Page 13 of Moon Guardian
The surrounding wolves were held to no such requirement, snarling as they chased the female up through the stands that framed the amphitheater. She evaded them with grace that matched an experienced shifter, drawing my eye as I admired her movements. She flowed like moonlight itself, a beautiful deception, to be sure. She had only absorbed magic that didn’t belong to her, that couldn’t continue through her weak veins.
She’d die, perhaps tonight, or in the morning.
Regardless, it would be soon enough. She only needed to be subdued so that we could continue the most important night of my life. Then I would find my true mate, my wolf would no longer be confused by this perverted form of the Goddess’s magic.
I took a short breath, trying not to inhale too much of her scent that continued to muddle my senses. Instead of watching her impressive evasion, I studied the way the moonlight fell in arcs over the amphitheater. I’d only imagined how this night would look, but to see it for myself warmed me to my very soul.
It was a favorite place to commune with our Goddess. Humans had built it long ago for entertainment purposes, but we used it for worship. Another indicator how much more evolved wolves were than humans, why we deserved our standing and why they deserved only what they earned. I trained humans to perform for us, atone for their sins by working on new inventions and progress in their science that interested the more curious of my kind.
Violence, though, was a trait reserved for front-line soldiers against our enemies. Perhaps this female would make a fine soldier, however that was Dash’s territory now.
I glanced at the edge of the stands, wondering where the errant wolf was. He should have returned by now.
Had the female gotten to him out there?
It sounded impossible, but the idea fluttered around in my mind, only banished when his large silhouette broke through the moonlit barrier.
Blood glittered on his hands, up his arms, and splashed across his face, giving him an air of lethal danger that was befitting to the alpha of the Soldier Pack.
“Good,” Shadow said, his slate-gray eyes glaring at the final alpha. “We can finish this before the fucking human kills off all our betas.”
Dash paused outside the dial, his attention moving to the human female still miraculously evading the packs. Blood trailed behind her, two more bodies littering the ground.
The alpha of the Soldier Pack flared his nostrils, but not to scent the blood.
To scent… her.
“It’s a trick,” I told him when he moved toward her. He wasn’t bound to his place on the moondial, not yet. He glanced at me, pausing to hear what I had to say. “She was caught out in the storms. She’s just a human who’s stolen the Goddess magic.”
He grunted. “Then I’ll steal it back and we can get on with this.”
“Dash, just get on the fucking moondial—” Vern began, only to rub his temple when Dash chased after her, his wolf clearly on edge with the magic that hummed in the air, designed to engage the chase when we would pursue our mates.
He made it look effortless to capture her, nothing like the extensive chase through the forest with a satisfying end, and he frowned as if disappointed when he held her up by her arm.
“Get off of me, murderer!” she shrieked, lashing out at him with one of her arrows.
Dash took the strike, seemingly oblivious as blood trickled down his torso. “Behave,” he snapped, dragging her up to the moondial with him.
Vern rolled his eyes. “What are you doing? She can’t be here for this.”
“She stays,” he growled, his glare leaving no room for negotiation.
“A trick,” I insisted, having to fight every instinct in my body to turn away from the glowing female to look up at the sky.
I closed my eyes, focusing on our Goddess.
Soon, I would be given her ultimate blessing.
The human wouldn’t matter anymore. She would be an offering, her blood a sweet gift to our Goddess that would make her smile.
Then I would give in to the growing need in my core to indulge the chase.
To hunt.
Toclaim.
My nostrils flared again, the pungent scent of jasmine and moonlight messing with my mind, leaving a nagging fear that tonight would not go as I had always planned.
