“Who?” His voice was a deep growl now in my mind.
14
PATRICK
I’d listened to Jo’s voicemail in my office, and the anger in her voice had triggered my rage quicker than anything else I remembered. I’d been in motion before I could even think of moving, drawn to the source of my fury, drawn back to her.
I’d barely even seen the road on the drive over. It had taken every ounce of self-control I had left not to shift and simply run there. But I hadn’t put my onyx ring on this morning, and arriving naked was a worse idea than arriving at Gold Moon at all.
It was a primal, visceral reaction I’d had hearing Jo’s voice. It was like nothing else I’d ever experienced — especially getting triggered by a voicemail.
Something about this woman took away my ability to think rationally.
Getting to her wasn’t as easy as I’d have liked. It was as if everyone working for Gold Moon was suddenly her personal guard dog, intent on preventing me from reaching her, even though her scent teased at me in the corridor.
And worse than the anger she inspired in me with her very obvious challenge to me, and the reaction she inspired in my wolf as an alpha to make her submit, I wanted to protect her from anything that could hurt her.
I’d gritted my teeth as person after person asked why I was at Gold Moon or if I had an appointment to meet with their boss.
An appointment? I didn’t need a fucking appointment. She’d practically summoned me. Each person I answered was met with little more than a growl.
I couldn’t stop myself from finding Jo, and I wouldn’t allow anyone else to stop me, either. I was an alpha. They all knew better than to stand in my way, and in the end, no one did.
And I wouldn’t stop there. After I found Jo, I’d seek out whoever had attacked her.
She’d been attacked. Fucking attacked.
In Carwyn City.Mycity.
Worse, she’d assumed I’d had something to do with it, like I’d just send out members of the Silver Claw pack to illegally acquire businesses. Like I couldn’t even keep my word.
I growled again just thinking about it. It wasn’t socially acceptable that I’d just shown up here. But I was a long way beyond caring about that.
I looked at Jo now. The question was out there. Who had attacked her?
Then I looked at her, really looked, and the question faded into the background as my wolf reacted to her pale face and round, darkened eyes. Her hair wasn’t as sleek as usual, and something about her posture seemed shrunken. Her scent had the bitter taint of fear, although her gaze remained steady on me, a small light of anger burning deep within.
I shook my head. I couldn’t be swayed by how she looked. I needed to handle this situation like a professional. I knew fucking well whohadn’tattacked her, and that was any of the Silver Claw pack or me.
She glanced at her phone, then back at me, biting her lip in uncertainty. Then she looked at her phone again before setting it down on her desk, as though there was something dangerous about it.
I’d shifted out of sheer instinct to protect her, but when she’d followed, surprise had caught me. My wolf wanted her wolf, her pretty gray wolf, with a white and soft-looking underbelly.
I hadn’t squared off. I’d waited, and she’d met me. I probably shouldn’t have licked her, but I couldn’t help myself.
I wouldn’t get any business done as a wolf, though, and I’d shifted back, Jo eyeing me warily for a moment before she did the same.
“Who attacked you?” I wasn’t used to asking a question twice. Three times, if I counted that my wolf had also asked. But I’d ask her again and again because I had to know the answer.
She lost color but shrugged, her expression neutral, almost bland. “I don’t know.” She stopped speaking before starting again, more hesitant this time. “I thought I knew…”
Hell yeah, she’d thought she knew. The angry voicemail she’d left for me was proof enough of that.
“What happened?” All of my questions were curt now. Clipped. I was the alpha of the most powerful pack in town, and I needed answers.
She shook her head and leaned against the edge of her desk, something almost defeated in the slump of her shoulders. “I don’t know,” she repeated. “It was two guys. I’d never seen them before. They followed me near my house.”
Near her fucking house? They knew where she lived? My rage spiked again.