Page 65 of Moonlighting with the Werewolf

Frank Wallace was the alpha of the Crescent Pack. He was the one I’d tussled with earlier this year, after his adamant insistence I marry his daughter and further cement our alliance by providing our communities with “superior offspring bred to lead.” I’d taken issue with anyone telling me what to do, especially since one of my goals was to get away from that close-minded thinking and allow my people true freedom. It’d turned ugly enough that I thought we’d end up taking each other out instead of joining forces. Evidently, an attack he couldn’tcounter meant Frank forgave and forgot. Or more accurately, he didn’t have another choice.

“Almost done with the tendons,” Kerrigan said. “Then I’ll suture the gash.”

“You were saying that Frank called,” I prompted, anxious to hear the rest of the story. “He and every able-bodied pack member fled toward the mountains, into rocky terrain they hoped would slow or deter the witches. He told me to run as fast as I could, find Conall Shaw, and request the help of you and your pack.”

Something rubbed me the wrong way as Sam spoke, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

“I guess I was close enough to whatever spell they cast to lose my ability to regenerate. At one point, I sensed someone behind me, so I started zigzagging and covering my tracks better to throw whoever it was off the scent. By the time I reached a gulch with a low-running river at the bottom and tried to leap it, I was so tired that I missed it and took quite a tumble. It left me with these injuries, but I didn’t let it stop me. My people needed me, so I climbed up the other side and didn’t stop until I reached your compound.”

His emotions rang true, and his heart rate remained fairly steady through the telling. I tended to judge people harsher than necessary, so perhaps it was my skeptical side throwing me off. In my world, outsiders were guilty until proven innocent, and since it’d kept us safer, I didn’t feel bad about it.

Except for with Kerrigan, although the fact that she’d saved my life the night we’d met immediately put her on my good side. Then again, the very next day I’d jumped to the wrong conclusion about her being a witch, so I wasn’t sure I should pat myself too hard on the back. It did, however, provide a good reminder of why it’d taken longer for the rest of my pack to get onboard and why some of them remained skeptical.

All heads swiveled toward the knock on the door, and Diego and Mikal stepped into the room.

A wild gleam lit Mikal’s features. “You’ll never believe it. We finally found?—”

“We need to speak with you about an urgent matter,” Diego butted in, his eyes narrowing not on Kerrigan, but on Sam. “In private.”

I placed my hand on Kerrigan’s lower back. “You’ll be okay?”

“Yep. This is something I’ve done more times than I can count, and Sabine is here if I need an extra hand.”

I hated to leave her alone too long with a stranger I wasn’t sure we could trust, but there were plenty of safeguards in place. With that thought to comfort me, I bent to give her a kiss goodbye, hoping our time apart would be brief, even though I had my doubts. It wasn’t like my life ever slowed down, and things were only going to continue escalating until we took out the coven making our lives hell.

Between the meeting and the craziness of discovering another pack may very well be in need of her medical expertise, I wasn’t sure all the orgasms in the world would be enough to offset the cons of being with me.

But there was no going back, and at this point, I wouldn’t even entertain letting Kerrigan go. Luckily, she’d somehow fallen in love with me, and once we took care of the current threat and peace was restored, I’d spend every day I could making it up to her.

As we broke apart, I shot Sam another glare that had him sitting straighter. “I’ll leave the door open a crack and post Sasquatch there. If anyone steps out of line or needs convincing to cooperate and make your job easier, he’ll also help with that. Just say the word.”

After Diego and Mikal told me who or what they’d “finally found,” I’d try to get in touch with Frank and verify Sam’sstory. If it checked out, I’d put together a team to go bring the remaining members of the Crescent Pack here, where we could treat the injuries and combine forces.

“We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, along with a warm welcome and room and board,” I told Sasquatch after latching the door for what would be a very brief second or two. “But keep eyes on him at all times.”

He nodded and cracked the door to the medical office once again.

As soon as we were out of hearing range, I turned my attention to Diego and Elias. “What’s up?”

“We found the werewolf,” Mikal said, with so much excitement I wondered if I’d heard him wrong.

Luckily, Diego was there to clarify. “The one who’s been helping the witches.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Sam gave me a punctuated sniff.“You smell human.”

A weird thing to say, yet not untrue, so I continued to fill a syringe with antibiotics and replied with, “Um, thanks?”

“I can also smell him on you. He kissed you goodbye in front of witnesses, so you must be more than a side piece.”

I jabbed the needle into Sam’s shoulder a bit harder than necessary, so he’d get the message I didn’t appreciate his choice of words, even as I protected his body from infection. Also, who usedside piecethese days?

“Ouch.” He rubbed a hand over the spot. “I meant no offense to you. I’m just not sure what Conall is thinking. He could’ve wed the princess of our pack as our alpha bid him to do, and instead he’s dallying with you.”

I glanced in the direction Sabine had gone, this time to get water for tea for me. Not the sleepy kind, but the caffeinated kind to keep me going. The door was still cracked, and I wondered if Sasquatch was trying not to butt in or if he thought I should remain as stoic as he did whenever people rattled off their opinions, unappreciated or not.

“Oh. You don’t know.” Sam huffed a laugh, one that was unquestionably at my offense, and a strange ringing filled my ears. “Alphas can’t take human mates. Lovers, occasionally, but werewolves are a dying breed. If we mate with a human, there’s only a fifty-fifty shot that the offspring will be lupine, and they definitely won’t be strong enough to ensure the future of our race.”

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