Read Kenyon, Sherrilyn - Dark Hunter 11 - Winter Born for Free Online

you."
    That was none of his business!
    Tears burned in her eyes as her ordeal over the last two weeks overwhelmed her. Her unbalanced hormones didn't help matters any and neither did the fact that all she really wanted to do was go home.
    Before she could stop herself, the truth came pouring out in wrenching sobs. "Because every time I see one of your people, you steal someone away from me whom I love and I hate all of you for it. Now your kind has taken me away from my home and my family so that I can either be a whore to the entire pack or a slave to one of you."
    Dante felt an odd sensation in his chest as she started weeping. Not once in almost three hundred years had he felt such a sense of helplessness.
    Such a desire to help someone.
    "And what's worse," she said, her voice cracking, "I know I can't really go home because they'll just send me back here to the Katagaria pack that stole me. Panthers have taken everything from me. Even my virginity."
    Dante turned the water off with his thoughts and pulled a towel off the rack before wrapping it around her.
    "I don't know what I was thinking when I ran away," she sobbed. "Acheron won't help me. Why should he? And even if he wanted to, what could he really do? Dark-Hunters can't interfere in our business. I just wanted some hope. Something other than what is meant for me. I don't want to be a panther whore. I just want to have my own life where no one hurts or uses me. Is that so wrong?"
    "No, Pandora," Dante said as he pulled her sodden body into his arms and held her tight. "It's not wrong."
    He kissed the top of her head as he pulled another towel down to dry her hair.
    Pandora hated herself for falling apart like this. She was normally calm and collected. But it was beyond her ability to cope now.
    All she wanted was her life back. One day where she was again in charge of her body and her destiny.
    One day of clarity.
    What her people had done was wrong and she knew it. She hated all of them, Arcadian and Katagaria, for forcing this on her.
    No woman should ever have her choice taken away from her.
    She tried to stop crying as Dante rocked her gently in his arms. He was being much kinder than she deserved. Not even her own father would be so understanding of this breakdown. He'd never been the kind of man to tolerate emotional outbursts well and he'd trained all his daughters to suffer in silence.
    Yet Dante didn't say anything. He just held her quietly while she cried.
    "I don't know what to do," she said, stunned when the words came out of her mouth. It wasn't like her to confide in someone and to admit that she was in over her head…
    She couldn't believe what she was doing.
    Maybe it was because she didn't know where else to turn.
    Or maybe it was just after the time they had shared where he hadn't hurt her that she was willing to almost trust him with the truth of her situation and feelings.
    "We'll figure something out for you," Dante said as he rubbed her back. "Don't worry."
    "Why would you help me? Your brother said you were a selfish bastard."
    He gave half a laugh at that. "I am selfish. I'm cold and vicious. I don't have any friends and I spend all my time looking for Arcadians who bother me so I can pick a fight and hurt them. Hell, I even killed my own brother when he sold my pack out to the Daimons. Truly, I am every bad thing you think of when you hear the term 'Katagaria.'"
    And still he hadn't hurt her.
    He gently laid his hand against her cold cheek to wipe away her tears. "Yet I don't want to see you cry."
    She shivered at his hypnotic words.
    "Get dressed, Pandora, and we'll go find something to eat and talk about what we can do to help you."
    "Really?"
    "Really."
    She pulled him down so that she could give him a scorching kiss. "I'm sorry I called you an animal, Dante."
    "It's okay. I am one."
    No he wasn't. In that moment, he was her hero. Her champion. She would never insult anyone so kind.
    As soon as she pulled on her jeans and a red shirt, he