CHAPTER 4

Katherine didn't move. For a second she thought she couldn't breathe and then she let out a sigh, relieved.

—I won't —she murmured, as if those words from Ian had given her back all her hopes in one breath—. I trust you.

—Are you aware of what this decision means? —he asked, convinced that, although this was her last resort, she had not appreciated the consequences of what she was about to do.

—I just want her to be happy again —was her answer, as if that were the only possible justification for leaving her sister in the hands of the Italian—. I want her to get over all this.

Ian nodded his head, feeling Lia's torrid breath on his throat with every movement.

—And have you thought about what this means to me?

Kathy clenched her jaws and frowned, but didn't take her eyes off the road as she drove toward the least inhabited part of the island.

—I know that I am taking away your freedom. I know that women don't sleep in your house.

For a second Ian wondered if that had ever bothered Katherine, but they both knew better. They had never been more than an instrument of sexual release for each other, and that was the reason they were still friends.

—Will you make her your mistress? —she asked suddenly.

—No, for God's sake, she's your sister! I am not a saint, but I still have some ethics left! —Ian growled at her—. Besides I can assure you that the last thing Lia is thinking about right now is sex!

There was an awkward silence until the Navigator turned right at a bend in the road and traveled the seven hundred yards of cobblestone that ended at the gate of the house. Forty acres stretched from the sea to the jungle. It was their refuge and the refuge of their siblings when they decided to leave the stress of civilization for a few days.

—Mmmm —Lia snuggled back against him.

Her knees were at chest level and she looked very small sitting on his legs. Just then Ian realized that he had taken her just as she was: barefoot and in her nightgown.

He pressed a button on the van and the electric gate opened with a shrill squeal. They took one more turn down the road and stopped a few feet from the house. Sixteen rooms and an aura of a patriarchal mansion elevated it to the status of a work of art.

In the distance, Ian heard Shadow's howl, and knew that in a few minutes his seven wolves would surround the car and escort them to the residence. A piece of jungle, a piece of sea and his wolves. This was their place in the world.

—When we get there, I want you to talk to her directly. She probably won't pay attention to you but do it anyway. Tell her that we are friends, that you won't be able to see her for a while and that she will be staying with me, but nothing more —He doubted she would ask about it anyway—. Listen to me, Katherine: if in a few minutes Lia decides she doesn't want to stay, you will have at least gotten a reaction from her. If she stays, then I'll try to give her what she needs, but after two months you'll take her out of here, however she's doing, OK?

He heard Shadow, Rama and Fao glide with unusual speed through the undergrowth, he was already used to their silent footsteps by now. The males were out hunting.

Kathy got out of the car by the arbor that adorned the porch and he climbed down behind, giving Lia a little shake to wake her up. The girl opened her eyes before she was deposited on the tile floor, her back leaning against the fountain wall, but her expression didn't change one bit.

—Lia, baby —whispered her sister in a strangled voice, crouching down beside her—. I'm going to leave you with a good friend of mine. We probably won't see each other for some time, but he will take care of you. I love you.

Then she got up and nervously climbed into the van. She didn't know what she was doing, but she had to trust him. She had to trust.

"Now I have to accomplish the same thing with Lia". He thought.

******

The females had stayed home and arrived first. Luna, Maya and Kinan surrounded Ian with joy. Sammy approached him more slowly, motherhood had made her serious. In three weeks, she would have her pups, and she looked tired from the weight of her belly.

Lia continued to sit on the floor, hugging her knees with a gesture of disorientation. It was obvious that she had been taken out of her comfort zone and had no idea where she was, but that didn't make her react.

As the wolves rushed closer, Ian saw blood stains on their chests and forelegs, they had gotten prey this time. Shadow was the alpha male of the pack and he knew he would live up to their expectations. Over time he had grown accustomed to Katherine, but her sister was a perfect stranger to the animal, and his reaction was immediate. He looked at his owner, waiting for a command from him to stop, but the Italian did not give it.

His first growl was sullen and fierce, and the herd did not hesitate, not when they knew they had the master's permission. The chorus of howling threats made Lia shudder, muscles tense, breathing ragged and hesitant. With seven sets of fangs thirty centimeters from her face she opened her eyes, startled, but did not move.

Perhaps that was one of the hardest things he would ever do for her, but her trust was the basis for everything they would do from then on. Ian had to get it irrevocably and immediately, before Katherine left, otherwise he would ask her to take Lia away.

He held up two fingers of his right hand in an almost imperceptible gesture. The growling ceased in an instant, but the girl did not relax her expression. She was afraid, and that was normal. No one in their right mind wouldn't fear seven adult wolves, so Ian took it as a good sign. He took a few steps away from her and held out his hand.

—Let's go —He commanded her in an authoritative tone.

He didn't pick her up, didn't cradle her in his arms as he would have wished... That wasn't what she needed right now. Lia had to get up on her own, to walk, and she had to do it even if it was only driven by her survival instinct.

She looked at him with lost eyes but didn't move.

Ian clenched his two raised fingers into a fist, and as he moved a little farther away the grunting resumed doubly fierce. He heard her moan, lips parted, panting, on the verge of terror, cowering against the hard stone of the fountain. She was in pain, but it was necessary.

Lia was a new puppy in training, she had to obey for her own safety, for her own happiness. She had to start by obeying. Unfortunately, it was easier to discipline a body than a soul.

The wolves fell silent again after another signal from their master, and he reached out again, and again called her.

—Come on.

It was farther than before, and the barrier of wolves separated them. Lia made a slight gesture but still did not stand up, it seemed as if she had melted into the stone. The Italian turned his back on her again to walk away, and this time he made sure she saw that he had given Shadow an order.

The gray wolf lunged forward with a dull, rabid growl, and Lia let out a choked cry. The animal was two inches from her face, baring its fangs, and she lost herself in the wolf's golden eyes. The instinctive reaction of any person to such an attack would have been to cover her face with her hands, to try to escape... but the girl did not. She leaned forward, closer and closer to Shadow's wet nose, and somehow wished she could touch him.

"Wild... free", she smiled inwardly. "No touching... free... no touching...", she whispered.

Ian made sure she saw his next signal as well and the wolves fell silent, but without serenity. He offered his hand to her again, now five meters away, and his voice overcame any authority anyone had ever used before in her presence.

—Lia, come on!

The first movement was almost imperceptible. She rested her fingers on the rocks of the fountain and stood slowly, looking at the wolves and Ian at the same time, took a tiny step in his direction and the semicircle of animals slowly opened to let her pass. Then he made his riskiest move.

It was only for Luna and Kinan, the females were always more convincing. He opened his hand fully unnoticed by Lia, and Kinan launched the first nip at her ankles. It barely grazed her, but the she—wolf's hot saliva made her hold her breath and freeze.

—Come on! —Ian ordered her again—. Come on.

"Move, come on... walk!"

Leah started walking again between the two rows of wolves. A new feint of a bite from Luna forced her to instinctively pull her foot back, but she didn't stop anymore. The man held out his hand and the girl linked her small fingers with it, more tightly this time, palm against palm.

Very slowly Ian began to sing, and it was she who hummed then, following him, with a chorus of howls in the background. As they walked toward the house, Lia didn't look back once.