Page 98 of The Denver Alpha

I take a step backwards, turning around and scanning the ground in search our clothes. Her dress is fucked, as are my pants, only tatters of them remaining.The downside of shifting on a whim.

I quickly stride over to scoop up my shirt, carrying it back over to Jules and unfurling it above her. “Here,” I say, and she complies by lifting her arms, allowing me to slip it on over her body. It doesn’t cover as much of her as I’d like, but the hem falls to her mid-thigh, which is enough for a quick dash to the curb. “Go get the Camaro and pull around back.”

I’ve got spare clothes in the trunk- a necessity for any shifter- and I need my phone so I can call for backup.

“More orders?” she teases with the lift of a brow.

I give her a hard look and she chuckles, lifting on her toes to plant a kiss on my cheek. “Sure thing, Sarge. Be right back.”

She peels away from me, finding her heels on the ground along the way and slipping her feet into them, and I’d be lying if I said she didn’t look like a goddamn wet dream strutting away in the combination of those stilettos and my t-shirt. She’s sexy as sin, and even after what we just went through, the sight of her in my clothes, the thought of my cum lingering between her thighs, has me grinning and my wolf fucking preening.

As soon as she disappears around the dumpster blocking the alley, my anxiety kicks up a notch. It’s a struggle to let her out of my sight after what she just went through with Gavin; whatIjust went through finding her like that. My tension eases, though, when I hear the roar of the Camaro’s engine revving, like Juliet’s sending me a signal that she’s okay, and even more when she pulls up on the back end of the alley a few minutes later.

“So what’s the plan?” Juliet asks as she climbs out of the drivers’ seat.

I’ve gotta hand it to her- the girl is remarkably composed considering what she just endured. Being chased down, tased, compelled to shift, then forced to take a life…

I can see in her eyes that she’s struggling with that last one.

Though she doesn’t verbalize it, her gaze keeps sliding to the body of the man she took down, something haunted lingering before she shoves it back and steels her expression.

“I’m gonna call Sam, ask him to send a clean-up crew,” I say as I round the back of the Camaro and pop the trunk. I reach inside for a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, tugging them on as I continue. “He’s close by, so it shouldn’t take him long.”

Juliet bends down and reaches into the car, straightening with my cell phone in hand. She tosses it my way and I snatch it out of the air, bringing up Sam’s contact and hitting dial.

It only rings once before Sam’s voice is coming down the line. “Alpha.”

“Sam.” I blow out a breath, my gaze sliding over to collide with Juliet’s. “Things didn’t go as planned. We had to take out Gavin and two of his men.”

“Where are you?”

“The side alley of Club Atlantis.”

“On my way. I’ll bring backup.”

I end the call, slipping my phone into the pocket of my sweats. Then I reach into the trunk of the car to grab a pair of boxers, striding toward Juliet.

“Here,” I say gently, crouching down in front of her and stretching the waistband of the boxers open between my hands. She grips onto my shoulders for balance as she steps into them, then allows me to pull them up her hips, my knuckles grazing her soft skin.

I rise to my full height in front of her, taking her face in both hands once more and staring into her eyes intently. “Are you okay?” I ask, studying her face. She’s so fucking beautiful, so strong. “Be honest with me, babe.”

Juliet sighs. “Honestly?” She wets her lips with her tongue, pausing for a beat but not breaking eye contact. “I’m okay. A little shaken up, I guess. And a little sore. But I’ll be fine.”

I blow out a breath, leaning down to press my forehead against hers. “I’m sorry. I never should’ve let you go in there.”

“Letme?” she chuckles wryly. “You couldn’t have stopped me if you tried.” Juliet bites at her lip again, shaking her head. “I don’t regret it, Cole. Not for a second. I wanted to help, and even if it wasn’t the way we planned, Gavin’sgone. Wewon. That’s all that matters.”

I see the earnestness in the depths of her blue eyes; the way she means every word. Juliet is fierce; a damn force to be reckoned with.Everything a Luna should be.

“No it’s not,” I grumble, pulling her in close and pressing a kiss to the crown of her head. “Youmatter. Your safety.” I heave a sigh, stroking my fingers through her blonde hair, breathing in her coconut and lilac scent. “So next time we have to take down an enemy and you insist on dangling yourself as bait, I’m gonna make sure I’m in the same damn room so I can jump in if they try to pull a fast one.”

She pulls back to look at me, her brows shooting up, eyes glittering. “Next time?”

“Well yeah, I’m not fool enough to think that you’ll actually listen if I tell you to sit on the sidelines,” I mutter. “You don’t take orders worth a damn. Frustrates the hell outta me, but I guess that’s the give and take of a true partnership, huh?”

I almost miss the grin that spreads across Juliet’s lips, because the next thing I know she’s crushing them against mine with so much ferocity it makes my head spin. She throws her arms around my neck, practically climbing up my body, and I’d pick her up and have my way with her again right here if Sam didn’t pull up at that exact moment.

His headlights shine upon us and I pull back from the kiss, groaning at the interruption- even though I know I have urgent fucking business to attend to in the form of the three dead bodies lying on the pavement behind me.

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