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garden wall. Dangerous. “It will cause a panic and draw too much attention. Possibly bring the hunters.”
    “Lord Carew?” she asked.
    He didn’t look at her. The truth of their situation was beginning to dawn on her. He wasn’t their savior. He wasn’t rushing to their rescue. “You’re not going to help us.”
    “No.” He pressed his gloved hand over her mouth before she could scream again. “The carriage is at the gate. We’ll take them both to my residence.”
     

CHAPTER THREE
     
    It hadn’t been a tidy abduction. Under better circumstances Dimitri would have done things differently, much differently. He certainly wouldn’t have allowed Vlad to man-handle her like he had. But Dimitri had wanted to see Lady Amelia fight, or rather see if she would fight.
    He’d also hoped the shock and stress of being taken so forcefully would cause her to shift.
    Unfortunately, it hadn’t.
    He stalked through the kitchens belowstairs, staying away from the pack gathered in his parlor and even further away from the weeping Lady Amelia.
    He knew he shouldn’t care what happened to her. She wasn’t his concern. Not really. He’d done his duty to his family and his pack. He’d tracked her down and had made it possible for the young beauty to be returned to her own kind. He’d even personally attended to Lady Amelia’s aunt, treating her wounds and making sure the older woman slept peacefully. As for the rest…
    A lone wolf didn’t form bonds, didn’t care about the welfare of others.
    But it was difficult, impossible really, to put the whole damned thing behind him when the pack had made themselves at home in his upstairs parlor, Lady Amelia’s aunt safely and comfortably tucked away in a small room in the attic, and the lady of such intense interest locked in his own bedchamber.
    Why in blazes had he kissed her?
    He had known better. For months, he’d been so careful to keep his distance. She wasn’t his, would never be his. It had been simple curiosity that had moved him to ask her to waltz with him. And what had happened in the garden?
    By taking her in his arms, he’d only tortured himself. He’d never again taste nectar so sweet, but because she wasn’t his to take, he had left things between them unfinished, painfully so. A low growl emerged from his throat as he gnashed his teeth. He was never going to rid himself of her exquisite flavor.
    He should slink away into the night, begin again in another city, another country even. The Americas were half a world away. That might be far enough.
    Damn it, the moon wouldn’t be far enough for him to forget the feel of holding Lady Amelia in his arms and to want more. Damn her. Damn her. Damn her .
    Who was he kidding? This wasn’t her fault. The foolish girl believed herself human. He’d seen the horror, the stinging terror frozen on her face when Vlad had started to shift back to their natural wolf form in the duke’s garden. She would never accept any of them… especially notDimitri .
    They were monsters to her, creatures from her worst nightmare. And yet, to them, she was their salvation. What would they do to her when they discovered she’d become more human than wolf? How would they react when they learned she didn’t know how to shift forms and might never know how? Would they welcome her as their leader’s mate when they could clearly smell her weakness and fear clinging to her like a bitter perfume?
    Hell, the pack wouldn’t accept her. It was their nature to cull the weak in favor of the strong. She might last a fortnight, if she was lucky. And then the pack’s instincts would kick in causing Vlad and the pack to put an end to her existence.
    Curse it! Dimitri turned abruptly around. He’d regret this. He knew he would, damn it. But what other choice did he have? The cursed woman was already in his system, throbbing in his veins like a bloody fever. He should have taken her in the garden on the ground and been done with her. He shouldn’t