Page 11

"Let me go," she demanded, but her voice betrayed her with a slight tremor.

"I can't do that." His gaze dropped to her lips, lingering there as something shifted in his expression—the predatory hunger tempered by something else, something almost vulnerable.

Maya's entire body hummed with an electricity she couldn't explain. His proximity sent waves of heat cascading through her, awakening parts of herself she'd long ignored in favor of academic pursuit. The scientific portion of her mind frantically cataloged responses—elevated heart rate, dilated pupils (both his and, she suspected, her own), shallow breathing—while another, more primal part simply registered—want.

"What is this?" she whispered, the question encompassing everything—her abduction, the wolves, the video, and most confusingly, the inexplicable magnetic pull between them.

Kieran's chest rose and fell against hers, his heart beating as wildly as her own. She could feel the rhythm of it, strong andfast, like he'd run miles instead of merely crossing a room. His scent enveloped her—pine and earth and that undefinable musk that made her knees weaken.

"I don't entirely know yet," he admitted, his voice rough. "I've never—" He stopped, seeming unable to finish the thought.

They stood frozen in tableau, their breaths mingling, neither advancing nor retreating, caught in a moment of perfect tension. Maya's gaze traced the scar that ran down his face, wondering what battle had marked him. Her fingers itched to touch it and to map the topography of his face with scientific precision—and something far less analytical.

A heartbeat passed. Two. Three.

Kieran stepped back abruptly, breaking the spell. The cool air rushed between them, and Maya felt bereft in a way that made no rational sense.

"Go back to the bed." His command held no room for argument, though something unsteady lurked beneath the authoritative tone.

Maya's feet moved before her brain caught up, carrying her back to the bed as if pulled by invisible strings. She perched on its edge, still clutching her backpack, watching as Kieran remained by the door, his broad shoulders taut with what looked like painful restraint.

"What are you planning on doing with me?" she asked, hating how breathless she sounded.

Kieran's jaw worked, the muscles there jumping with tension. "I haven't decided yet."

The metallic scrape of the key turning in the lock resonated through Maya's body like a death knell to her freedom. Kieran dragged a small wooden chair across the floor, its legs scratching against the wooden planks, and planted it firmly in front of the door. He sat down with deliberate slowness, crossing his arms over his broad chest, his eyes never leaving hers.

Maya held her backpack tighter against her chest, the familiar weight of her research journals and field equipment offering little comfort now. Her heart still hammered erratically from their encounter by the door—not from fear alone, but from something far more confusing.

"That was a spectacularly bad idea," Kieran said, his voice deceptively soft despite the steel underneath. "I wouldn't try it again."

Maya lifted her chin. "What do you expect? You've kidnapped me and locked me in a remote cabin. Of course I tried to escape."

"And yet..." His eyes—those impossible silver-blue eyes—narrowed slightly. "Your heart wasn't fully committed to leaving, was it?"

Heat flooded Maya's cheeks. He was right, and that was the most infuriating part. Even as she'd grabbed the doorknob, something inside her had hesitated, and had almost welcomed his intervention.

"That's absurd," she snapped, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her. "I don't know what kind of Stockholm syndrome you think you're inducing, but my biology degree tells me?—"

"Your biology degree." Kieran's laugh was low and rich, sending an unwelcome shiver through her. "Dr. Collins, there are things in these mountains your textbooks never covered."

Maya's fingers dug deeper into the worn leather of her backpack. "Like men who turn into wolves?"

A muscle in his jaw twitched. "Among other things."

The silence stretched between them, electric with possibilities. Maya's scientific mind scrambled for explanations, for categories and classifications to make sense of this new reality—and of her own inexplicable reactions to this man.

"This connection between us," she ventured finally, unable to stop herself. "Is that part of your... abilities? Some kind of pheromone or biological manipulation?"

Kieran's expression shifted, a flicker of surprise crossing his features before he masked it. "You feel it too."

It wasn't a question. Maya swallowed hard, her throat suddenly dry. "I'm trying to understand it scientifically."

"Some things exist beyond science." He leaned forward slightly, and despite the distance between them, Maya felt the movement as if he'd touched her. "What you're feeling—what we're both feeling—there's a word for it in my world."

"And what world is that, exactly?" Maya asked, desperate to steer the conversation toward facts, data, anything but the molten heat pooling in her body whenever his gaze lingered on her.

Kieran's lips curved into a smile that was both predatory and, somehow, sad. "A world you stumbled into by accident, and one that might not let you go."