Page 204 of Marked

Almost as though commanded by Alec’s words, Rick’s front feet gave way, and he tumbled to the ground, unconscious.

The pain searing my arm finally broke through the adrenaline. I hissed, and Cameron cradled my arm.

“You’re hurt,” she said. The drone of the fire alarm was silent now. Someone must have shut it off.

“I’m fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “It’ll start healing soon.”

Alec tucked the tranq gun into the waistband of his jeans and held his hand out to me.

“Been a long time, Nate. Glad I got to saveyourass this time. Call it square?”

I clasped his hand. “Helping with some police work doesn’t really compare to saving someone’s life. Looks like I oweyou now,” I said.

Alec grinned, his thick red mustache twitching. “I’ll take that. Always good to have favors to call in.” He turned and pointed at Rick’s sleeping form. “With this sad sack of shit in tow, I think this hearing is going to go much better than anticipated.”

“I have this, too,” Cameron said, holding her phone up and showing a ten-minute audio recording. “It’s from earlier when Rick cornered me in here. It should be all the evidence we need.”

Glancing around, my anxiety surged. Emergency personnel were probably already descending on the office building.

“We’ve got to get out of here.” I gestured at Rick. “With him. Somehow.”

“Don’t worry,” Alec said. “JC’s on it. We have some friendly firemen on staff at several of the local firehouses. They’ve been contacted. I’ll text them now. Let them know where we are and that we need an extraction. Ollie will do his best to handle the cops. We should be fine.”

Alec exuded the same quiet confidence JC did, and I couldn’t help but wonder why I hadn’t taken Ollie up on his offer to join the pack years before. Maybe my old prejudices against packs were just as bad as the prejudices shifters had against lone wolves.

“You two stay here,” Alec said. “The rest of the staff has evacuated. Once our men are here, we can sneak you and this jerkoff”—he nodded at Rick—“out of here.”

Alec stepped out into the hall. As soon as he was out of earshot, I pulled Cameron close.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“About what?” she asked.

“Yesterday,” I explained. “How I reacted to the news you gave me. I was a dick, but it wasn’t because I was mad at you or anything. I needed some time to think about it all. To process.”

She put a hand on my chest, her frown giving way to a smile. “I figured you’d need some time. You shouldn’t be apologizing to me, anyway. I’m the one who sprang that on you.” She sighed. “I was afraid you might leave.”

Too much had happened. Too many chances for Cameron to have been taken from me. I would be damned if I ever let that happen. No way in hell was I going anywhere. Before anything else happened, she needed to knowexactlyhow I felt.

Cupping her cheeks, I tilted her head back slightly. Good Lord, she was beautiful.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “Once this is all settled, I’m going to see about joining JC’s and Ollie’s pack.”

Cameron’s eyes grew misty. “Are you serious? Really?”

“I am.” I grinned. “How can I leave the woman I love?”

A single tear spilled from her eye and traced a line down her cheek. “What did you say?” she whispered, her voice trembling.

“I said I love you, Cameron.” I smiled, relishing the shock on her face. “I think I loved you from the moment I first saw you, but I was too damn stupid to realize it.”

“I…” Her voice cracked, forcing her to swallow. “I love you, too.”

My wolf released a howl of delight. Not in all my years with him had he ever been so happy, and neither had I. If this was what it was like to love and be loved, then I had been missing out. It was amazing.

Pulling her close, I pressed my lips to hers. She twined her arms around my neck as we kissed. For a few brief but glorious seconds, everything else disappeared. It was me and her, and nothing more.

Cameron pulled away, gasping. “No matter what happens at this hearing, I want to be with you. Even if that means leaving and being a lone wolf. I don’t give a shit. I wantyou,” she added, clutching at my shirt.

---