Page 66 of Alpha Rising (Secrets of the Northland Shifters)

I glanced over at her, then at the steering wheel. Maybe she was right, but I couldn’t deny that it felt good to work out some of my issues on another woman’s attacker.

“Let’s get you dry and warmed up. You’re shivering.” I turned the key in the ignition and cranked the heat.

“That was Reese, wasn’t it?” Lauren still didn’t look up from her lap. “How did he know to come?”

“Sam called him,” I explained.

“Becauseyoucalled Sam.”

I turned in my seat to face her. “I didn’t know what I was going to find when I got here. I knew Sam was in town, and I thought I might need backup.”

Lauren didn’t reply right away, but after a few seconds she let out a breath and said, “I’m going to get fired.”

“No, you’re not,” I promised her.

“Reese and Sam think I’m an idiot now. Or worse, a troublemaker. Why would they want to keep me around after I dragged you into this? Everyone knows you’re special to them.”

“You didn’tdragme. And none of this was your fault.”

Lauren shook her head. “I should have never called you. I should have just walked back to the lodge.”

“That would’ve been five miles, uphill, in the rain.”

She lifted her head and stared out the windshield. “It would have been better thanthat.”

I turned forward to see what she was talking about and spotted Reese and Sam. They'd come outside and were standing in the rain at the side of their vehicles.

Even in the dark, I could tell that their matching green eyes were locked on me, and neither brother looked happy. If there was going to be an aftermath to tonight’s activities, clearly it wasn’t Lauren who needed to be concerned.

21

SARAH

Ifollowed Lauren into the staff bunkhouse, a building I’d never had reason to enter before. From the vibe I was getting off Lauren, she would have liked it to stay that way, but I wasn’t leaving her side. Not until I knew she was settled.

We stepped into a comfortable but empty lounge. The interior walls were rough hewn logs with white plaster filling the gaps. Several leather sofas faced a darkened big-screen TV. A central staircase led to the second floor, and two hallways extended to the left and right of the lounge.

A door to our left opened and Abby appeared, her auburn curls tumbling around her shoulders. Behind her, rising from the basement stairwell, came the sound of a ping-pong ball smashing against the table followed by a roar of raucous cheers.

Abby nearly dropped her stack of empty red Solo cups when she saw us. “What the hell happened?”

“Could you get Lauren an icepack?” I asked. “We’ll meet you in her room.”

“Absolutely! I’ll just—” Abby looked around, flustered. Then spotting a trash bin, she tossed the cups and disappeared down the hall.

Lauren let me follow her up the staircase to the room she shared with Abby, though her annoyance with me was still high.

She grabbed her robe and shower caddy then crossed the hall to the bathroom. “I’m going to take shower.”

“Of course.” I didn’t mention that I’d be here, waiting for her, when she got out.

Abby came upstairs with the icepack. Her forehead furrowed when she saw me standing in the hallway by myself. “Where’s Lauren? Whathappened?”

I pressed my lips together, then said, “It’s probably best if I let her tell you.”

Abby shook her head in dismay. “It was that guy from town, right? I tried to tell her he was bad news.”

“Don’t blame Lauren.”

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