Page 6 of Claimed

I need a toilet, but I’m afraid to ask.

His choice of words asking why Itriedto kill Tyson means I failed.

I’ve failed at killing and I’m so relieved, but I’ve never before felt so torn in two over failure. Relief that I’m not a murderer, but devastated that I’ve gotten myself caught, what the fallout could be to not just me, also my pack. And innocent little Halla.

As I ponder the potentially horrific fallout, he comes back.

There’s a strange look in his eyes as he unlocks the cell and joins me inside it again.

And my first thought is… he’s out of patience.

Now is when the threats or the torture begins.

2

Greyson Blackwood

Wolves hunt for what they want, what they need. Wolfshiftersalso hunt when they need to. But what no one can get through your skull is that it’s fruitless to hunt for your fated mate. No matter how much you want to find her.

I now know it’s because your mate’s scent doesn’t trickle in. It slams into you. A sledgehammer strikes, the scent assaulting you, and it changes everything.

This is what’s happening to me now. The woman who attempted to murder Tyson Savage? The one poisoning us? She’s mine.

One minute I’m feeling relieved at the news Tyson’s flesh spit the bullet out and that he’s completely fine while I gear up to go back in and further interrogate the waitress from the diner. But the next minute, something in the air shifts and the onslaught of scent underneath the gunpowder takes over, slamming into my senses and making one thing clear as my world slants on its axis. I need to get her out of that cell, away from all other males, and into my bed.

Not only will Riley Savage finally get to face my cousin Erica Young tonight, but I’ll also take my own mate.

And shocker… yet another complicated mating for a council alpha.

Because after things got untangled between Mason and Tyson with the Brennan sisters, not only did Riley’s wayward mate show up, but my mate is here, too. She’s the one who’s been poisoning our pack, who shot Ty in cold blood.

This pretty, frightened little thing with the mass of dark, wavy hair and big, haunted, brandy-colored eyes? She belongs to me.

I sensed something was weird with her scent a few minutes ago, but standing outside the town hall it hit me as it intensified, and I immediately knew what it was. Whatever she masked herself with has worn off entirely and I now smell her. Her scent has filled my senses and become stronger than the gun powder. It smells stronger and better than any scent I’ve ever taken in.

She smells like warmth. Like comfort. Fresh baked goods. Like sex. And like she’smine. This is the female who will give me pups. I need to claim her as soon as possible.

I was barely able to get the words out of my mouth to Joel about the knowledge that the change in the air is her true scent, and what it meant when I saw Riley moving toward the van across the street. He wasn’t the only one with a mission. I argued with Joel for a few minutes about my need to take her home and then I couldn’t stand there and argue anymore because I needed to get to her.

***

“Lily,” I breathe as I slip into the cell and pocket the key.

“I’m not speaking to anyone about anything. I’m sorry. I just… I can’t.” She gets to her feet.

This is the first time she’s said anything other than thethank youshe gave me for my shirt.

Her fear scent is intensifying. And it strikes me as wrong. It strikes me as a problem I need to fix immediately. My destinedmate is afraid of me. She plasters herself against the wall as I advance.

She’s in my t-shirt, covered by my scent. That’s the only thing that’s right about this situation. Her in bare feet, in this damp and cold cell? The fear in her eyes and in her blood, tainting her fragrance? That’s wrong. And it’s my job to fix it.

She didn’t strike me earlier as evil. As murderous. As a murderess. As someone who poisons patrons’ food. Not at all.

She struck me as a shy, softspoken, pretty little thing with beautiful eyes, small and perky tits, long legs, and a whole lot of thick, shiny hair.

As I take her in, I’m now thinking about fisting the length of her silky brown hair while she takes my cock. My mark. My knot.

My cock aches at the notion.

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