Free Ruled by the Pack: Wicked Wolf Shifters 5 by Anna Craig Page A

Wait a minute. Before he could continue that line of thinking, however, Tamsin spoke. Her tone was so stilted that Jackson's uneasiness burst into him so full-fledged he could feel his wolf prickling just beneath his skin.
    "Oh, it is our understanding that you do indeed know her, Jackson." Tamsin's voice was just as cool as her expression, although the slightest singsong to it alerted Jackson to sudden true danger.
    "Please," Tamsin said, turning her gaze to the young woman, whose expression was quickly faltering as she obviously suddenly became aware of the tense atmosphere in the room, "do refresh Jackson's memory. I'm afraid, you see, Jackson has a reputation not only in the pack but the rest of the world, as you surely know. He's the bad boy. The playboy. He tends to not remember the choices he has made. Any of them."
    Tamsin leveled a look at him now, pulling along the gaze of everyone else in the room. The weight of their fascination and sudden animosity focused on him. Every instinct Jackson had went on alert. Even Mac took a step away from him, clearly separating himself from the one wolf in the room who was obviously in the incredibly bad graces of the alpha's sister.
    “But—you're my husband,” the young woman said, her voice trembling now as she stared at Jackson. “We got married on the island. Here,” she added, bringing up her free hand to rattle white sheets at him. “Here are the papers. It's legit.”
    Dead silence greeted her claims. Jackson felt so light-headed he thought he was about to pass out.
    “Impossible—” he managed to get out before Tamsin cut him off.
    Lip pulled back in a snarl as the frozen mask melted into anger, she snapped, "Enough. We examined the papers, and I had someone call the island's town hall to ascertain their genuine status. It is true. This woman is your legal wife."
    Briefly, she swung her gaze to the human girl, who now clearly understood the incredible danger surrounding her in this room, as evidenced by her bone white, suddenly slack-jawed face. "Escort her to a chamber befitting a guest,” Tamsin went on, in full acting pack leader mode. “Place a guard outside her door. Her physical needs are to be met, but she's not to be allowed any access to the outside world until further notice."
    The girl's eyes widened and she opened her mouth, clearly to protest despite her obvious fear, but the guard holding her simply shook his head and began pulling her out of the room, which was a fairly easy thing to do. Even though she was a large, generously curvy girl like the alpha's mate, Cassandra, she was no match against a full grown male werewolf.
    Every eye in the room snapped back to Tamsin as she turned back to look at Jackson. The expression she awarded him was clearly so dismissive, so arrogant, he couldn't help flinching. His training urged him to meet her look with a haughty one as well. But something inside him, something crumbling and breaking despite himself, let his walls fail him. "Tamsin, this can't be right. There's no way I would've married a human—"
    Tamsin flicked her hand at someone behind Jackson. He turned to see who it was, but steel-like hands gripped either arm, holding him in place. Shocked, he merely stared at Tamsin, trying desperately to find in her expression the beautifully open, trusting, vulnerable woman he thought he had seen just the night before.
    That woman wasn't there. Right now, he was only looking at Tamsin Reginald, sister of the pack alpha, and current leader of the pack until her brother returned. When she spoke, her voice didn't waver even a fraction. "Jackson Rule is to be placed into a containment cell immediately, where he shall remain until such time as the Council decides his punishment."
    Still in shock, Jackson managed to respond, "Punishment? For what?"
    Voice colder than winter, she said, "You know as well as I do, as does any wolf here, that marriage to a human is forbidden. Not only that, you were required to receive