Page 14 of Under the Moonlight

“He bit you?” Xander asked impatiently.

“Bit her?” Greer said shrilly.

Jill moved her hand, showing the gushing bite from Pax’s teeth.

“Oh, my God, Jill!”

Xander watched Greer embrace Jill tenderly. Pax hadn’t killed Jill like the others. Instead, he’d bitten her. Changed her into a shifter.

“Greer, you need to step back,” Xander said, calmly.

Greer pulled back, shooting him a look of bewilderment. “What are you talking about?”

How in the hell could he explain to her that stressing Jill out could only make her transition faster without revealing who and what he was?

“She’s been bitten by a were-cougar. We need to keep her calm so she doesn’t shift.”

Dazed Jill was replaced by a woman with wide frightened eyes. “Shift? I’m going to shift?”

“Sooner rather than later. I need to get you somewhere safe so no one sees you. It can be a very painful process, and not all humans are shifter friendly.”

“How do you know he was a were-cougar?”

Xander faced Greer, seeing the suspicion in her eyes.

“I’ll explain everything once we get her to safety.”

Xander was surprised she didn’t argue more. Greer kept her arm around Jill’s waist and he followed behind them, listening intently to their surroundings. He needed to be ready in case Pax or Dakota jumped him.

Not that he thought they had stuck around. Whatever their little game was, they obviously wanted Jill alive and him twisting.

But he had no connection to Jill, except through Greer, so why was she targeted?

“My truck is this way,” he said.

Xander moved ahead, leading the way. He helped Jill into the back and when Greer would have joined her, Xander stalled her with a hand on her shoulder. “You’re up front.”

“The hell I am, she’s my friend.”

“And if she shifts, I want you away from the action.”

Greer’s mouth turned mulish. Xander was sure she would force him to pick her up and lift her into the front.

Instead, she huffed. “Fine, but only because you owe me an explanation.”

He closed the door on Jill and opened the passenger side for Greer, who didn’t even look at him as she climbed inside.

When he finally got into the cab and turned the key, Jill started hyperventilating. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”

“What’s wrong?” Greer asked.

“I need a mirror!” Jill cried.

Greer flipped down her visor and Jill wiped at her bloody neck.

“The bite! The bite’s gone.”

Greer’s horrified gaze flicked back and forth between him and Jill. “How is that possible?”

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