Page 71 of Taken By the Alpha Priest

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TILDA

Idon’t know how I missed it, but there’s an old barn on the other side of the visitors’ center, out on the fringes of the encampment. I hear a familiar whinny as soon as we’re within earshot, and I glance at Reyes with wide eyes.

He tilts his head with a smile. “Go ahead,” he says. “I’ll meet you there.”

I break into a sprint, my feet pounding against the earth as I race for the barn. I don’t know where they got the stuff, but they’ve outfitted the whole place with feed, halters, and hay, the familiar smell of horses filling my lungs.

The barn is full of horses I recognize—just four, all from the fallen bounty hunters the night I got here. I pass a pinto mare, a chestnut gelding, and a sable stallion. At the very end is my horse: a palomino with braided mane.

My Annie.

She whinnies, her ears twitching as she recognizes me, and I’m already running toward her before I realize what I’m doing. My hands reach out instinctively, cradling her muzzle as gently as I can, and she leans out over the stall door, meeting me halfway. I bury my face against her neck, my arms wrapping around her as if she’s the only solid thing in the world. My fingers trail over her familiar coat, dusty gray and warm beneath my touch.

“Oh, Annie,” I whisper, my voice cracking. “I’m so sorry I left you here. I hope Peaches has been taking real good care of you.”

Her response is a soft snort, her breath warm against my skin. She nudges me with her nose, almost like she’s trying to reassure me. I stroke her neck, letting the motion calm the storm of emotions inside me: relief, guilt, joy—all tangled together.

Behind me, I hear Reyes’ footsteps as he steps into the stable, and I reluctantly pull back from Annie to turn toward him. My eyes narrow, anger bubbling up alongside everything else.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demand, my voice sharper than I intended. “She’s been here this whole time, and you didn’t say a word?”

Reyes stops a few feet away, his expression unreadable. “Because I didn’t know if you would try to run,” he says evenly. “And when you were…well, in that gray area between hostage and guest, I couldn’t risk it.”

I stare at him, the weight of his words settling heavily in my chest. It’s not that I don’t understand—if the roles were reversed, I’d probably have done the same thing. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t sting. That doesn’t mean I can let him off the hook so easily.

“So I just had to fuck you to get my privileges back,” I mutter, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

“Tilda, it isn’t like that,” he says, his tone firm but not unkind. There’s a flicker of something in his eyes—regret, maybe, or guilt.

I can’t help the smirk that pulls at my lips, even though I’m still pissed. “I’m just fucking with you,” I say, leaning against the stall door. “Maybe. But I’m still angry.”

His mouth quirks in a faint smile, though there’s a weight in his gaze as he steps closer. “You have every right to be,” he says quietly. “But I didn’t want to lose you. Not then. Not now.”

That takes the edge off my anger, though I don’t let it show. Instead, I turn back to Annie, running my hand along her neck again. She’s steady beneath my palm, a grounding force, and for the first time in weeks, I feel like I can breathe.

“She’s been well cared for,” Reyes says after a moment, his voice softer now. “Peaches made sure of it. And I came to check on her too…just in case.”

I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, my hand still on Annie. “Good,” I say. “Because if she wasn’t, we’d be having a very different conversation right now.”

Reyes chuckles, the sound low and warm. “Noted.”

Annie nudges me again, and I smile despite myself. “You’re lucky I’m a little distracted,” I say, my tone light but with just enough edge to let him know I’m not entirely letting it go.

He nods, his expression softening as he watches me with her. “Take your time,” he says. “She’s yours, after all.”

He goes silent as I continue to stroke Annie’s neck, crossing his arms over his chest. He’s so big that I don’t think he could even really ride a horse—or at least he’d need a very big horse. “You know how to ride?” I ask.

“It’s been a while, but I think I could manage,” he says. “Either that, or I could shift and run along with you, keep to the shadows.”

“I don’t think the people of Homestead would take it well if a naked giant strolled out of the woods once I get our meeting started,” I murmur. “So horseback it is. Did you want to go now or…”

“I thought we would wait until tomorrow,” he says. “Tell the pack what our plans are, make sure we have a chain of command in place in case things go sideways. Frankie is being…difficult.”

“Who would you put in charge?” I ask. I don’t want to think about the possibility that something could go wrong, but I understand where he’s coming from—and I think he needs to talk about it.

“Will,” he says. “No doubt. Then Mateo, then Grant. Frankie is too aggressive.”

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