Knowing it was useless, he tugged against the heavy silver shackle that chained his right ankle to a thick bolt in the floor. The only thing it accomplished was a searing pain in the palm of his hand.
He sat up, eyes narrowing against the light, when the door to his prison opened. An oath escaped his lips when he recognized his visitor.
She held a candle in one hand. After closing the door, she stood with her back against it, obviously afraid to approach him.
He stood slowly so as not to scare her away. “What the devil are you doing here?”
“I don’t know. If Russell finds out, he’ll be very angry.”
“So why did you come?”
“My daughter loves you,” Dorothy said.
Gideon nodded. “That surprises you, doesn’t it?”
“Frankly, yes. And no.” She smiled faintly. “How can I condemn her for falling in love with a vampire when I married a werewolf?” She studied him a moment, then sighed heavily. “I’ve never been a very good mother, partly because I couldn’t fully understand Kiya, but mostly because, as much as I love my husband, I’ve always been afraid of him.”
“But you married him anyway.”
“Yes, but that was before I knew what he was. I tried to leave him when I found out, but he wouldn’t let me take my children with me, and I couldn’t leave them behind.”
“And now your daughter’s trapped in a marriage she doesn’t want,” Gideon said.
Tears shimmered in Dorothy’s eyes. “There was nothing I could have done to stop it.”
He didn’t have to read her mind to know that guilt was eating her up inside. “So, what do you want from me?”
“I want your word that you’ll make Kiya happy for as long as you live.”
Gideon snorted. “I doubt if that’ll be very long, all things considered.”
“Promise me!”
“I love Kiya,” Gideon said quietly. “I’d never do anything to hurt her. Or you. You have my word that I’ll take care of her and do my best to make her happy all the days of her life.”
Dorothy stared at him for several moments, then reached into her pocket and withdrew a large silver key. She moved warily toward him, then bent down and unlocked the chain that held him bound. “Go, quickly!”
“Come with me.”
“I can’t.” She shook her head. “I wouldn’t know how to survive out there.”
“He’ll kill you for this.”
“Maybe. It doesn’t matter as long as Kiya is happy. She’s had a taste of freedom.” Dorothy smiled sadly. “She told me once that she never wanted to live my life. With your help, I intend to see that she doesn’t have to.”
“If there’s ever anything I can do for you …”
“Just tell her I love her.”
Gideon nodded; then, with a last sympathetic look at a courageous woman, he dissolved into mist and left the house.
Dorothy stared at the place where Gideon had been standing only seconds ago. She had seen many amazing things since coming to live here, but she didn’t know which was more astonishing, watching her husband and daughter transform themselves into wolves, or seeing Gideon dissolve into a shimmering gray mist and simply disappear.
With a shake of her head, she started toward the door, only to come to an abrupt halt when Russell filled the doorway. His gaze swept the room, then came to rest on her.
“Where is he?” Russell asked.
His voice rang like thunder, echoing off the walls, filling her heart with terror. “He’s …” She took a deep breath. “I let him go.”
He glared at her, his eyes narrowed to angry slits.
“Kiya loves him.” It was a weak excuse at best.
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“She deserves to be happy.”
“As her Alpha, Kiya deserves whatever I say.” He took a step toward her, fists clenched at his sides. “She belongs to me. She will do as I say, when I say, the same as any other member of the pack. I thought you understood that.” He took another step forward, towering over her, his rage a palpable thing. “Do you understand?”
She nodded, unable to speak past the lump of fear in her throat. She had never experienced his anger before, never truly understood how dangerous he could be.
Until this moment, she had never considered herself to be part of the pack, or thought of her husband as being her Alpha. It occurred to her that she was at his mercy. As Alpha, he held the power of life and death over the werewolves in the compound. None of them would condemn him, regardless of the punishment he imposed upon her.
It was a frightening thought. She wrapped her arms around her waist, chilled to her very core by the merciless expression in his eyes, the cruel twist of his lips.