Page 15 of Wolf Unleashed
He tugged her by the sweater she wore. His sweater. The one that smelled like Rafe, and now left her smelling like him. Like she belonged to him and only him.
Her body recognized the smell of sex and wanted more of his touch or the primal possession he’d taken minutes ago. She inhaled, trying to ignore the heady feeling washing over her. “You don’t make the rules, Rafe.”
“Someone needs to lead.”
“Then lead us as a pack, but don’t stand between me and the others. You’ll lose.”
“How could I lose against them?”
“I share a blood-bond with them. Not you.”
Chapter Five
RAFE
Rafe stood by the fireplace as Alyssa turned on her heels and marched to the bedroom. She entered and slammed the door behind her. What the fuck had just happened? One minute he’d been deep inside her, listening to his female reach her peak, and the next minute she was telling him to watch his step and slamming a door in his face. Given the sounds coming from the bedroom, the heavy breathing in particular, it appeared she’d found comfort in Tiernan’s arms.
I share a blood-bond with them. Not you.
Fuck, his father was right. Sharing a female wouldn’t work. Not without a blood-bond. Artemis’s words hadn’t been a threat, but a reminder of the facts. The others were tied to her in a way he wasn’t. He could not allow anything to tie her to him if he ever hoped to return to his pack. His father had given him an ultimatum, her or their pack.
Rafe would always choose her, and yet he’d sworn an oath to his father, an oath to always safeguard their pack and sacrifice everything he had for them. Here he stood, faced with the opportunity to sacrifice and prove himself, and he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t give her up. She was like a drug he was addicted to, one that went beyond physical pleasure. There was something about this female that made him better, made him want tobebetter. And yet, wanting and accomplishing were two different things.
The sounds of crying and then kissing turned to raised voices in the bedroom. Rafe stoked the dying fire, still trying to figure out if he should go to her. All while his wolf nipped at him, trying to push him closer to their mate. He wanted to go to her, to find a peace between them again, and to settle his wolf, who had been on edge since their alpha scolded him because he’d failed… and because he’d brought Alyssa onto their land.
Rafe still wasn’t sure what he’d done or said wrong that angered Alyssa, but it had to do with Tiernan. The shifter was a scout. There was no shame in that. She’d learn in time there was an order in a pack. And Rafe was alpha. He’d always be in charge.
“You’re freezing. Get out there by that fire, now,” Tiernan said.
“He’s out there.”
“You’re suddenly afraid of Rafe?” Tiernan asked, his voice filled with surprise.
“I’m mad at him.”
“For which you still haven’t told me why.”
“For being so, so…”
“Alpha?”
“Yes.”
More silence, and then what sounded like a scuffle. Rafe sprang to his feet, his wolf on high alert. The bedroom door banged open as Tiernan carried Artemis out over his shoulder. His sweater rode up her hips, giving him a lovely view of her bare backside. His cock twitched, ready to claim her again.
Tiernan set her on her feet by the fireplace. “Sit,” he ordered.
Rafe raised an eyebrow. Tiernan wasn’t one to give orders to anyone, even a female. The shifter was calm and non-threatening, now that his wolf was fully under control. As for Artemis, she took orders as well as a wolf climbed a tree, the very thought of which made Rafe flinch.
“Problem?” he asked, still trying to shake off the image of the time he’d tried to climb a tree in wolf form. He learned his lesson then and there not to override his wolf.
Alyssa crossed her arms over her chest, turned her back to him and Tiernan, and stared at the fire. It appeared she was mad at both of them now.
“The problem started out here, with you, but she won’t tell me,” Tiernan said. “But whatever it is, she needs to be by the fire until her pants dry. She hasn’t been well, Rafe.”
He didn’t like the waver in Tiernan’s voice. Rafe lifted her jeans off the nail. They were still damp, and a ring of mud covered the left leg and hip. “Were you chased?”
“I slipped. It was no big deal.” She yanked her jeans from Rafe and started to slide into them.
