Page 41 of Wolf Claimed
“First you escape and then you shoot Fulton. I guess you never needed me, angel.”
“You were the distraction and motivation I needed,” she said with a wide smile.
“Distraction, perhaps. But I doubt you needed me to motivate you. Where’d you get the gun?” He nodded toward the gun she’d returned to her boot holster. “I thought Gallagher had taken your weapon.”
“A good agent has more than one. Gallagher should have searched my room.” Her brows pinched together. “And what makes you think I don’t need you, Maddox? Just because I had a gun? They took me from behind and I never had a chance to draw it. Besides, killing someone for throwing me into a cave is a bit extreme. My gun is a last resort.”
“You’re too soft to be a shifter, angel.”
“Is that a compliment or an insult? I can’t tell with you anymore.”
“A bit of both,” he said as he pulled her down and kissed her. He couldn’t even put into words how good it felt to hold her, to know she was safe. But she didn’t respond to his kiss. Her mouth remained shut. He glanced down at Pierce’s body, only a few feet away. This was hardly the setting to make out, not that they had the time either. They had to return to the training center and help Rafe and Tiernan if they were still alive.
“We need to talk, Maddox. About my father. And your mate.”
Fuck, he didn’t want to talk about Isabella. Didn’t want Alyssa knowing what a lousy shifter he was.
“I swear to you, I’m not a part of the WSSO or anything he’s ever done,” she continued.
“I never thought that, angel.”
“I saw your expression when I left interrogation. I couldfeelthe anger coming off of you after I revealed my real name.”
He rubbed his hands along her ice-cold shoulders, trying to warm her. She’d left the dorm with only a thin tank top on and the temperature had dipped into the low fifties overnight.
“My anger was aimed at Gallagher, not you. He accused you of murder, handled you roughly, and then put you at risk by giving you that damn truth serum and letting every shifter in the place know your identity. It was no accident that we had access to the security feeds.”
“But why would he do that? Unless. . .” She paled. “I have a lot to tell you, Rafe, and Tiernan. Where are they?”
“I don’t know. I suspect they’ve been detained by the other shifters, to keep them from rescuing you.”
“Shit!” she swore as she stared at Pierce’s body. “I chased after you without thinking and I put everyone at risk. And now Pierce is dead, and maybe Tiernan and Rafe.”
He reached for her arm, the need to soothe her paramount. He could feel her stress, her fear even, as if he’d blood-bonded her. But he hadn’t blood-bonded her—and he wouldn’t—not while Tiernan needed her. Assuming Tiernan was still alive.
The irony of his position didn’t escape him. If Tiernan were dead, he’d have a shot at having her, but he didn’t want Tiernan dead. The shifter was decent, better than anyone Maddox had known in his own pack, except for his cousin Hayden. But he hadn’t seen Hayden in years, not since their alpha Drake exiled Hayden, the rightful heir.
Maddox swore he’d never be like Drake. He wouldn’t sacrifice Tiernan for his own gain. “I’m going back to the training center to look for them. If they’re being held, I’ll find a way of freeing them.”
“And if they’re dead?” Alyssa asked, her voice shaking. She cared about all of them. Him, Rafe, and Tiernan. If anyone could have enough love in her heart for more than one person, it was Alyssa. How anyone could think she had anything to do with her dad’s sins mystified him.
“Find a place where you can defend yourself against a pack of shifters and make every bullet count. I’ll find you.”
She was staring at Pierce, unsettled. Nervous.
Maddox gripped her face in his hands and waited for her eyes to meet his. “This will be over soon, angel.”
“This is insane. You’re talking as if this is a shifter war. I’ll turn myself in to Gallagher and tell him what’s happened. He’ll send search teams out to find Rafe and Tiernan.”
“That will take too long. And I don’t want you near Gallagher. He’ll drug you again, and who knows what else.”
“I can’t avoid Gallagher, not forever.”
He scented her fear again. “You fear him.”
“Not him precisely. What he’s up to.” Before he could ask any more questions, she said, “It’s a long story, Maddox. I’d rather wait until we find Tiernan and Rafe.”
“We?”
