Soul Bonded - By Meghan Malone Page 0,27
set the gun on the nightstand beside the bed. The man who hadn’t yet spoken, who was bigger and older and somehow more primal than either Rafe or Cooper, pointed at the bed. “Sit.”
There was the deep, booming voice she’d heard before. She assumed that meant he was the one who’d hit Rafe. Too afraid to push her luck in a room full of seemingly hostile werewolves, Katie sat on the edge of the mattress without argument. The big man gestured for Rafe to join her on the bed and, to her surprise, he obeyed with a silent nod. He sat close enough that their thighs touched, calming her racing heart without even seeming to try.
Cooper greeted Shilah with a pat on the head while the deep-voiced man stared at her and Rafe for the span of several anxious breaths. Katie sat ramrod straight, unsure whether to let down her guard. As far as she knew, these were Rafe’s friends. But despite the expressionless look on Rafe’s face, he radiated uneasy fear. Acting on instinct, Katie took Rafe’s hand and placed it in her lap, lacing their fingers together. If they were going to die, neither of them should feel alone.
The deep-voiced man’s gaze fell on their joined hands. He frowned. Then he stared hard into Katie’s eyes. “So I hear we’ve got ourselves a human problem.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Katie is not a problem.” Rafe’s tone made it clear that despite this man’s clear authority over him, she remained his priority. The realization shocked her as much as it appeared to irritate their visitor.
“Not a problem?” The intimidating stranger stepped closer, causing Rafe to angle his upper body in front of Katie’s like a shield. “I got a call from Jack Devereaux at three o’clock this goddamn morning. To tell me that one of my wolves had murdered one of his. Over some human piece of ass.”
Rafe squeezed Katie’s hand, soothing her bruised feelings almost as soon as they arose. “She’s my bond-mate. Don’t call her that again.”
The man glowered at Rafe and puffed up his chest. “You forget who you’re talking to, dog.”
“I haven’t forgotten, Alpha. But you need to know that this woman is not just some piece of ass. We’re bonded—and you know what that means.” Rafe rubbed his thumb over her knuckle. “Two of Jack’s wolves attacked her tonight. She was bitten and nearly raped. If I hadn’t intervened, they would have killed and eaten her.”
Visible disgust passed over Alpha’s face. “I won’t deny that they’re savages. But killing him makes you no better.”
“Katie is my bond-mate. I had to protect her. It was self-defense.” Rafe’s jaw bunched and he sat forward, as though challenging Alpha to disagree. “You know better than anyone what it means to lose one’s bond-mate.”
Alpha stiffened. Clearly Rafe had hit upon a sensitive subject. “The alpha wolf of a larger, dangerously sociopathic pack of werwolves just spent twenty minutes yelling at me about a murder I had no idea you committed. Can you appreciate how embarrassing it was that I didn’t have a clue what—or who—he was talking about?”
Rafe lowered his head. “I apologize, Alpha. My radio was lost in the scuffle. I didn’t realize I didn’t have it until after I’d finished treating Katie’s wounds. Then I didn’t want to leave her alone to go find it. Not after what happened.”
Katie’s shoulders dropped and her stomach turned over. She’d lost Rafe’s radio in the snow and prevented him from reporting to his alpha wolf. She had no idea what the penalty for Rafe’s actions would be, but the entire thing was her fault. If she hadn’t tried to escape from the man who had sworn to protect her, she wouldn’t have gotten injured. Rafe wouldn’t be in trouble. The thought that he might be punished for her own impulsive stupidity made her feel sick.
“Sir?” Katie’s voice came out a bare whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Sir, it wasn’t Rafe’s fault. He told me to stay inside and I didn’t. If I hadn’t disobeyed him, those wolves would never have had an opportunity to attack me. Rafe wouldn’t have been forced to kill to protect me.”
Her defense earned her a withering stare. “You will call me Alpha.”
Katie swallowed. “Yes, Alpha.”
“Good.” He bent at the waist to bring his face to her level. “You’re right, Katie. It is your fault…but only to an extent. After all, you’re just human—which means you don’t know any better.” Alpha shifted his focus to Rafe.