Page 72 of Wolf Claimed
“I’ll leave you alone, let you get on with your life,” she added as she stopped stroking him. “You won’t ever have to think about me again.”
Shit, she didn’t understand. Even if he wanted to get rid of her, he couldn’t. She was his. They were bonded. The bond would emerge eventually. It had to. He pulled her tight to his body and kissed the top of her head, still not sure how to ease her pain, but he could ease her fear.
“You’re not going anywhere without me. I don’t know why neither one of us feels the bond, but that doesn’t make it any less real, Alyssa. You’re mine. If you’ll still have me.”
* * *
ALYSSA
Of course,she wanted him more than anything. Almost.
She wanted Maddox and Rafe too.
“You’re thinking of Rafe,” Tiernan said when she fell silent.
“I’m thinking of all of you,” she whispered.
“You love them, don’t you?” Tiernan paced between her and the door to Maddox’s and Rafe’s room. She shouldn’t have kissed Rafe in front of Tiernan, but he’d made her mad, damn it. Talking about her as if she belonged to him. She had agreed to blood-bond him, to save him and herself, but the rest they had never agreed on. She loved him a lot, but she couldn’t forget about Rafe and Maddox.
She shivered as all the energy drained from her.
Strong arms hugged her from behind. “I’m here for you. With you. What Rafe said before was the truth. I won’t leave you. No matter what.”
“Even though I have feelings for him and Maddox?”
“I’ve known about Rafe for a while. And I suspected about Maddox.”
“I never intended—”
“I know,” he said, his hand moving back and forth over her shoulders.
She hated hurting him. “I wish I could feel this bond.”
“Me too,” he whispered in her ear as he scented along her neck again. His warm breath caressed her skin, making her toes curl. “I care about you, my Alyssa, and not only because of what you did for me.”
She leaned back against his chest, let herself sink into him. He was so damn sweet and forgiving, and she’d acted like an ass to him. “I shouldn’t have kissed Rafe in front of you like that.”
“Twice,” he said, though his voice was light and teasing. He wasn’t mad.
“Yeah, twice,” she said, chuckling. “I guess I needed to prove that no one owned me.”
“Message received. I was presumptuous earlier, making it sound like you belong to me. I don’t think we’re there yet, are we?”
She took a deep breath. He deserved the truth. “I have feelings for you. All of you. Strong feelings, and no matter what I do or say, someone is going to get hurt. On top of all that, I’m putting everyone in danger.”
He pushed her hair out of her face as he turned her to face him. “We’re shifters, Alyssa. If you haven’t already noticed, we kind of thrive on danger.”
She laughed. Leave it to Tiernan to say the perfect thing. “You’re just saying that.”
“I am, but it made you smile.”
“Damn, I hate that you’re so good to me.”
He lifted a brow. “You don’t think you deserve it?”
She shook her head. “I thinkyoudeserve it, and I’m only going to hurt you in the end.”
He sifted his finger through her hair until he cupped the back of her head and had her full attention. “You saved me from going feral, which means I now have a chance to do what I know has to be done.”
