Page 24 of Wolf Desired
“Don’t make me throw up.”
That stupid grin of his disappeared.
Kingsley drew up to his full height, trying to intimidate her. It worked. These shifters were huge, and she was outnumbered, but if she showed any sign of weakness, she wouldn’t survive them or this mission.
Xavier stroked her hair from behind. She spun around again and knocked his hand aside. Xavier lifted his hand to strike her.
Tiernan, Maddox, and Rafe surrounded them.
“Artemis,” Rafe called, his voice dominant to the point where Kingsley widened his stance, preparing to fight. “You’re coming with us. You’re switching places with Jason.”
“What?” Jason said, surprised. “You can’t do that. Graves finalized the teams.”
“I’ll take care of Graves,” Rafe said in a voice that cut through Jason’s whining. Rafe’s tone and expression suggested he was making the decisions here, not Graves. Not that she objected. Surrounded by all these well-built men, she felt like an ant in a land of giants. While she hadn’t seen Jason fight, she had the training to take down a human. But these shifters had abilities she couldn’t match.
Rafe’s bright green eyes darkened, a sign of his wolf beneath, perhaps. She’d have to ask him about that. Later. She had to establish herself first.
“I’m not some baseball player to be traded on an owner’s whim,” Jason objected, folding his arms over his chest.
“No, you’re a nothing, human,” Rafe said.
Jason’s expression soured. “Artemis,” he called, probably trying to plead his case. She felt like a coward then, not saying she didn’t need to switch groups, that she could handle Kingsley and his buddies. Quite frankly, she wasn’t sure she could.
She turned to Rafe and smiled at him, loving that he cared about her. “Thank you, Rafe, but I’ll be fine on Kingsley’s team. Let Jason stay with you.” She stepped back to stand with Kingsley, Brock, and Xavier, making it clear she wasn’t going with Rafe. The idea of dealing with Kingsley all day every day turned her stomach, but no one would learn to respect her if she backed down and let Rafe solve her problems for her.
CHAPTEREIGHT
RAFE
Rafe felt as if he reached his limit. For two days he’d sat back watching Kingsley corner, proposition, and try to intimidate Artemis. And she glared at Rafe each time he took a step forward to intervene. But he let Kingsley know he was watching, and that if the shifter or his team dared to touch her, they’d have to answer to Rafe.
In between training exercises or classes on anti-shifter techniques and organizational structure, the humans and shifters kept to their own kind, with humans talking about trivial matters such as the latest movies and dating apps while the shifters spoke of the virus. Constantly.
Rafe was tired of hearing about the thousands of dead shifters or those who had survived, only to find themselves unable to shift. He’d seen the devastation in his pack and others. He preferred to think about things he could change. His brother Eero and the other shifters were dead. Nothing would bring them back.
The recruits’ latest exercise involved rappelling down a cliff, an unnatural act but one that all the humans seemed quite comfortable with. Kingsley’s team was the last to rappel. The other teams had finished ten minutes ago and had packed up their gear and left. Tiernan refused to leave until he knew Artemis made it down the cliff safely. Indulging the scout seemed like the right thing to do. It wasn’t like Rafe had anything better to do once they got back to the dorm.
Kingsley and Xavier rappelled down the cliff faster than advised. The two shifters made it to the ground and yelled the all-clear for Brock and Artemis to proceed.
Kingsley’s team had been taking longer than any other team. “What caused the delay?” Rafe asked Tiernan when he returned from scouting up top.
“Kingsley and Artemis were arguing,” Tiernan reported. “She tried to instruct them on safety protocols, but they weren’t listening.”
“She should have switched teams,” Rafe said, unable to take his eyes from the top of the cliff. His wolf paced inside, eager to see her again and know she was safe.
“She didn’t want to appear weak,” 86 said.
“Artemisisweak compared to Kingsley and his team. She’s human andfemale. And before you say I’m being unfair, I’m just stating fact. It has nothing to do with her character. I’ve warned Kingsley that if he or anyone else touches her, I’ll kill him myself. Even if he’s not involved.”
“You’re fooling yourself if you think putting the responsibility on him will protect her,” 86 said.
“I gave a few of the others similar warnings.”
“Shifters and humans?”
“Shifters. She can handle herself with the humans.”
“Why do I get the feeling you didn’t threaten the humans because you’re counting on them to make trouble for Artemis so she’ll be pressured to leave? If you think she doesn’t belong here, then stop watching over her,” 86 said.
