Page 62 of Luna Trials

The driver pulled off the mountain road and turned toward the resort.

Opal twisted a strand of her hair around her finger. “I’d hoped to keep it a secret a while longer. At least until after the Luna Trials.”

“Is that why you don’t sit in the cafeteria during meals? Are the male pheromones too overwhelming for you?” I had so many questions. If I was affected that strongly, I could only imagine how much worse it was for her.

“Pheromones?” She wrinkled her nose. “A few of them are hot I guess, but it’s not like any of them are my fated. And I’ve never had a problem being around dominant males. It’s the females I’m worried about.”

“You know we can hear you,” Cindy said.

Opal’s skin pricked with silky black fur as she lowered her head. “Sorry. I swear that I’ll stay out of everyone’s way.”

“That would be the smart thing to do.”

This was bullshit.

My fangs extended and I turned to growl at Cindy as the van parked on the gravel driveway out front of the resort.

She met my challenge with an icy glare, placing a hand on her chest. “Bless your heart. I’m only looking out for you, honey. She may seem sweet now, but wait until she steals your man.”

The door to the van opened and Opal jumped out, racing to the lobby in a blur with her black hair flying behind her.

“A word of advice.” Cindy stepped outside, smoothing down the wrinkles on her white dress suit. “I wouldn’t put a target on my back trying to fight the battles for some backwoods little she-wolf if I were you. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

Is she threatening us?

I’ll show her backwoods.

I lunged.

Fallon caught my shoulder, stopping me from tackling the southern belle and showing her exactly what I thought of herthreat.

“Whoa there, killer. Save it for another time.” Fallon looked pointedly at the cameras zooming in on us. “Why don’t you come and take a walk with me?”

21

Ranger

“What is Ivan doing here?” Fallon slammed the door to the penthouse suite.

“Hello to you too,” Ivan said. He looked at me for permission to leave and I waved him away. If I had the chance to avoid this conversation, I’d take it too.

“I want answers.” Fallon crossed her arms over her chest. “And you owe them to me. Starting with, why did I have to keep Aspen occupied for the last hour?”

“There was something I needed to take care of,” I said as Ivan hurried out of the room, away from the coming fight. Smart wolf.

My sister looked to the door as it closed after him. “Something that required keeping Aspen busy?”

I arched an eyebrow, waiting for her to come to her own conclusion.

She smacked her hands over her face. “Oh Goddess, what did you and Ivan do?”

“Security,” I explained.

“Ranger, listen to me,” Fallon pleaded. “Aspen is not the kind of female who is going to appreciate a male going all stalker on her.”

The words gave me pause, but I shrugged them off. “I don’t need her to appreciate anything. It’snon-negotiable. This place is dangerous and someone needs to watch out for her.”

“She has an Alpha.”

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