Page 39 of Wolf Unleashed
“She’s Woodrow Monroe’s daughter!”
Fuck, he knew. How the hell… The DSA. “I see Agent Gallagher got to you. What did he do? Offer you a deal if you hand her over?”
“Something like that.”
“The DSA turned on her, used her, and they’ll do so again. You can’t and you won’t hand her over to them,” Tiernan warned, barely containing his wolf, who suddenly was pushing his way to the surface, and not because it was Liam giving him his usual crap.
“Why, because she’s half-shifter?” Liam mocked. “Or because you love her? How’s that going to work, anyway? Who gets to blood-bond her? You? Or Soren’s heir?”
“I already blood-bonded her.”
Liam scented the air. “Your scent is the same. If you’re going to lie, at least make it believable.”
“She saved me from going feral, Liam. The blood-bond worked, but the bond didn’t fully form, or it faded. I don’t know what happened exactly, but I know Alyssa risked herself to save me by blood-bonding me while I was feral.”
Liam’s face dropped. His brother rarely showed any expression toward him, but this time, he did. “You were fully feral?”
“In the final stages. I lost control to my wolf and killed eight shifters who had taken her.”
“Gallagher said a bunch of shifters had been killed. He said a shifter from Idaho by the name of Pierce had killed them and then he’d been put down by the remaining shifters.”
“Maddox Novak killed Pierce. I killed the rest.”
“Fuck, you got one of Drake’s shifters involved too?”
“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you everything, but only if you let us stay for a few days while she rests and we figure out our next move.”
“I guess that depends on what you tell me.”
Tiernan glared at him.
“Don’t give me that look, little brother. I have a pack to protect.”
“Yes, of course. Always the pack.”
“Jealous still that I was Dad’s heir?”
“Never. I was never meant to be alpha, Liam, and I never looked down on you for being half-human. You’re the one who let your ancestry come between us. I got into more fights than you know, defending your name and your right to rule.”
Liam opened his mouth and then shut it.
“Didn’t know that, did you? Didn’t know that I became a scout partly to get away from here, to give you the room you needed to rule.”
“Your presence never stopped me.”
“No, but it always turned you into an asshole because you were always trying to prove yourself to those you believe looked down on you. Except your vision was skewed. I was never the reason for your lack of confidence. You were. You’re a strong alpha, Liam. No one will deny that, but you’re a shitty brother. But you can make up for that now. All in one shot. Help me save my mate.”
“You love her?” Liam asked, his voice lacking his usual antagonism toward Tiernan.
“Yes. Very much.”
“Did you want to blood-bond her?”
“She calmed my wolf. I didn’t know her too well at the time, but she was my last option. Then I got to know her, and I wanted her. But not once I turned feral. I would never have risked her like that.”
“Then why did you?”
“I wasn’t aware of what was happening when she blood-bonded me. It was a desperate act on her part to save me. And it worked.”
