Page 64 of Wolf Claimed
She swiped the tears pooling in her eyes. “We’ll figure it out.”
He kissed the top of her head and wrapped those huge arms around her. “That’s not how it works, precious,” he whispered against her hair before kissing her one last time.
She couldn’t let herself think about how that had felt like a final goodbye. She refused to lose him or Maddox, but right now, she had to focus on saving Tiernan.
“Do it,” she said, offering up her palm for him to cut.
With pinched brows, he nodded toward Tiernan, whose eyes turned blacker by the moment. The scout didn’t have much time.
As Rafe placed the edge of the knife against her skin, Alyssa planted her lips on Rafe’s one last time and kissed him. The knife bit into her palm, and Rafe swallowed her cry.
He broke the kiss, a sign that this was really happening.
“Tiernan?” Rafe said, holding the knife.
Tiernan backed into the SUV and shook his head.
“Please, Tiernan. I don’t want to lose you. I can’t lose you,” Alyssa begged.
Tiernan’s eyes lifted to Rafe. “No,” he forced the words out.
Alyssa pressed her lips against Tiernan’s, stroking his lower lip with her tongue until he opened for her. Their tongues danced together, pulling her into some haze that stole all sense of where she was. She only knew and felt Tiernan at that moment. Then, on the fringes, on some distant level, she sensed Rafe moving beside them. Tiernan hissed into her mouth, and the smell of his blood filled her nostrils.
Rafe pressed her palm, the one he’d sliced open, against Tiernan’s. Their fingers entwined, so naturally, so perfectly, as if they were meant to be together. All the doubt she’d had over the past few weeks disappeared. And for the first time in her life, she felt settled.Normal.
When Tiernan broke the kiss, the black had disappeared from his eyes. His brows knitted together as he stared at their entwined fingers. “Alyssa, what have you done?”
Chapter Seventeen
TIERNAN
The fog that had invaded Tiernan’s brain, along with all that insatiable need to kill, disappeared. A calm moved through him, one he hadn’t felt in months. Alyssa’s mouth pressed against his, her velvety tongue stroking his lower lip. He sank into the kiss, not sure how he’d ended up being kissed so sensuously, but he certainly wouldn’t object. He’d enjoy the moment and hope it lasted a long, long time. Gradually, other sensations returned to his body. A sharp stinging across his left palm distracted him. Then the coppery scent of blood, his and Alyssa’s, reached his nostrils.
His eyes snapped open, and he turned his head to the left. Her right palm pressed flat against his left; their fingers entwined. He tried pulling away, but she held onto him.
“What have you done?” he asked, disbelief filling him.
“I blood-bonded you. Like you wanted.”
He wanted to blood-bond her, but not like this, not when he was already turning feral.
“My wolf took over. I lost control.”
“I told her of the risk,” Rafe said.
He hadn’t even realized Rafe was there. “You did this! You told her how to blood-bond!”
“It was a risk, one that paid off.”
Tiernan searched inside for his wolf. The beast was calm, content. The blood-bond had worked. That fact couldn’t sink in when all he could think about was the risk she’d taken. He looked into her eyes, searching for any sign his wolf’s sickness had spread to her. Clear, bright hazel eyes stared back at him even as he felt the warmth of her hand holding his, their blood still mixing.
“You never should have risked yourself like that for me.”
Her thumb on her free hand brushed his cheek. “I couldn’t let them put you down.”
He glanced back at Rafe. “I don’t remember much.”
“That’s for the best. But I’ll fill you in. When you’re ready.”
