Page 48 of Under A New Moon

Galen’s shoulders were stiff as he followed an invisible path.

She couldn’t stand it any longer, that tense silence of his disappointment. “Galen-”

“Let’s just find the pack.”

She stopped in her tracks. “I’m not doing this.”

He turned to face her, gauging her with a wounded look. “Doing what?”

“This,” she emphasized at the yawning gap between them. “I know things have been- crazy, but if we’re going to walk into a pack of wolves, I don’t want to feel like I’m being hand-fed to them.”

His nose scrunched. “What the hell makes you think that?”

“You’re pissed. You can’t hide it. Not from me.” She felt the tug of their connection. It was already strained by circumstance. “You said it before- you didn’t choose this. I didn’t either but… I’d hoped we could make the best of it.

“I didn’tknowwhat they were making me do.”

His jaw slid from left to right.

“I’msorry, Galen. You have to believe me.” She closed the gap, hands out, palms up. Those hands that had killed countless of his kind, that was covered in innocent shifter blood. “If I could take it all back, I would.”

“Yeah, well you can’t.” Even as he said it, his gaze softened. “I can’t say I’m not pissed but as I said, I know it’s not your fault. They did lie to you.” He reached for her, his thumb tracing a line of fire over her cheekbone.

Darla leaned into it, hoping this was his brand of forgiveness. “Still,” she murmured. “If a shifter—or anyone—is trying to kill me, I’m not going to hesitate.”

A glint of yellow flashed in his eyes. “If they try to kill you, they have to get through me, first.”

She smiled relief flooding into her.

Galen’s pleasant expression was short-lived, his head shooting to one side as he listened. She could swear his ear twitched. “There’s more of them.”

Darla’s pulse rose.

She didn’t like being in their territory. “Where?”

“I can’t pin them. There are too many scents around here and the wind is carrying it away.”

There were a thousand places for wolves to hide in the woods. She looked up and around, feeling the weight of invisible scrutiny on her. It made her feel utterly helpless. “Are they your father’s pack?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know.”

A relatively new sensation, fear, coursed through her, making her limbs tremble and her chest quiver. After the run, she wasn’t so certain about her abilities in battle. That big one, she might have been able to handle. A whole pack?

“We’re screwed, aren’t we?”

Galen kept his gaze down as he blazed a path for them but his senses were on high alert. “If they’re hostile, most definitely.”

“I’m glad you’re keeping things optimistic, Galen.” She laughed so she wouldn’t cry, keeping her eyes peeled for the intruders.

“That’s what I’m here for,” he said, gathering her closer. “If they are my father’s, you already have my scent all over you. They won’t kill a human without reason, and they don’t know who you are or-” His voice dropped to a barely audible whisper. “-what you’ve done.”

“And- what about you?”

He merely shrugged.

Well, that’s reassuring. She tried hard to stay calm, but the knowledge that they had the advantage set her nerves on edge. He was a rogue for a reason, banished from his pack. He never spoke about it or she’d have a better idea as towhy.

Her voice was small. “I don’t like this.”

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