Page 37 of Wolf Claimed
MADDOX
Maddox didn’t need to enter Alyssa’s room to know what was going on in there. He heard the moans and grunts. The fact that she was having sex again with Tiernan hurt, but Maddox had accepted the eventuality of it.
What Maddox hadn’t expected to hear was Rafe’s voice as well as Tiernan’s. They’d both taken her, staked a claim on the female Maddox wanted. He’d only stayed away from her because of Tiernan’s need to blood-bond. How the fuck had she ended up with both shifters while he was scrounging around on the fourth floor, gathering their personal belongings and extra mattresses?
He left the mattresses by Artemis’s door, along with the clothing he’d gathered, then moved to the stairwell door to stand guard. It’s what he did best, after all. And right now, he had no desire to enter her room, to see two males fucking her.
Through the night, as the shifters and humans passed by the door he guarded from inside the corridor, Maddox identified each one by his scent. Only one shifter tried pushing the door open. Kingsley. He’d stopped after scenting Maddox there. The male wasn’t going to wait until Gallagher’s investigation ended. It was a question of how and when he’d attempt to take Artemis, not if.
As the building quieted a few hours past midnight, Maddox thought about Isabella. He missed being able to draw her close, to know she needed him, and to feel needed and loved in return.
He’d thought all his hopes and dreams had died with her, but that was before he’d met Alyssa. He couldn’t get his sweet, sassy human off his mind. He wasn’t even mad that she’d been with both Rafe and Tiernan. Jealous, but not mad. Like him, she, too, was searching for something in life. And he hoped she’d find it. She deserved to be happy.
It had to be four or five in the morning when he caught her scent behind him. Even covered in the scent of other males, her scent called to him, but he didn’t move. She was hanging back fifteen or twenty feet down the hall, just watching him. All thoughts of Isabella, Rafe, and Tiernan disappeared. Maddox didn’t want to lose her. He didn’t care who else she wanted to be with, even if he had to share her. He couldn’t lose her. He wasn’t sure he’d survive it, even though he hadn’t bonded her.
“I know you’re there, watching me, Alyssa.”
“I’ll never be able to sneak up on you, I suppose.” She walked gingerly, taking a few tentative steps closer.
“What do you need?” He wanted to call herangel, but a pet name would be too familiar now that she’d slept with the others.
“Are you okay, Maddox?”
“I’m fine. Go back to bed.” His wolf nipped him. Not a full bite, but he disapproved of Maddox sending her away.
“We haven’t spoken since they arrested me.” The vulnerability in her voice pulled at him, and his wolf responded by clawing at him to claim her.
“There’s nothing to talk about. You’re the progeny of Woodrow Monroe, the human who murdered my mate and thousands of other shifters.” He hadn’t realized how much that bothered him until the words flew out of his mouth.
He finally turned to look at her. She had stopped in the middle of the hall, a mere ten feet from him, dressed in a simple white tank top, jeans, and boots. Tears filled her eyes. His words had hurt her, as he’d intended.
Fuck, he was taking his anger out on her.
She cleared her throat and wiped away the tears. “Yes, I’m his daughter,” she said with her chin raised high. “But I’m nothing like him.”
“No, you’re not,” he agreed. Fucking jealousy was going to kill him one day.
“I am sorry for what he did to you. And the others, Maddox.”
She didn’t understand. He wasn’t mad at her. At her father, the DSA, his fucking alpha, and himself. But not her. “I don’t blame you for your father’s crimes.”
“Then why are you so angry with me?”
So sweet, his angel. And innocent. She didn’t even realize how fucked up he was, that he wanted her to hurt for taking Tiernan and Rafe and not him. If she was happy with Rafe and Tiernan, then he should be happy for her. But jealousy tore through him, clouding his ability to think clearly.
How the hell did her being with two shifters even work? He hadn’t heard of two shifters sharing a female since the first packs formed a century ago, after the Origination Virus infected hundreds of thousands of humans. The humans who survived the virus had changed, evolved into a new species. Shifters. Males had been more prevalent than females, making sharing common. Over time, the number of males and females evened out and shifters reverted to one-on-one mating.
“I’m not mad at you. Which is why you should go to bed. So you don’t have to deal with my foul mood.” He hated that she kept her distance from him, as if she expected him to hurt her. Physically. She should be more worried about him emotionally. White wolves weren’t exactly the most stable of shifters, especially in his family line. High-strung, devilishly smart, and morally bankrupt. She didn’t know what she was getting into.
“I don’t want to leave you like this.”
He sighed, letting go of the anger. “Come here, Alyssa.”
She tilted her head, trying to figure out what he wanted.
Her. He wantedher. In his arms, his bed, his life. But she hadn’t chosen him. She’d chosen Tiernan and Rafe.
“Are you sure?”
