Page 66 of Wolf Unleashed
“I know, precious. And we’ll figure out how to help her in time. First, we have to get out of here.” He nudged her to turn between the two rear buildings. The layout was simple enough, but she hadn’t been paying attention.
“I’m not sure what’s more confusing. The bond or a trapped wolf.”
“The bond,” he replied. “Our wolves are rather straightforward about their needs. They protect, love, survive. No duplicity. It’s our human side that is complicated, making what crosses the bond open for interpretation.”
“You speak as if you’ve had a bond before.”
“No, and I don’t expect I ever will.”
She stopped in the middle of the narrow passageway between the back building. “Maybe now we can blood-bond. I’m half shifter.”
He cupped the back of her head, tangling his hand in her hair. With a gently, fluid motion he drew her lips near but didn’t kiss her as she’d hoped he would. Instead, he leaned his forehead against hers. “You are mine, Artemis. I don’t need a blood-bond to prove it to anyone, including my wolf. But you were right. I have a responsibility to my pack. Both packs now. I’m not sure what blood-bonding would do to my shifter abilities, especially with your wolf locked up as she is. Who am I if I can’t fight off anyone who attacks my female or my pack?”
She gripped his shirt and slid her lips along his cheek until they found his ear. “You’d be the same exact shifter I fell in love with at the DSA training camp. Nothing could ever change that. It’s your inner strength that makes you who you are, Rafe. Not how hard you can strike an attacker, or how high your wolf can leap. It’s you, heart and soul, that makes you a good leader, a wise alpha. And you’re not alone. That’s the part I don’t think you quite get yet.”
“I get it. We’re a pack, the four of us.”
“We’re more than a pack. Yes, you’re a natural born leader. Tiernan and Maddox keep telling me this, but what they fail to see—whatyoufail to see—is that our greatest strength as a pack, a team, or whatever the hell you want to call us, is our compassion, our ability to recognize one another’s strengths and weaknesses and to give support where it’s needed. That, my love, is how and why we will survive whatever my parents, your pack, or anyone else throws at us.”
“I’m glad you think that way, precious.”
“Why?”
He pulled her arms behind her, cuffed her, and shoved a gag over her mouth. “Because I’m not letting you stay here,” he said as he flung her over his shoulder and headed to the gate.
She flailed against his hold, fuming mad at him, but he kept strolling. “Keep fighting me, Artemis. Convince the guards you don’t want to go with me. They’re all focused on your lush ass right now, imagining themselves in my place.”
She was going to kill him when he put her down, but he was right. Her resisting him made him look like any other mercenary. The guards in the deer blinds and those in the tower controlling the gate whistled and made crude comments as they opened the gate for him. Rafe strode through those gates, strutting as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Meanwhile, somewhere down deep, Alyssa was sure she heard a wolf laughing her ass off.
Chapter Nineteen
TIERNAN
Tiernan and Maddox had been scouting the perimeter of the compound when they spotted Rafe carrying Alyssa out. The female was madder than he’d ever seen her, but she was safe. Maddox shifted and raced past the couple, allowing Rafe to see him long enough to know he had backup guarding the rear in case any of the mercenaries followed.
As soon as Tiernan shifted to his wolf, he approached. He wasn’t ready to talk to Alyssa yet, not until he figured out how to say what he needed to say to her. Rafe set Alyssa down and removed the gag.
“Scout ahead, Tiernan,” the alpha ordered. “Find us some place hidden if you can’t find a road out of here.”
“Tiernan?” Alyssa called out to him before he could leave. She knelt before him and thrust her hand through his fur. “Are you hiding from me?”
He pressed his head to her palm so she’d know he wasn’t mad, but he wasn’t ready to talk to her either.
“Let him go, precious. We have to find a place to hide if we can’t find a way out of here.”
“Do you even know where we are?” she asked, looking back at Rafe, who stood behind her, stroking her hair. Tiernan wasn’t the only one who needed to maintain contact with her. She settled them in a way that had gone beyond stabilizing his wolf when he was feral.
“They tranqued us when we were first captured,” Rafe explained. “When we woke, we were already in the van, with hoods on our heads. Wherever we are, there’s definitely an access road, but Tiernan needs to check it out to make sure there aren’t any humans posted there, guarding the road. If it’s clear, we can walk out of here. Otherwise, we need to find a place to lie low until the DSA arrives, or we start hiking through what could be treacherous terrain. It’s a shame you can’t shift yet. I’d prefer getting as far from here as possible, but being out in the open right now, with dawn approaching, is too risky.”
“Yet? I may never shift.”
Tiernan heard the pain in her voice and shifted to human form. “You’ll shift, babe. Some day. We’ll find a way to help you.”
Her eyes lit when he shifted. Before he could back away, she captured his face in her hands. Her touch felt so indescribably good.
“Why were you avoiding me?” she asked.
“It’s a long story.”
