Destiny Unchained by Leia Shaw Read Free Book Online

homeland’s
accent. And she’d been in America long enough to sound as if she’d
grown up there. “I was born long before there was a Russia.”
    “Where?”
    “Castile.” She answered him easily then mentally
kicked herself.
    “Spain?”
    She nodded. Her gaze swept up the muscular body
taking up half her bed then rested on his eyes. Such a pale blue,
like the sky after a rainstorm. And the other warm brown like the
craggy rocks of the park he protects.
    “Ah, that explains the dark hair.” He brushed it from
her face and held a strand between his fingers. “What about your
pale skin?”
    “My mother was Norse.”
    He tucked the stray strand behind her ear and looked
deep into her eyes. “You have her eyes?”
    “Yes.” Dark blue, almost navy, almond shaped eyes had
caught the attention of more than one man in her long lifetime.
    “You’re beautiful.”
    She snorted but it was too weak to have the effect
she intended. “A werewolf just called me beautiful. I must be
dreaming. I passed out from the sun, didn’t I? I’m probably dying
slowly in the woods.”
    He smiled faintly. “You’re not dying, but you could
have.” He shifted on the bed, closing the inches between them. His
hip touched hers and his face grew stern. “I want you to promise me
you won’t face him alone again.”
    “Now I know I’m dreaming. A werewolf trying to tell
me what to do? I know you’re not that stupid.”
    Mildly, he told her, “I could stop you.”
    A corner of her mouth turned up. “You could try.”
    Their words were full of challenge, but their voices
remained soft. There was an unspoken acknowledgment that they were
equal in skill and would most likely kill each other trying to get
the upper hand.
    “You’re weak,” he said. “I could tie you up right
now. Remove all the metal from the room.”
    She gave him a look. “You can’t be stupid enough to think that would
work.”
    He chuckled. “You have a knack for escaping tight
situations, don’t you? Did you study with Houdini himself?”
    Actually, she could’ve taught him a thing or two.
    “All right.” He rose from the bed. “If you’re
determined to get yourself killed, I won’t stand in your way. But
when you suck up your pride and want to get the job done, let me
know.”
    Not gonna happen.
    “For now, sleep.”
    She smiled as her eyelids grew heavy. “Still trying
to tell me what to do, werewolf?”
    “It’s in my nature.” He tucked the sheet around her.
“Rest. You’re safe here.”
    She fell asleep wondering why the hell she actually
believed him.

Chapter 6
    What the fuck are you doing, Cristian?
    He’d just called her, puiule , a Romanian term of endearment. And
why? Because she intrigued him? Because she was the most gorgeous
creature he’d ever seen, with her rich, dark hair streaked with red
highlights that he’d love to see lit up by the sun? But a creature
was the proper term for what she was. A vampire. An enemy of his
pack.
    Her chest rose and fell in a lulling rhythm. Laid out
half-naked and asleep on the bed, she didn’t look like a vampire
assassin. With soft, creamy skin, thick eyelashes, and full blood
red lips, she was as feminine as his Laurel was.
    What had turned this blue-eyed beauty into such a
self-controlled killing machine? It piqued his curiosity. His wolf
nature demanded he figure her out.
    He couldn’t deny taking a perverse pleasure in their
fiery challenges. If he were being honest with himself, he’d
acknowledge that though he loved Laurel with all his heart – and
the universe had chosen them as mates – she wasn’t a good partner
for an alpha. Of course, he wouldn’t be alpha if it weren’t for her
death. Or would he? At first he’d been a reluctant alpha, only the
circumstances of the moment giving him that role. But as the time
passed, he saw how naturally others followed him. And how natural
it felt to lead.
    Cristian placed a hand over Natalia’s chest, focusing
on her heartbeat. Slow and