Page 26 of Wolf Desired
“Whatever,” Jason said as he joined the other humans and headed back to the compound.
Just as well, Rafe thought. He didn’t care to be around the weak fool any more than necessary. The human hesitated in every action he took. Not like Artemis, who was decisive and motivated. He’d much rather have her on his team.
“Way to put him in his place, scout,” 86 said. “Why not offer him milk and cookies while you’re at it?”
“Fuck you, Maddox.”
“Your name is Maddox?” Rafe asked, lifting a brow.
“Fuck.” Maddox sighed. “So much for keeping secrets, Tiernan.”
“I never promised to keep your secret.”
“It was implied.”
“Next time, use your words,” Tiernan said, the corner of his mouth kicking up.
Artemis’s foot slipped at the edge, but she caught herself before falling over. Rafe nearly lurched forward when he remembered there was nothing he could do from down here to help her. Not that she needed his help. She had already clipped onto the lines and easily regained her balance.
“Watch your footing, Brock. The rock will be slick after that rain we had,” she calmly instructed the shifter.
Rafe relaxed. She had everything under control. Unlike him. Tiernan and Maddox continued arguing for no reason other than they both seemed to need to let off steam. It had been a frustrating week enduring these stupid exercises that they’d never use, not to mention dealing with the infuriating humans who had no desire to learn about shifters. Except Artemis. She took every opportunity to observe and ask questions.
“So typical of your pack,” Tiernan said, though Rafe had missed what they were arguing about now.
“Enough!” Rafe roared. “The other shifters have seen your wolf, Maddox. By now they’ve figured out what pack you’re from. They don’t need your name to track you down.”
“There are other white wolves out there.”
“Not many outside your pack. And none with your attitude.”
Maddox actually shut up.
“You need to listen to what I’m saying, Brock,” Artemis said, raising her voice a hundred feet above.
“You’re only on this team because Kingsley wants you, female. Don’t tell me what to do.”
As Artemis bent her knees and walked over the edge of the cliff, Tiernan paced.
“She’ll be fine,” Rafe said, trying to calm the scout, though he knew how the shifter felt. He worried about the female too.
This growing attraction to her wasn’t going to help with his job here. He needed to ignore her, let her figure out how to get along with Kingsley and his team.
Artemis descended at a steady, controlled speed as if she’d rappelled down cliffs a hundred times before. She madewalkingdown a cliff look natural. Another reminder that they lived in different worlds.
Rafe tensed as she approached the cliff’s overhang, the most dangerous part of the exercise. If she descended too fast, she could slam into the rock below, like Lincoln, a shifter from South Dakota had.
With measured, controlled steps, Artemis pushed off from the rocks. She looked confident up there, as she did with every exercise. The only time she lost confidence was when she was with her team. Kingsley, Brock, and Xavier scared her, and she should be scared. Kingsley was a troublemaker. He cared nothing about the treaty and was only here because his alpha had ordered him, like all the shifters, Rafe included. Unlike Kingsley, who didn’t give a shit about the treaty, Rafe had to care. His alpha had ordered him to keep the peace among the shifters and do whatever he could to protect the treaty. Rafe had to admit, the potential good that could come from the treaty, a united front with the humans against the anti-shifters and eventually citizenship for shifters, were worthy goals.
“Back off,” Artemis yelled as Brock rappelled toward her at an alarming speed. “You’ll tangle our lines.” She had just reached the overhang. All she had to do was put her feet on the lip and slowly lower herself until she cleared the edge. From there, she could dangle freely on the rope and lower herself to the ground.
Brock jumped on top of her line.
“What is that asshole doing?” Maddox said.
“Challenging her. Intimidating her. Anything he can to fuck with her.”
“I’ll kill him,” Maddox swore.
