Page 382 of Flirting with Darkness

“Welcome, my friends, my family. We are the Crescent Moon Pack!” their dad called out into the crowd and they returned his call with a round of howls that made my hair stand on end.

“Today we are coming here today to discuss an important matter,” their dad continued, his voice booming out through the clearing. A far more confident and in control man than he had been at lunch where his wife did most of the talking, and by talking I meant spewing hellfire.

“The joining of the Crescent Moon Pack and the Shadow Rock Pack.” he laced his fingers together and held them before him.

All eyes shifted from him to me and I realized that they were talking about the mating Laurie was supposed to do with the Shadow Rock Pack’s leader. I forced myself not to react. I lifted my chin and kept my back straight, pretending like this was any other time on the stage. Except they weren’t looking at my tits — well maybe that guy was — but they didn’t have bills to throw at my feet. They just wanted to see the woman who would join their pack to the rival one. Nothing to worry about there.

Duke squeezed my shoulder.

I glanced up at him, gaining a reassuring smile. I breathed out hard. Nothing to worry about.

“Since my daughter, Laurie,” their leader continued, gesturing back to me. “Has agreed to the mating we can now celebrate the joining the way only wolves can.” He began to unbutton his shirt which started a chain reaction in which everyone began to undress.

“What are they doing?” I asked Duke, leaning into his embrace.

“They’re about to shift,” he whispered back.

“What?” I gasped, leaning away from him, my feet starting to back away from the group. “I can’t be here, Duke.”

But he wasn’t paying any attention to me. It seemed that once the energy of the shift had started it swept up anyone in its path, Duke included.

My eyes widened and my heart jack knifed in my throat. I was so screwed.

8

The people around me began to fall to the ground, their clothing discarded to the side. They didn’t stay naked for long before their bodies were covered in fur and long claws and snouts replaced faces and hands.

I backed up from the group, trying to keep my panic in check. I couldn’t change. Not even if they wanted me to. I wasn’t a werewolf, just a witch pretending to be one.

A hand grabbed me by the elbow and I almost let out a shriek when another hand covered my mouth and pulled me away from the growing crowd of wolves. I fought against my attacker, kicking them and biting at their hand until I was shoved into a small bathroom next to the clearing for campers to use.

Finally released, I spun around and prepared to zap whoever had grabbed me to come face to face with Jax. “You asshole!” I smacked his chest with my hand, my heart pounding in my chest. “You could have just said something. You scared me to death.”

Jax grabbed my hands and pinned them behind me, pressing himself up against my front. His eyes glowed yellow and his teeth elongated but he didn’t shift completely. “Don’t.” The one word came out a low rumbling growl.

“Or what?” I snapped back. “You’ll eat me?”

A huff that sounded like it might have been a laugh responded. “Don’t tempt me.”

“Let me go!” I struggled against his hold, wincing as his grip pinched my skin.

“Not until you understand what you almost did,” Jax snarled, pulling me over to the sink and the large mirror. “If I hadn’t grabbed you then everyone would have smelled what you were. Look at yourself.” He pushed me around to face the mirror.

I stared at the face of Laurie, the panic in her eyes and then annoyance between her brows. “I see your sister.”

“You look like her, sure,” The growl of his voice vibrated across my back. “But you smell like you’ve been rolling around fucking my brother and do you think that’s what our sister should smell like?”

I gaped at him through the mirror. “I do not. My glamour is perfect.”

“It was,” Jax agreed with a grunt. “Until you panicked. Then your glamour dropped faster than your panties did for Cooper.”

“You’re just jealous it wasn’t you.” I snarled at him, pushing my ass back against him and feeling the evidence of his arousal. “See, you want nothing more than to bury your dick in me. Just like everyone else.”

“Drop the glamour, now.” Jax let out a roaring growl and wrapped his hand around my throat, the sudden movement made me release the glamour in a rush. He jerked me back against him until my hips met his. “Why would I want a dirty whore like you? Everything is so easy for you, isn’t it? No feelings involved. Just sex and money. The only thing a filthy little slut like you can understand.”

I groaned at his words, grinding my ass against his hardness. Jax gripped my throat with one hand with just the right amount of pressure so that I knew it was there but I wasn’t in any real danger of him choking me. His other hand grabbed my breast beneath my shirt so tightly that a little squeak came out of me.

“See,” Jax rolled my nipple between his fingers before pinching it until I cried out. “What do you know about feelings? This is all you know.”

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