Page 5 of Wolf Desired
“Anyone not on a team loses points!” Graves called out after him.
Points. Like they were children. Did the human think that would motivate them, especially a shifter fighting his wolf? Tiernan was a decent shifter, but if he was going feral as he’d inferred, then the female and anyone else around was in danger.
“Tiernan’s part of my team,” Rafe said, grabbing a nearby human as he started running to catch up. He could shift and hunt the female down himself within minutes if necessary, but he was more interested in watching out for Tiernan, one of his own.
CHAPTERTWO
ALYSSA
“Use me as bait? Asshole!” Alyssa cursed as she stripped out of her boots, removed her socks, and tied her boots together to sling around her neck. She flipped open her pocket knife, sliced the socks into ten strips each, and cut off a lock of her hair from the back. Using the strips, she tied the hair to stones she found along the river’s edge. Eight minutes gone, she estimated. She needed to move faster.
One by one, she launched the stones south, intentionally grouping them, but not too tightly. She needed to mislead the shifters with enough of her scent, at least long enough to make it to the road and hitch a ride. She could take the day off, let the shifters and their human teammates go in circles while she lounged at a nearby coffee shop.
As Alyssa waded through the ice-cold river, she began to rethink her plan, especially as she sank deeper into the water. Waist-high, a lot higher than she’d expected, but at least there was no undertow and her boots stayed dry around her neck.
As she climbed the opposite bank, soaked and her feet covered in muck, she heard a noise south of her. Cheers and laughter. It sounded like several of the teams were pre-maturely celebrating their victory. She cut off the lower half of her t-shirt and used it to dry her feet before putting her boots on.
Alyssa trudged through the dense underbrush, trying to ignore the cold wind slicing through her wet pants as she headed east, toward the state road she’d seen on a map during orientation. The satisfied look on Graves’s face when he announced that she would be hunted irritated the hell out of her, but she quickly tamped down her anger before it distracted her. And yet she kept asking how the hell she was going to build a rapport with the shifters if Graves made her look like prey from the very start.
A hand clamped down over her mouth from behind. Alyssa’s training kicked in. She flipped the person over her. The man went down hard. She recognized him from earlier. Not a man, but one of the shifters. The incredibly serious-looking guy with jet-black hair and eyes to match.
Flat on his back, he stared up at her. “Gottya?”
“Is that a question or statement?”
“Depends on whether you try to run. It wouldn’t take much to catch you. You’re not going to make me chase you, are you?” he asked as he rolled to his side and rose so easily that she wondered if he’d let her flip him.
“Now why would I tell you what I plan to do?”
He brushed his hands together, getting rid of the wet leaves sticking to him. Up close, the shifter was a lot larger than she’d thought back at the compound. Several inches taller than her and full of muscles, especially in the chest, arms, neck, and thighs. He had thick dark hair with dark eyes like pools of oil, shiny, fluid, and swirling. Utterly breathtaking in their depth and mystery. She had never understood some women’s weakness for bad boys. Until now.
“Unless you have a team shoved in your back pocket there, wolfie, this doesn’t count as a capture. Graves said the team had to stick together.”
His brows pinched together, clearly not pleased. “Wolfie? Is that a slur, female?”
It probably was. She needed to get her dad out of her head or she’d never get past this disdain of shifters. “I’m not sure what else to call you. I missed the introductions this morning. Graves was too busy chewing me out.”
“My codename is 86,” he said, watching her reaction closely.
She found it interesting that he used a codename like her. From what she’s heard, none of the shifters and humans were using one. Only her. And 86.
“Nice to meet you, 86, but I can’t stand here chatting. I’ve got a few dozen recruits on my tail.”
“Another slur, female?”
“Not intentionally. Just like you calling mefemaleisn’t degrading.”
He lifted a brow. “It isn’t. Not in my world.”
“We’re not in your world right now. My name’s Artemis.”
“I know. It’s hard to miss given how often Graves targets you. Just what did you do to get on his bad side?”
“I showed up for training.”
The shifter scowled and then stepped closer. Alyssa held her ground as she had with Graves. This part of training never changed. Males always tried to dominate.
Except this one let his hand trail down her bare arm. Intimidation wasn’t what he had on his mind.
