Page 30 of Wolf Desired
She was no better than her dad.
Growls, low-spoken words, and what sounded like shoving ensued behind her, but she kept walking through the woods, past the other agents heading to the mess hall for lunch, past the dorm, and into the woods at the opposite end of the compound, where she could be alone.
Cool air swept over her sweat-soaked skin, but out here, away from everyone, she could finally breathe. She’d never felt so lost before.
Lost, along with much of her confidence. The truth could do that to a person. Shake her to her core, make it hard to lift herself back up again. That’s what this assignment was supposed to do for her. Give her some answers while proving she wasn’t anything like the shifter-haters out there.
CHAPTERNINE
TIERNAN
Tiernan took off after Artemis, leaving Rafe and Maddox behind to handle Kingsley and his goons. Tracking Artemis proved easy enough. He had committed her scent to memory the day he’d met her. He hated how a bitterness mixed in with her usual sweet honey scent. Something more than fear, though he couldn’t identify it.
Instead of returning to the dorm, Alyssa headed into the woods on the other side of the training grounds. Tiernan hung back, giving her some time and space. When she didn’t emerge after a half-hour, he followed her to a stream where she was throwing stones into the water.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Artemis turned around, surprised to see him. Surprise turned to anger. “What do you want?”
He deserved that. He and the others had dismissed her back there like she was a child. That had to sting. None of them was used to working with a human, especially a woman, and their tendency to protect first always sat foremost in their minds. Especially with her. She was his mate or would be if he could figure out how to get past her defenses, so she’d give him a chance.
“You’re mad.”
“Damn right.” She sighed. “But not at you. At me.”
“Why? You did nothing wrong,” he said, puzzled.
“Why do you care?”
When it came to Artemis, his wolf clawed and bit him constantly, except when she was near. That was the only time the damn beast inside of him calmed. How the hell would he explain to her, to ahuman, that he needed to blood-bond her? Most of what humans knew about shifters was wrong, so he doubted she even knew about the blood-bond.
It didn’t matter that his wolf had chosen Artemis, and that Tiernan knew nothing about her. He’d learn in time. But expecting a human to understand, to consent to a blood-bond. . . Artemis would sayno.
“I’m sorry. That wasn’t right of me,” she said. “I’m just a bit surprised you’re here instead of. . . Never mind.”
“Who did you expect?”
“Mad—I mean Max.”
“Maddox told you his name, didn’t he?” Tiernan’s wolf began pacing inside. He didn’t like another shifter getting friendly with her, even one he was starting to consider pack.
“How do you know his name?” she asked, turning the question around.
“We come from neighboring packs in Colorado. Near Devil’s Peak.”
“Never heard of it.”
“Few have, though it’s been getting more tourists in the last few years. Some blogger posted about it, saying it’s a quaint town with fabulous views of the mountains.”
“Is it?”
“There’s no place as gorgeous as Colorado, but I can’t say much about Devil’s Peak. I don’t spend much time there. No need to. Got everything I need in my pack. And if we need something, the shifter in charge of supplies goes to town.”
“That sounds rather isolating.”
“Not for me. I’m a scout. I’m sent out all the time. To other packs. To human cities. Everywhere and anywhere my alpha needs me to go. I don’t get to spend much time with the pack, not as much as I’d like.”
“Is that why your alpha sent you here? Because you’ve been around humans before?”
