Two weeks, Hawke helped Nathan build the cabin and barn. Two of the longest and most trying weeks of Hawke's life so far. Hawke had always had excellent self control and was good at controlling his temper and keeping his emotions in check but being around Nathan was nearly more than Hawke could handle. Wolf had grown tired of the man as well and no longer accompanied Hawke when he came here to work.

Hawke had hoped that he would be able to see the woman again whom Nathan had told him was named Lily but so far she had remained in the hotel whenever Hawke and Nathan were in town and she never came out to the cabin.

It was early morning and Hawke was just approaching Nathan's cabin which they had nearly completed when he heard Nathan's voice come from inside the cabin. Hawke looked around for signs of an extra horse but all he saw was Nathan's brown mare. Who was the arrogant, jackass of a man talking to?

"I don't like the thought of being this far out in the wilderness." a feminine voice said and Hawke was fairly certain that he recognized the voice as Lily's. He cursed at the way his heart reacted to the sound of her soft voice. She was a married woman after all and would never be his.

"Why not, my darling?" Nathan asked and Hawke could hear the coldness in his tone.

"You know why." Lily replied and this time Hawke could hear fear.

"You are my wife. As long as you obey me, you have nothing to fear."

"Hello." Hawke called out as he jumped from his horse. He did not like the way Nathan was making threats, as a matter of fact it made his blood boil. Nathan came out of the cabin quickly.

"Hello, Hawke. It's a nice day today. I believe we can get the rest of this finished up today and then we can haul the furniture and things out here tomorrow." he said. His smile was friendly but his eyes were suspicious. "How long have you been out here anyway?" he asked.

"I just arrived." Hawke replied deciding that a confrontation with Nathan would do no good. Lily was his wife and therefore Hawke had no say in her treatment.

"You've already met my wife but allow me to introduce you both again." Nathan said after a few seconds of silence. "Lily, come out and join us darling."

Hawke's eyes immediately went to the cabin door as Lily stepped out. She was just as beautiful and scared as he remembered. He noticed that despite the heat of the day she was wearing a dress with long sleeves and a high neckline. There was a faint shadow on her pale cheek that looked like a healing bruise. Her dark eyes locked with his for several seconds before she quickly looked down at her feet.

"Nice to meet you again, ma'am." Hawke said. Lily knew better than to look back at him. He was more handsome than any other man she had ever seen and there was something in those intense green eyes when he looked at her that sent her heart into an impossibly fast rhythm.

"Nice to meet you again as well, Hawke." she said and then she cleared her throat when she realized how raspy her voice seemed to have become. What was it about this man that had her body reacting so?

"Hawke, can I get you to do me a favor?" Nathan asked, not noticing the attraction and sparks that were flying between his wife and the man he had begun to think of as a friend.

"What?" Hawke asked. Nathan's arrogant tone annoyed him to no end. It was like the man thought that his every word was a treasure and the entire world should simply fall to its knees and obey him. Obeying anyone wasn't something Hawke normally did but to learn more about Lily, he would do what he had to do.

"Take my wife and horse into town and then bring my horse back along with some more nails." Nathan's words came out more like an order than a request but Hawke did not mind. He was finally going to be able to speak with the dark eyed beauty who had been occupying his every thought for weeks.

"Okay." he said and he hopped back up on Trigger. Lily's mind was racing as Nathan guided her to his brown mare. Was this a trick? Nathan never let her go anywhere alone with anyone… Let alone with a very attractive man whose very eyes seemed to burn her alive when they looked at her.

Nathan must really trust Hawke and Lily felt her heart fall. If Nathan trusted and liked this man then that meant that one thing was for certain… Lily could not. She fought to control her gag reflex when Nathan's hand squeezed her rear as he helped her into the saddle.

"Take care of her, Hawke. She means the world to me." Nathan said smiling warmly. Lily marveled at how well he played the devoted husband role when others were around.

"She will be fine with me." Hawke promised. Nathan nodded and then waved his hand as if dismissing them. Once again Hawke fought the urge to kick the man in his overgrown head as he turned his horse around and started into the forest. He could hear Lily following behind him and he smiled, just a little.

The silence was almost more than Lily could take as she followed Hawke through the woods. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. He was wearing his buckskin clothes again today though today the shirt had shorter sleeves and she could see his tan muscular forearms. The muscles in them bunched and rolled with every tiny movement he made. He was tall and proud as he sat in the saddle and his green eyes took in everything around them as they rode through the dense forest.

"You don't talk much do you?" Lily asked finally when she could no longer handle the silence. Hawke shook his head but did not look at her.

"No." he said simply. Lily sighed. Looks like silence was what she had in store for her until they reached town… And then she had hours cooped up in the hotel room to look forward to.

"You don't trust me." Hawke said after several more minutes of silence. Lily was taken aback by his statement. He was right, she did not trust him. He was friends with Nathan and that meant that he was a bad man. Add to that the way her blood turned to liquid fire every time he looked at her and he was a very dangerous man for her to be around.

"Why do you say that?" she asked hoping that her voice sounded more normal to him than it did to her.

"Your eyes." he replied simply. "Nathan says you moved here from Virginia."

"That's right." Lily replied smoothing out her skirts. She felt very unladylike riding astride the horse like she was in her dress but she had had no other choice. She had not had a side saddle to use.

"You're a long way from home then."

"Montana is my home now." she replied with a sigh. Hawke nodded but still did not look over at her. He wanted to get to know her… He was sure she needed help and he wanted her to trust him. He should not be surprised that she did not. She didn't know him and he was half savage… Not very many people took the time to get to know Hawke enough to know that they could trust him.

"What brought you and Nathan here?" Hawke asked. Nathan had told him that it was the thought of unexplored land and the challenge of survival out here that had brought he and Lily to Montana but Hawke had sensed that the man was lying. Hawke was good at picking up on things like that and he wanted to hear what Lily had to say about the matter.

"You are Nathan's friend. I am sure he has told you all about it." Hawke looked at her then and his intense green eyes were narrowed.

"I am not your husband's friend. I am working for him."

"You don't like Nathan do you?" Lily asked feeling hope rise within her. Maybe she could trust Hawke after all.

"Neither do you." Hawke said matter of factly.

"Why would you say that!" Lily demanded nervously. If complete strangers could pick up on the fact that she hated her husband then Nathan would surely punish her soundly for it.

"Your eyes." Hawke replied. Lily rolled her eyes and looked out at the forest surrounding them. Hawke was obviously the strong, silent and very vague type and she was not going to get any real answers out of him.

Lily was scared of Hawke. She was scared of her bodies reaction to Hawke. She was scared of his silence. She was scared of his intensity. Everything about the man oozed power and the fact that he could read her so easily made her want to get away from him

She could not justify or explain what she did next… She was just giving in to her fear and her panic as she kicked her heels into the mares sides and took off at a fast gallop. She barely managed to hold herself in the saddle as the mare ran at a breakneck pace through the forest. She clung to the reins as her brown hair whipped behind her.

She turned her head just enough to check for Hawke but he had stopped and was just sitting on his black horse back there among the trees. Lily breathed a sigh of relief. She just wanted to be away from him and his powerful body, sharp mind and intense eyes before he got her into trouble with Nathan.

Hawke shook his head as the woman took off. He wondered where she thought she was going because instead of heading toward town, she was heading toward his own cabin.

Chasing her would only scare her worse. Clearly she was afraid though he did not think that he was the reason for her fear. She was truly afraid of her husband and for some reason, that fear made her run from him.

"Wolf." he called and the large gray wolf slipped silently out of the woods beside of him. He looked up at Hawke with his golden eyes waiting for a command.

"Follow." Hawke said pointing in the direction Lily had taken off in. The hoof beats of her horse could still be heard pounding across the forest floor. "Protect." he added. Without a moments hesitation Wolf took off after Lily. Hawke followed on Trigger at a fast walk, wondering what was going on inside that beautiful head of hers.

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Lily prayed she was going in the right direction. She just wanted to get back to the hotel and stay away from Hawke. Hawke made her body awaken and react in a way that scared her and she knew that if Nathan ever noticed he would make sure that she paid dearly for it.

She hated her life and everything about it. Her parents were gamblers and they had finally gambled too much and were left with no way to pay Nathan back the debts they owed him. Nathan had taken one look at Lily and asked for her hand in marriage instead of money. Lily's parent's had quickly accepted the deal and when Lily had argued, Nathan had used the one weapon guaranteed to bring her down….. Allie.

He had promised to make her beautiful, innocent, little sister pay the price if Lily did not give him what he wanted. Lily had had no choice but to marry the man and the only thing that kept her from taking her own life during the cold nights after he was finished pleasuring himself with her body, was the thought of him taking his anger out on little Allie.

Lily was still going at too fast of a pace through the trees. She was running as fast as the horse could go and the scenery was passing by her in a blur as the mares breathing became more and more labored. She did not see the tree limb lying on the ground and neither did her mare. The horses front leg caught the limb and with a loud scream of pain ,the horse went down chest first on the ground and Lily was sent flying through the air. She struck her head on a rock and the world quickly went black.

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Wolf sniffed the air as he followed the horse and two legged, hairless, female wolf through the woods. He didn't understand why he was following her but he always did what his alpha told him and so he was following her. He wondered why she was running so quickly through the woods. Didn't she realize the danger around her? She was safe with the alpha. She should have stayed with him.

Wolf heard the horse scream in pain and he quickened his pace. He had to find the female and protect her for the alpha. Wolf saw the horse first. It was lying on its side on the ground and breathing heavily. His first instinct was to end its life.. Hunt and kill… But that was not what the alpha had ordered and so he fought the urge and looked around for the female.

He saw her lying on the ground and she appeared to be asleep. Foolish two legged wolves. They were always doing things that made no sense. Wolf ran to her and whined several times hoping to wake her up but still she slept. He could smell blood and he realized that she was hurt.

The alpha would be angry with him. He had not protected her. Wolf nudged her with his snout hoping to wake her but still she slept. He began to lick her face hoping to rouse her and she moaned. He stopped licking and cocked his head to the side as her eyelids fluttered open and then he yelped and jumped back when her ear piercing scream filled the air.