Now she was bound to him, body and soul, just as he was bound to her.

A shifter and a hunter. How insane.

He caught her hand and led her toward the cabin. For the first time, the lady dug in her heels and his jaw almost dropped. Now? Now she was gonna start fighting?

Not when they’d jumped from the window.

Not when they’d been in the hotel parking lot and she could have escaped.

Not even when they’d been at that one-stop gas station.

Now?

The timing was so perfect, he almost smiled.

Instead, he tightened his hold on her and hauled her closer. “You need me to carry you in?” He injected a note of menace in the words. He was rather proud of that low growl.

Her breath huffed out. “Maybe you’re forgetting, I dropped that knife, I—”

He heaved her over his shoulder. The lady was in one serious fighting mood now and she kicked and punched and, ouch, hell, yeah, he’d have bruises from that one.

Luckily, he healed fast.

She didn’t though, so he made sure his hold didn’t hurt her. Unbreakable, yes, but painful? Not to her.

Hurting her wasn’t part of the plan he’d crafted.

But he knew some pain couldn’t be avoided, no matter how hard he tried.

As they headed for the cabin, Billy rose from the ground and swiped away the blood that dripped from his nose.

Gage spared him one glance. “We gonna have a problem?” If they were, he was more than ready to kick ass. This, too, was part of the plan.

Kayla dug her nails into his back, and he almost shuddered. Did she know he liked that?

Later.

Billy shook his head. “No.”

“Good,” Gage almost purred the words. “Now go stand guard.” Cause company will be coming. Soon.

Davis dogged Gage’s steps as he made for the cabin. Kayla was yelling now, at the top of her very powerful lungs. Yells wouldn’t do her any good. The folks close enough to hear her weren’t exactly the helping sort.

“You sure this is a good idea?” Davis’s voice was low. “Maybe you should just kill her and dump her—”

Gage knew his lethal gaze had stopped the tumble of the guy’s words. Davis had always been too quick to kill. Gage had recognized that weakness, but he’d still taken the guy into the pack. He’d needed Davis’s strength, and he’d thought that the pack bond might temper the beast’s savagery.

Maybe I thought wrong.

Kayla stopped struggling. Even over her own screams, she would have heard the guy’s dark words. Figured.

“I’m not done with her yet,” Gage said, and that was all that he’d say to the enforcer. “Now guard the fucking perimeter, and make sure we don’t have any uninvited guests.”

A muscle jerked in Davis’s jaw, but hedidn’t argue. Good. Gage took Kayla up the cabin steps and inside. He kicked the door closed and dropped her on the floor. Not too hard, but, she had pulled a knife on him.

Drop. Her sweet ass slammed into the old, hard wood.

“This makes two times, wife . . .”—he said deliberately as he leaned his shoulders back against the doorframe—“that I’ve carried you over the threshold.”

She shoved the hair out of her eyes. Oh, yes, those golden eyes blazed with fury. “I’m not a sack of fucking potatoes!”

No, she wasn’t. He didn’t want to fuck potatoes.

Kayla leapt to her feet. “I protected you! Dumbass wolf! I. Protected. You!”

The anger in his own gut burned. Gage lunged forward, making sure he towered over her. “You set me up.”

“I—” She snapped her lips closed then gave a curt nod. “Fine, I did.”

He blinked at the easy admission. He hadn’t quite been expecting things to move so . . . fast.

“But . . .” Her chin tipped up. Every time she did that, he wanted to kiss her right on that stubborn, sexy chin. “But I didn’t go for your heart when I had the chance.”

Didn’t she? Why the hell did she think they were in this mess? “I saw the knife. Most wives don’t exactly go around bringing silver knives into bed with them.”

Her arms crossed over her chest. Did she huff? Sounded like it, and then she said, “I’m not most wives.”

No, she wasn’t. Gage stepped away from her and paced around the room. The place was pretty bare as far as furniture was concerned. An old, sagging bed. A wooden table. Two chairs. A dark brown refrigerator that hummed.

The cabin wasn’t a place of comforts. He used this area for only one reason—interrogation.

It was the perfect place to learn the truth from his enemies. And the desert was perfect for making unwanted bodies disappear.

He’d buried his share of enemies out there. Vegas could be vicious. Only the strong survived. The weak . . .

They fed the animals in the desert.

He circled around her and headed toward the fridge. Gage grabbed a small bottle of water and drained it in just a few gulps.

The wooden floor creaked beneath Kayla’s feet. “So . . . you really knew who I was, the whole time?”

He sat the bottle aside and turned back to her. “Yeah, I did.”

Her chin was still up, but he saw the move for the defense that it was more than anything else. “Then why marry me?” Kayla asked.

Wasn’t that the big old million dollar freaking question? “I didn’t do it because my boss told me to.” The jab burst from him. He didn’t have a boss. Others jumped when he crooked his finger.