Page 1 of Wolf Claimed
Chapter One
MADDOX
“She’s gone,” Maddox said quietly to Rafe as he turned his back on the group of shifters passing through the compound. “I caught her scent in the stairwell of the dorm, but not her room. She never went up.”
“You must have misunderstood what she said. Or missed some vital detail,” Rafe said, his eyes scanning the compound and woods beyond.
“She sent me to tell you she’d be late. The only reason I left her was because she said she wanted to change into warmer clothing and would join us in the dining hall. It was a ruse to get rid of me and I fucking fell for it.”
“That makes no sense. She knows she has nothing to fear from you. Where would she go? There’s nothing around for miles but woods.” Rafe kept his voice just as low as he kept his eyes trained on Kingsley and his team as they passed through the compound.
The sun had set well over an hour ago, and they still had no clue as to what direction she’d taken. The rain had washed away her scent. And without a strong wind, it could take hours to pick up her trail.
“All shifters and humans are accounted for. The humans are playing poker in the dining hall, and aside from Kingsley’s team, the rest of the shifters are in the dorm. You’re right. It doesn’t appear as if anyone took her,” Maddox said, though he noticed Rafe hadn’t stopped glaring at the three shifters heading into the dining hall. That asshole Kingsley had been trouble from the start, and one beating from Rafe wouldn’t keep the shifter from going after Alyssa again.
“Maybe she merely went for a walk,” Rafe suggested. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
No, it wouldn’t. It was possible she’d ventured into the woods to be alone, as she’d done several times before, but Maddox’s wolf clawed at him to find her, to protect her as if he sensed danger. Maddox knew better than to ignore his wolf.
Kingsley’s lips curled into a licentious grin as he turned into the dining hall. Maddox lurched forward, ready to rip the shifter a new one.
Rafe’s arm shot out, blocking Maddox. “He’s baiting you. He doesn’t have her. Doesn’t even know she’s missing. Let’s make sure it stays that way.”
Rafe was right. If he went over there, he might say something in the heat of the moment. Alerting the others to Alyssa’s disappearance would put her in danger, if she weren’t already. Kingsley and his team had already attacked her once and would do so again the second they spotted an opening. No one at the Department of Shifter Affairs training facility aside from Rafe, Tiernan, and Maddox cared about what happened to Alyssa. Even the other federal agents in the program didn’t see her as one of their own, even though she was a secret service agent and a fellow human.
“I’m sure she’s fine. She’s smart and highly capable,” Rafe said, trying to calm Maddox, which ended up agitating Maddox and his wolf. It almost sounded as if Rafe didn’t plan to continue looking for her.
Then he noticed Rafe clenching and unclenching his fists, likely fighting to keep calm. Rash, he wasn’t. And he worried about her as much as Maddox did. While Rafe might be arrogant, he was no fool. The alpha-heir took the time to think strategically before acting.
“Her behavior was off,” Maddox said, trying to glean any details that might help. “Distant after Graves scorned her in front of everyone during the debriefing about the drug deal op today.”
“She can handle his jabs and insults. She’s been doing so from the start of the training program. Whatever happened to make her lie to you, that wasn’t it.”
Maddox wasn’t convinced. Three weeks was a lot of time to endure the constant digs and demoralizing attitude of the man in change. The DSA instructor had been trying to force her out of the program since their first day. While Maddox agreed that Alyssa was strong and could tolerate anything Graves dished out, the way Graves had spoken to her in front of everyone had a different edge to it. Not just sharp. Serrated.
“I’ll head south,” Rafe finally said, not sharing whatever else he’d been thinking.
“This is foolish. We’ve been searching for an hour already. We should get Tiernan.” The scout could track anyone, even when there was no wind or scent trail like now.
“Let him sleep.”
“Afraid he’ll slip up and let his wolf have control if he panics and hears she’s missing?”
“Something like that. And she’s not missing,” Rafe said with a growl that suggested he wasn’t happy with the situation. The alpha didn’t like not knowing what was going on with his team, and especially Alyssa. He probably considered her his too, or he would if Tiernan weren’t in the way. “We’ll find her. Get moving.” Rafe shoved his clothes behind the tree and shifted. His silver wolf scented the air one last time before running south.
Maddox stripped, put his clothes with Rafe’s, and shifted. He bounded north at a casual pace so he wouldn’t miss any signs. Again, he thought of Tiernan and how the scout’s talent would be useful right now. Instead, the shifter was back at the dorm, sleeping, blessedly unaware that Artemis was missing. He’d skipped dinner and turned in early, no doubt exhausted from fighting his wolf.
When he’d first arrived at the training facility, Tiernan had confessed to being on the verge of going feral. Shortly after, he’d declared his wolf had chosen Alyssa. The scout needed to blood-bond her to keep from going feral. He would gladly join in the search, but Maddox wasn’t going to countermand Rafe on the matter. The alpha-heir potentially had insight into Tiernan’s condition that Maddox didn’t. Though Maddox had seen his share of shifters go feral, and all ended in the shifter being put down.
A half mile from the training center, the wind finally picked up. Maddox caught Alyssa’s scent immediately. Sweet, but tinged in a bitterness similar to fear, but not quite the same. His wolf sensed his urgency to reach her and cooperated, pumping his legs harder to reach her before she made it to the interstate.
Less than three miles from the DSA facility, he spotted her. Not on any of the trails the humans used to run in the surrounding woods, but climbing up a rock face without any rigging. Her climbing skills were excellent from what he’d seen, but being out here alone, at night, and without any safety gear, was risky. And desperate. That wasn’t like Alyssa.
Maddox refrained from howling his displeasure. He didn’t want to startle her and cause her to lose her grip, even though she was only ten feet off the ground.
“Why are you here, Maddox?” she said without turning to see him.
Maddox shifted to human form. Naked and unabashed as he approached her, he said, “How did you know it was me? Or anyone? I was trained to move without making any noise.”
