Page 20 of Wolf Claimed
“Down here, now,” Gallagher demanded.
Artemis rose from her chair and sidled her way out of the row. The bitter scent of her fear filled the room, and all the shifters started reacting, each moving in their chairs, as if ready to shift. They were on alert and they didn’t know why, only that they’d scented fear. One wrong move by the humans could set them off. Maddox’s wolf clawed at him, but he pushed him down. Letting his wolf out here, among a room full of charged shifters and armed DSA agents, would prove deadly and he would not risk Artemis. One glance to Rafe and Tiernan, their jaws tights and eyes locked on Artemis, told him they too were struggling with their wolves. Tiernan posed the greatest risk.
“Settle down,” Agent Gallagher said to the room, noticing the restlessness among the shifters.
Artemis stood in front of Gallagher, a tiny thing beside the six-foot-four agent. She held her head high, but the scent of fear coming from her was unmistakable. Why did she fear her own kind?
One of the suited agents shoved her down against the desk in the front row and yanked her hands behind her. The man removed the gun from her hip holster and started running his hands down her body, searching for additional weapons.
Maddox didn’t remember what happened next, only that he’d shifted. Rafe’s wolf was leaning over him with his teeth bared threatening him while Tiernan argued with Agent Gallagher.
“You have no proof she killed him,” Tiernan said, a growl accompanying his words.
The sound of a gun cocking echoed through the room, a room that instantly fell silent. Shifters didn’t fear much except guns.
“We’re on the same side,” Agent Gallagher’s voice boomed.
“Let me the fuck up!” Maddox roared the second he shifted back to human form. Rafe’s wolf, a huge silver wolf with long claws pushing into Maddox’s chest, kept him pinned while he scraped his teeth against Maddox’s throat.
Rafe growled, warning Maddox to control himself.
“I won’t do anything stupid,” Maddox replied.
Rafe shifted back to human form and released Maddox. Maddox shoved Rafe’s hand aside when he offered to help him up.
Gallagher had his hand on his gun, which remained in its holster. But next to Gallagher, the brown-haired agent rested the barrel of his gun against the back of Alyssa’s head. She didn’t move or speak, but her expression, tight, said enough. She was clearly in deep shit.
“You’ve got the wrong person,” Tiernan continued arguing. “She wasn’t anywhere near Graves. She was with me. With our entire team.”
“Lie again and I’ll have you thrown out of here, Greyson. We have the murder weapon. A switchblade with her prints.” Gallagher nodded to his agent. “Get her out of here.”
The metal click of handcuffs locking echoed through the lecture hall. Maddox felt his bones moving as his wolf tried to force another shift. His wolf had never done that before, and it was taking all of Maddox’s effort to rein him in. Rafe surged past him, trying to reach Artemis, but another agent stepped into his path.
“Where are you taking her?” Rafe asked, growling without physically engaging the human. His control was better than Maddox’s. Probably the alpha in him.
“Interrogation, then lock up,” Gallagher said, with narrowed eyes. “Don’t interfere, Mr. Anderson. This doesn’t concern you.”
“The hell it doesn’t,” Rafe said. “She’s part of my team.”
“Unless you want your entire team arrested, step aside.”
The two agents shoved Alyssa forward. She hadn’t said a single word since they’d arrested her. Maddox had a sinking feeling that Alyssa wasn’t going to be found innocent, even if he, Rafe, and Tiernan testified on her behalf. Tiernan had lied, a lie all three of them would reinforce, but shehadbeen alone at the time of the murder. And she had cause. Graves had been singling her out, belittling her, from the day she arrived at the training facility.
They would need more than their word to prove her innocence. And she was innocent, Maddox was sure of it. Even if she weren’t, it wouldn’t change how he felt about her or what he’d do to prevent these humans from throwing her in prison.
Alyssa twisted her head, hazel eyes pleading with him before they shoved her through the doors. She was nervous, and fuck, so was he.
“She’s being framed,” he said to Rafe a moment later. “She lost her knife that first day and was looking for it when Tiernan attacked me.”
“Did she find it?”
“Not to my knowledge.”
“But you don’t know for sure,” Rafe pointed out.
“Fuck.”
“If she’s guilty—”
