"Ryan, I want to be with you, forever," I said, hardly believing how happy I felt, hardly remembering who I was or my purpose. In that moment, even sweet revenge seemed like it would pale in comparison to this.            He was still sleepy, but he opened his eyes a little to gaze at me. His lips were curved upwards in a happy smile like I'd never seen before that radiated from his usually bedraggled and strained face. His eyes were rich tawny and amber like yellow fire. His neck was thick and masculine with veins revealing all over the muscles of his body. I marveled at how large his arms and shoulders were, and how safe and small they made me feel.            My small hand was folded into his large hands. I admired the width of his forearms, even the stretch between his hands and his elbows were sexy. Everything about him was so attractive,

Alyson's POV One morning, Ryan had already gone off on some Alpha duties with Michael, and I was home alone. Even Donna had left to retrieve some meat order from the butcher. I hadn't thought of Dylan in a while, in fact, with all going on between Ryan and I, the fight games seemed like a distant past. I had almost forgotten about Dylan and those herbs for a few days. But finally, I remembered that I'd invited Dylan to visit, and I had not yet told Ryan about it either. I also had not heard from Dylan, so whether he'd take me up on the offer remained to be seen. I wondered about those herbs, and definitely couldn't wait to learn more. Secretly, I considered that they could also help me give blood to Ryan if only he would accept it. I was sitting in the main room for a while before it dawned on me that I could go out by myself and look a bit in the woods for herbs. I wasn't quite sure

Alyson's POV I woke up with a terrible headache. The strange sway of the wheeled cart where they'd thrown my body bumped over rocks. The wolfs bane still had effect so I was too weak to shift. My whole body shook in terror, thinking of all the traumas of my past life and how these men could be delivering me to a similar fate. Had they discovered who I was? How could they? I had told no one. My whole body ached, burned and itched. The low quality of the wolfs bane they'd dosed me with was causing a reaction in me that I hadn't even experienced in my past life. I sat up a little, but the capsule had a cover with slits in the wood that I could peek out. A group of men paraded around me, carrying knives. They were laughing and joking. My blurred mind tried to grasp what they were saying. "That was much easier than expected," One of the men guffawed. "We will get rewards for this." Re

Alyson's POV            Ryan had been gone on the inexplicable pack business for a couple days. After storming out on Dylan and I the other day, I knew that Ryan was worried about the Crowalt Pack, and frustrated that he didn't share more about that with me.            I also knew I kept a lot from him as well, but that seemed different somehow. I had missed Ryan; he hadn't come back even at night. I hoped that he was going to be okay, and not doing anything crazy on my account.            Dylan was chatting cheerily with Donna that morning, she was serving breakfast at the table. I walked out and sat down.            Michael was in the chair nearest the door, not looking up from his plate of food.

Alyson's POV            I slept in my own room. I wasn't sure why I'd become so withdrawn and strange with Ryan ever since being kidnapped like I'd regressed, but he also seemed strange to me. I longed to get back to where we were before I was kidnapped, but I also found myself more scared of intimacy and trust again.            Ryan didn't say anything, he was too tired to notice maybe. I wanted him to invite me, I had slept in his room the night before when I was taking care of him, but it felt different now that he was better.            I wasn't sure what was wrong with us. Why couldn't we be stable for more than a few days? Telling him that I loved him seemed like another's memory. I even told him that I wanted to be with him forever. But at the first scent of danger,