Page 63 of In the Light of the Moon

“This land is mine. Leave.”

One of the members, shorter and thicker than the others, piped up, “Bullshit. We’re the rightful guardians of this land.”

I barked a humorless laugh, “If it were yours, you wouldn’t have to fight so hard to convince me. My line stretches back to the first who became pack on this land. No matter what you say, it is mine.”

Graham scoffed, but I felt the wave of his Leader pheromones wafting toward me. They just made my body ready further for an attack. “I do you a courtesy, Unpacked. You and your fe?—”

“You don’t speak of her,” I roared and felt the prickles of fur sprouting on my arms, my face. “You harass my mate, the one I have claimed. You are no respectable Leader. Your pack has allowed themselves to be fooled. ButIam no fool. Leave or Iwillkill you.”

That got the others going, and in a blink, we all were half shifted and crouched. My eyes began to dart over the group, calculating whether I’d be able to lunge at Graham successfully and without being too injured. When I’d refused those years ago, I was assured that I’d be left alone as long as I didn’t run onpack land. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Graham wasn’t keeping his promise.

His voice was as twisted as his face, now somewhere between a wolf and a man’s. His deep brown fur was beginning to cover his body, and I knew that we were just a flinch away from clothes ripping and Wolves lunging. “You have notclaimed. She is no mate. Become pack or leave this land, White One.”

My shirt began to rip, growing and shifting muscles flexing too large for the fabric. One of Graham’s Wolves, a male with blond hair and pale brown fur, shifted completely, and the rest were nearly there. The air around us was thrumming with snapping energy, and I was barely holding on. The shifted Wolf was baring his teeth along with the others, and Graham was letting it happen. What changed, I didn’t know, but I wouldn’t let them get to Sylvie, and they certainly weren’t leaving now.

I drew a breath, about to settle into the shift when an onslaught of rage overtook my senses. But instead of coming from myself or the group before me, it rushed from the house, then continued forward. I watched in horror, shift stalled completely, as my mate charged between us.

She wore my sweatshirt, hem reaching the middle of her thighs, and brandished a large kitchen knife. But her scent, gods, it was wrath and fiery power. She stalked, legs and feet bare, until she stopped right in front of Graham. “Get thefuckout of here, or I won’t hesitate again.” Another Wolf shifted, leaving just Graham and the pup on two feet. Sylvie didn’t even flinch with the snarls around her, nor did she when I tried to pull her back. Her skin was hot to the touch, and her little body didn’t budge.

“Get your bitch, Unpa?—”

“We said toleave,” Sylvie screamed and shoved Graham at his chest. The Pack Leader actually yelped, falling back a step, and I watched, eyes wide and body shaking, as his claws sunkback, and his fur disappeared. Doubled over and panting, he looked up with hate in his eyes, but the other pack members retreated a few paces. They were still growling, but their wariness flooded the space between us.

The pup made to take a step forward, but the snarl let loose from my mouth made him freeze. My mate’s power was dripping off her, and with it beside me, I felt even sharper.

Sylvie lifted the knife in her fist, “Jasper. Take your leader and your pack and get off my mate’s land. You are not welcome here.” She lowered her gaze to the leader in question, “And if you come near me or my mate again, I will gut you. Don’t fucking test me.”

We stood silent and ready while the pack members darted their eyes around, trying to assess what to do. Graham straightened himself and looked to me, but before he could open his mouth, I growled in warning. His nostrils flared, and for a moment, I thought he would shift and attack anyway. But another wave radiated from Sylvie, her power dark and burning and unlike anything I’d ever felt before. For all I knew, he wasn’t able to shift right now with what Sylvie had done to him.

Graham resorted to spitting at our feet and turning on his heel. The others followed suit and stalked behind him on two or four legs. They walked into the trees in the direction of town, and I refused to look away, to let my guard down, until their scent trail was lost to the forest.

The air was bitingly cold, something I hadn’t noticed until my rage began to subside. “Baby?” Sylvie’s voice was soft again, so far from how she sounded when she faced down the Pack Leader. I hesitated for a moment, not wanting to look away from the darkness of the wood, but there was only the soft rustling of bare tree branches and scuttling of peaceful animals.

Soft skin cupped my jaw, and I nuzzled into the touch. “You’re so beautiful,” she whispered, and I met her gaze. Hereyes roved over my face, my body, and I realized that I was still half-shifted, the tatters of my shirt barely clinging to my body.

My lids clenched shut, and I pulled her into my chest. I scented at her mark, feeling that she was here with me, and a small, pitiful noise escaped my throat. “You were supposed to stay inside, mo ghrá.”

“I know, but I couldn’t.” I gave another grumble, and she clung to my back, pulling me tighter.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Sylvie

Orion had insisted on nearly carrying me back into his house, and now, he thrusted a steaming mug of cider into my hands. I accepted and reclined back on his couch.

Whatever I’d done to Graham had sapped a lot of my energy, or maybe that was just the adrenaline rush I’d had when I decided I couldn’t listen to what they were saying any longer. It almost hadn’t felt like me when I grabbed the knife and flung open the front door. The only thing I’d been afraid of was them hurting Orion. Nothing else mattered, but something in me must’ve known what to do, because, not only had I stopped Graham from shifting, but I’d reversed the partway shift entirely.

I took a sip from the mug, and the tart warmth made me shiver. Orion sat on the coffee table in front of me, arms resting on his legs, and he looked more relaxed and tenser all at once. He seemed looser, maybe? Now that I knew what he was.

And he was still a bit upset with me for inserting myself in the middle of a Wolf fight.

“That was very dangerous, Sylvie,” he said for the third time. After his immediate relief that Graham and his pack left, and that we were all right, Orion soon turned grumbly over me being caught in the crossfire. When I argued that it had been my decision, he gave me an exasperated harumph like an annoyed hound.

If I weren’t coming down from the rush and a little irritated with him, I would have laughed. “Iknow, baby, but it’s over now. And I feel like we have more important things to talk about.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his messy hair. Instead of changing into a new shirt, Orion just threw away the remnants of his ripped one, and his skin looked warm and inviting in the dim light of the living room. His black tattoos almost eclipsed the pale skin of his arm. “Sylvie. They have already killed at least one person, that we are sure of. I need you to understand that when I tell you to stay in the house, it’s to keep you safe. I know that you’re powerful, but it worries me when you’re in danger.”

“Why were they saying that this is their land?”

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