Page 114 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

“He’s tall, taller than you, with a dark beard and a gray cap pulled low.” I press my hands together to stop the shaking. “There’s some kind of tattoo on the back of one hand.”

Marcus goes rigid. He cuts a look at the man beside him, and a muscle leaps in his jaw. “That’s Leroy.”

The other man tenses.

“Jessa.” Marcus angles his head toward him. “This is Adrian. He’s a friend.”

Adrian gives me a short nod, then turns back to Marcus. “This is bad. If they’ve put a tail on her, they know something. What do you want to do?”

“Take a few of the men out to her office lot. Her car’s sitting there on four slashed tires.” Marcus doesn’t look away from me while he says it. “See if anyone can pull a scent off it before it’s fouled.”

“I’m on it.” Adrian pushes off the wall and is gone through the door.

I blink after him. “Men? What men?”

“Most of the people who work at this academy are ours.” Marcus crouches in front of my chair, bringing his eyes level with mine. “The staff here are shifters, near enough every one of them.”

“Oh.” I look at the shut door, then back at him. “Right. The man following me.” My mouth’s dry. “He’s one of them? A hunter?”

“Yes.”

“Am I in danger? Is Mia?”

Marcus lifts my hands off my knees and holds them in both of his. “Hunters don’t touch humans. It’s the one line they don’t cross. They’re just trying to intimidate you.” His thumbs move over my knuckles. “So they’ll most likely leave you alone. But let’s not give them a chance.” His jaw sets. “Mia’s a different matter. They’ve decided to come at me for some reason, and that drags her into it.”

“Then what do we do?”

“From now on, I’ll take you to work and bring you home,” he says firmly. “If I can’t, Adrian does. You don’t drive anywhere alone.” He leans in and presses his mouth to my forehead. “I’m working on this, Jessa. You’ll be safe, I’ll see to that. Stop losing sleep over it.”

I look up at him, at how sure of himself he seems, and the question is out before I can stop it. “And who keeps you safe?”

For a second, he looks away. He doesn’t answer right away. “I can look after myself.”

It’s meant to settle me. It does the opposite. There’s a grim edge under it, something he won’t say aloud, and my chest winds tighter. I start to press him on it.

The office door opens first.

A man steps through without knocking, already mid-sentence, a folder tucked under one arm. He’s older, well-dressed, silver coming in at the temples, and the second he sees me, the words dry up in my throat.

I know that face.

Ten years back, I stood in a hotel lobby with a pregnancy test in my bag, my heart in my mouth.

My hands go cold.

It’s him. He’s the man who threw money at my feet and told me to get rid of my baby.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Marcus

I didn’t expect Voss to come find me so soon. He’s a wreck when he steps through the door. His shirt hangs open at the collar, gone gray with sweat, and the folder shakes in his grip. He stops three steps inside.

Jessa immediately stiffens, and that tells me everything I need to know.

“About damn time you showed your face,” I tell him.

“Marcus.” His throat works. “Let my sister go.”