Page 38 of Black Moon

I turned to him with what I hoped was a reassuring smile as I unfolded my slacks and stepped into them. “Yeah?”

“I thought you came alone, but it sounds like half the pack is out there. And the cars...” He turned his head, as though making a mental tally. When he looked back at me again, his voice was even softer than usual, uncertain. “He said you wouldn’t come again. Not after...not after I got the alpha killed.” His giant blue eyes filled with tears, and I could just feel the apology on the tip of his tongue.

My pants barely zipped, I dropped my shirt over the open door of the car and went to wrap Brook in a tight hug. “That’s a lot of bullshit. You aren’t responsible for any of this. You didn’t get anyone killed.” I pulled back and looked him in the eye. “And we will always—always—come for you. As long as there’s a member of this pack alive, we’ll protect each other. That’s what a pack is for.”

Beside Brook, Claudia barked her agreement.

That was when the others came pouring into the clearing, half in wolf form, half on human legs. Zeke was human, and looked ever so slightly less than pleased. “Thought we agreed you were staying home, Alpha?”

“Who cares?” Lane asked. “He got Brook back. Seriously badass, Alpha.”

I glanced at Colt, then back to Zeke, before settling my gaze on Lane. “It wasn’t me at all, actually. Colt saved Brook. He’s the hero of this hour.”

20

Colt

Like it didn’t cost him anything, Linden Grove stood there and let me have the moment. I wasn’t sure I’d done anything more than flirt with trouble and get lucky, but the members of the pack on two legs started grinning at me like I’d done something amazing—not like I was an omega who’d done something cute, but like I was a badass.

The wolves still in their furs were more preoccupied with instinct, sniffing around Brook, nudging him with their noses.

He smelled like Reid and Grove at once, and a bitter, sharp sadness under all that, but he held out his hand and let the wolves of his pack lick his palm and rub their necks against his wrist, trying to fix his scent.

I watched for a second before I remembered they were waiting for me to explain what’d happened and why I was there.

“I heard at The Cider House that you all were going out tonight and figured I’d stick my nose in it. Just in the right place at the right time,” I muttered, though those felt like the wrong words. What kind of “right” anything could there be when there was an omega, crumpled on the ground, bruised and devastated?

“Good on ya,” one of the betas said. “If you hadn’t come out and found him, somebody could’ve gotten really hurt.”

Weird, how relieved, how happy, they all were not to have to fight. Some wolves got antsy, liked to rip and tear when their territory was threatened. The Groves weren’t like that—they’d show up and defend their own when they had to, but they weren’t itching to hurt anyone.

I cleared my throat and shrugged. Truth was, I’d never been the center of attention in any wolf pack—not for anything other than smelling like an omega, being my father’s son, or being desirable. Sometimes my articles started heated debates, but that was usually through a computer screen. This was attention for something I’d done for the pack, and I wasn’t sure how to take the weight of everyone’s stares.

“There was another alpha. Somebody from the Reid pack who helped us. He was out there in the woods tonight, alone with Brook. You said his name was Dante?”

Brook nodded, but he was avoiding my eyes, so I didn’t want to push him to explain any further.

“We got lucky,” I said. “Then Linden showed up to watch our backs while we got out.”

I caught Alpha Grove’s eye, and he was looking at me strangely. There was pride in his gray eyes, and worry, and a million other things weighing on him that I couldn’t begin to guess.

Zeke sniffed, not entirely satisfied with the whole story, but he nodded.

“We’d better get back home. We don’t want to be caught out here when those bastards come after us.”

Brook gave a little shiver, but Claudia nudged him.

“We should take you to the clinic,” Linden said, stepping back from his open car door, grabbing his shirt and buttoning it up.

Too bad, that. He looked fucking good with his golden skin all bare, the broad muscles of an alpha covered in just enough softness that he didn’t look over the top—not like some of those Hulk-ish alphas with their all-meat diets who only wanted to make themselves more intimidating.

Something about the flexing muscles of Linden’s back, the soft steadiness of his hands, made him look like...

Fuck, this was going to sound weird, but the guy looked like life itself. He was a healer, sure, but it was more than that. He was warm and vital, the beating heart of a pack that needed him. Bad.

Skip didn’t stand a chance at taking pack alpha from him.

Unsteadily, Brook got to his feet. Claudia, who was perfectly obvious as a wolf with her warm brown eyes and fierce loyalty, stayed pressed against his side until he climbed into the back seat of Linden’s car.

---