Page 2 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
“In here.” Dev gestured to a door markedAdministration. “They’ll have some sort of paper records.”
“How very eco-unfriendly of them.”
The office was small, cramped with filing cabinets and a desk that looked like it hadn’t been updated since the eighties. Dev immediately started rifling through the nearest cabinet while I bounced on my toes, the moon making me restless.
“We should stay focused,” Dev muttered, though I caught the way his eyes lingered on my throat.
“I am focused.” I leaned against the desk, deliberately stretching so my T-shirt rode up. “Focused on how good you look in those jeans.”
He shot me a look that was half exasperation, half heat. “You’re impossible.”
“You love it.”
The moon surged again, making us both wince. My skin felt too tight, bones aching to shift. Dev must have felt it too, because he paused, rolling his shoulders.
“As soon as we finish here, we’ll go for a run together,” he promised.
My heart stuttered. Running together meant shifting together. Meant being naked together. But more than that—aside from my brother, I hadn’t run with anyone on a full moon since leaving my Highland pack five years ago.
I needed to do something with my hands before they decided to hell with it and grabbed Dev’s face. The overflowing bin caught my eye. I upendedit onto the carpet, ignoring Dev’s tut of disapproval. Most of it was coffee cups and meeting minutes, but underneath—
“Dev.” My voice came out sharper than intended. “Look at this.”
He crouched beside me, close enough that our thighs pressed together. The paper I’d found was crumpled but legible—a list of names, each with a weird code beside it. P-N. S-V. Some were crossed out entirely.
“I know some of these wolves,” I whispered. “That’s Old Paul from the shelter near Borough Market. And Janie—she usually sleeps rough near Liverpool Street.”
Dev was already pulling out his phone, photographing the document. “What about this?” He passed me another crumpled paper—a delivery note for “specialty restraints” from some company I’d never heard of.
Before I could answer, we both froze.
Footsteps. Heartbeats. Coming closer.
Static crackled through the silence, making my heart leap into my throat. A male voice, tinny through a walkie-talkie: “Second floor clear, moving to admin section.”
An answering beep echoed down the corridor.
“Guards. Two of them.” Dev’s breath tickled my ear.
My hands trembled as I shoved papers back into the bin.Shit. Shit.If we got caught here—if Seb found out—my brief career at Killigrew Street would be over before it began.
“Back door. Now.” Dev gripped my elbow.
“We can take them.” The moon sang in my blood, urging violence.
“Not without risking exposing what we are!”
We crept toward the rear exit, but the moon made my movements jerky, uncoordinated. My hip caught the bin, sending it clattering across the floor. The sound might as well have been a gunshot.
The footsteps pounded toward us. We burst into the corridor, straight into the harsh fluorescent lights—and two uniformed guards.
My heart stopped. The nearest security guard’s hand dropped to his hip, and moonlight glinted off something silver. Handcuffs? A weapon?
Dev shifted slightly, positioning himself between me and the guards. The defensive gesture made my wolf howl inside my skull.
A siren pierced the air. Red emergency lights strobed, turning the corridor into a nightmare disco.
Dev checked his watch, confusion flashing across his face. “That’s not right—”
