Page 65 of Wolf Unleashed
“You knew he’d take me here?”
“I caught your scent in the wind. My wolf was carrying these in my mouth, for when I found you.” When he finished dressing, he wedged Murphy’s body against one of the buildings so it wouldn’t be noticed as quickly by any patrols. “Walk in front of me, like you’re my prisoner.”
By her fourth step, she realized she’d fallen under the spell of being with Rafe, of having that safety net, a wonderful man ready not to just catch her when she fell, but to dive head-first into trouble to keep her from getting hurt. She still loved him for all his protectiveness, all his care and loyalty toward her and the rest of their small pack, but she had a job to do, one that went beyond even the DSA. She owed it to all those shifters her father and the rest of the WSSO had been hurting, experimenting on, and destroying.
“I can’t leave yet, Rafe.”
“It’s okay, Artemis. That’s why I’m wearing a mercenary’s uniform. I walked right through the gates from where we were—” He stopped talking.
“Where you were what?”
“Sort of burying Maddox?”
“Sort of?’ She said, her voice high pitched, even for a whisper.
“The guards’ idea, not mine. I just needed them to be convinced he was dead, so they’d ignore him and give him a chance to escape. This worked out better. It gave me the opportunity to separate the guards, shift, and slip my cuffs while Voss escorted me back here for another shovel.”
She didn’t see any blood on the uniform he wore, which meant he’d likely snapped the guard’s neck.
“The point is, I can lead you out now. Tiernan and Maddox are already on the outside. Freedom’s just beyond those gates.”
She glanced at the building that housed other shifters.
“No,” he said, as if reading her mind. “My priority is you and our pack. The DSA will find this compound soon. I had a tracker on me.”
“At the first sign of a DSA assault, they’ll destroy all their files.” She reached into her bra and withdrew the thumb drive. “Take this. I have to go back to see if I can get more before the DSA arrives.”
“No.”
“There’s more information on those computers that we need. I want the money trail to the corrupt officials. To every judge, policeman, and government worker that supports the WSSO. I can’t pass up this opportunity.”
“It’s too dangerous. Artemis. We have to go. Now. If Tiernan, Maddox, and their guards don’t show soon, this place will go into lockdown. You’ll be trapped and we won’t be able to reach you.”
“I’m still an agent. You swore an oath to your alpha, right? I swore an oath to my government, to this country, and despite the fact that shifters aren’t legally recognized as citizens, I consider them part of what I was sworn to protect. If we’re ever going to take the WSSO and all their corrupt cohorts down, I need to get back on that computer and get what I can before my father and his accomplices destroy everything.”
“Too dangerous.”
“Dangerous, but necessary. We’ll never have this opportunity again.”
“I should hope not. Do you know what we’ve been going through looking for you? Not knowing what was happening to you? I thought Tiernan was going to jump off a cliff or something.”
She pressed her lips against his. “I’ll be fine. I promise you.” He smelled so good, tempting her just with how his hand moved down her back and rested on her ass. And that constant scratching inside of her stilled when she was with Rafe, allowing her to enjoy a blessed calmness even for a short while.
“You’re hard to say no to, Artemis.”
“That’s the thing, Rafe. I’m not asking your permission here. I’m telling you. This is what I’m going to do. You can stay and help or return and help Tiernan and Maddox. But I’m going to do this.”
“You just said we were a team, a pack. Pack works together.”
Rafe’s lips continued moving, but the words were jumbled together. Alyssa rubbed her ear, but the problem wasn’t her ear. That scratching inside had returned and was getting louder, making it hard to focus on what he was saying.
His expression changed. Deep concern filled his face as he held her by her shoulder, his thumb strumming her collarbone. “I think you’re in shock, Alyssa.” Warmth traveled from his hand through her entire body, momentarily relieving that constant feeling that she was being pulled apart from the inside out.
“I can feel her, Rafe,” she whispered, sucking in a deep breath to remain calm and not dump all her fears on him. “Angry, restless. It’s distracting me.”
“You’ll get used to it. But it’s a good sign that you’re more aware of her.”
“She’s trapped.”
