Forever Claimed

Chapter One

Having a few thousand dollars in lottery winnings, Kamryn had used the money to take that trip overseas she'd dreamed about for years. She'd arrived in Norwich, England that afternoon and had slept most of the day away since her body was still on Niagara Falls time. Now early evening, she'd decided to go for a walk and see a bit of the town. Leaving her hotel, Kamryn strolled along the sidewalk with no real destination in mind. She planned to be here for two weeks. The long flight to get here and then sleeping most of the daylight hours away had already eaten into the first day of her vacation. Anxious but excited, she continued. This was also the first time she'd been out of the States.

She walked past a busy pub, not stopping to go inside. She would have to experience a pub before she left England, but she wasn't in the mood to sit alone inside one right now. The evening was nice, and she'd been cooped up, first inside an airplane for hours and then inside her hotel room. She needed the fresh air more than she needed to 'have a pint', as the British say.

Walking down one street and then another, Kamryn soon found herself on a rather quiet avenue fronting a fenced-in community park. Twilight was deepening into night, but streetlights were enough for her to see by, and she still had time to investigate the park before she thought it best to return to her hotel.

A short distance before she reached the gated entrance, a man raced past her, roughly jostling her out of his way. Kamryn recovered, watching him disappear into the park. She slowed her steps, having second thoughts about going inside, after all. Not knowing what the man ran from, she didn't exactly want to meet up inside the fenced-in area in the dark.

That decided, Kamryn turned to go back the way she'd come and found herself literally knocked on her ass as a second man barreled into her. Knowing she would feel this come morning, she lifted her gaze, feeling a bit shaken by the enormous size of the man who hovered over her.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to plow into you like that. Are you all right?"

As she looked him fully in the face, her gaze settled more intently on him. Not only had he knocked her on her ass, but also he'd left her speechless. Holding an expression of concern, his hazel eyes gazed at her from a ruggedly handsome face.

Kamryn ran her gaze from the brown hair that reached the collar of his black leather jacket down to his well-muscled body. He towered over her. She had a feeling he would dwarf her five-foot-four frame by at least a foot even if she was standing at her full height.

He stuck out his hand. "Here, let me help you up. Are you hurt?"

After a long minute still on her ass, Kamryn found her voice. "Ah . . . ah, I'm okay. I think my pride's hurt more than anything."

She took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. Yup, he towered over her.

Kamryn found her gaze, once again, skimming over his face, taking in his straight nose, the sharp angle of his cheekbones, and his square jaw. The man was gorgeous. And his deep British accent made her wonder if it got deeper and huskier when he took a woman to bed. Talk about a turn on. Actually, just staring at him was turning her on.

Since he still held her hand, she wondered what he might do if she tightened her grip and yanked him closer so she could kiss those firm lips. In reaction to her thoughts, she licked her own.

Kamryn gave herself a mental shake. If she didn't snap out of it, she was sure he would think she wasn't entirely all there.

"Good. I'm glad you weren't hurt." His gaze moved to the direction the other man had run and then back to her. He shifted on his feet, almost as if he was reluctant to leave. But when a howl ripped through the still night around them, he stiffened. "I apologize for knocking you over." Another howl reached their ears. "I . . . I have to go.

Sorry."

He then did the strangest thing. Using their joined hands, he yanked her closer and bent, burying his nose in the crook of her neck. After taking a deep breath, as if he inhaled her scent, he released her and took off running in the direction of the park.

Kamryn watched as he rounded the corner and disappeared through the park gate. Unsure about his odd behavior, she continued on her way. Although she probably would never see him again, that didn't stop her from memorizing what he looked like . . . just in case.

Algar put on a burst of speed once he picked up the werewolf's scent. If he was lucky, the bastard would still be in the park. It was Algar's job to put him down. All werewolves sired by Fenris were considered prey. A werewolf himself, he was nothing like those spawned by Fenris, who found pleasure in killing and turning innocent mortals.

Slowing as another howl ripped through the night, Algar drew in a deep breath.

He turned in the direction of the scent trail left behind. Though he was hot on the beast's trail, Algar found it hard to concentrate. The woman's scent still lingered in his nose. It seemed to have etched itself on his brain, not letting him forget. Not that he wanted to. He'd found himself drawn to her the second their eyes met. He'd almost forgotten what he'd been doing before he'd plowed into her.

With no mortals around, Algar willed his sword into his hand. A sense of impatience washed through him. He wanted to take out his prey and then see if he could find the woman again. She had an American accent; was she a tourist, or had she just relocated her from the States? He had a sense of urgency to finish his business and find her again. Who knew how long she'd be here? He didn't want to let her slip through his fingers. The feel of her hand in his had been enough to make his cock go rock hard. He hadn't been able to stop himself from burying his nose in her neck, which made him ache for her even more. The mental picture of her grey eyes, her long black hair, and her slim, curvy body roused his wolf along with his lust.

A loud growl sounded to his left. Algar swung around, his sword raised, in time to see his prey shift into werewolf form—half-human and half-wolf. The beast snapped his teeth at Algar and swiped the air in front of him with his claws.

Algar shifted quickly, willing his clothes away as he did. He grew taller while his muscles became bulkier. Covered in brown fur, the same color as his hair, he swished his tail behind him. The sword he held, the blade a mix of steel and silver, was lethal to all of Fenris' get. All it took to end their existence was one strike through the heart.

"Come on. Let's end this," Algar said in a voice deeper and gruffer than if he'd been in his human form. Retaining the ability of speech also set Algar apart from werewolves sired by Fenris. His prey lost that ability when they shifted.

With a loud snarl, the werewolf launched itself at Algar and tried to knock the sword out of his hand. Ready for such a move, Algar batted the beast's claws away as he struck with his weapon, catching the werewolf across the stomach. The creature let out a howl as its flesh sizzled from the silver.

When the beast went on the attack, Algar moved in for the kill. He ignored the sharp claws raking down his arm and plunged his sword through the werewolf's heart.

He pushed it away; the creature fell to the ground dead.

To get rid of the corpse, he called out to the Sky Father as he looked into the night sky. "Tiw, I call upon you. I have need of your fire."

A second later, blue god-fire engulfed the body of the werewolf. As the flames burned hot and bright, the body turned to ash and blew away on an unnatural wind.

Nothing was left behind. Not even a scorch mark showed on the grass where the beast had fallen.

His prey no more, Algar shifted back to his human form. The bloody claw marks down the length of his arm instantly healed during the change. Willing his sword away, he walked out of the park.

He scanned the street in both directions, but he didn't see the woman. Reaching the spot on the sidewalk where he'd knocked her down, Algar latched onto her scent.

Following it, he soon found himself standing in front of a nearby hotel. He didn't think twice about it when he stepped through the entrance and into the lobby. Still able to pick out the woman's scent from the myriad of others inside the building, he traced it to one of the elevators.

Algar cursed under his breath. The only way he could pick up her scent trail from there would be for him to stop at each floor. He dismissed that idea. He now knew where she stayed. He'd return in the morning. Obviously a tourist on holiday, she would leave her room at some point. He would make sure he was in the lobby to meet her when she did.

Confident he would find her again, Algar left the hotel. The night was young and there was prey to hunt.

The next morning, Kamryn sat at the table inside her room looking over the local brochures she'd helped herself to from the lobby. Norwich Cathedral and Cow Tower, a couple of tourist spots, sounded nice, but she also planned to do some shopping.

Norwich boasted a large, six-days-a-week open-air market that had been founded by the Normans around 1071. There was also a mall. Mall Norwich had been built into the side of a hill with most of the structure concealed underground. The mall sported a rooftop public park, as well.

Kamryn studied the mall brochure more closely and decided she could handle shopping. Back home, she enjoyed window-shopping, even if she didn't buy anything.

She grabbed her purse, put the keycard to her room inside it and stepped out into the long hallway. Although it was already late morning, she would have the rest of the day to shop and grab some lunch while at the mall. Alone, and with no work schedule to worry about, she could take as much time as she pleased.

After a short elevator ride down, she exited into the lobby. Her steps faltered when she headed toward the entrance, and her gaze landed on a large man standing near the doors, staring directly at her. Kamryn swallowed, recognizing him as the man who'd knocked her down the night before. The one she thought she wouldn't see again.

He couldn't be waiting for me, could he? His being here had to be a coincidence. The night before, he'd been polite, but he hadn't asked her name. Plus, a man that gorgeous would already have a woman, not that Kamryn thought she would have a chance in hell with him if he happened to be single.

Deciding she would smile as she walked by, just in case he didn't remember her, Kamryn lengthened her stride. When she drew closer, she gave him a closed mouth smile, then fixed her gaze on the entrance doors. Much to her surprise, he fell in step beside her.

"Hi," he said. "Do you remember me? I'm the idiot who knocked you over last evening."

As if she'd forgotten him. She'd spent a good remainder of the night thinking of him, remembering what he looked like, the feel of her hand in his. "Hi. Yes. I remember you."

Once they hit the sidewalk, he took her elbow and pulled her to a stop. "Good. I wanted to apologize again since I had to run off."

Kamryn blinked up at him. He was so much taller she had to crane her neck to look him in the face. "It's all right. How did you know where to find me?"

He gave her a sexy grin that about turned her insides to mush. "A good guess?

By your accent, I figured you had to be American. So I took the chance on you staying at the closest hotel to the park."

"You were going to hang around in the lobby all day and wait and see if I showed up? What would you have done if I wasn't staying here? I may be American, but who is to say I couldn't have recently immigrated to England."

He shrugged. "Basically that was the plan, but since I found you the rest doesn't matter. I had a good hunch you would be here." He smiled again.

Kamryn melted a little more. Having a gorgeous hunk of a man willing to go to such lengths to find her gave a huge boost to her ego. She stuck out her hand. "I'm Kamryn Martin."

He enveloped her hand in his much larger one, holding it tighter than seemed necessary. "Nice to meet you, Kamryn. I'm Algar."

Even his name was sexy. When he didn't release her hand and the silence stretched between them, Kamryn grew nervous. She wasn't known for being confident when talking to men, especially ones she found attractive. Inside her head, she could come up with intelligent conversation readily enough, but when the time came for her to speak, she ended up stammering like a ninny.

Algar gave her another bone-melting smile. "So where are you heading off to?"

"I'm," she croaked, then cleared her throat and tried again. "I'm going to Norwich Mall."

"How are you getting there?" Algar leaned closer.

"I'm taking the bus." Kamryn found her gaze drawn to Algar's mouth. If he leaned in a little more while she went up on her tiptoes, she could kiss those lips.

"I can take you there. Better yet, to make up for last evening, I'll join you."

"You will?" Kamryn asked breathily.

"If you don't mind. It will give me a chance to get to know you better. Unless you don't wish to spend time with me."

Kamryn shook her head. "No . . . yes. I mean, I don't mind, and yes, it wouldn't bother me to spend time with you."

"Good." Algar let go of her hand and placed his on the small of her back as he guided her down the sidewalk. "My car is over here."

When they reached a flashy silver Jaguar and Algar opened the passenger side, Kamryn crawled inside. The interior of the car was as luxurious as the outside.

Whatever Algar did for a living, obviously, he wasn't hurting for cash. Kamryn had never been this close to a Jaguar, let alone about to ride in one. Once Algar slid into the driver's seat and the engine roared to life, he put it in gear and pulled away from the curb. Regarding his handsome profile, she couldn't help thinking her British holiday just got a little better.