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barely restrain his growl, “could never stand against me in challenge. Indeed, the moment I moved to take you from him, he was easily persuaded to leave you to save his own life.”
    Rylek bared his teeth. “I would never leave you for another male to take. Never. I would answer any challenge for you, keep you with me, and protect you at the cost of my own life. My precious Ellie, you must have no doubt of that!
    “However, I had doubts about taking you because you are so deliciously human. And then later I was more certain of our compatibility together, and of your strength, but still I was determined not to drag you into my world. In the end, despite my best intentions to save you from the dangers of sharing my life, I could not let you leave with the human male. You are mine.”
    His eyes were direct, intense, and Ellie shivered involuntarily.
    “I will tell you now, the only thing that can save you from me is if
     
    you choose at this moment to be set free. I have not given you the mating bite, and if you tell me to leave you, I will. But you must tell me to go now… while I can.”
    Ellie pondered that for a moment.
    “I have questions first,” she said carefully.
    Her heart rate was rock-steady now, but her mind was a jumble of whirling thoughts.
    “You are very attracted to me, this I know. There is a burning heat between us. We could melt the polar ice cap.”
    His dark, slow smile flustered her, and she blew out a shaky
    breath.
    “Yes, I am attracted to you,” she said, frowning to show him how serious she was about this. “But I need to know about this bite. I’m sure it will be painful, but will it make me a wolf?”
    “No,” Rylek said, surprised. “Well, yes it will hurt at first, but it will not truly injure you, and later, the bite will bring pleasure to us both. It will make you stronger, your eyesight and stamina will be better, things of that nature, but to become the wolf? It has not happened with the other human mates.”
    “There are other human mates? Why didn’t you tell me that right away? How many others are there?” Ellie was very excited by this information. There were other human mates. She wouldn’t be the only one. It shouldn’t make a difference, but somehow it did.
    “I do not know how many there are worldwide,” he said honestly, “but in the Russian Clans, fewer than half a dozen. There are none currently in Sidarov Clan, but Petrov has two, both older women who have borne vulfen young to their mates. I have seen them, of course, and they are involved in their communities. But they do not run with the hunt in the form of the wolf.”
    She latched on to the most alarming piece of information first. “My babies,” she gulped, “would be wolves?”
     
     

 

     
     

Chapter 7
     

     

 

     
     

     
    “Vulfen children cannot change from birth. First Change is at puberty, of course, which is somewhat later for us than it is for humans. Fourteen or fifteen is usual, even as late as seventeen for First Change would not be cause for alarm. And our lifespan is correspondingly longer than a human’s would be.” His tone was cool, and she perceived that he was annoyed with her.
    “Well, I don’t know any of this,” she said defensively. “An hour ago, I didn’t believe in werewolves—sorry, vulfen—or vampires, or ghosts, or any other mythical beasts!”
    She stopped, took a breath, hesitated. Rylek took her hands in his and held them.
    “I apologize. Of course you want to learn. You may ask me
    anything,” he said magnanimously.
    Any other time his lord-and-master tone would have aggravated her, pushed her into a sharp retort, but at this point, she was still too unsettled to quibble. She needed to know.
    “Rylek…are there vampires and ghosts, and mermaids, and unicorns and—”
    His deep laughter interrupted her rushing words, and he squeezed her hands.
    “Ellie, I know most about my own people. Ask me about them. I
    do know there are vampires in