Free A Forbidden Love by Lorelei Moone Page B

they wouldn't say a word. Kyle would probably remain loyal as well, but Blacke was dangerous. Jamie had to make sure he never found out the truth about him and Alison.
    Who the hell was that?
Alison wondered.
    Alliance council member,
Jamie responded.
Uptight bastard.
    They watched as Adrian Blacke left the room again, leaving the two of them alone. His footsteps faded as he walked down the hall, and back up the stairs where he had originally come from.
    I'm sorry it turned out like this,
Jamie thought.
    No. I'm sorry. I have to conclude that Gareth followed me and I led him right to you.
Alison turned to face Jamie again. Her eyes were still moist from crying earlier, causing her lashes to stick together.
    He wanted to hold her, tell her it was all going to be okay. But it wasn't. She'd lost her family today.
    Jamie listened for any sounds, but the basement was completely quiet. They were on their own for now.
    I'm equally responsible. He could have found this place by following me as well,
Jamie thought.
    Are they going to hurt them?
Alison wondered.
    Jamie had no answer. He and his team had never tortured the prisoners, just used basic interrogation techniques to encourage them to talk. Unfortunately Jamie had no way of knowing the lengths Blacke would go to if he thought it could help him extract information.
    I'm sorry.
Jamie closed his eyes and transformed back into his human self. He wrapped his arms around Alison, who melted into his embrace.
    What had started off as an impossible situation for his team had been turned around into a victory. But Alison's loss made it feel hollow.
    "I'm so glad you're okay. All morning I've felt like I had this black cloud following me around. Like something terrible was going to happen to you," Alison whispered.
    "Really sorry about your dad and brother," Jamie responded, caressing her hair.
    She didn't respond straightaway.
    "I guess now we're even, huh? A brother for a brother."
    Alison's inner turmoil tugged at Jamie's heart. He'd never wanted to get even. All he'd wished for, even after finding out her identity, was to make her happy. Right now that was clearly an impossibility, but maybe one day he'd get another chance.
    "Let's go," she mumbled. "You ought to wear something, or people will talk."
    Jamie forced a smile. "Don't worry. Nudity isn't as much of a taboo among shifters as it is among humans."
    "Uh-huh." Alison wrapped her arms around herself and followed Jamie out of the room.
    With a bit of luck, Blacke and his people would have already left, leaving Jamie free to deal only with his own team.

Chapter Ten
    Alison caught up with Jamie as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Nudity might not be a big deal for him and his people, but if she kept watching his naked behind for much longer, her physical reaction to him would definitely make things awkward in front of the others.
    "Aidan knows," Jamie remarked, as he glanced over at her.
    "Yeah, I'm sorry. I had to tell him, or he would have never trusted me," Alison explained.
    Jamie rested his hand on her shoulder. His hand felt so warm, almost feverish as it burned into her through her clothes. "That's fine. Don't worry about it."
    Alison closed her eyes for a moment. She’d felt so torn between the two aspects of herself when everything went down that it had brought tears to her eyes. Deep down she knew she'd done the right thing, but it didn’t make things much easier. She took another few steps with Jamie following closely behind.
    "Did you know he's with the girl, what's her name? The one Gareth abducted," Alison remarked.
    "Heidi? Yeah, I had guessed as much, though neither of them were willing to openly talk about it."
    "Why's that?" Alison paused at the top of the stairs, nervous about facing everyone again, so their ongoing conversation was a convenient excuse to delay the inevitable.
    "He's a bear, she's a wolf. It's complicated."
    "Funny. I would have never thought you guys had issues like that within your