“You calling me a liar, darlin’?” His voice lowered to a softness that slid danger into deadly.
The hair pricked up on the back of her neck. “I haven’t decided.”
“Let me know when you do.”
Her branch shuddered and then splintered apart. With a soft cry, she jumped and landed on a branch several feet down. Pine needles flew, and bark crumbled, but the damn thing held her.
He smiled. “Close enough.” Bunching his legs, he leaped.
The wolf hit her mid-center and tucked her into his hard body. She screamed as they sailed through the boughs. He rolled them several times in midair, wrapping long legs and arms around her.
Gravity yanked them down like the powerful force it was.
She landed on top of him and lost every bit of oxygen from her lungs. Maybe her muscles. Hell, maybe her brain.
Her chin thunked against his chest. Taking several deep breaths, she went boneless on him as she took inventory.
Nothing really hurt.
“Are you all right?” he rumbled, both hands flattening against her lower back.
Her entire lower back.
She lifted her head. “Fine. You?”
He grimaced and shifted his weight beneath her. “I’m good, though pine needles may have pierced my spine.”
All of that incredible muscle rolling into place against her body flared nerves to life. All sorts of nerves . . . in all sorts of places. She pushed against his chest to get off.
She didn’t move.
He exhaled. “We need to talk.”
“Then get your hand off my ass.” Yeah. He’d copped a feel.
His grin flashed strong white teeth. “Sorry. I’ve missed this ass.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Apparently not. It’s not like you tried to help me remember.”
He pursed his lips in what could only be termed a wounded male expression. “I figured the memories were so good, you’d remember on your own.”
Her eye roll made her dizzy. “Whatever.”
“Plus, I’ve been a bit busy fighting werewolves, demons, and Kurjans the last decade.” His jaw firmed. “As you know, the werewolf population exploded, and I needed to fight. The king promised to keep you safe. I hoped you’d remember while you healed. You’re damn stubborn, sweetheart.”
“You think you know me?”
“Yes. In fact—” he ran his fingers along the bottom of her buttock, where ass met leg—“I believe there’s a very nice, properly small, fang mark right . . . here.”
Fire blasted through her. She swallowed. Twice. “I thought that was just a scar.”
“It is.” His fangs dropped low. “See?”
Yeah. She saw. “Put those away.”
The sharp points retracted. He settled into the rustling leaves, both hands again pressing against her back. “Your name is Maggie Malone, you’re a wolf-shifter from Vaile Island, you’re being hunted by demons, and you make the sweetest sound of need right before you come.”
Now was not the time to flirt. “Malone?” she snorted.
“My name is actually cutesy Maggie Malone?”
“Yes.”
Her heart glitched in hope. “I’m from an island?”
“Yes. Vaile Island off of Scotland.”
Slowly, cautiously, she opened her mouth. “Do I, uh, have family?”
His eyes darkened, and he patted her back. Well, that massive hand smacked her back. But he tried. “No. No family, sweetheart.”
Surprising that hearing the truth she’d already known hurt. “Oh.”
“Except me.” He smacked her again.
God keep her from enormous wolves trying to comfort her. “I don’t know you.”
“Do you need to see the fangs again?”
She barked out a laugh—she couldn’t help it. For being a killer, the guy was kind of charming. And sweet. “No. I’m good.” She settled her chin on her hands, keeping his gaze.
“Why haven’t you told me any of this before?” She wanted to like him . . . but she might end up trying to kill him.
He sighed. “The wolves on Vaile Island are, ah, special.
They can mask their scents—and the world is unaware of the ability. Not even the vampires know the truth.”
“So they hide from people?” Her people were cowards?
“Ah, no. They’re contract assassins and soldiers.” His gaze wandered to her face. “So if I would’ve told you, or the vampires, then you would’ve been returned to the Vaile pack. Believe me, you didn’t want to be returned. So I figured I’d let your memories come back on their own, especially since I couldn’t be there for you while the war was exploding and I needed to fight.”
Her head started to ache. “So why tell me now?”
“Our contacts have informed us that the Vailes have discovered you’re alive, so I wanted you to know the whole truth.”
About damn time. “Why wouldn’t I have wanted to go home?” she whispered.
He sighed. “You were raised by your grandpa, and when he died, you had a falling-out with the new Alpha wolf, so you headed out on your own.”
“Falling-out?”
“Yes. Felix McClure is an insane son of a bitch, and when you refused to mate him, he went crazy. You fled.”
Good thing she’d trained with shifters and vampires the last decade. “I’d like to meet up with him.”
“He probably sent the wolves to get you now that everyone knows you’re alive.”
So they weren’t in town to kill her—only fetch her. “McClure’s crazy enough to want me back after all this time?”
“Yep. You’re from the strongest line of wolves who can mask, and you’re in demand, sweetheart.”
His eyes had veiled enough for her to wonder. What was he not telling her? “Why were you hunting me?” More important, why had she agreed to mate him?
He brushed hair away from her face. “Your grandpa saved my life in the last war and I owed him. He called me right before he died, and I agreed to find you and help you.”
She narrowed her eyes. “So you caught up to me. What happened?”
“We fell in love and decided to mate.” Terrent’s jaw firmed. “It’s the best course of action to keep you safe.”
Emotional and logical? Doubtful. She frowned.
“Okay. It took persuasion, but you did agree.” He sighed.
“As for my part, I owe your grandpa, I like you, and I’m ready to have a family.”
That was kind of sweet. And the erection digging into her belly showed he did like her. A lot. “So what happened?”
“You changed your mind and took off . . . the Kurjans somehow found you . . . and you know the rest.” Anger blazed through Terrent’s dark eyes.
Well, that did sound like her. Kind of. “Why did I change my mind?”
He shrugged. “We couldn’t agree about what to do after we mated. I needed to continue hunting on the Bane’s Council, and I wanted you somewhere safe.”
“I didn’t want safety?” That didn’t sound like her. She loved safety.
He sighed. “No. You wanted to train to fight.”
“I can fight.” She’d trained for years while waiting for her memories to return. They had to return so she
