Page 27 of Wolf Claimed
“I asked if you would come with me,” Rafe said, his voice so harsh it sent a chill down her spine.
“Go with you? Where? Why?”
“You won’t be safe in a holding cell. The humans cannot guard you against the shifters here.”
“You mean against you,” she said, looking over his shoulder at the five shifters.
“I won’t let anyone harm you, Alyssa,” he said her name for the first time, accentuating her name hard, barely restraining his anger. Even if he didn’t want to kill her, he was mad at her. They all were. And there stood Kingsley and Brock with murder in their eyes. Had Rafe allied himself to Kingsley’s team?
She turned to Gallagher. “How are your agents?” she asked. That would tell her what happened here. Why they no longer guarded the door. Why he was so willing to turn her over to the very shifters he said wanted her dead. Unless that’s what Gallagherwanted and he figured if the shifters killed her he wouldn’t be responsible.
“You think I’d kill guards doing their jobs?” Rafe asked, answering in place of Gallagher. He sounded appalled.
“I’m trying to understand why I’m being turned over to you.”
“You don’t have a choice in the matter, Monroe,” Gallagher said as he unlocked her cuffs and shoved her toward Rafe, the alpha who looked at her with complete and utter disdain.
Chapter Seven
RAFE
Agent Gallagher unlocked Alyssa’s handcuff and shoved her forward with so much force, she crashed into Rafe. The scent of dread coming off of her riled his wolf almost as much as the agent who treated her like a criminal. Rafe gripped her arm to steady her, then quickly let go. Taking his hands off of her was incredibly hard, but necessary, with Kingsley and Brock watching.
“Leave,” Rafe ordered Kingsley as he moved in front of Alyssa. Tiernan and Maddox took up positions on either side of him, forming a wall to protect her. He hadn’t discussed any of this with them. There hadn’t been time or privacy, but Tiernan and Maddox were backing him up as pack should.
“Gallagher’s gone,” Kingsley said. “You can hand her over. We’ll give her a fair trial. Shifter style.”
“A trial for what, exactly?” Alyssa said from behind him. “I haven’t done anything.”
“Quiet, Alyssa,” Rafe said, finding the new name awkward to say. He’d become used to her codename. He liked this name. It was soft and graceful, like her, yet it seemed too intimate, too personal to use in front of Kingsley. Rafe wished she had shared her history with him. Clearly, he hadn’t earned her trust yet. But he would.
“You’re going on trial for murdering thousands of shifters,” Kingsley said as he surged forward. Maddox lunged and quickly got Kingsley into a headlock.
“Enough, Novak. You’re protecting a murderer!” Brock yelled at him.
“I didn’t murder anyone,” Alyssa replied, trying to push her way past Rafe, who grabbed her at the waist. He looked for Tiernan to take her from him, but the shifter couldn’t talk. His bones were shifting back and forth as he fought his wolf for control.
“Maddox, take her,” he ordered instead.
The guard thrust Kingsley aside and took Alyssa from Rafe.
“You will not speak,” Rafe warned her.
“The hell I won’t,” she bit back, her outrage impossible to miss.
Her anger mirrored his own, but she wasn’t helping the situation. Not that he could fault her. She’d been accused of murder, drugged, had her security compromised, and was now being threatened by Kingsley and virtually every shifter in the program. And Rafe hadn’t done anything to reassure her that he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Nor had he convinced the other shifters that she didn’t deserve their wrath. He hadn’t gained their respect or earned her trust.
His alpha was right. He wasn’t ready to lead their pack. Any pack. Or even a small team of shifters and one very brave but vulnerable human.
“You heard Gallagher, Kingsley,” Rafe said, using his most commanding voice. “No one’s to touch her. We guard her until they interrogate her again in two days.”
“Again?” Alyssa turned pale.
The bitter scent of her fear filled the air. Rafe’s shoulder blades moved unbidden, as his wolf tried to force a shift.
“She’s under my protection,” Rafe announced to Kingsley and the rest of the humans and shifters down the hall, all of whom were no doubt listening. “Anyone comes near her, and they’ll have to deal with me.”
“Us,” Maddox added. Tiernan merely growled, but it was enough to show he backed Rafe.
