Page 21 of Wolf Unleashed
“Why did he howl?” she asked Rafe, who remained in wolf form. She glanced down at him as he stood over his pile of clothing. “I take it you’re not going to shift back.” Alyssa scooped up his clothing. “Fine, lead on, alpha, but if you think you can stay in your wolf form forever to avoid talking with me, that won’t work. I don’t give up easily.”
With the way Rafe’s wolf panted, his tongue hanging out, she could swear he was smiling. Damn alpha was as charming in wolf form as human form. “Flirt,” she accused as she fell in step beside him.
Two hours later, they reached an isolated section of interstate that had virtually no traffic. Pulled over on the shoulder, sat an old four-door sedan with rusted doors, a cracked rear window, and enough dents to convince her Tiernan had gone out of his way to steal the worst vehicle he could find.
As she approached, Tiernan held the passenger door open for her. “Your carriage awaits, my princess.”
“Hardly Cinderella’s carriage, but if it gets me off my feet for a while, I’ll do more than kiss you tonight, Tiernan. If you’re up for it.”
His brows lifted. “I didn’t leave mad. And I’d never turn down sex.”
“Apparently Rafe would. I’ve spent the last two hours having a one-way conversation with his wolf. And he’s not much of a talker.” She tossed Rafe’s clothes into the backseat.
“Maybe my wolf needed some time to think,” Rafe said as he climbed into the back seat, quite naked. She hadn’t even seen him shift. He was that fast.
“Think about what?” Alyssa asked as Tiernan pulled onto the highway.
“What you said. You. Me. Tiernan and Maddox.”
“And did you come to any conclusions?” she asked, almost afraid to hear what he’d decided.
“No.”
Tiernan’s hand landed on her leg. “Give him time, princess. Alphas are notoriously hard-headed.”
Alyssa glanced over the seat at Rafe, who hadn’t bothered dressing yet. “Nope, nothing hard about him.”
“For that, I’m going to turn you over on my knee tonight,” Rafe said as he began dressing finally.
Alyssa laughed, ignoring his threat. Though she wasn’t exactly sure if it wasn’t a promise and not a threat. Another glance from Tiernan, one filled with concern, made her lose all thoughts of being naked over Rafe’s knee. This time, she reached over and placed her hand on his thigh, just holding him. He relaxed at her touch, and she realized she did to. Physical contract with her men, any of them, always calmed her, even when they still had issues to resolve.
Glorious proud trees and sun-filled rivers running parallel to the state road they’d switched to should have held Alyssa’s attention, but the scenery flew by as she replayed in her head her recent conversations with Tiernan and Rafe. Everything was falling apart around her. Rafe had given up his pack for her, Tiernan sounded suicidal, and Maddox…. She could feel that connection with him growing stronger each day, but the emotions traveling over the bond were dark, full of hatred and despair. She wanted to talk about them with Tiernan, get his opinion, but she refused to rub salt into the shifter’s wounds. On the other hand, she could still hear his words in her head.
Mates should believe in one another.
She believed in him, in all of them, but loving three men at once was the ultimate balancing act. She should be able to lift them up, make each shifter feel as if he were her entire universe. They did that with her. Every touch, every silent communication between them, and their every discussion revolved around her safety, her happiness. She wanted to do the same for them, make them feel safe and loved, but how?
“We’re close,” Tiernan said as they exited the state road onto a bumpy, stone-filled dirt road that looked like it led to the middle of nowhere.
“You’ve been through here before?” Alyssa asked as Tiernan pulled off the road and drove into a shallow ditch, of all things.
“In Drake’s territory, several times, but never down the access road. It’s too well guarded to take the car in.”
Now she understood why he drove the car into a ditch. For cover.
“We have to walk from here. There’s a narrow path up that way,” Tiernan said.
“Good. I’ve had enough of cars for a while. It’s unnatural,” Rafe said.
“Alyssa needed the break from hiking.”
That quieted Rafe, though she could see the tension in his face.
“Though I agree with you, Rafe. My wolf’s itching to run,” Tiernan added as he got out of the car.
It was one more accommodation her guys had made for her. It had seemed a small one at the time, considering she couldn’t shift and travel through the mountains as easily and quickly as they could. Even by car, it had been a seven-hour ride from the Cutler National Forest where Rafe’s pack lived in Montana to Devil’s Peak in western Colorado. They’d driven through the quaint town but never stopped. Rafe didn’t want to risk anyone recognizing them from any bulletins Agent Gallagher may have spread through the region.
Tiernan scouted ahead, in his wolf form, to find a way over Drake’s border without being seen. He said he had a guess where Maddox might live, as the shifters in the pack were spread out but tended to be grouped to the west of a huge lake. A half-hour later, Tiernan’s wolf re-appeared through the trees.
