Page 65 of Alpha Wolf's Arranged Bride
Rex hugs me back, squeezing almost too hard.
“I’m scared,” I whisper.
I feel Rex nod. “I know. I’m not exactly confident.”
“Thank you for sharing all of this with me, Rex,” I say, leaning back to look into his shimmering amber eyes. “It means so much to me to have your trust.”
Rex strokes my cheek, a soft smile slowly spreading across his face. “It makes me feel better, too,” he answers. “I’ve carried my secrets alone for far too long.”
I stretch up a little to touch his lips with mine, and Rex lowers his head, deepening the kiss. I wrap my arms around his waist, feeling his hard, strong body through the clothes.
I trust him. I do feel safe, even with enemies potentially stalking us. I know Rex will protect me and Jarrod.
Rex pulls back from the kiss, and I link my fingers through his, wishing I could wipe the troubled look from his eyes.
“Let’s go to bed,” I say. “If there’s nothing we can do until we get some news, we should try to rest.”
“Yes,” he mutters, following me up the stairs. “We should rest.”
When we get into bed, Rex’s body is so strung with tension, it almost feels like he’s shivering. I wrap myself around him, trying to give him comfort. Even with stress singing through his muscles, my closeness soothes his nerves, and Rex slowly drifts off to sleep in my arms.
Rex’s heartbeat lulls me into a stupor, and exhaustion creeps up on me. My last thoughts as sleep takes me over are that Uncle Azarian and Vanessa cannot possibly stand against a contingent of black-ops agents, and when we wake in the morning, we will finally have answers.
Despite my optimism, I fall into troubling dreams of running through the forest, unable to shift. Even without my wolf senses, I’m following Jarrod’s scent, trying to find him before someone else does. Laughter fills the woods, and the trees shiver as a wave of power rushes through the forest, making the ground tremble.
The jolt of the shockwave hitting me wakes me up, and for a second, I’m so relieved to be safe in bed that nothing else registers. When I see Rex isn’t with me, I leap out of bed and rush down the hall, checking on Jarrod first. He’s still deeply asleep, not stirring even when I tiptoe into the room and gently kiss his forehead.
I pull the covers up around Jarrod and tuck him in a little, silently leaving the room and closing the door. The house is still dark, and it will be hours before the sun rises, even though the sky is already beginning to lighten with a dull, gray dawn.
When I get downstairs, I find Rex pacing back and forth in the kitchen. His shoulders are tense, and his face is locked in a scowl.
“Oh my God, Rex, what happened?” I demand.
“Wolf’s Shadow attacked,” he says. “And you were right. They tried to capture Azarian and Vanessa alive, and the entire unit was taken out.”
“Taken out?” I sputter. “How?”
“We don’t have a full report,” he answers. “I’ll have to see one of my Shadows for a debrief. My mentor, Malcolm, is on relay, and I should be able to talk to him later today. All I have is the coded text from Brad.”
“What did it say?”
“‘Contingent sent in at 0200 hours. The site appears deserted. The first line did not make it to the target. The entire contingent lost. Scouts pull back immediately for regroup. Await further orders.’”
“How many Shadows are in a contingent?”
“Twenty,” Rex says, grimacing.
“Twenty?” I echo. “My uncle and one woman took out twenty men by themselves?”
“Yes,” Rex says. “If there were other wolves or defenses, it would have been in the brief. But it just says ‘lost,’ which means they aren’t even sure how it happened.”
“Rex!” I cry out, my fear beginning to overpower me. “What are we supposed to do now? What if he comes for Jarrod?”
“It’s okay,” Rex says, wrapping his arms around me. “There’s a good chance his power—or Vanessa’s—is linked to the stone. If he’d had a chance to do the ritual, we’d definitely know about it by now.”
“But your men…”
My voice dies in my throat, and I shake my head, trying to blink away tears.
