Page 30 of Wolf Claimed
Her mouth dropped open from his declaration. “I honestly don’t know how to respond to that. Everyone keeps saying how Tiernan needs to blood-bond me to keep from going feral. And here you’re saying you and I belong together?” She shook her head, not sure what he was thinking. “I can’t believe you’re throwing Tiernan aside because you want me. I thought you cared about people, or at least other shifters, Rafe.”
“You’re the one refusing to blood-bond Tiernan. Ask yourself why, Alyssa.” Rafe took a step forward, his face softening with a sympathy she didn’t expect from him. “I understand this is new to you, but he’s not going to last much longer.”
“I won’t be bullied or guilted into this blood-bond thing,” she mumbled as she stepped backward, trying to keep her distance from him, far enough where she wouldn’t be tempted to touch or kiss him. “It isn’t my fault he’s in this situation,” she said, but her words deepened how crappy she felt because it wasn’t Tiernan’s fault, either.
“You can save him,” Rafe said, taking a step each time she backed up until she’d run up against a wall and he’d trapped her there. She could see it in Rafe’s face; the alpha truly cared about Tiernan. “There’s no other way, Alyssa. Males can’t blood-bond one another. Something to do with the number of X and Y chromosomes, but the point is it’s been tried and resulted in both shifters going feral.”
“I shouldn’t be discussing this with you. It’s none of your business,” she said, all too aware of how close Rafe’s lips were to hers.
“It is my business because if I can’t find a way to save Tiernan, I’ll be the one who puts him down.”
She swallowed, the lust that had been building now waning at the thought of Rafe killing Tiernan. She wanted to save Tiernan, but she had a good reason to avoid blood-bonding him, more than the finality of being bound to a shifter for the rest of her life.
“I don’t know what this blood-bonding will do to me.”
A flash of disappointment crossed Rafe’s face. “Maybe you’ve been listening to the ravings of Woodrow Monroe after all. I guess blood-bonding a shifter repulses his daughter.”
“Don’t you dare compare me to my father or presume to know anything about me. I’m not him, I have nothing to do with him or his work, and I never want to see him again in my life unless it’s to testify against him.”
“You’d do that? Testify against your own father?”
“Why do you look so surprised?”
“He’s your father.”
“Maybe that means something to you, but it doesn’t to me.”
“Why? What happened between you two?”
“I’m not going to talk about my past. He’s out of my life, and that’s all that matters now.”
“Far from it. Your father and everything about your life will be in the open once Gallagher gives you that second shot of the truth serum. He’s convinced that you killed Graves, probably to keep your identity a secret. Now that he knows your true identity, he’ll ask about every fucking day of your life until he proves you’re spying for your father. So, I suggest you start trusting me and the others on ourteambecause we’re the only ones here who give a damn about you.”
She slammed her head back against the wall, trying to keep from crying. Rafe was right. About everything. “I’ll answer your questions the best I can, but I won’t be bullied into blood-bonding Tiernan. That’s between him and me. All you need to know, Rafe, is that I didn’t kill Graves. So, unless you have questions that pertain to his murder, leave.”
“That’s not how this is going to work, Artemis.”
“My name’s Alyssa. Everyone knows it now, so you might as well use it.”
He chuckled as he scented along her neck to her ear where he whispered, “You once told us that Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, and the moon.”
“And chastity. Don’t forget chastity,” she said in a whisper to match his own, even as his breath tickled the back of her ear.
“Chastity is unnatural.” Lips grazed her ear, sending heat down her body. “It doesn’t describe you, not like the other terms.”
“No,humandescribes me. Notgoddessor anything else.” She turned her head, aligning their mouths, practically daring him to kiss her. “Are you sure you want to get involved with a human, Rafe?”
Chapter Eight
RAFE
Are you sure you want to get involved with a human?
That question struck deep. Rafe didn’t want to get involved with a human, but he wanted Alyssa, more than he’d ever wanted anyone or anything in his life.
“Other than being a shifter, why do you think I’m that different from you, Artemis?” Rafe asked, not sure how to answer her question. “My needs are basic. To mate a female who is my match, who can challenge me, and when I need it, support me in my duties as alpha of my pack one day.”
“But you are a shifter, and that’s a big difference, Rafe. Humans don’t self-heal at the rate you do, or run as fast, hear as well, and. . . It’s a long list, Rafe. You’re born with such fantastic abilities. You can’t relate to what we go through, how we know we don’t have a chance against a shifter, let alone several without a gun in our hands. And shooting is something agents are taught not to do unless it’s a last resort.”
