Her Viking Wolf Read Online Free Page B

immediately set all her attention to fighting the weird urge to rip her lips away from his that always overtook her when they were intimate. However, less than a few seconds into the wildly uncomfortable kiss, they were interrupted by a loud clanging sound.
    Rafe pulled away from the kiss, which allowed her to see the source of the sound. It was the maybe-Viking. He was thrashing in the bed, and the handcuffs clanged against the bed’s metal railing, he was straining so hard to break free. His face had turned red with anger, and she could actually see the veins in his neck. And that was before he started spewing his strange language, directing several words toward Rafe that Chloe was fairly sure involved some really harsh threats and expletives.
    Seeing this display of temper paralyzed Chloe, rooting her in place. But Doc Fischer, who held degrees in both medical and veterinary science and had apparently seen it all, lazily prepared a syringe before stepping forward and plunging it into the maybe Viking’s arm without a word.
    The sedative only took a few moments to take hold, but the maybe Viking fought his restraints the entire time, his eyes bulging and locked on Rafe as he cursed in his foreign language, his face screwed up with rage, until eventually his words began to slur and he fell back against the bed in another heavy sleep.
    After he passed out, Doc Fischer regarded them both with the cynical aplomb. “Well, I think that answers our question.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    FOR as long as Chloe could remember, she had wanted to be part of the Nightwolf family. She could still remember the three weeks she’d spent in their family’s mansion after being found by the side of the road, shivering and alone. The wolf law of every state was that the king had to take in any abandoned children left in his province, which she later figured out was why her parents had chosen to abandon her in this particular place.
    Back then, the clan only placed wolves with families of the same race. So though most abandoned children her age were placed in three days or less, it took three whole weeks to find her a home. And they were three of the best weeks of her entire life. Even at the age of four, Rafe had been charming and awesome. Two seconds after she stepped through the door, he had immediately asked her to come up and play in his toy room, which was just what it sounded like, a room larger than the entire one-bedroom apartment she had shared with her parents. It was designated for all of Rafe’s toys, and he’d been more than happy to share with her.
    She also instantly loved Rafe’s parents. His father had a booming laugh and considered himself a friend to all—as long as they were Broncos fans. Luckily she had answered with a tentative, “Yes?” when he’d asked her at their first meeting, “You cheer for the Broncos, little girl?” And Rafe’s mother was warm and nurturing in a way her own had never been, hugging her often and assuring her everything would be all right.
    When three weeks passed and they had only been able to find Myrna Adams, a local black spinster, to take her in, Chloe had actually been grateful. She wouldn’t be with a family of her own, but at least she’d stay close to the family she now loved the most.
    And a year later when she and Rafe entered kindergarten at Wolf Springs Elementary, the only all-wolf public school in Colorado, they’d picked up right back where they started, playing together every day, and soon she and Myrna became regulars at their Sunday dinners. She had grown up with Rafe, and when he proposed to her, it felt like he was not only asking her to be his mate, but also inviting her into his loving, close-knit family, which she wanted more than anything.
    Over the pass few years, she had prayed and prayed for her heat night to come, not just so she’d feel more comfortable kissing Rafe, but also so she could take her official place as part of his family and even start one of her own