Wolf Claimed: Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (Guardian Wolves Book 2) by Julie K. Cohen

Author:Julie K. Cohen [Cohen, Julie K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Julie K. Cohen
Published: 2022-03-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

MADDOX

The three-story brick building looked and smelled abandoned. Maddox couldn’t find a single sign that anyone had been inside the old office building in years. The entire town they’d stumbled upon a mere three miles northwest of the training center looked more like a ghost town than a modern human town, despite the evidence that people had lived and worked here recently.

“The virus. HEV,” Alyssa said rather solemnly as she read the flyer she’d torn from a store window. “We’re in Hanson, Nebraska. The ad’s from ten months ago, promoting a farmer’s market. That’s the time the town in Wyoming was attacked with the Human Elimination Virus. I’d heard rumors about a town in Nebraska getting hit as well, though there was nothing in the news. The government must have taken over the town and surrounding land to keep reporters and others away.”

“I wonder how many died here. The town isn’t very big.”

“Even one is too many.”

“We lost a lot of lives, too. Innocent lives. And we didn’t start this,” Maddox said, his voice heated. “The WSSO—”

“I know,” she said, walking ahead of him.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, Alyssa. I wasn’t thinking when I said that.” Her father was responsible for creating and using the SEV virus that killed thousands of shifters. There were no winners. Certainly not Isabella. And from how shaken Alyssa looked, she’d suffered too. He rubbed his hands over her cold, bare arms. “It’s not your fault. None of it. Just like my pack isn’t to blame.”

“Why would your pack bear any blame?” she asked, turning into his arms and rubbing up against him for warmth. It felt so good holding her in his arms, being able to wrap himself around her and know that she was his. Or could be his.

“The shifter who used the virus on the human town in Wyoming, and I’m guessing this one too, was from my pack.”

“Oh.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“I’m the last one to judge, Maddox. From what I’ve heard about your pack, it’s not a place I’d like to be. But then again, neither was my house growing up. I guess it proves how alike humans and shifters really are. Both can kill easily and without remorse.”

“That’s not you talking,” he said, tilting her head up with a finger beneath her chin. “What’s going on with you? Talk to me, angel.”

She rubbed her arms again. “I’d like to find a jacket or sweater if I can, first. I’m rather cold.”

Cold and probably still in shock after what she’d seen at the dorm. “I saw a clothing store down that way,” he said, cutting over a street. The area had a lot of retail stores, most still intact, though they’d fallen in disrepair. Broken windows, a sign dangling from metal hooks above a barbershop, weeds growing through the pavement, and saplings sprouting in the oddest places, like the pothole in the middle of the asphalt street.

Maddox punched through the glass door to the retail store and unlocked it. There was no power, but they still had a few minutes of light before sunset.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.