The Alien's Captive by Ruth Anne Scott

mistake coming over to the Avitras. I know that now.”
    Penelope Ann shook her head. “Wait until I tell Aquilla. He’ll change. He’ll let Menlo go. He won’t let you go back.”
    “He has no choice in the matter,” Anna replied.
    “That’s not what I meant,” Penelope Ann told her. “I meant he won’t want you to go because of what he’s doing with Menlo. When he realizes you feel strongly enough about this to leave the Avitras, he’ll let Menlo go.”
    Anna shook her head. “It’s not just Menlo and Aquilla. I would go back to the Lycaon for the food alone. I don’t belong with the Avitras. Maybe you do, but I don’t.”
    “We can’t let this happen,” Penelope Ann insisted. “We can’t let you walk away.”
    “It’s already done,” Anna replied. “There’s nothing you can do to change my mind. I suppose I should have found out more about the Avitras before I came to live with them.”
    Penelope Ann looked around. “Maybe when I explain the situation, we can work out some way for you to collect your own food from the forest.”
    “Where would I cook it?” Anna asked. “No, it wouldn’t work. I was wrong about the Avitras, and it took Aquilla capturing Menlo and bringing him here for me to realize that. I never belonged here, and I won’t stay here.”
    “What are you going to do?” Penelope Ann asked. “When will you leave?”
    Anna glanced around the room. “I don’t know. I’ll have to figure out a way to get back to Lycaon territory. Maybe Piwaka will help me find my way.”
    Penelope Ann’s head shot up, and her blue eyes widened. “These eggs.....they weren’t for you at all, were they?”
    Anna turned bright red. “What are you talking about?”
    Penelope Ann dropped her voice to a hoarse whisper. “You got these eggs for Menlo, didn’t you? You smuggled them to him in the store room.”
    Anna’s cheeks burned. She had no choice but to look away. “I told you I ate them.”
    “You never told me anything of the kind,” Penelope Ann shot back. “I said it, and you didn’t deny it. You let me believe they were for you to hide the truth. You’ve been smuggling food to Menlo while Aquilla’s back is turned.”
    Anna raised her eyes to Penelope Ann’s face. “How did you figure that out?”
    Penelope Ann stared down at the eggs. “I don’t know. Something in the way you said you weren’t sure when you would leave told me you wanted to stay until you knew Menlo was safe.”
    “Can you blame me?” Anna asked. “I don’t know how you can stand to watch Aquilla mistreat an innocent man without doing something to stop him. All I did was give him something to eat so he could put up with the abuse a little bit better. You can’t blame me for that.”
    “You shouldn’t have done it,” Penelope Ann told her. “Aquilla already told you to leave Menlo alone.”
    “Are you going to tell him?” Anna asked.
    Penelope Ann shook her head. “I don’t know what I’ll do. Aquilla is Alpha of our faction, and he’s my mate. In a way, you’re asking me to betray Aquilla instead of you.”
    “You know I only did what was right,” Anna replied. “Aquilla’s gone off the deep end with this vendetta of his, and he could wind up dragging the Avitras and the Ursidreans into another war.”
    “I’m sure that’s exactly what Menlo wants,” Penelope Ann shot back. “That’s why he keeps his information to himself.”
    “You know that’s not true,” Anna countered. “You know as well as I do he keeps it to himself to keep the peace. If he told Aquilla what he wanted to know, Aquilla would never stop until he murdered the man who killed his brother, and the Ursidrean Alpha would have no choice but to launch an attack in revenge for that killing.”
    Penelope Ann turned away. “I don’t know about that.”
    “I do.” Anna finished straightening her sleeping roll and collected the egg shells into a pile. “Even Piwaka won’t go along with Aquilla’s insane plan