Page 87 of Wolf Claimed
Tiernan placed his lips against Alyssa one last time. “You deserve a blood-bonded mate, someone who will protect you.”
“You’ll be the one protecting her,” Maddox said. “You and Rafe. I’ll be tied up. No pun intended, scout.”
Being reminded of what awaited Maddox sent a chill through her. He had killed Graves and confessed. Even if she, Rafe, and Tiernan could prove Graves was the WSSO mole, it wouldn’t change that Maddox had killed a federal agent. The DSA could lock him up for decades.
“You can run,” Alyssa said.
“Angel, white wolves don’t run from danger. We create it,” he said with a grin. “Besides, if I run now, it will destroy the treaty. And Alpha Heir over there wouldn’t like that.”
“You’re so much like Rafe, and you don’t even realize it.”
The two shifters looked at each other. “Hardly,” Maddox scoffed.
“Rather insulting, Artemis,” Rafe said at the same time.
Tiernan grabbed the scissors from the desk. “Palms.”
Maddox cocked his head. “You’re okay with this, Tiernan?”
Maddox had witnessed her entire conversation with Tiernan, but he had to be sure. He respected boundaries. She loved him all the more, knowing he would not harm Tiernan, even to gain something he desperately wanted.
“You killed to protect her, and then you confessed to save her. I want her protected,” Tiernan said, as he sliced Maddox’s left palm. “Palm, Alyssa.”
Remembering the pain from the last time, she squeezed her eyes shut as she held out her hand. Even as she gasped at the shock of the blade slicing through her skin, Tiernan pressed her palm against Maddox’s.
His fingers entwined with hers and his thumb caressed the back of her hand as he stared at her. “You’re so beautiful, angel. I don’t regret loving you.”
“You love me?”
He kissed the back of the hand clasping his.
She knew that look in his eyes. Maddox would not let himself be locked up. “You’re going to escape, but you won’t look for me, will you?”
“You’ll be safer if I keep my distance.”
She shook her head, trying to stop the tears from escaping her eyes. “Why blood-bond me if you never plan to be with me?”
“I want a connection to you.”
“But I’m already yours.”
“Not like this. This is soul-deep, my angel. The chance to be one with you. Even if it’s nothing more than a thread connecting us, one too weak to feel, I’ll still know it’s there. You’ll always be tied to me, no matter how far apart we are.”
“I have money saved up. I’ll hire the best lawyers there are. I’ll—”
He silenced her with a kiss. Deep, slow, the type that drew a person in and became addictive. The type that made that area between her thighs heat and her heart beat fast.
When he finally pulled away, he said, “You can’t go back to the Secret Service, angel, not now that you’ve been outed. Listen to Rafe and Tiernan. They’ll protect you. There are a lot of shifters out there who will try to hunt you down and use you to get to your father. From here on out, consider yourself in the shifter protection program.”
“There is no such program.”
“There is now,” Rafe said.
The door burst open, and Gallagher barreled in. “Why did you uncuff the prisoner, Monroe?”
“He cut his hand on the edge of the desk when he backed into it,” Tiernan quickly said, pointing to a rough edge and then Maddox’s blood-bonding cut, which was still healing.
“I wanted to treat his hand.” She pulled up her hand and his, both covered in slick blood. Her wound had disappeared, faster than Maddox’s. She strained to hide her surprise. A quick glance at her shifters didn’t reveal if they’d noticed. “I searched for a first aid kit in here, but he told me he didn’t need it. I forgot shifters heal fast.”
