Page 45 of Wolf Desired
“Stop that!” She pushed Maddox away.
“This is none of your business,” Tiernan added as he caught up to them and inserted his body between Artemis and him.
“Lover’s spat, then,” Maddox said. Out loud. Damn, he needed to watch his comments, especially with the glares he was getting from Rafe. Now, that was interesting. And maddening. If she was going to be with a shifter, Maddox wanted to be the one she turned to, not Rafe or Tiernan.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Artemis said, warning him to stay out of it as those beautiful hazel eyes, filled with a fierceness that invigorated him, caught his attention once more.
White wolves rarely stayed out of anything. It was in their nature to meddle, and as far as he was concerned, anything involving Artemis was his business. He had this burning need to protect her.
“You have choices, angel,” Maddox said. He wouldn’t let either of these shifters pressure her into anything.
“Like you?” Tiernan laughed.
Maddox heard the shakiness of Tiernan’s voice. “She turned you down, didn’t she?”
“Fuck off.”
“Stop it, both of you,” Artemis scolded as she glared at Maddox. “Would you really kill Tiernan if his wolf went feral?”
Maddox stopped smiling. This wasn’t about her refusing Tiernan. Worse. It was about her thinking Maddox would put another shifter down so willingly, like a human stepping on an ant. That hurt coming from her. He thought she knew him better.
“I do what I have to. That doesn’t mean I’d enjoy it.”
“But you’d still do it.”
“Yes.”
“You’re no better than Rafe.”
Maddox lifted a brow. “That hurts, angel, especially coming from you.”
“Both of you are going to kill him.”
“Not if you do what he asks,” Maddox said.
“Shut the fuck up,” Tiernan growled. “I haven’t explained everything yet.”
He’d assumed the scout would have told her about the blood-bond by now. “The point is that you can save him.”
“I’m not here to mate, marry, or fuck anyone. Is that clear?” she said. She was gorgeous all riled up, her anger adding a rosy tint to her cheeks as her eyes sparkled with a fierceness any shifter would admire.
“That may be, angel, but if you don’t give him what he needs, you’ll be the one taking away his chance of controlling his wolf, so don’t pin what happens on me.”
She paled. He’d hit her with the harsh reality of the situation. He had no right blaming her, but if she didn’t blood-bond Tiernan, the scout would have to find another female. And that wasn’t easily done for a shifter going feral, especially if Tiernan’s wolf was determined to have Artemis.
Without saying a word, Artemis split away from the group, leaving a distinct bitterness in the air as she disappeared from sight.
Fuck. “I didn’t mean it, Artemis,” Maddox called out. Rafe’s hand—which smelled like Artemis—landed on his arm. What the fuck had happened in those woods?
“Let her go,” Rafe ordered.
“Maybe you can just forget about her, but I can’t,” Maddox said, sliding from Rafe’s hand.
Maddox knew her scent better than his own at this point. A disconcerting fact. Becoming hyper-focused on a female that another shifter planned to blood-bond wouldn’t end well. And yet he couldn’t let go. He followed her scent trail to her room, on the third floor, which was too isolated, too dangerous for a lone female.
He pushed her door open. “I wish you’d return upstairs.”
She didn’t look startled, despite his abrupt entry. She didn’t have shifter abilities, so she couldn’t have scented him, but females tended to have talents males didn’t.
