The ripples in the air turned purple and then silver. I blinked several times to try to maintain my vision but it was to no avail, everything remained blurry. Nausea rose in my stomach, combating the rising fire of ire. All of a sudden I realised that Solus’ arm was no longer round my waist and I was falling forward onto a polished wooden floor, retching. My head was spinning and I felt incredibly ill. I choked and spat, trying to regain a sense of self.

After a few moments, once my poor stomach had finally settled, I looked up to see a pair of shiny stylish wingtips in front of me. My gaze travelled upwards. Well tailored black trousers, snugly fitted at the groin, an unbuttoned white shirt, with a trail of black hair peeping out leading upwards to a well sculpted chest and a rather bemused set of golden green eyes flashing a hint of surprised satisfaction down at me.

Oh fuck.

“Well I knew we’d meet again, kitten, I just didn’t expect you to suddenly materialise and hock up the contents of your stomach onto my floor.”

I scrambled to my feet as fast I could and backed away until I felt a solid wall and couldn’t go any further, my heart thudding loud in my ears. I looked around, panicked, desperately searching for a way out and realised that I was in a huge bedroom. Corrigan’s bedroom. Oh God. Not only that, but my humanity wasn’t being masked by any scented lotion this time. All Corrigan had to do was to take one small sniff and my secret would be out. The Cornish pack – my surrogate family - had never been in more danger. If I ever saw Solus again, I’d rip his throat out.

The Lord Alpha stared at me. “You look frightened. That’s not the Mackenzie I remember. So why don’t you tell me just how you get here and why you’re so afraid.”

He took a step forward and I threw up my arms in warning. “Don’t come any closer! I…” Shit, I what? “I, er, might have been exposed to something when I was transported here. And, in fact, where is here?”

Please don’t say Scotland, I inwardly prayed. If this was London then I would still have time to get out of Inverness and away from him. Assuming Solus ever decided to transport me back that was.

“You’re in the bastion of the Brethren.” He licked his lips, slowly. I swallowed. “I don’t think anyone has ever managed to invade our fort before without setting off a very elaborate alarm system. So, you’re going to do tell me how and why you’re here.”

My mouth was suddenly dry. Out of nowhere came a whining siren then the sound of banging. “Finally,” Corrigan murmured softly, his gaze intent on me. “Well, little cat?”

I pulled my posture up straight and tried to stop cowering. “I’m not a cat, my Lord, I’m a hamster.” At least that was what the smell of Julia’s lotion had suggested when I’d had to slather it over myself to keep him from discovering that I wasn’t actually a were-anything back when he’d come with the rest of the stupid brethren to investigate John’s death in Cornwall.

“Of course, you are.” His eyes gleamed with flecks of dancing gold.

“And, as to your question, I don’t know how I got here. One minute I was walking down the street, minding my own business and the next thing I know I’m throwing up on your lovely floor. I apologise. I will leave and get out of your way.” I looked pointedly at his half bare chest. “You’re clearly in the middle of something.”

He snapped forward in a blur of movement and gripped both my arms, leaning in close. “You’re not going anywhere, Mackenzie.”

Shit, shit, shit. He must be able to smell me now. I sent up a silent prayer to anyone who might be listening to keep the Cornish pack safe. The panic inside me melded with the heat of my bloodfire and I exploded into a twist to wrench away from him. What I hadn’t counted on was just how strong Corrigan actually was as I barely managed to move a couple of inches. Without thinking, I started squirming and clawing, trying whatever I could to pull myself away from him. I punched into air and missed connecting with his body, lashed out with my feet trying to kick him, but he just shifted his weight against me until I was completely pinned against the wall.

He smelled clean with just a hint of spicy aftershave. I waited for the inevitable realisation that my own scent was all wrong to hit him. Maybe I could get away before I had to answer any questions about it. And then I’d go and hide in a cave for the rest of my pitiful existence. Isn’t that what dragons did anyway? The silver needles were in holding my hair together at the back; if I could just reach out and grab one of them…I strained and just came up against the steel of his muscles. His face swam forward and he looked me directly in the eyes, then he started to lean in forward until our noses were almost touching. My heart was banging painfully against my ribcage and the fire inside me changed somehow. It was transforming from an angry, scared, attack mode heat to something altogether more consuming, more passionate, more…

A door to my right swung open and a voice suddenly filled the room. “My Lord Alpha! There’s an intruder somewhere in the building, we need to –“

Corrigan turned and snarled at the voice, the owner of which immediately backed away with abject groveling apologies. I rolled my eyes. Not much had changed in the Brethren then.

The interruption had at least allowed me to regain some of my ragged emotions. He’d obviously not noticed that I smelled like a human yet. I had no idea why not but I had to keep my fingers crossed that it stayed that way. Maybe he had a cold. I cleared my throat. “My Lord Alpha, I believe I mentioned earlier that I may have been exposed to some kind of, um, disease, on my way here. I suggest you back away as it could very well be lethal.”

Corrigan stilled for a moment, his grip on my wrists tightening until I winced in pain. “What kind of disease?”

He’d fallen for that? Clearly the Lord Alpha wasn’t as intelligent as I’d once thought. I widened my eyes to convey the horror even more dramatically. “A terrible, terrible one. It makes all your hair and teeth fall out and your skin turn green. Then it starts to attack your nervous system making you throw up violently.” I gestured to the remains of my earlier lunch now deposited in a sticky mess on his polished floor. “As you see. So you should stay away from me. I’m sure it’s incredibly contagious.”

He appeared to relax infinitesimally and growled at me. “I’ll take my chances.” His slid his hands from my wrists up to my arms and gripped painfully. “Now tell me where you’ve been, why you ran away and how you got here. In that order.”

“I’m a rogue, my Lord,” I spat. “I don’t have to answer to you anymore.”

“Funny,” he said softly, “I don’t think you ever answered to me, even when we first met.” Tell me now.

He was using his Voice to command me. This was too easy. I looked into his emerald green eyes and stated firmly, “No.”

I was pretty sure that once shifters went rogue, their alpha’s Voice no longer worked on them so I could avoid having to pretend that I was compelled to answer. What it did mean as well was that Corrigan still thought I was shifter, lack of shifter scent or not. I’d worry about the why later, right now I was just relieved. For his part, however, he wasn’t as impressed at my bravura as I was, and he pulled his right hand away from my arm and slammed it around my throat, choking the breath out of me.

“Mackenzie, you need to start talking before I rip it out of you.”

My bloodfire flickered back into its usual action at the violence. I sent a quick thank you to whoever was looking down on me for that small mercy. Corrigan had moved enough that I could get some purchase with my legs so I pulled my knee up as hard as I could and shoved with every ounce of strength I had into his groin. He immediately let his grip loosen from around my neck and gasped in pain. I managed to move away from him and the wall, and into the centre of the room.

Corrigan rotated round and glared at me furiously. He was obviously still in pain but trying not to show it.

“Who’s the big bad Lord Alpha now?” I taunted softly.

He snarled at me in return, sparks flying from his eyes. A sharp knock came at the closed door and a muffled voice called through. “My Lord Alpha? Is everything okay?”

I blinked. Oh fuck that was –

“It’s fine, Tom. Go away.” Corrigan’s voice was hoarse but he was obviously not going to be crippled for life. Shame. He watched me, raising his eyebrows. “Do you remember your little wolf boyfriend, kitten? It must be difficult for someone of your proclivity to keep track of everyone you sleep with. Would it hurt you to know that he barely remembers you? He won’t even mention your name and when I ask him – or his fiancée – they both just clam up. You clearly have an interesting effect on those around you.”

So Betsy and Tom were engaged? That was good news; in fact, I almost betrayed myself by smiling at the information that Corrigan had probably hoped would hurt my feelings. I wondered as well whether the geas was still in place and that was why they both clammed up when he interrogated them about me. Interesting…

I lifted up a shoulder and attempted to remain nonchalant. “Pass on my sincerest congratulations to them both. And now, my Lord, I must take my leave.” I glanced over at the windows, which were draped in some kind of opulent golden brocade curtain. “Which floor are we on?”

“It’s the penthouse.” He smiled lazily at me. “Fifteenth floor.”

Aah.

“I don’t suppose you’re well equipped for fire regulations and have a proper outdoor fire escape, do you.”

His smile grew broader. “Unfortunately not.”

He started to walk towards me. Fuck it. I didn’t think I could pull the old knee defense trick again and he was just too strong for me to fight, even with all my blood blazing. What now?

“Well, I hate to break up this little party but it’s time that we were going.” Solus appeared in a wink of purple shimmer from seemingly nowhere at my left and grabbed my arm.