Page 9

"You must be hungry," he said, deliberately changing course. "You've been unconscious for six hours."

Her eyes widened slightly. "What the hell did you give me?"

"Something harmless. Something that ensured you wouldn't remember the route here." Kieran stepped back, needing distance before he did something irreversible. "I brought your backpack. It seemed important to you."

Relief flickered across her face, softening her defiant posture. "Where is it?"

Kieran gestured to the worn leather bag he'd placed carefully on his desk. He'd noticed how she'd instinctively reached for it even as she started to lose consciousness. Something protective had stirred in him then—a strange, unfamiliar desire to preserve what mattered to her.

"Thank you," she said, the first words without challenge behind them. "My research notes are in there. My observations."

"Your theories about wolves who aren't just wolves?" He couldn't help the slight smirk that tugged at his mouth.

She narrowed her eyes. "My evidence."

Kieran moved to the small kitchenette tucked into the corner of his cabin. The urge to provide for her hit him with unexpected force—a deep, primal need to demonstrate his ability to care for her needs. He'd never felt this with anyone before, this bone-deep impulse to protect and nourish.

"Turkey or ham?" he asked, pulling bread from a small cabinet.

"I... turkey, I guess."

He assembled the sandwich with precise movements, aware of her eyes tracking him. His wolf preened under her attention, showing off as he sliced the bread with a hunting knife he kept razor-sharp.

"I brew my own beer," he said, nodding toward a bottle on the counter. "But water might be better after the sedative."

"Drugging me and then offering refreshments." Maya's voice carried a sardonic edge. "Such a thoughtful kidnapper."

Kieran turned, sandwich plate in one hand, water bottle in the other. "I prefer to think of it as protective custody."

"Is that what you call abduction where you come from?" She hadn't moved from her kneeling position on the bed, still maintaining that small height advantage. The stubborn tilt of her chin stirred something primal in him.

"Where I come from, trespassing has more severe consequences than a nap and a sandwich." He set both items on the small table beside the bed, close enough for her to reach but not crowding her space.

She eyed the food but didn't immediately take it. Smart. Cautious.

"I didn't poison it," he said, reading her hesitation. "If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't waste my food."

Her eyes met his, searching for truth. "Why am I here, Kieran? Really? If this is about the cameras, I can remove them."

The genuine confusion in her voice punched through his defenses. She truly had no idea what she'd stumbled into—or what she was to him. The revelation should have simplified things, but instead, it complicated everything. How could he explain that by shifter law, she should be dead, but by something older and deeper than law, she was his?

"Eat," he said, the command instinctive. His voice softened as he added, "We have a lot to discuss, and it will go better if you're not hungry."

FIVE

MAYA

Maya eyed the turkey sandwich as if it might leap from the plate and bite her. Her stomach growled, betraying her body's true needs despite her mind's suspicions.

Before she could argue with Kieran any further, a shrill ring cut through the cabin's stillness. Kieran's expression transformed instantly as he pulled a cell phone from his pocket. His commanding demeanor cracked, revealing something Maya hadn't expected—fear.

"I need to take this," he said, his jaw tightening. "Eat your sandwich and drink the water. It'll help with the aftereffects of the sedative."

He crossed to the fireplace, his shoulders rigid as he turned his back to her. "Yes?" His voice lowered to a dangerous whisper, but in the small cabin, she caught fragments. "No, I said I'd handle it... You gave me until..."

Maya lifted the sandwich, inhaling the scent of smoked turkey and fresh bread. Her stomach contracted painfully, reminding her she hadn't eaten since her granola bar at sunrise. Kidnapping aside, scientific excitement had consumedher morning and early afternoon until this... situation... had developed.

She took a cautious bite, reasoning that if he'd wanted her dead, he wouldn't have bothered with the whole abduction routine. The flavors exploded on her tongue, reminding her body how desperately it needed sustenance.