Free Guarded (True Alpha 2) by Alisa Woods Page B

sleek and luxurious and probably cost double her entire year’s tuition.
    She paced along the back of the couch, running her hand on top of the glove-soft leather and trying to wrap her head around the situation. It suddenly seemed much worse than she thought.
    Lucas stayed by the door, watching her.
    She stopped and gripped the couch as she faced him. “Your pack is rivals with the Red pack.” Her voice was surprisingly steady for the trembles running laps up and down her body.
    “My father’s pack is rivals with the Red pack,” he said coolly. “I don’t have a pack.”
    She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not in your father’s pack.”
    “Not since I formed my own.” He met her stare. Cautious. Arms folded. Still holding back.
    She pushed off the couch. “Dammit, Lucas, you have to tell me what’s really going on here! Why does the Red pack want me? What am I to them? Is this part of some rivalry between your packs? Am I… am I…” Her throat was getting thick. “Am I just some kind of prey for them?” She could see it now: in that alleyway, those Red pack wolves wanted to play some kind of sick game with her. Lucas stopped them… but then he’d hovered over her ever since. Making her quit The Deviation. Getting her a driver, so he could control her comings and goings. And today… today he wanted to move her out of her dorm!
    “Is this all a game to you?” Her voice cracked then, and she braced herself against the couch, because there was a sudden weakness in her legs. What had she gotten herself into?
    Lucas’s stance softened. He unfolded his arms and quickly crossed the room, like he was going to hold her up or something. She stopped him with an upraised hand.
    He scowled at her hand like it offended him. “This isn’t a game, Mia. You’ve seen the Red wolves—they’re brutal. They let their dark wolves come out to play, both in business and pleasure. I’m only trying to protect you from them.”
    “But they compete with you. With SparkTech. You have the same territory or something.” She couldn’t figure out the angle. Why her? Why was she in the middle of this?
    He folded his arms again and leaned against the couch next to her. “They have a physical territory carved out in Seattle. And we respect that. But yes, they compete with us in business . You’ve seen the reports.”
    Her eyes went wide. “They want LoopSource.” The mobile computing platform they were both diligently evaluating for SparkTech to acquire… until she stormed out, got attacked by Red wolves, then ended up in Lucas’s apartment.
    “And they’ll do anything to get what they want.” He edged closer to her, arms still folded. He wasn’t touching her, but it was like he had cast a protective shadow over her. He was contained, but ready to spring out and hold her the moment she allowed it.
    She shook her head, still not piecing it together. “But why me? I mean, I’m just a bartender. Or I was… wait! Did they know I was going to intern at SparkTech?”
    Lucas’s eyebrows lifted, like he hadn’t thought of that. “Maybe.” Then they settled into a scowl again. “Or you could have just been a target of convenience. Either way, when I stepped in…” He struggled for words for a moment, then dropped his gaze. “Well, that’s when they figured out they could use you as leverage. Against me.”
    “Because I was your intern.” She frowned. That still didn’t make sense.
    “Because I saved you.” His jaw worked. “They think I care about you.”
    She involuntarily glanced at the door, where they had just… what? Made love? Had sex? Gave in to their animalistic passions? That was probably closest. She dragged her gaze back to his deep, dark eyes. He seemed even closer, and the air between them was still perfumed by the lust of their bodies.
    “Do you care about me?” she asked, almost a whisper.
    “No.”
    The air went out of her.
    He unlocked his arms and reached like he was going to hold her,