Chapter Four

Anastasia slept deeply for the first time since her mother had died and when she woke up the Alpha had gone, she stretched lithely and found all her injuries from her battle with him had healed. For a moment she felt a little sadness that he had left her without a word, he was her only living relative, or so she believed but he would have killed her without a second thought. She was surprised he had let herlive, it would have been so easy for him to destroy the last piece of evidence of his sisters infidelty, shaking her head she headed for the bathroom. Anastasia did not let her Uncle's actions worry her, she had lived her life being independent and not needing anyone, she had not had a choice thanks to her mother. When she came down into the tiny kitchen she stopped something wasn't right, a quick glance around told her nothing was out of place but her whole body was reacting strangely. Lifting her head she sniffed the air and froze, faintly she  could scent strangers approaching and they were not members of her Uncle's Pack, their scent would have been familiar even though she never saw any of them. Unable to discern who they were in her human form she stepped outside and shifted into her Wolf, instantly all her senses came into sharp focus her ears pricked forward, 

'Two, no three large males were heading toward her cottage and there was a fourth scent.'

This was the scent her body was reacting to but she had no idea what it was or why she was responding in this way to it, she had never scented anything like the powerful masculine one heading her way. To her delicate nose it was like an assault, she could scent the ocean, wild, untameable strength and indomitable danger theover riding impression was whoever or whatever owned that scent was definitely an Alpha male.      A shiver ran down her spine and her wolf became agitated and excited pacing the small space in front of the cottage,

'We need to run.'

 To her surprise Anasatsia first instinct was to run to find her Uncle, he was honour bound as her Alpha to protect regardles of who she was but she had no idea where he was and she doubted if anyone else would bother to help her.                                        'We're on our own just like always.'                                                                             She thought and trotted toward the treeline in the opposite direction to the scent which was getting much stronger she needed to act now or they would find her. 

The Lycan Alpha called the three Wolves to a stop,                                                      'She will run when she scents us, she is alone and will be afraid knowing there are four of us approaching.'                                                                                                         He turned to his Beta,                                                                                                   'Take Hans with you and circle behind her, Olek and I will keep going this way, under no circumstances must she escape the future of our Pack depends on this little female.'     Nodding the two Wolves split off and raced to get in position, the Beta did not need telling how important this female was he had seen how much his Alpha was deteriorating and there was no way he was ever going to let her get past them.                                      Anastasia raced toward her sanctuary, a small cave near the lake where she should be able to keep herself hidden all she had to do was swim across the lake, on the  other side she would mask her scent and ..'                                                                              'Got you.'                                                                                                                         She yelped in surprised shock as two huge male Wolves barred her way, and the deep voice echoed in her mind, she skidded to a stop her thick red/gold fur fluffing out making her look bigger but she was no match for them. A low growl came from her Wolf, she wasn't going down without a fight but the males did not attack her instead they kept their distance but only far enough so she could not escape them.                          'Keep walking.'                                                                                                               The deep voice ordered her as they herded her back toward her cottage and as there was nothing else she could do, if she tried to escape these two would catch her easily and she had a feeling that would not be a pleasant experience, so she did as she was told. Coming out into the clearing in front of her cottage Anastasia's heart stopped, standing in front of it was the most gorgeous male she had ever set eyes, he was so tall and broad she should have been terrified. It was not fear she was feeling though as she gazed at this magnificent specimen of everything that was male, his hair was blue/black and long, it fell in soft curls half way down his back but wasn't in the least feminine, not on him. Deep ocean blue eyes appraised her in the same way she was doing to him, and she was startled when a commanding voice entered her mind,                                         'I will tell my men to turn away so they do not see you when you shift.'                           He instructed her but Anastasia did not take orders from anyone and a low growl escaped her lips,                                                                                                               'I have no idea who you are but you don't have the right to order me around.'                She snapped back at him bravely,                                                                                   'You will do as you are told little female or woould you prefer to be naked in front of all of us?'                                                                                                                             He took a step toward her and again she surprised him by holding her ground and meeting his gaze, she had spirit his little mate, he liked that but he was desperate to see her human form.                                                                                                          'When I tell you to shift you will shift little female.'                                                        She could feel the Alpha power radiating  from him in waves but this was no ordinary Alpha Wolf, he made her Uncle look like a young pup and she could feel her own Wolf already submitting to his Alpha Aura. She fought back against his magnetic presence baring her teeth at him and then jumping when she heard the first voice chuckling,       'I do believe you have met your match with this little tigress Alpha.'