Page 47 of Wolf Desired
“I’m here for you, angel.” She treated him to another smile, as beautiful as ever. And meant just for him.
“I appreciate that. Thank you, Maddox.” After a deep breath, she continued. “Tiernan asked me to. . . to do something with him.”
Maddox’s heart sank the moment he realized this was about Tiernan, that at most, she considered Maddox merely a friend or confidante. “I heard,” he said, unable to keep the irritation from his voice.
Her eyes widened for a moment, and then she nodded, understanding. “I have to get used to being overheard here all the time, I guess, don’t I?”
“Depends where you are. Outside, we can hear quite a distance. In here, with all this concrete between floors, it’s not as easy, which is why you should be upstairs. Or perhaps I should come down here. Keep you company.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“I’m a guard in my pack. I’d keep you safe. Nothing more.”
“I can watch out for myself. But thanks. I meant to ask, who did you end up rooming with?”
“Tiernan.”
“You’re kidding me, right? He attacked you our first day.”
“That’s because I was withyou. He was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what? You didn’t do anything.”
“Not yet.” Maddox grinned. “He interrupted me.”
She laughed, then covered her mouth, trying to suppress her reaction. “I’m sorry, it’s been a crazy day.” And then she started crying. “I can’t believe what I just did.”
He moved to embrace her, but she backed away. “I don’t trust myself right now.”
So, something had happened with Tiernan. And maybe Rafe? A surge of anger whipped through him. Whatever had happened, he had a feeling those two forgot they were dealing with a human. Different customs, different expectations.
She seemed fragile suddenly.
“I’m not the type people talk to,” Maddox said, never sure what to say. “I take orders mostly. But if you want to talk, I can listen.”
She wiped the tears away, straightened her spine, and bit her lower lip.
With his forefinger, he eased her lower lip away. “Hurting yourself won’t fix or change whatever has you stressed.”
“You want to talk about us. Fine,” she said, her voice curt. “That first day, when you pinned me against that tree, I wasn’t quite sure what was happening. It felt like you wanted to kiss me, but then you didn’t, like something held you back. Before Tiernan interrupted us, that is. Was it because I’m human or a woman? Is that all you shifters see is a human or a woman when you look at me, and not a person on the inside?”
Memories of Isabella surfaced. She’d said the same thing about their packmates, the males mostly, only seeing her for who she was on the outside, not the person within.
My sweet Izzy, I’m sorry. For everything.
“And there it is again,” she said. “A blank expression. I might be screwed up in so many ways, but I didn’t imagine that expression. Then or now. What is it about me that makes you look so distant, like you want to crawl out of your own skin?”
Maddox didn’t know where all that hostility was coming from, but he knew one thing. He wasn’t ready to talk about Isabella. And he wasn’t ready to walk away from Artemis, either.
“Whatever you think you’re seeing in me has nothing to do with you. And you’re not screwed up. I don’t know what happened between you and Tiernan and Rafe, but—”
“Nothing happened. Or at least noting that matters. I let my hormones get the best of me.”
He quirked a brow.
“You going to judge me now?” she asked, getting on the defensive.
“Hardly. Just a bit surprised, I guess. Not about Tiernan, but Rafe.”
