already, the pain was ebbing away, but the fear remained sharp, pounding at her heart and making her mouth dry as dirt. the feeling of danger remained painfully clear.

it couldn't have been a dream. dreams didn't cause pain. not real pain. she hugged her knees to her chest as tremors wracked her, shaking the bed beneath her. it had to have been a dream.

didn't it?

how could she possibly know what was real in this place?

terror clung to her like a cloying mist, making it impossible to breathe. she couldn't do this. couldn't stay here like this.

with vhyper. and men who turned into animals.

she wouldn't stay here.

pushing off the covers, she stumbled from the bed and dressed hurriedly in jeans and a sweatshirt, her hands shaking, her breath coming in tight gasps. get out of here, get out of here, get out of here. the words pounded through her head as she slipped down the stairs and out the front door into the night.

lyon woke with a start, his finder's senses ringing with alarm. kara had left the house.

no one would take a radiant into the night unless it was an emergency. his pulse started racing as he wrenched himself out of bed and strode to the window that overlooked the front drive. and saw nothing. no men racing with her to the car. no ferals at all. which told him everything he needed to know and sent his pulse into hyperdrive. the radiant was out there alone.

sweet goddess.

he yanked on a pair of jeans and flew out of the room, taking the two flights of stairs in three strides. following his finder's sense, he ran through the house and out the back door. she was right where he'd known he'd find her, a good twenty yards away and moving in a crouched half run toward the woods.

her emotion hit him like a sound blast, smothering him in her fear. rabid, rampant fear.

was she trying to get herself killed?

he ran for her on silent feet, catching her from behind and hauling her back against his chest. the moment he touched her, his senses exploded with the feel of her soft body against his, her sweet scent washing over him. the ache inside him twisted at the knowledge she would never be his.

kara struggled against his hold. "let me go!" her raw terror squeezed something deep inside him.

"easy, kara. it's me. i'm taking you back inside before the draden find you."

she stilled abruptly as if he'd startled her back to wakefulness. maybe he had.

"have you stopped fighting me, little one?"

"yes."

he released her, took her hand, and ran with her back to the house. when they were inside, and the door was locked against the creatures of the night, he turned her to face him, keeping tight hold on her hands as he tried to pull the raging fear from her. moonlight lit her face, revealing the shadows of terror deep in her eyes.

"what happened?" he asked sharply.

the shudder that went through her reeked of fear, but as quickly as he pulled it from her, more rushed in to take its place.

"i don't know. a dream. someone stabbed me." her eyes tightened in confusion.

he started breathing again. it was as he'd suspected. "you had a nightmare."

"it felt so real."

his arms ached to pull her close and wrap around her, comforting her, but he didn't dare allow himself even that simple contact. because he wanted it too much. and she wasn't his. she was vhyper's now, and he had no business touching her at all.

"tell me about your nightmare, kara."

she shivered, remaining silent so long he wasn't certain she was going to respond. finally, she sighed and relaxed into his hands as if giving herself up to his care, even as her fear kept coming.

her mouth twisted. "it was just a b-movie horror flick. a dark-robed figure with a bloody knife coming after me. but i couldn't get away. i was tied."

"so you woke. and ran." he brushed his thumbs over the backs of her hands as he held her. comforting her in the only way he dared.

"did you hear me leave?"

"i'm the finder," he said simply. "i always know where you are." the feel of her soft hands, nestled tight in his, sent heat and need winding through his body. his gaze fell to the sweet fullness of her mouth, and he knew he was in trouble, or would be if he didn't put some distance between them, now. goddess but he craved another taste of her.

"i'm surprised vhyper didn't hear you." his words turned hard-edged, acid spilling into his gut. goddess, but the thought of her with that warrior, their bodies naked and sweaty.

his jaw clamped shut.

"don't even say his name in front of me." the venom in her words had his protective instincts leaping.

he gripped her hands. "what did he do?"

she turned away, her mouth twisting with bitter unhappiness. "i don't know. after you left, he wanted me to go with him, and i refused. i told him i needed time and he went all caveman on me and knocked me out, i woke up in my own bed just a few minutes ago."

his fingers tightened, then relaxed. he knew vhyper as well as he knew himself, and vhyper would never hurt any therian woman, especially the radiant. particularly, his mate. even if he'd been sorely provoked. as he certainly had been.

kara's gaze swung back to him, her eyes filled with as much fire as fear. "i hate him. i hate it here." tears sprang to her eyes, and she turned her face as if she wished to hide her weakness.

"i'm sorry, kara. it shouldn't have been like this. being chosen radiant is the greatest of honors. every therian woman dreams of waking with the mark upon her breast. every therian woman who knows she's therian," he amended. "this should have been a dream come true for you."

a tear glistened on her cheek, stabbing him through the chest. her mouth twisted ruefully as she lifted her shoulder and wiped it away. "yeah, i'm not exactly feeling like the luckiest girl alive." she turned sad eyes to him. "i just want to go home."

"i know. this will be your home, but i imagine it's hard to see that now. believe it or not, i remember coming to feral house for the first time. it wasn't this house, of course, but i'll never forget that feeling of being untethered, as if lost on an endless sea. nothing familiar to hold on to. it didn't last. it never lasts. but it can be hugely unsettling while it does. you'll come to think of this as home, little one. just give it time."

with a squeeze of his hands, he released her. "let's get you back to bed so you can get some sleep."

at first, he thought she was going to refuse, but finally she released a noisy, unhappy sigh, and nodded.

"you shouldn't have lied to me," she said as she fell into step beside him.

"would it have been easier if i'd told you, back in your house in missouri, that i'm able to shift into a lion and intended to spirit you away to marry you off?"

her soft burst of watery laughter eased his soul.

"no. i'd have run screaming into the night."

"that's what i figured. i gave you all the truth i thought you could handle, once i realized you believed yourself human." he lifted his hand, aching to touch her hair. instead, he clasped his hands behind his back.

but his gaze he could not control. as he accompanied her back to her bedroom, his eyes drank their fill of the woman at his side. though dressed casually in snug-fitting jeans, a white sweatshirt, and running shoes, the simple attire did little to hide the slender curves of her body or the unstudied grace of her walk. a grace that made him suspect a deer or gazelle in her deep therian heritage. soft golden hair brushed her cheeks and jaw, accentuating a decidedly pleasing, if strained, profile.

a strain he felt mirrored in every cell of his body as he struggled against the need to touch her, as he fought for self-control. how he'd formed such a powerful and inappropriate connection with her, he wasn't sure. but he had to find a way to close it off before he permanently damaged her relationship with the man with whom she was destined to fall in love.

he'd created one hell of a mess and had to figure out a way to fix it. eventually, she'd turn to vhyper. she must, not only for her own happiness, but for the well-being of the entire race. the problem was, she had to do it soon. once she accepted vhyper, everything would fall into place. which meant he had to break this unholy bond between them even if it killed him.

as they reached her door, kara turned to him, gripping her elbows, trembling. fear shimmered in her eyes and continued to wash off her as strongly as when he'd first grabbed her from behind and halted her flight.

"that dream still has you in its grip, doesn't it?" he took her hand, unable to let her suffer when he could help her. as he pulled the fear out of her, he peered at her closely. "or is it something else, little one? has something frightened you?"

"it's the dream." slowly, she calmed beneath his touch. "but it felt real, lyon. i can't shake the feeling that someone's going to hurt me."

he relaxed. "if you can get yourself to fall back asleep, your dreams will be better. you'll have forgotten this one by morning." he opened the door for her. she'd left the light on, and it illuminated the room softly. "come on. i'll make sure there's nothing here before i go."

he checked the bathroom and peered beneath the bed, finding nothing, as he'd known he would. radiants tended to be weak of mind or spirit, as if nature sought to balance the physical power she gifted them with, but he'd thought kara was different. she'd seemed stronger to him. too strong still to be quaking over a dream long gone. then again, she'd had one hell of a couple of days.

what she needed was comforting. if he'd had his choice, he'd have crawled into bed with her and held her tight until the dream was a distant memory. then he would have slowly peeled away her clothes and made love to her until he had her shaking for an entirely different reason.

she'll be okay, he told himself. but the eyes she turned to him, so full of unhappiness, made him ache.

"i'm not going to let anyone harm you, kara. i promise you that."

she pressed her lips tight and nodded, that strength he'd seen in her before, sparking to life through the apprehension that swam in her eyes. yes, she'd be okay.

slowly, she stepped back, allowing him room to leave.

goddess, but he wanted to stay. he forced his feet to move past her and closed the door behind him.

then he stood there, staring at the door he'd closed, his beast whimpering to go back, his chest aching with her misery and his own loss. but the goddess always knew best. vhyper would make her the better mate.

even though he knew it, the knowledge made him bitter. because with kara, for the first time in his long life, he'd glimpsed something sweet. something fine. a pull between them that went both ways. an attraction that was more than the physical. as badly as he ached to drive himself into her, he wanted to hold her almost as much. hold her, talk to her, listen to her quick mind as he watched the emotions fly across her face and feel them caress his skin. he was attuned to her as he'd never been to another.

he'd never wanted the responsibility of a mate. he didn't want that now. yet he wanted kara.

he pressed his palm lightly to the wood as if he could touch her one last time.

then turned and walked away.

lyon paused on the second-floor landing the next morning, his gaze drawn to kara's door. his finder's senses, so attuned to her, told him she was still in bed. his fingers clenched the rail beneath his hand. goddess, but the pull of her was strong. all night he'd lain awake thinking about her, longing to return to her room. and now that he was here, so close, it was all he could do not to go in there, climb into her bed, and pull her soft, sleep-warmed body against his.

the wood beneath his hand groaned in protest, and he released the old banister before he broke it.

kara needed to sleep. and even if she didn't, she was no longer his responsibility. she was not his to waken.

his beast howled, but he clenched his jaw and forced himself to continue down the stairs and head for his office as he did every morning to tend to the business of the ferals over the breakfast pink brought to him. but at the door to his empty office, he stopped. he didn't feel like eating alone this morning.

maybe he'd eat in the dining room today.

five of his men were already seated, eating heartily, when he entered the spacious room.

jag looked up, his eyes hard and mocking. "so, our fearless leader deigns to grace us with his presence."

wulfe, foxx, paenther, and kougar all turned to face him, their expressions alert, questioning. as if the only reason he'd be walking into the dining room during breakfast was to issue orders or demand answers.

had it been that long since he'd eaten with them? maybe it had. hell, he hadn't joined them in years. but that was to be expected. chiefs kept to themselves.

except he knew that was a lie. the previous feral chiefs had always joined the men for meals, sitting at the head of the table as was their right.

lyon never had because... he wasn't even sure why. because he'd never wanted to. never needed to.

and he didn't need to now.

this was kara's fault, dammit.

he almost turned and left, but doing so would only make him feel like more of a fool.

"is there a problem, roar?" paenther asked.

lyon scowled. "yeah, there's a problem. i'm hungry."

jag snorted. "since when do you eat with us?"

"i'm chief of the ferals. i can eat anywhere i damned please."

paenther stood and thrust out his arm in greeting. "glad to have you join us, roar."

each of his men rose and greeted him in kind, though jag's greeting was last and decidedly unenthusiastic.

wulfe smacked jag in the head. "show some respect!"