Aislinn's hand came up to his face and she traced his features. Where Aislinn's face was more human than beast Cullen's was just the opposite. His nose and mouth protruded from his face too far to make kissing as Aislinn knew it possible. She was considering how to go about it when he leaned in and licked her lips. His voice was a grumble monotone not meant for speaking, "Mmmm, I coullldnn't lleet mmy betterr hallf haavve all the funn," he said.Aislinn could see the pleasure in his eyes as he began pulling at her clothes. She was amused at his impatience. He may have been big and strong in this form but he didn't have any dexterity, finger-wise. He ended up ripping her bra off when he couldn't get the clasp. From the tone of his growl she knew the he wasn't finding the clothing dilemma at all amusing. He ripped at his own shirt and then his jeans getting them off. Considering how tightly he had grown into them there really wasn't any other way.His gaze on her was intense. Aislinn fe

Jenna walked down the stairs into what had been a basement wine cellar. But Rafe had turned it into more of a dungeon torture chamber. She was considering having the place burned. It smelled of blood and terror. Along the wall where there had once been numerous wooden racks holding bottles of carefully chosen, rare vintage wines were now rows of naked, battered, whimpering women."Let them all go," Jenna said without emotion.Large lycan's circulated through the room pulling chains off of the tired, beaten, women. Jenna may have been a bitch but even she saw some things as going too. She'd have her revenge but not like this. She still owed Cullen Arnauk for embarrassing her at their mating and the idea that two men had wanted Aislinn over her had Jenna seething with jealousy. Not to mention she felt like she still had something to prove. But kidnap and torture wasn't her style.The women were given clothes and ushered to the great room to wait for cars to take them back to the Madadh-

The front doors opened into a large main room with a vaulted ceiling three floors high. There were doors on all the walls of the huge room and stairs that led to a balcony that circled the room and led to the second and third floor balconies. There were lots of overstuffed couches and chairs arranged around the room so that several groups of people could sit and talk with each other in separate little areas. There was a gigantic fireplace on the far wall and the room as a whole was decorated with a lived-in, worn, comfortable, antique feel.As they walked through the room to the stairs there was a lot of staring. But no one said anything. Aislinn noticed that everyone seemed to be in jeans and plain t-shirts. It almost looked like they were wearing a uniform. She figured that no one had time to pack a bag before coming out here for the fight. They were all wearing clothes from the closet storeroom she guessed.Cullen led Aislinn up the stairs and along the third floor balcony. Then th

"Hell, I nearly forgot. Right. Liam has everything under control for the most part. Ranaild and Elise showed up at the den this morning. Ranaild is apparently his own jailer and Elise spent the morning telling Liam what happened to her and trying to convince him to advocate for Ranaild when you get back. Apparently, when Elise was being held there were a significant number of others being held as well. I'm gonna guess that there's a scary correspondence between the guys you dungeoned before we left and the women who Elise has reported as being held."Cullen nodded gravely. "Maybe I can talk to Jenna. Who knows. We might be able to reach an amiable solution and get Jenna to let them all go. It appears as though the Tairneach have allowed her to step in as alpha without too much complaint. With Gregor dead that gets her main opponent out of the way. She may be willing to back off and just be happy about being able to follow in Brennus' footsteps. As far as Ranaild goes," Cullen growled.

The group loaded silently into the large black SUV and Cullen began driving back to Madadh-Allaidh Saobhaidh. Gaven and Hagan were afraid to speak. They didn't know what to say to Cullen after everything that had happened. But both men looked at each other with hope as they each felt some of the muffled fear in the back of their minds ebb away. Something was happening with their mates that was making them less frightened. The men didn't know what it could be. Their bonds weren't strong enough to project thoughts over this kind of distance. But there was hope now. The two men sat impatiently in the back seat.Sarah had about a million questions she wanted answered. But she wasn't able to ask Cullen about his mating with Aislinn with the others present. The only positive thing Cullen could get from having all the upset and conflict before leaving was that he didn't feel harassed by his wolf to pull over and play with Aislinn on the way back to the den. Now that he knew Aislinn was alrig