. There was something about Violet that made you open up.

“I’ll let her know that,” she snorted. Her eyes closed as another wave of pain washed through her body.

“The badass Violet I know would kick your behind right about now,” Xander told her.

“That was before the grizzly chewed me open,” Violet groaned in defense.

Xander smiled at the distance as he recognized Alpha Devon, his best friend Karim and few pack Enforcers, waiting for him to cross into pack lands. As he drew closer, he prepared himself for the inevitable questions about the helpless and naked she-wolf in his arms.

What he did not expect was his best friend to clip him right in the face.