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her escape. He thought he would draw this out for years and torture her, make her feel alone and unwanted until he was sure she was broken, but she knew something he didn’t.
    She was leaving this place, and him, behind in a day’s time.

Chapter Four
     
    Joanna nearly fell down the stairs in her hurry to escape the moaning sounds Merit was making. She was loud. Obnoxiously so, and he wasn’t even touching her yet.
    Now was her chance to find Hannah. He’d be preoccupied at least for a little while with Merit. Where would he hide the mate of a rival alpha? Somewhere closed off because he wouldn’t want the rest of the clan knowing. Not yet. Not until he was ready to give them a battle speech and prepare them for another war. This house, where he could guard her himself, seemed like the most obvious choice. But it didn’t have a basement and a quick check of the rooms told her only his mates were here, somberly quiet and readying for bed. Anya lay on top of her comforter in her room, facing the walls and her shoulders shook as if she were weeping.
    Time was ticking away but Joanna couldn’t pull herself away from the grieving woman without consoling her. “Anya, are you okay?” The bed creaked as she sat beside the woman and rubbed her back in soothing circles.
    She hurried to wipe her tears and gave her a faltering smile. “Oh, I’m fine.”
    Joanna looked out her open door and bit her lip, then leaned closer and whispered, “You don’t have to take this from him.”
    “I do,” she whimpered. “I’m not strong like you. And I love him. Even when he does stuff like this, I don’t know how to tell my heart to love him less.”
    Geez. Joanna closed her eyes against the devastation she saw on Anya’s face. She’d convinced herself the other mates were here because they felt less, cared less. But Anya felt more, and had let so many lines be crossed simply because she loved Nathan and would do anything for him. He had it so good and didn’t even appreciate it. He didn’t need a harem of mates. Anya could’ve been enough for him if he were someone different. Someone better.
    “He’ll never change, you know,” Joanna whispered.
    “I know. Neither will I.”
    Oh, Joanna knew what she meant. It was written all over Anya’s face. She’d never stop loving him, no matter what he did. Joanna gave her one more squeeze on her frail shoulder and said, “I’m going to bed. Goodnight.” Then she slipped out the front door and into the night, headed for the mess hall with the first morsels of an idea stirring her mind.
    There was only one place she could think where he would hide a hostage, and that was in one of the old abandoned cabins the last clan had inhabited. The tiny ghost town was deep in the woods, a mile away from the Long Claw’s bustling community. No one ev er went there unless it was kids on a dare, and it was the perfect place to stash someone. The ghost stories alone kept even the most curious shifters at bay.
    The night was cool and she rubbed the gooseflesh on her arms to try and warm herself. The conversations and laughter of the clan chatting in groups on the streets and in front of their small homes faded until the crickets and cicadas filled the night. The dirt path had fresh footprints, like a sign pointing the way to Hannah, and the metal tray of food clattered in her shaking hands as she marched through the whispering trees. She’d missed eating dinner, but even now, the smell of reheated pork chops and green beans made her stomach recoil. Fear did that to her.
    A human woman turning a great alpha’s head , huh? Paired shifters and humans didn’t breed easily, if at all, and Benson Riker had to know that. He must love her very much to give up his chance at continuing his line. That or he satisfied himself with other shifters who could bear him offspring. The thought didn’t match what she had heard about Bear Valley. They encouraged monogamous relationships. Their members weren’t