Natasha sat in the car watching the town flick past the window and giving way to the denser woods.
After James had gotten dressed he'd taken Natasha to his Landrover, thrown her bag in the back then bundled her into the passenger seat. He'd gotten in, started driving and not offered a word of explanation.
When they had been in the dining room and he'd been running his hands over her body, she'd been consumed by desire for him. Now sat in the car as he brooded next to her she felt her head clear a little, she began to think about the situation she'd gotten herself into.
She didn't really know what it meant that he was a werewolf. Obviously she couldn't rely on her knowledge of fairy tales to help her through as it didn't seem to matter if the moon was out for him to change. If that wasn't true why should anything else she'd read be true?
What did he expect of her? He'd said that they were soul mates. That he wouldn't let her leave. She didn't like the idea of being trapped, having her fate tied to someone else. But the idea of a soul mate did appeal someone that would love her and care for her, someone that would support her. Natasha really wanted those things, but she wasn't sure whether the cost would be too high.
As she watched the world fly by she began to question her decision to come with him. While he hadn't really given her much choice she hadn't really put up much of a fight. The problem was that as soon as he got close to her, she couldn't think of anything other than him; how strong he was, how she felt safe with him, how she wanted nothing more than to fall into his arms and let him hold her.
She decided that the only way she could trust her decisions was if she made them away from his intoxicating presence. She needed to keep some space between them, so that she knew her thoughts were her own, not influenced by whatever it was between them.
James had been driving them out of town in the direction of the nature reserve she'd been told to avoid. After about 15 minutes he turned off the road onto a dirt track, which Natasha hadn't even noticed until they were driving down it.
They were soon out of sight of the main road and truly surrounded by wilderness. Natasha realised just how isolated this place James was taking her to really was. The trees were becoming so dense that little light was reaching the car. Natasha felt the darkness closing in on her and began to feel a sense of panic rising.
James heard Natasha's breathing getting faster and shallow. He glanced over and saw that she had tensed up. He realised how this must seem to her. He'd dragged her into a car, and driven her off, without a word. He'd been too busy trying to calm his wolf and himself to explain to her where they were going. Now they were driving down a dirt track completely hidden from view. She probably though he'd taken her somewhere to kill her!
"Don't worry it opens out again in a moment." James said softly. "We cultivated this stretch of woods to be as uninviting as possible to dissuade people from wandering onto our pack lands."
True to his word the woods began to thin out again, the sunlight pouring back through the canopy, bringing the warmth of the day with it.
Natasha let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, and allowed herself to relax back into the leather seat.
"So, is that where we're going? To where your pack lives?" Natasha asked.
"We're going to the main compound, most but not all of the pack lives there. The pack has grown a lot in the last couple of centuries so we gave some of the younger ones a chance to build new homes outside the compound. That's how Haven's wood came about."
Natasha's mind caught on the phrasing 'last couple of centuries' and 'we gave'. She was about to ask about it when the thought went clean out her mind. The reason was that she had spotted a wall. A very high wall that stretched out in both directions as far as she could see and in front of them was a rather imposing gate.
Natasha began to panic as she realised that James wasn't slowing down as they approached the very solid wrought iron gate. Just as she was about to say something the gate swung open. She looked back as they passed through and saw that on the inside of the wall there was a guard post, where the gate must be controlled. She saw a couple of men watching them as they went by. Natasha however watched the gate swing shut behind them.
"James," Natasha began, her voice wavering. "I really don't like being locked in places."
James looked over at her, his brow creased with worry. She really did seem more afraid of that gate then she had been of anything else so far. There was obviously something in her past he needed to know about.
"The gate isn't to lock you in. It's to keep the rest of the world out. It's so that the pack can be a pack in here, it gives us the freedom to be ourselves without worry." James told her gently, hoping to calm her fears.
Natasha nodded her head in response but said nothing.
James let her sit in quiet not knowing how to help. He wanted her to feel safe here, not trapped. There was, however, a nagging thought in the back of his mind that maybe she was right to be afraid. He'd told her that he wouldn't let her leave and now had her in a secure compound with no intention of letting her leave his side. He just knew that he wasn't strong enough to let her go.
James pulled the car up in front of a huge building. It looked like a country manor built by nobility in the 1600s. It looked big enough to house the whole population of the village they had just left twice over and still have room to spare.
Natasha didn't have long to gawk at the magnificent building because James whipped her out the car. Then took her by the hand and all but pulled her towards the entrance of the building.
James wanted to get Natasha into his suite as quickly as he could he didn't like the fact that there would be so many unmated males around, and he doubted that Natasha would want him to cover her in his scent right now.
One of the lads who worked in the garage stood near the steps up to the door. The poor boy looked torn with indecision. It was his job to collect the keys and park the car in the garage. The problem was that the pack had been warned that James might be a little possessive of his new mate and they should give him plenty of space when he was with her.
James was so intent on getting Natasha inside that he didn't notice there was a problem until, Natasha tugged on his arm. He turned to look at her confused. She simply pointed at the poor boy, who looked like he'd just been sentenced to death.
James gently looked into the boy's mind and saw the turmoil there.
"Will" he called to the boy. The moment the lad looked over James tossed the car keys to him. The boy's face almost split he was smiling so hard.
"Thank you, Alpha. Is there anything else you need?" The relief in the boy's voice was evident.
"My mate's bag is in the back. Tell Sophia. She'll know what to do with it."
The boy nodded in acknowledgement and raced off to do as his alpha had bidden.
James turned to Natasha.
"Thank you. You really are wonderful you know." James resisted the urge to kiss Natasha's confused face, and instead resumed his march towards his suite.
Natasha was utterly confused by the whole exchange, and once again had no time to think on it as James was hauling her off into the house again.
The inside of the house was as magnificent as the outside but lacked the ostentatiousness that Natasha was expecting. It was very grand but somehow felt like a home. It wasn't some noble's posh country home as she had expected, it was far too full of life.
Natasha didn't have much time to appreciate her surroundings as James swept her up the grand curved staircase and through a large pair of double doors at the top of the landing.
As soon as they were through the doors James relaxed. He let go of Natasha's hand so she could look around while he shut the doors behind them.
