Kamryn settled back into the seat when Brand pulled out onto the street. With her choice taken away from her, she prepared herself to come face to face with Algar for the first time in a week.
Nathan stepped out of the shaded part of the parking lot and watched Brand's Lexus drive away. He wore a large smile. He'd decided to follow the large warrior when he'd left the manor. Unbeknownst to Brand, or the rest of the immortal warriors, Nathan had been discreetly watching the front of the manor for most of the week. He'd followed Brand in his travels more than once. But today he'd come up lucky.
On a whim, when Brand had gone to the hotel, Nathan had followed him inside.
When the warrior crossed the lobby and took an elevator, Nathan waited until he saw what floor it stopped on and stayed on, before he rode the other elevator. Following Brand's scent, it hadn't been hard to find which room the warrior had gone into. Nathan hadn't needed to get close to hear Brand talking to a woman. Hearing him tell her he wanted her, it had Nathan thinking he'd just found the leverage he'd been searching for.
Another warrior had found his mate.
It would only be a matter of time before Brand left, so Nathan went back down to the lobby and out to the parking lot to wait. Seeing Brand leading his mate to his car had been a bit of a disappointment, but at least Nathan now knew what she looked like.
Since she had no luggage with her, he had to assume she would return to her hotel at some point. The question would be whether Brand let her go by herself.
Deciding to have a pack member watch the hotel for her return, Nathan got into his car. He needed to take out all the warriors if he ever wanted to see his plans come to fruition—to free Fenris and bring about Ragnarok. Only then would his kind rule.
Chapter Eight
When the manor came into view, Kamryn started to get nervous. She didn't know if she could do this. Being at the manor brought back bad memories of Algar turning into that . . . creature. Now that she'd had a few days to think about it, Kamryn hadn't been too bothered with Algar shifting into a wolf. A wolf was somewhat normal.
His werewolf form had scared her the most. It still gave her the willies just thinking about it.
Brand parked the car and turned to her. "I can smell your fear. Algar would never hurt you."
Kamryn took a shuddering breath. "I don't know if I can do this. You guys may be used to it, but your werewolf forms scare the hell out of me."
"It shouldn't. We're still us. If you were ever attacked by a werewolf sired by Fenris, you would be happy to have one of us defending you. It only takes one bite to turn a mortal into one of them."
She swallowed. That had been a lot of words for Brand. "I don't know if I'm ready to hear that."
"The time to hide is over. It's time to accept your fate."
Brand got of the car and walked around to help her out. She had to take deep, cleansing breaths to stop herself from hyperventilating. Brand didn't seem to notice. He pulled her by her arm ever closer to the front door of the manor. Once he had them through it, he slammed the door shut.
Dolf hurried out into the foyer. When he saw her with Brand, he whistled low.
"Bloody hell, you did it. You forced Kamryn to come with you. Raed may not be too pleased about this."
"It needed to be done. Where's Algar?"
"I doubt you'll have to go looking for him," Dolf said. "Once he catches a whiff of her scent he'll come running."
Sure enough, Kamryn heard the sound of heavy footfalls coming from the upper level. Algar appeared at the top of the stairs and his gaze latched onto her. The sight of him made her heart beat faster. Kamryn had had no idea how much she'd missed him until she saw him again. When he started down the stairs, she ran her gaze over him.
She made note of the dark circles under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't slept in a week. When he reached the bottom of the stairs, Algar crossed the foyer in two long strides. He moved in front of her and stared while he clenched and unclenched his hands at his sides.
Brand let go of her and shifted a little away the same time Dolf did. "She has the start of Tiw's mark. She's yours. Fix the problem."
Algar said nothing. He scooped her up in his arms and took the stairs back up two at a time. He didn't put her down until he had them in his bedroom with the door locked.
Kamryn swallowed when he stared down at her. His eyes had changed. They no longer looked normal. The hazel irises had taken over most of the white of his eyes.
Algar did nothing to hide them from her. He met her gaze, holding it, as if daring her to look away. She couldn't. Being this close to him again, smelling his musky scent, Kamryn wanted nothing more than to have Algar hold her.
Looking at him, she could see their separation had been harder on him than it had been on her. Lines of stress bracketed his mouth and the corners of his eyes. Even his face looked thinner, as if he'd lost some weight since the last time she'd seen him. He looked to be a man who had suffered . . . who was still suffering. She swallowed again.
She'd done that to him. While she hid like a coward in her hotel room, he'd obviously been going through hell.
She didn't understand what it meant to be mated to a werewolf, but a part of her longed to be with him. All week she'd been trying to convince herself she could turn her back on Algar, get on a plane, and leave him behind. She would go back to the States and forget him along with everything they had done together. She'd been kidding herself. She couldn't walk away from this werewolf, this man. Not now, not ever. Yes, she had some fear when it came to his werewolf form, but it didn't make Algar the animal she'd called him. An animal wouldn't be standing in front of her with such hope and longing shining in his eyes. All she could think about was taking away his pain.
Kamryn cleared her throat. "You look like crap." Algar flinched, but he didn't say anything. She tried again. "I was an idiot. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I'm sorry." He continued to stare. When the silence became too much, she said, "Algar, say something. Please."
"Show me," he said.
"Show you what?"
In answer, he lifted a hand, tipped with claws, and used one to rip her shirt open from the collar to the hem. Algar parted the material and pushed the ruined top down her arms so it landed on the floor. He then spun her around, unhooked her bra and stripped it off her.
She kept still when claw-tipped fingers ran gently up the length of her arms.
They stopped at the top of her shoulders and held on. She sucked in a sharp breath when Algar kissed the mark on her back with reverence.
Once he'd kissed every inch of the mark, he put his arms around her waist and pulled her back against his hard body. He moved her hair to the side and continued to kiss the side of her neck. Goosebumps broke out over skin.
"Don't run from me again, Kamryn," he said in a husky voice. "I don't think I could survive it. I've felt as if a piece of me was missing."
She relaxed against him, his words causing her to melt. "I won't run."
He lifted his hands from her waist and covered her breasts. He plucked at her nipples until they went taut. Her pussy clenched and wetness started to pool. Algar rocked his hips against her, letting her feel how hard his cock had gone. She lifted her arms to wrap them around the back of his neck and bent her head to the side to give his lips better access.
Algar continued to play with her breasts. He licked and kissed a path to her earlobe and gently bit it. "I want you, Kamryn. I've done nothing but ache for you."
Her body on fire, she moved restlessly against him. "I need to feel you inside me."
With a low growl, he shifted his hands to the top of her jeans. He undid them quickly and shucked them down her legs. She kicked them away. Her panties, he carefully tugged off. When she kicked those away as well, she looked down her body to watch Algar's clawed hands skim up her sides, across her ribs and slowly move lower to her stomach. When he moved even lower and dropped one hand between her legs, she moaned. He parted her folds and found her clit, circling it with one finger until her juices leaked from her pussy.