Page 21 of Tamed By the Alpha Wolf

I rolled my eyes and fought the urge to bare my fangs at him. “What do you want, Orion?”

“Just dropped off a car at the garage.” He grinned, making an obvious show of scenting the air. “And checking up on our wayward packmate. Missed you on patrol the other night.”

Heat crept up my neck as memories of Nico’s hands on my body, his mouth between my thighs, flashed through my mind. Nearly a week had passed since Nico crashed into my life, and I’d been... distracted.

My wolf paced restlessly beneath my skin, hungry for his touch. A part of me ached to curl up next to him, safe and protected from the world outside. Another part hungered for more than that—the chase, the fight. The chance to test ourselves against an equal, then celebrate our victory in sweat-drenched sheets.

I drummed my fingers to keep from ghosting over my markless neck. “I had something to handle,” I said flatly.

“Oh, I bet you did.” His grin turned positively shit-eating. “You know, Rafe told the pack not to discuss your dating life under pain of losing the frank-and-beans, but damn if you don’t reek of?—”

“Finish that sentence,” I growled, “and I’ll rip out your tongue.”

Orion held up his hands in mock surrender, but his smirk remained firmly in place. “Easy there, she-wolf. Just making conversation.” He paused, his expression sobering. “Speaking of Rafe, have you talked to him yet?”

I thought of the missed call on my phone, ignored in favor of Nico’s tongue buried between my thighs. “No,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Why?”

“Probably nothing,” Orion hedged, and alarm bells went off in my head. Orion never hesitated. “It’s just... Wyatt’s witch contacts learned of a coven in Denver that was killed. Like the one we were told to watch for.”

My blood ran cold. Even my wolf stopped her endless pacing and whining and snarling for our mate’s claim.

Enforcers. Bosses. Full-blooded members of the families involved in the massacre.

Was it him?

I hated that was my reaction. Not to declare innocence, not to have a ready alibi and drive to clear him with facts, but to question what a rogue wolf got up to in the hours I wasn’t with him.

Maybe he didn’t want to mate me with someone else’s blood in his teeth. A true gentleman, really.

I swallowed hard, forcing my voice to remain steady. “And?”

“That’s all I know.” Orion shrugged, though there was an uneasy look in his eyes. “I’m sorry for the family, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved it’s not our pack again. I’d rather live in a world where scents along the border are just passersby, not potential threats.”

“What do you mean, scents along the border?”

“Oh, right. On the patrol youmissed,”he said, waggling his eyebrows.

He’d lose more than the frank-and-beans if he didn’t wipe that fucking smug grin off his face. I growled, letting my wolf flash in my eyes.

“Okay, okay.” He sighed, rolling his eyes. “I caught a whiff of something along the edge of Dusk Valley territory. Didn’t cross the borders, though, so I figured it was just someone passing through. But after learning we were supposed to keep an eye out for some rogue killer?—”

“So, you pickednowto reveal this little tidbit of news?” I snapped.

“I told Rafe! Not my fault he said not to bother you. I figured you two have some text thread to talk shit like the rest of us.”

I filedthattidbit away for future havoc.

“With the deaths in Denver,” he continued with a grimace, “I feel like I can pack away that suspicion. For now.”

I hummed an agreement. Nico’s trail? The timing fit, and I didn’t like the idea of any other wolves sniffing at the edge of our territory.

I wanted to be angry at Rafe for the lack of alarm, but he wasn’t operating with the full deck. I kept the full truth from him. Any consequences would be on my shoulders.

Orion’s work phone beeped at his belt, and he glanced at the screen. “Duty calls.” He patted the counter and made his way toward the exit, turning back to wink at me over his shoulder. “Oh, and thanks for recommending Brielle’s cleanup and staging services to those flippers. She’s been raving about the extra business.”

I blinked, momentarily confused. Then I remembered—a couple discussing their plans to gut and divide some of the old houses and target the remote worker rental crowd. “Right. No problem.”

As soon as Orion was out of sight, I ducked into the back room and grabbed my jacket. “Taking my break,” I called to no one in particular as I slipped out the back door.

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