CHAPTER 2

A chuckle preceded the turning of a key and then the door slowly swung open. Angelina found herself face to face – well, face to chest – with what could only be described as a living breathing mountain. Another wolf. She arched a brow at his cocky, devilish smirk, wondering what could possibly be so amusing.

"You're awake. Good."

"And just which dwarf might you be?" No it wasn't a good time to make jokes but she was a sarcastic bitch and when she was pissed off the sarcasm took on a life of its own.

His smirk widened. "The Guardian wants to speak to you."

"And your Guardian is…?"

He winked. "Follow me."

Rolling her eyes at his cocky swagger, Angelina followed him through a tunnel which took them deeper into the mountain. Seeing the occasional turn-off, she realized that it was actually a network of tunnels like some kind of giant ant colony. Just like in the bedroom, the light cream walls were so smooth they actually looked soft. Her wolf was going crazy at the strange, unfamiliar scents, wanting Angelina to explore the place. "Mind telling me where I am?"

"All will be revealed shortly," he drawled.

"How about how I got here?" she asked irritably.

"The Guardian will explain everything to you."

She couldn't contain a growl, but it seemed to amuse him.

Soon they came to a large black door, which Mountain Man held open while she passed through. They were now in a huge open plan kitchen that was surprisingly modern and stylish with its oak cabinets, black marble countertop, and platinum appliances. In the centre of the large space was a long oak dining table around which a small number of male wolf shifters hovered. All heads turned as she entered and the crowd split, giving her a view of who sat at the table. Her jaw almost hit the floor.

Motherfucker. Jasson Alex.

Now she knew for a fact that she hadn't come here willingly. Even if she had been on a night out and gotten hammered, no amount of alcohol would have distracted her from the fact that this was guy was a psycho. He was kind of like the Black Mamba snake; fiercely aggressive, had a bad reputation, and was respected, admired, and feared all at the same time. That had a lot to do with the rumor that he had challenged and almost killed a mature Guardian male at the delicate age of fourteen. A mature Guardian male who had also been his father.

If what Angelina had heard was correct, Jasson had been banished rather than earning the position of Guardian male. The act had caused a divide in the pack and those who hadn't agreed with the decision had left with him. Together they had formed their own pack with Jasson as Guardian male and earned their own territory through battles with other packs. So far this particular Guardian was undefeated…which was probably because his wolf tended to turn feral during battles. And here she was with him. She couldn't help but get the feeling that the universe was laughing behind her back.

Given that she was in the company of – or, more accurately, being confined by – a person who wasn't at all mentally stable, you would think her wolf would be at least a little nervous. Angelina certainly was beneath her anger. Oh not at all! Her wolf wanted to rub against him enticingly, recognising his scent as the one from the bedroom. Tramp.

Okay, Angelina could concede that the homicidal nutcase was seriously hot. His harsh scowl and the sharpness in his artic blue eyes seemed to only add to it. His t-shirt didn't hide his broad shoulders, defined upper body or washboard abs. Ripped, that was what he was. Ordinarily, Angelina didn't much like the highlander look, but she found that she couldn't help admire that physique. In addition, both her body and her wolf helplessly reacted to the power that was practically buzzing around him; he wore authority like a second skin. Perversely, his hard penetrating stare was heating her blood rather than affronting her. His eyes had taken on a glazed, hungry look that both thrilled and startled her. It made her wolf growl in excitement. The primal lust that gripped her was so intense it almost hurt.

Well that was just great. Maybe she was developing Stockholm Syndrome or something.

In any case, no way would her inconvenient attraction to him inspire her to react to him as her body and her wolf wanted – and as many other females often did, if his reputation as a rake had any substance. Her father was also the dark, rugged, brooding, dangerous type and he was a pain in the padded ass. Betraying nothing about her appreciation of him as a male specimen, Angelina simply returned his full-on Guardian stare with one of her own. Oh her wolf may be latent, but she was still an Guardian wolf.

Jasson regarded the female before him curiously. He had been told that she was latent. Add in that she was a tiny little thing, away from her pack and in his company, and surely you would have yourself a flighty deer. But there was no fear in her expression, nor was it wafting from her like fumes as he would have expected. Instead, she was royally pissed. Apparently he had become so used to the scent of fear that he now found himself a little thrown.

He also found that he was becoming painfully hard as a raw basic hunger surged through him, beating at his self-control. She wasn't beautiful in that oh so obvious in-your-face way, but in a natural, understated way. Although she was slender she had mouth-watering curves that had all sorts of fantasies playing around in his head. It was her mouth that had most of his attention though; it was plush, carnal and made a guy think impure thoughts. A mouth that was currently set into a hard line, communicating how livid she was. Still the stench of fear hadn't permeated the air. Maybe she just didn't recognise him. "Do you know who I am?"

Angelina rolled her eyes. "Why don't we just skip to the part where you tell me how the hell I got here and why exactly I'm here at all, Jasson?"

Everyone around her stiffened and an uncomfortable hush fell upon the room. Obviously they were all waiting for the guy to explode. Yeah? Well she had had enough of intimidating, dominating males. Had had enough of boyfriends who seemed to think that her being latent meant she had to be submissive and meek. Had had enough of her father trying to force her to mate with a sleazy Guardian for his own sly reasons. Had had enough of said sleazy Guardian who was so determined to mate with her that he had cornered and bitten her without her permission, believing he had marked her as his. And now psycho boy here had obviously kidnapped her. Forgive her if she had reached her limit!