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only sounds he’d made in the last few weeks were a few
choice swear words and the howls of pain he was too weak to contain any longer.
    When she backed away,
his heart thumped painfully against his ribs. He held up his hands and stepped
back, even though he desperately wanted to charge forward and beg that she not
leave him. Then he held out her phone. “Wait. Please.”
    His hoarse plea made
him wince.
    Begging like some
pathetic human.
    “You’re not one of
them, are you?” They could’ve sent her down here. And if they had, he wasn’t
sure he’d be able to resist her for even an hour. There was something about her
reaction to the rat that told him she didn’t have the stomach for torture.
    At the thought of the
lost rat, his stomach rumbled in protest, cramping so hard that he nearly
doubled over.
    “One of…them?” The
low, hesitant sound of her voice sent a shiver of pure lust through his system.
He swayed, wishing she’d speak again.
    His condition mortified
him, and he straightened, not wanting to appear weak. Not in front of her. He tucked
his rough, callused hands behind his back, hiding their condition.
    When the little
goddess ventured closer, he stilled so as not to frighten her. Without warning,
his beast broke his iron hold over him for the first time since being imprisoned.
Any illusion of control vanished. Mercifully, his wolf didn’t manifest, didn’t
take over. Maybe more frightening, the beast seemed content to simply be near
the woman.
    His wolf peered out
of his eyes, and Aiden held his breath, unsure he’d be able to stop him if the
beast decided to fight free.
    The wolf whiffled, inhaling
her scent.
    Learning her.
    But then he did it
again, this time to savor the fragrance that rose from her skin.
    Once satisfied, he
laid his head down on his paws and whined, wanting her touch just as badly as
Aiden did. His animal had never reacted to a woman so strongly. Aiden wanted to
revel in the sensations, but he needed to get them out of there first.
    Maybe the rain would
keep his captors away, but he doubted it. A wave of rage crashed over him, and
he knew what he had to do. He straightened to his full height, feeling like a
monster as he towered over her.
    “You’re not safe down
here. You have to get out.”
    She reared back at
his at his comment. He wanted to recall his words, lure her closer, promise her
anything if she just stayed a minute longer, but he would not risk her safety,
even if might mean his freedom.
    “Do you think I’d be
here if I knew the way out?”
    She sounded so
exasperated Aiden almost smiled, then he cocked his head in confusion. “How
were you able to find me if you don’t even know how you got here?”
    “I fell.” She
muttered, casting a quick glance over her shoulder. “Exiting that way was not
an option.”
    “So you searched for
a way out and found me.”
    Shayla nodded once.
    He didn’t want to
admire her ingenuity. He didn’t want to be attracted to her. He failed
miserably at both accounts. Before he could press for more information, a sound
to his right made him whirl.
    Familiar male voices.
    Fear shredded the
last of his composure, and he surged toward the bars. He gripped the metal,
uncaring when his flesh sizzled, how the skin of his palms slowly tightened and
then cracked. “Run!”
    She gazed at him, not
as afraid as she should be. “There is nowhere to run. I can’t go back the way I
came.”
    Footsteps scuffled toward
them. The stench of their bodies swept through the tunnels, and his wolf
pressed forward beneath his skin, desperate to defend the woman.
    “There is another way
out, but you must hide right now. If they discover you here, they’ll kill you.”
    Her brows furrowed, and
the look might have been cute if he weren’t so terrified for her safety. He
wanted to keep her close. She was his last chance at freedom. At least that’s the
only explanation he had for primitive way he responded to the idea of her in
danger.
    He peered