Page 2 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

“But...” Joe said. “That’s two dozen possibilities to weed through, and each logo is attributed to a company that could have hundreds if notthousandsof employees each.”

“But it is a clue,” Reese said confidently, seeming to ignore the fact that Joe was absolutely right. Even if the answer lay in one of those companies, it was only one baby step toward an answer, and we had miles and miles to go.

“Thank you, Sarah,” Reese said, and I beamed. “For taking the time. For caring so much about my family.”

Those words, spoken with such deep sincerity made my chest feel warm and my stomach twist. Ever since I arrived at the resort, Reese and I had been engaged in the most confusing of dances—taking two steps closer, then one step back.

Reese had thought—once I learned the truth about his secret identity—that I’d run away, out of fear.

I hadn’t.

He thought I was brave, but he gave me too much credit. As much as I wanted to stay purely forhim, it was simply safer for me to stay—period. I was the government's star witness against Carmine DaBruzzi—a Chicago crime boss accused of human trafficking. U.S. Deputy Marshal John Riordan would’ve had a coronary if I left the specially chosen hideaway that was the Fitzpatrick family’s remotely located resort.

Of course, I hadn’t shared any of this with Reese, and the fear of him learning my secret identity was what kept me from totally surrendering to my feelings for him.

Terribly ironic, I thought, given that Reese’s own secret identity was ten times more earth-shattering than mine.

“Let me see that list,” Joe said, and he quickly closed the gap between me and him, ripping the paper out of my hand and knocking into me in the process.

The surprise of it jolted me out of my reverie and physically pushed me off balance.

Violence flashed in Reese’s eyes, but Joe didn’t see it, too focused on my research.

But what nobody missed was the fierce growl that slid out of Reese’s throat, a warning that one false move could result in a lethal attack.

2

REESE FITZPATRICK

How dare he?How dare Joe knock Sarah off balance? How dare he even gonearher?

These were primitive and irrational thoughts that, unfortunately, over the last several days had become more and more frequent. I’d first felt the mating urge after my accidental midnight kitchen run-in with Sarah some weeks back. But things had been steadily worsening, coming to a head when we’d kissed in her room—the taunting lure of her bed just inches away.

Now she was affecting me on a cellular level and the tiniest thing triggered a blossoming of intense heat all over my skin. The mountain lion had never lingered so perpetually close to the surface, and now I’d gone andgrowledat Uncle Joe.

I closed my eyes and coughed, playing it off.

“Are you all right?” Joe asked.

“Fine,” I said, clearing my throat. “Must have sucked some air down the wrong pipe.” But despite the forced casualness of my conversation, the riled heat refused to dissipate.

“Reese, you’re sweating,” Joe said.

I kept my gaze downcast in case my eyes were glowing. “It’s just hot in here.”

The lion was angry with me for having the audacity to suppress Mother Nature, but how could I be expected to become part of a mated pair? Especially with someone like Sarah McAvoy? Someone who’d told me time and time again how little she trusted me.

Well…not directly, of course. But the secrets she kept clearly said that even though she hadn’t run out on us before, she had no intention of sticking around long term. And I refused to be ripped apart like my father had been when our mother abandoned us all.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice…

“Did you want me to get you some water?” Sarah asked.

Damn her for being so caring. Damn her for taking on our family’s mission as if it were her own.

“If you’ll excuse me for a minute.” Gut tight, I barreled past her and out of my office, but not without first letting my fingers brush against her arm as I passed. How could she so easily arouse me to fury and make me so goddamn irrational?

I ran into my brother Sam in the hallway.

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