Page 89 of Wolf Claimed
“The car left a trail. The rubber, the dirt on the car. Tiernan’s an excellent scout. He’ll find us.”
“But what if he can’t? We’ve already lost Maddox, I can’t lose—”
“Shh,” he said, drawing her onto the bed to sit between his thighs and lean against his chest.
She pushed away from him. “I don’t need to be comforted.”
“Perhaps I do.”
She eased back, letting him wrap his arms around her. He played with her hair, petting it down her back as she stared at the door. Rafe had a calmness to him, one that always soothed her. After a few minutes, she began to relax.
“You play dirty, Rafe.”
“I’m just holding my girl.”
“You’recalmingme. Is this a shifter ability?”
“Just accept that we’re good together, Artemis.”
They were good together. She let her head rest against his shoulder. “What are we going to do? Go to your pack?”
“I haven’t figured it out yet. My pack was hit hard by the virus. If the other packs find out you’re taking refuge there, they could attack. My pack would defend you, but a lot of shifters could end up dead. I still have a duty to protect them. That means staying away as long as we have shifters hunting us.”
“Me. Shifters huntingme. You’re free to return to them.”
A low growl made the hairs on her arms stand up. “You’re my pack now, and you know it.”
“A shifter can’t have two packs,” she pointed out. She still knew so little of shifter life, but that much she knew. A shifter could only be loyal to one alpha, which meant one pack, not two.
“Just like a shifter can only blood-bond a female that isn’t blood-bonded,” he countered.
She hated when he was right, but she loved his tenacity. “The blood-bond with Tiernan didn’t work.”
“It worked enough to stabilize his wolf. It’s there, Artemis, even if it’s weak,” Rafe assured her. “The mystery is why you were then able to blood-bond Maddox.”
The door swung open. Tiernan stood there, looking tired, but otherwise well. Alyssa ran to him and threw her arms around him. Slowly, he pulled her in tight against his chest, and that calmness she’d felt with Rafe doubled. Without knowing where he was or what he’d been doing, she finally relaxed because he was here now. Safe.
“Are you trying to squeeze me to death?” Tiernan asked her, a slight grin playing on his face.
She eased up. “Sorry. I’ve been really worried about you. You left so suddenly, and I wasn’t sure you’d be able to find us. But Rafe said you would, and he was right.” The words tumbled out so fast she had to take a deep breath afterward.
Tiernan’s face lit up. “You were worried about me?”
“That’s all you got out of everything I just said?” She shook her head as she ran her fingers through his hair. His hair had gotten longer in the few short weeks she’d known him. Enough for her to tug a section and pull his lips closer to hers. She kissed him, long and hard, reassuring herself that he really was okay.
Tiernan didn’t hesitate. His tongue danced with hers with a lightness she didn’t expect. When he ended the kiss, she leaned her head against his chest. “I always worry about you. I mean, I know you can defend yourself, but what if you’re outnumbered?”
“I’m not too proud to shift and flee.”
No, he was secure enough in who he was that he could walk away from a battle he couldn’t win. She’d done that with her dad, and yet it had never felt like it was over.
“Maybe you can teach me that?”
“To shift? That’s not something I can teach you.”
“I meant how to be so confident.”
“You’re one of the most confident people I know. Among humans and shifters.”
