Page 32 of Blood Sacrifice

She wiggled her nose, and I was transported back in time to the first time I saw that mannerism when she was trying to find a way to sugarcoat something for me.

“Just tell me,” I grated out.

Luna’s gaze met mine and fear flashed in her eyes. “Salvator, you have stayed in this place for so long that you no longer see the danger that resides here.”

I wanted to argue with her, but these past few hours had brought a clarity that I hadn’t felt in too long. I bit the inside of my mouth and glared at the trees as if they were my enemy.

“Yesterday, I would have told you that you were mad, but today I don’t know what to think,” I confessed.

“Maybe along this journey, we can discover what has really been happening,” Luna replied. “I have it on good authority that the hellspawn favour the black dire wolves to enslave.”

“I—” Part of me wanted to protest, but over the years good men had disappeared and in the end we had put it down to them leaving to find a different life. Who could blame them since we had been caught up in a war that spanned centuries?

“Give yourself time, Salvator.” Luna threaded her fingers through mine. “Someone has been using magical techniques that were forbidden long before I was born. Each person in my network wears an amulet created for them and sealed with theirblood to ensure they cannot be manipulated or controlled by those working alongside the hellspawn.”

My wolf howled in my head, screaming that he had been warning me that something wasn’t right, that I wasn’t who I should be. Instead, I had found different excuses to explain what was wrong with me. Today, I felt like a fool.

Luna transfixed me when her hand landed in the centre of my chest. “Most wolves would have fully succumbed to such a powerful spell,” she said. “You’ve fought to remain yourself.”

I swallowed and glanced away. She was the one person who saw through me. Packmates who were supposed to know me better than anyone else hadn’t realised I wasn’t myself, yet a woman who hadn’t seen me for four centuries was able to find the truth.

“No one should have gotten close enough to do this,” I muttered, my anger starting to rise. “I was there to protect my pack.”

Luna grabbed my face to force me to look at her. “You did protect them,” she said, her jaw tightening. “Your strength alone was the only force keeping every wolf in your pack safe.”

My thoughts were slowly becoming clearer, as if I had been drunk and I was beginning to sober up. “I don’t feel strong,” I replied truthfully. “I have so many questions, but the most predominant one is how could I be so stupid to let this happen?”

Luna linked her arm through mine and started us walking back toward the car. “It has nothing to do with stupidity, and everything about the darkness that has been sweeping across the globe.”

I glanced down at the tiny, ferocious woman beside me. She had been timid and fragile in the past, but now possessed a core of steel and a strength that made her a formidable opponent. My wolf almost purred in delight as he observed our mate.

We settled into the car and she rummaged through the CDs I kept in the centre console until she selected music to listen to, her feet and fingers tapping to the beat. After our walk in nature, I relaxed into driving, humming along to the background music. We stopped at the next gas station for me to fill the car, Luna wandering in to pick snacks. I found her chatting to a young woman, debating the merits of a particular flavour of chips.

The guy behind the counter kept flashing covert looks at Luna, smiling at her like a fool. I wanted to reach over and slam his head into the counter our snacks currently sat on, my canines aching in my mouth.

I deliberately stepped in front of Luna, blocking his view, and bringing his attention to me. He took a step back, his eyes widening.

“Do I have to guess or are you going to tell me how much?” I grated out, my wolf turning into a possessive asshole.

The guy glanced between me and Luna, swallowing hard as he kept pressing a button on the cash register, and muttering.

In an attempt to calm my wolf, I slammed cash on the counter and snatched our stuff, grabbing Luna’s arm to manoeuvre her toward the door.

“Would it be easier to pee on me?” Luna asked. “Or I could wear a bag over my head.”

I glared at her in bad temper, my jaw tightening.

“I could stay in the car next time,” she continued like a smartass. “Or maybe travel in the boot so no one can see me.”

I opened her door and stared at her, earning myself a huge sunshine smile in reply.

My stomach contracted at the way her entire face lit up with that smile. “You’re lucky I didn’t rip his head off and shove it up his ass, or rip off the head he was thinking with.”

Luna slipped into the car, a small smile playing on her lips. The woman was driving me in-fucking-sane, and I swear if anyother man tried to undress her with his eyes, I’d gouge them out and put them into the sockets backward.

My hands gripped the steering wheel so hard it creaked, my back molars grinding together in annoyance. Luna happily ripped open a bag of chips, shoving several into her mouth, before offering the bag to me to take some.

“You still angry?” she asked when I ignored the bag.

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