Page 16 of Marked By Moonlight
“I’m notyouranything.”
“Not for much longer, you aren’t. But for a few hours, you were mine.” He says it in a melancholy whisper that doesn’t make sense to me.
I open my mouth to speak, but before I can say anything, he straightens and peers out at the vastness beyond the cliff. I look down at the array of wolf shifters gathered in one place.Why didn’t Father bring us here? Why couldn’t we have come here and found help?
We are the traitors, the reason everyone is cursed, my mind reminds me.
But there had to be at least one pack here that would have helped us. If only my father had been willing to seek help instead of accepting his fate. Then maybe he would still be alive, and our pack would be, too. And Kael and I wouldn’t have had to search them out ourselves.
No, it’s not too late. They are not dead. He’s not dead…
“Ambrose,” the alpha’s voice booms in my ear and through the forest, so loud that everyone moving around in the valley stops and looks up. I don’t know who this Ambrose is, but there is no doubt that he heard him.
“The Bloodmoon wolves are ready to present our offering,” the alpha says.
Chills race over my skin, and my heart thuds to a stop. I was foolish to trust this man at all, foolish to think he cared about me when he saved me.
I’m their offering.
Chapter 7
Lumi
“Where’s Ambrose?” the alpha carrying me says in his deep, commanding voice. He’s not messing around. He’ll bite anyone’s head off that doesn’t do what he wants.
A man walks forward from the hustle and bustle of the packs. Most of the wolf shifters have stopped paying attention to us and resumed their own activities.
My mouth gapes as I stare at the man walking toward us. He’s just as handsome as the man holding me. Sandy blonde hair frames his face, and sparkling blue eyes shimmer in my direction. He smiles, and it’s not the least bit intimidating, even when he flashes a bit of the canines that I know could tear into my throat and end me in a single breath.
His muscles glide under his skin with every step he takes. They’re muscles that have been honed after his wolf shifter abilities emerged, no doubt. These muscles aren’t naturally human but something more. He’s wearing nothing but a pair of loose shorts that hang low on his waist, letting me ogle almost every part of him.
Warmth spreads through my body as I stare at him and then again when I remember I’m in the arms of another very attractive, very naked man. Wolf shifters are used to nudity. It’s not something they even waste a breath thinking about, but I’ve never been used to it, and I doubt I ever will. Coming from a small pack that was mostly my family and Kael, it’s weird to see strangers strutting around like being half-naked is nothing.
The man’s grin naturally has me smiling back. My heart goes from a speeding freight train to a light simmer. For a moment, I feel safe with this man here.Who knows what this psycho holding me is going to do?But this other man standing here—he won’t let him hurt me, that much I know. Even if he isn’t an alpha, he’s high enough up in the chain of command to hold some power here.
“Emeric, where is Ambrose?” My skin vibrates as my carrier speaks.
Emeric cocks his head as he stares at us, his gaze skimming over me, the dark alpha, and his pack members, who are still in wolf form. Amusement dances in his eyes as a chill spreads from the alpha holding me.
“Nice to see you after so long, Nyx. You, of all people, know how busy Ambrose is tonight.”
Nyx.
I glance up to be reminded the alpha is as dark as the night itself. It fits.
“And you, of all people, know what I’ll do to you unless you’re a good little puppy and get Ambrose, now,” his growl demands. There is no way Emeric could ignore it.
To his credit, Emeric stands taller, his smile never faltering. He waits as if pausing for Nyx to figure something out.
“Talking to me is as good as talking to Ambrose,” Emeric finally says when Nyx seems to have calmed. Nyx doesn’t seemto like it, but he doesn’t make any more demands to see Ambrose.
“Our offering,” Nyx says, holding me out like a lamb to be slaughtered. My chest squeezes tight as my breathing increases.Offering—that can’t be good.
Emeric stares at me, quickly assessing the situation, and then turns back to Nyx. “You’re sure?”
“Yes,” Nyx says without another word.
Emeric nods, stepping forward, arms outstretched. Then I’m transferred from Nyx’s arms to Emeric’s as easily as I would hand a light backpack to Kael. I weigh practically nothing to them.
