Page 58 of Ruthless Moon

Those who serve my father are driven by two things—the promise of gaining favors or the crippling fear of losing something precious. Family, security, status. My father has an uncanny knack for pinpointing vulnerabilities, for wielding them like a weapon. He revels in instilling fear and in causing pain.

The moon tonight can’t come soon enough.

Chapter Twenty

My Hands Are Tied

LIAM O’CONNOR

Kill him.

Protect our mate.

Kill him.

Those were the only thoughts my wolf had the whole last night of the blood moon. My beast’s rage had been so visceral I’d barely been able to keep him under control.

Noah had been relentless in his harassment of Gen’s wolf all night.

His every action was a provocation, an implicit challenge laced with the latent hostility. Each push, each nudge, was a deliberate maneuver designed to break me, or her.

And I’d come perilously close on multiple occasions during the night to tearing him apart. The urge had been strong, a hungering beast inside me begging to be freed. My brothers had been my saviors, holding me back, keeping me distracted from making a fatal mistake.

Gen had held her own, though. Biting and snapping bravely and putting him in his place without fear.

Noah was setting me up. Gen and I both knew it was a trap.

Noah’s behavior wasn’t random. It was strategic. All night, he’d baited me, pushed me, taunted me. Poking the beast within, urging me to react and confirm my feelings for Gen.

I hadn’t. Thank Fate.

And now dawn’s saving grace has arrived.

I watch, my heart skipping every other beat, until Gen is safely inside. My brothers stand next to me, an unbroken line of strength. Jackson shoves my jeans into my hands, breaking through my thoughts.

“You hear the cars?” He says it like it’s a secret shared between conspirators in a dark alley. Like even the trees are eavesdropping.

And maybe they are.

I nod and yank on my jeans.

“We’ll fucking make him pay, Liam. Just not today. Today you’ve got to choke down whatever poison they serve you.” Jackson’s voice is as hard as granite.

He’s right. There’s no room for error.

His hand lands with a solid thud against my back. I turn to follow him across the clearing, our strides in sync, heading toward my parked truck in front of the cabin.

Wherever they are planning to whisk Gen off to, I am tailing behind. No question about it. No matter what obstacles they hurl my way, no matter the cost to myself, I will be there for her—protecting her. A shadow in her periphery, a silent guardian keeping watch until I am no longer needed.

Chapter Twenty-One

Sometimes Screaming Helps

IMOGEN GALLAGHER

The distant growl of a car engine reaches my ears and I recognize it immediately—Rachel. Anticipation twirls through my stomach. I wish she wasn’t here. I wish the rehearsal dinner wasn’t looming ahead of me tonight. There’s no way around it. The wedding is coming.

The cheerful knock at my door makes me get up from the bed, even though I don’t want to. I open the door and am unable to suppress the spread of a smile on my face with her infectiously wide grin prodding me out of my sour mood.

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