Page 22 of Alpha Wolf’s Arranged Bride (Rose Hollow Wolves #1)

From the second I get in the car, I know something is wrong. Even though Rex smiles and greets me and Jarrod, I can see the tension on his face and a simmering fury in his gold eyes.

I’ve seen him keyed up before, but not like this.

I keep the conversation light as we go home and make dinner. Jarrod doesn’t notice anything different, and it means a lot to me that whatever Rex has going on, he’s still devoting all his time and energy to our son.

After we put Jarrod to bed, I take Rex’s hand and lead him down the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. As soon as we’re alone, Rex’s shoulders sag. His face twists into a mask of frustration and barely restrained fury.

“Oh my God, my love, what is it?” I ask.

“They are moving in on Eccles tonight,” he says, his voice heavy with emotion.

“What do you mean, moving in?”

“Wolf’s Shadow has decided to go forward with an advance. The site isn’t well-guarded, so they expect to be able to take it easily.”

I put my arms around him, hugging him as tightly as I can. “At least we’ll know what’s going on, won’t we?”

Rex shrugs and gently takes my hands off his shoulders to go pour a whiskey. I nod my assent, and he pours one for me, too.

“I was already pretty riled up,” he says as he takes a sip. “That meeting with the elders I had to go to? They made me pull back out of the forest so we didn’t risk the treaty.”

“But Eccles have no intention of keeping it!”

“I know that, but I can’t just tell the elders. That would mean revealing Wolf’s Shadow, and we can’t do that.”

I can feel my panic rising, slowly but surely. The confidence and safety I thought I’d found are slowly unraveling around me, making me feel exposed and vulnerable. I take a swallow of the hard liquor, letting its sharpness ground me into my body.

“So, we have no one out there watching our borders?”

“They let me keep a few. The problem is, my guys told me that there were warriors moving in through stealth, but my scouts haven’t even noticed them. So, you can be damn sure the skeleton crew I’ve got scattered through the woods won’t be much good.”

“We have to tell the elders something,” I urge, going to take his hand.

Rex shakes his head. “Anything I could say would lead to revealing my source, which I can’t do. If I try to tell them we’re being ambushed and Eccles are still our enemies, it might look like I’m stirring up a fight to prove myself as alpha. Or that I’m power-hungry and looking to take territory.”

“Rex, are we safe? I mean, Jarrod and I, are we safe from Azarian? He might come for us!”

“There are enough on guard right at the town line that I’ll be alerted to any movement close by,” he answers. “And hopefully, Azarian will be fully occupied tonight, and by morning, he’ll be locked in a cell.”

“I like the sound of that,” I say, taking another sip of whiskey. “What’s the plan?”

“I don’t know the details,” Rex says. “But my squad, as well as a contingent of Shadows, are moving on the excavation site tonight. They want to cut Azarian off from his power source, which we assume to be the stone.”

“What about Vanessa?”

“She’ll be captured, too. Apparently, the two of them don’t leave the site often. They’ve been camping there even after the diggers go home.”

I raise my eyebrows. “Really?”

“Yeah. The stone is almost fully uncovered now, and the two of them spend a lot of time looking over it as if they’re reading the symbols.”

“It sounds big.”

“Yeah, it is. About a quarter of a football field. It wasn’t down very deep, though.”

“Rex,” I say, almost whispering. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to capture them?”

“At this point, we have to,” Rex answers. “We need to bring them in for intel. We can’t just have them running around out there, even if we manage to take the stone and subdue Eccles’ warriors.”

“No, I mean…” I let my voice trail off, unable to finish the sentence.

“You mean, just assassinate them? At this stage, they haven’t been deemed dangerous enough for that, and someone in the head office has questions about the stone. Only Azarian can answer those questions.”

I let out a shaky sigh. “I just don’t know if this is smart. I think those two are capable of anything.”

Rex shrugs. “You might be right. There’s nothing I can do about it, though. Why do you think I’m here, downing whiskey and quietly freaking the fuck out? I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

He lowers his head, and I gently take the whiskey glass from his hand and put our drinks on the table. I wrap my arms around him and hug him as tightly as I can, trying to comfort him and myself.

Rex hugs me back, squeezing almost too hard.

“I’m scared,” I whisper.

I feel Rex nod. “I know. I’m not exactly confident.”

“Thank you for sharing all of this with me, Rex,” I say, leaning back to look into his shimmering amber eyes. “It means so much to me to have your trust.”

Rex strokes my cheek, a soft smile slowly spreading across his face. “It makes me feel better, too,” he answers. “I’ve carried my secrets alone for far too long.”

I stretch up a little to touch his lips with mine, and Rex lowers his head, deepening the kiss. I wrap my arms around his waist, feeling his hard, strong body through the clothes.

I trust him. I do feel safe, even with enemies potentially stalking us. I know Rex will protect me and Jarrod.

Rex pulls back from the kiss, and I link my fingers through his, wishing I could wipe the troubled look from his eyes.

“Let’s go to bed,” I say. “If there’s nothing we can do until we get some news, we should try to rest.”

“Yes,” he mutters, following me up the stairs. “We should rest.”

When we get into bed, Rex’s body is so strung with tension, it almost feels like he’s shivering. I wrap myself around him, trying to give him comfort. Even with stress singing through his muscles, my closeness soothes his nerves, and Rex slowly drifts off to sleep in my arms.

Rex’s heartbeat lulls me into a stupor, and exhaustion creeps up on me. My last thoughts as sleep takes me over are that Uncle Azarian and Vanessa cannot possibly stand against a contingent of black-ops agents, and when we wake in the morning, we will finally have answers.

Despite my optimism, I fall into troubling dreams of running through the forest, unable to shift.

Even without my wolf senses, I’m following Jarrod’s scent, trying to find him before someone else does.

Laughter fills the woods, and the trees shiver as a wave of power rushes through the forest, making the ground tremble.

The jolt of the shockwave hitting me wakes me up, and for a second, I’m so relieved to be safe in bed that nothing else registers.

When I see Rex isn’t with me, I leap out of bed and rush down the hall, checking on Jarrod first. He’s still deeply asleep, not stirring even when I tiptoe into the room and gently kiss his forehead.

I pull the covers up around Jarrod and tuck him in a little, silently leaving the room and closing the door. The house is still dark, and it will be hours before the sun rises, even though the sky is already beginning to lighten with a dull, gray dawn.

When I get downstairs, I find Rex pacing back and forth in the kitchen. His shoulders are tense, and his face is locked in a scowl.

“Oh my God, Rex, what happened?” I demand.

“Wolf’s Shadow attacked,” he says. “And you were right. They tried to capture Azarian and Vanessa alive, and the entire unit was taken out.”

“Taken out?” I sputter. “How?”

“We don’t have a full report,” he answers. “I’ll have to see one of my Shadows for a debrief. My mentor, Malcolm, is on relay, and I should be able to talk to him later today. All I have is the coded text from Brad.”

“What did it say?”

“‘Contingent sent in at 0200 hours. The site appears deserted. The first line did not make it to the target. The entire contingent lost. Scouts pull back immediately for regroup. Await further orders.’”

“How many Shadows are in a contingent?”

“Twenty,” Rex says, grimacing.

“Twenty?” I echo. “My uncle and one woman took out twenty men by themselves?”

“Yes,” Rex says. “If there were other wolves or defenses, it would have been in the brief. But it just says ‘lost,’ which means they aren’t even sure how it happened.”

“Rex!” I cry out, my fear beginning to overpower me. “What are we supposed to do now? What if he comes for Jarrod?”

“It’s okay,” Rex says, wrapping his arms around me. “There’s a good chance his power—or Vanessa’s—is linked to the stone. If he’d had a chance to do the ritual, we’d definitely know about it by now.”

“But your men…”

My voice dies in my throat, and I shake my head, trying to blink away tears.

“Yeah, I’m pissed,” Rex says, menace dripping from every word. “I need more intel. I’m going to have to tell our elders something. I can’t just leave Rose Hollow exposed to this kind of danger.”

I cling to Rex, trying to hold in my tears, but I can’t. Before, the threat of violence from my uncle and his strange obsession seemed distant, behind many layers of defense. Now, the danger of him feels extremely real. Near enough to be knocking on the front door.

He won’t be knocking, though. When he comes, he’ll blast the door right off its hinges.

The thought brings shocking images of my uncle busting through the wall, his eyes glowing red as he reaches for Jarrod with long, impossibly sharp claws. I cling closer to Rex, feeling my heart pounding rapidly in my chest.

“It’s okay,” Rex says, stroking my hair. “I will figure this out.”

“I know you will,” I whisper. “I trust you. I’m just scared.”

Rex rocks me for a few minutes until my heart begins to slow. I take a deep breath and wipe the tears off my cheeks, smiling up at Rex even though it still feels like my blood is burning with adrenaline.

“Jarrod will be up soon,” I say. “I better get started on breakfast.”

Rex nods, getting out his phone. “I’m just going to text a few other Shadows and try to figure out what to tell the council. We need to get Rose Hollow on alert, but I can’t reveal the agency. I need the full details on this—I can’t do anything without knowing exactly what happened.”

“Okay,” I reply. “I’ll make some coffee.”

As I go through the familiar motions of making breakfast, it strikes me as extremely absurd to be doing something so ordinary when only a few miles away, absolute disaster struck—and for all I know, it’s on its way here.