Bound to Secrets (2 page)

Could he be from the Agency? But she didn’t believe that. She had seen briefly into his mind and sensed no taint of evil. Just a wildness at the very core of him. That would be the wolf. And a self-hatred she recognized as close to her own.

She made a decision. “Come back with me. For a little while.”

She turned toward the keep but then changed her mind. When she’d first seen him, he’d carried a rucksack. He must have dropped it when he chased her. She started walking back the way they had come. The wolf stalked after her.

Eventually, she found the bag resting among the heather. Picking it up, she hefted it over her shoulder and headed toward home.

The wolf kept pace behind her, his huge paws making no sound on the thickly grassed ground. Even though she couldn’t hear him or see him, each breath she took saturated her nostrils with his warm, feral scent. Not quite wild animal. Wolf tinged with human and a hint of something she had never encountered before. Magic maybe. She peered over her shoulder and found him watching her, intelligence in his wolf’s eyes.

Finally, she halted beside the old keep. The tower loomed dark gray above her, the base surrounded by huge rocks fallen from the walls. From the outside, the place appeared ruined, but she led him around the walls, held back the branches of a rowan bush, and gestured for him to enter. He gave her a narrow eyed glance, and then sniffed cautiously at the opening before he disappeared inside. Keira followed, letting the bush fall back behind her, hiding the entrance. Stepping past him, she led the way through a half-tumbled arch into the room that had been her only home for the last ten years.

***

Connor woke in the night. Moonlight spilled into the room from a window high up in the wall and deep inside him, his wolf stretched sleepily. His head pounded and he had a huge erection. Neither of which was a common occurrence for him these days.

Werewolves didn’t get sick, although they did get erections. Except him. He’d been too pissed off with life lately to even think about sex.

Now he lay on his back on a makeshift bed on the floor of a ruined castle with a woman’s warm, sleeping body draped over him, her arms wrapped around his middle, her head on his bare chest. He stayed very still as he remembered what had happened.

The girl on the pony. Excruciating pain. The shift.

She’d told him not to change back because she couldn’t control whatever it was she had done to him. Shit, it had hurt—like his brain was melting from the inside. But obviously, she was no danger when she slept, because apart from the headache, he felt fine. Good really. And he realized that for the first time in years, he hadn’t awoken engulfed in the black hatred, which had colored his life so much since the attack.

He always shifted back to human form when he slept. Sebastian had told him that would change once he had more control, which he’d get if he gave in and shifted more often. He’d replied he didn’t want to shift more and he didn’t want more control. What he did want was an end to the nightmare his life had become. Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen.

But yesterday was the first time he’d shifted when it hadn’t been forced on him by the full moon. And she’d done it to him.

Without moving, he peered down to where her head rested against him. A long tangle of dark hair framed a face with pale skin drawn too tightly over cheekbones and deep shadows beneath her eyes. He recognized the signs of exhaustion. Now she slept like the dead.

He wished he’d paid more attention when Sebastian had told him why he was here—some weird story about a huge black monster that sucked people’s brains from their heads. But they’d been chasing every rumor that might be connected to Anya’s sisters and the Agency, and up until now, they had all proved to be nothing. He’d presumed this would be the same. Consequently, he’d been going through the motions. He’d supposed all he needed to do was turn up, prove the rumors were the usual load of crap, and then he could get back to being miserable in more congenial surroundings.

Instead, he suspected what he was going to have to do was phone up Sebastian and tell him he’d found one of Anya’s sisters.

Except his cell phone had been in his pants pocket when he shifted and presumably had vanished along with his pants. Luckily, he had a spare pair of those if not a spare phone. He’d have to head into town and pick up a new one. But in the morning.

Because he was tired. And for the first time in an age, he could contemplate the idea of falling asleep
and
waking up. He slipped his arm around the woman’s slender waist, closed his eyes, and drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When he woke the second time, he was alone.

At least he hadn’t ripped her to pieces.

Chapter Two

Who are you?

Connor scribbled the words on a piece of paper from the notepad by the bed. Looking around the large room, he wondered how long she had been here. Years, he would guess. Despite the dereliction, the place had a lived-in feel. The only furniture was a single chair and the narrow mattress—so she obviously lived alone. But colored rugs covered the rock floor and paintings, mainly of animals and the moors, brightened the stone walls. And there were books everywhere; everything from cookery to torrid romances.

His rucksack was propped in the corner and he pulled out his only other clothes and then hunted for something to eat. He found paints, canvas, more books, but—apart from a couple of tins—no food. No wonder she was too thin.

Did she have anyone to help her? How the hell did she manage, if she had the same effect on everyone she got close to?

Grabbing his rucksack, Connor headed out. As he stooped to step out through the gap in the wall, pain hit him like a drill to his skull. He swayed, and then balanced himself with a hand against the rough stone as the pain receded. Gritting his teeth, he raised his head and searched the surrounding area.

She was hurrying away from him and with each step the pain became more bearable. Finally, when no more than a dull ache remained, she turned. Too far away to see her features clearly, he sensed the tension in her rigid body. He wanted to reassure her, but how could he when he couldn’t even get close except as an animal?

He raised his hand and waved, then headed off in the opposite direction.

***

Had he gone for good?

Her chest hurt, and she blinked back tears. She hated feeling like this. She’d accepted long ago that she would never have a normal life. Never
be
normal. She was a freak. That’s what the guards back at the Agency had called her. And they were right.

But then this man, or wolf or whatever he was, had hardly been normal.

What had she thought?

That they could be freaks together?

Hardly.

After watching until he disappeared from sight, Keira headed back inside. Collapsing on the bed, she hugged her knees to her chest and buried her face in the pillow, where the scent of wolf clung to the soft cotton. The hollow feeling in her belly reminded her she needed to make a trip to one of the outlying farms and see if she could steal some food.

When her mother had been alive, she’d dropped off food and other supplies, batteries and books, paints… Now she was gone, and Keira had to fend for herself, but each trip was fraught with the fear of discovery. And the danger that if she was seen, then the rumors might reach the Agency.

Had they already?

She took one last deep breath before pushing herself upright. And she saw his note.

Who are you?

Lightness filled her. He wouldn’t have asked if he hadn’t meant to come back. She found a pencil under a pile of clutter and wrote her response.

I’m Keira.

***

Connor came to a standstill as he realized he had no clue where he was going. He’d been booked into The King’s House hotel, but while it might be scenically situated in the middle of nowhere, he needed shops. Where he’d got off the train yesterday was no good either, it consisted of three houses, a hotel and the train station.

He pulled a map out of his rucksack and figured out where he stood. The moor wasn’t all that big, just over twenty miles across, although it seemed to go on forever.

His best bet looked to be the town of Kinlochlevin. It would take him a couple of hours to get there, but hopefully he could hire a car. There was no road across the moors, but at least he’d shave some distance off the journey back. And he could pick up a phone and get some supplies.

A light drizzle started to fall as he walked and by the time he reached the town, the rain had soaked him to the skin.

It was actually more of a village than a town and mostly catering to the tourist trade by the look of the place. This early in the year, he had no problem getting a room in the hotel and the young girl behind the desk promised him an early lunch or a late breakfast once he had dried off.

An hour later, and he felt almost human with some food inside him. Ironic really.

The girl, who’d left reception to serve his breakfast, was extremely doubtful he would find a cell phone for sale anywhere in town. She offered him the use of the office phone, and also promised to arrange for a rental car, though she claimed it would have to come from Fort William and so would probably take a couple of hours.

Connor took up her offer of the phone, and carried his coffee into the office and waited patiently for her to leave. This wasn’t the sort of phone call anyone could listen to.

He slumped into the chair behind the desk and punched in Sebastian’s number. “Hi,” he muttered.

“Hey, you sound almost human,” Sebastian said. “Must be the Scottish air.”

“Yeah, or the Scottish rain—there’s a lot of that.”

“What do you need?”

Conner decided to get straight to the point. “I’ve found her.”

“Found who?”

“Anya’s sister.”

“What?” The complete disbelief in Sebastian’s voice confirmed that his alpha hadn’t really expected anything to come of Connor’s trip.

“Well, I’m presuming she’s Anya’s sister, though she has more of a look of Tasha.” He remembered those strange golden eyes. Eyes, which could see into your mind and then boil your brain alive.

“Wait a minute,” Sebastian said. “Don’t go anywhere—I’m going to get Anya.”

Connor sipped his coffee while he waited. Anya was Sebastian’s mate. She and her sister, Tasha, were the two newest members of the pack. Connor had found himself watching them closely over the last few months. Unlike him, they had fully accepted the change and he struggled to understand why. How could they accept being one of the monsters?

But then, he was a doctor and therefore supposed to save lives. Impossible, when the mere scent of blood woke his beast and made his hunger rise. It was another thing Sebastian had said would improve if only he would give in and accept his wolf. But he couldn’t risk it, not after—

He cut off the thought. Despite the intervening years, he still wasn’t able to think about that night.

“You’re on speaker,” Sebastian said dragging Connor back to the present.

“Connor, tell me.” Anya sounded animated. “You’ve found something? What? Where? When? Can I come?”

“Yes, I’ve found something. A woman. On Rannoch Moor. Yesterday. And no.”

“No?”

“No, you can’t come.”

“What’s going on, Connor?” Sebastian asked. “How do you know?”

“She’s telepathic, but way more powerful than Anya or Tasha. There’s something wrong with her. She can’t control it, and anyone who gets close, gets their brain fried. I presume that’s how the rumors started.”

“I take it you got close.”

“Yeah, and I shifted. I think it’s the only thing that saved my life.”

“That powerful?”

“And more.”

“Did she see you shift?” Sebastian asked.

“Yes, but she’s not telling anybody. She doesn’t see anyone, lives in total isolation.”

“We have to come and get her,” Anya said.

“You can’t. I think she’d run and hide and we might never find her again.”

“So what do we do?”

He’d thought carefully about this and knew what he wanted to attempt. “I want to come back. Get the implant fitted. I think with the shielding, I’ll be able to get close to her, talk to her. She’ll trust me.”

“Why?”

“Maybe because she likes big shaggy dogs.”

Sebastian chuckled. “You’re sure this isn’t just your need to save the world coming out?”

“Perhaps. But isn’t that what you wanted when you sent me here? Take my mind off my suicidal tendencies.”

“And has it worked?”

He thought about his answer. “Maybe.”

“Are you heading back here today?” Sebastian asked.

“No. Probably early tomorrow morning. I want to ask around, see what the rumors are, how much people know.”

“Okay. I’ll make sure we’re ready for you. And we’ll see you sometime tomorrow.”

Two hours later, Connor left the bar on the edge of the loch, his stomach warm from the whisky he had drunk. He’d failed to find a cell phone in town—as predicted—but he had got some information on the rumors. The locals had been more than willing to talk in exchange for a dram or two, and as he’d expected, there had been others asking about the “strange beast of Rannoch Moor”.

A sense of urgency filled him. Common sense told him the woman on the moors had survived alone for a long time. Nothing was going to happen in the next few hours. But he couldn’t shake off the fear that the Agency might find her.

The rain had stopped though the day was gray and overcast as he headed back to pick up his car. He was searching the street in front of the hotel when something hard jabbed him in his side and a tall figure barred his way.

The sharp musky scent of werewolf hit him a moment later.

Chapter Three

Connor glanced down. The dull metal of a gun barrel pressed into his ribcage.

Two men blocked his path. Slowly, he raised his gaze to the faces of his attackers, stared into their eyes, and saw fear.