Page 40 of In the Light of the Moon

Mate. When had I begun to think of her as my mate? Before the night in my office, but when I closed my teeth around her throat, it felt like a confirmation. Usually, my days shifted into wolf form left me more clearheaded, but seeing Sylvie laugh and smile at that boy left me wild with the need to claim what was mine. I’d retained enough sense to not pierce her skin, but it’d been enough. My mark and scent were on her, and they’d only need to take one sniff or one glance to know that she was mine.

Graham didn’t back down or begin to submit like the other one had. He shoved back on my chest, but I didn’t let go. “I’mnotholding the witch for anything.Back down.” The air around us began to tingle and warm, but I couldn’t give a single fuck at this point. My anger was egging on his defensiveness, and the shifts were ramping up to tear through us. His eyes were yellowing, starting to deepen in color, and I felt my fingernails start to give way to my claws.

“… acting like a pair of rabiddogs,” a larger zap shocked my side, and my hands dropped from Graham’s shirt. There were little holes where my claws pierced through the fabric. His chest was heaving like mine, fists clenching and unclenching while he tried to keep from half-shifting.

“Now,whatis going on here?” the deeper voice of Chief Thompson boomed across the lobby, but that was all it did. He may have had authority with this town and the humans, but his scent told of who between him and Graham was the Pack Leader.

Graham lifted his chin, seemingly more in control of his Wolf now, “The White One and this witch say you’ve got his mate here unjustly.” Graham looked to his father, who lowered his eyes in deference. His back was turned to the rest of the room, and his shoulders stayed straight, but his scent was laced with submission.

I knew what it felt like to battle for Leader and be beaten. But at least I was given the decency to be exiled and leave the territory. Graham won and kept his father in the pack. So that he could be reminded every day of how he welcomed his estranged son, only for him to take over a few years later. If I weren’t so angry, I would have felt bad for the male.

But to the eyes around us, Chief Thompson was the authority figure, here. “We aren’t holding her unjustly. She’s being questioned as a witness at this point. She is free to go at any time.”

“Then release Sylvie at this moment. I don’t want to hear anything else from you. She helped you find that girl when even your heightened senses couldn’t do the job. You should be thanking her and nothing more,” Sylvie’s grandmother cut her hand through the air to emphasize her point, and the two Other Pack Wolves flinched. She was certainly powerful—I was still feeling the tingling from her chastising blow—and these two knew it.

How powerful would Sylvie be in a few years’ time?

“Now, Ms. Johnson, I understand that you’re upset. And our officers should be finishing up with her soon, but this is a delicate matter?—”

“Unless you want to watch my granddaughter’s mate exact his rightful retribution, you will let her go. Unless you want me to blast you and your wretched son and singe off every stitch of fur you have and may ever hope to grow, you will release her.Now.”

Chief Thompson looked aghast and afraid at the same time, while his son’s eyes started shifting again. I held them, absolutely unmoved by his growing posture of dominance. I’d already made it clear that he would never be my leader.

Graham wasn’t backing down, and his father seemed resigned to the chaos that was going to break out. He wouldn’t go against his pack leader, after all.

“Orion? Granna?” Her melodic voice was scratchy, but her scent was still that cool cherry. With it, too, were hints of my own. The other Wolves took a step back from her, detecting that she belonged to me and me to her.

Her grandmother and I ran forward, and I crushed Sylvie into my chest. I scented at her neck, filling my nose with her and snuffling in her hair while her grandmother ran a hand in circles on her back. Though it was already there, I planted more of myscent onto her with my face running up and down her throat and my hands doing the same on her spine.

She began to squirm a little, so I pulled back, now satisfied that she was physically unharmed and covered in my scent. The mark on her neck was just peeking over the collar of her work t-shirt, and my chest rumbled in satisfaction.

I had a mate. She was everything, and I was going to protect her.

Sylvie leaned back her head, and I descended, giving her a strong kiss to further remind everyone in this gods-forsaken precinct that she wasmine.

When I pulled back, she twisted to put her arm around her grandmother. They embraced, and I took the moment to glance back at the other Wolves. Chief Thompson was conversing with the plain-clothed officers that brought Sylvie out to the lobby, and Graham was eyeing Sylvie’s mark, jaw working.

My body hummed when Sylvie brought her hand to my chest, stealing my attention that was always half on her anyway. Her little nose was wrinkled like she’d caught a whiff of something that stunk, so I brought mine to hers, passing it over in the show of affection she so easily accepted from me.

“All right, son, drive us home.” I could smell the exasperation under Sylvie’s grandmother’s words, and I turned to guide us out of the precinct. When we made it to my car, I opened the doors for both Sylvie and her grandmother and pulled us away from the police station as quickly as I could. My muscles were still trembling, and I breathed, attempting to ground myself and rid the lingering tension. She was safe. My mate was with me, and she was safe.

“‘Son,’ huh?” Sylvie grinned over her shoulder to look in the backseat.

Her grandmother scoffed, “Shut up, sweetheart. You’ve had my nerves completely shot, and I had to stop your boyfriend from throttling that boyandthe Chieftwice.”

“At one point, you were telling me to,” I deadpanned. If I had a temper, Sylvie’s grandmother had one just as bad.

“Be that as it may, explain to me, granddaughter of mine, how you came to find the missing girl.”

Sylvie turned back to face front and grabbed my forearm. I released my hand from the wheel, steering now with just one, and twined my fingers with hers. “She showed me,” Sylvie whispered.

My fingers tightened, but I made myself relax them. I took a deep inhale to calm myself further, and I detected that under her natural cherry and connection to me, the electric warmth of her power felt stronger. It had grown since the last time I saw her.

“You saw the girl’s ghost?” Sylvie’s grandmother didn’t sound surprised. In fact, she smelled as if she were delighted. Proud.

She’d mentioned her witchcraft more and more in the past weeks, but she hadn’t spoken of anything to this extent. I tried to keep the fear and anxiety at bay.

Sylvie’s hair shuddered against the leather seat with her nod, “And talked to her. She said she was murdered.” She swallowed, “And…” her shoulders drew higher, and I brought her hand to my lips. Her tart anxiety was filling the car, and it churned my stomach to know she was feeling unease.

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