Page 27 of Under the Moonlight

The two of them headed into the kitchen and dumped their paper plates into the trash on their way out the front door. The minute the wood closed, she turned to face him.

“Why won’t you let them help you?”

He seemed surprised she would ask that. “Like I said, it’s my fight.”

“But it’s two against one. At least if you took Clyde, Derrick, and Luke, the odds would be in your favor.”

“No. I can do this on my own.”

“I don’t want you to,” she snapped.

“This isn’t about you, Greer. This is shifter business and you don’t know the first thing about it.”

Greer tried to hold back her tears as his words cut her to the core. Not that he was wrong; she didn’t understand his world.

She wanted to, though, and he wouldn’t even give her a chance.

“I think I’m going to head home tonight,” she said.

“I’m sorry.” He tried to reach out to her, but she backed up. “I really am. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. You can be mad at me, but I can’t let you go home alone.”

“I won’t be. I’ll ask Jill and Dereck to come with me. I’m sure they’d enjoy a little time to get to know each other better.”

He drew back. “Jill and Dereck?”

Greer discreetly wiped at her eyes and sniffed. “Yeah, they’ve been giving each other the eye all night. And since I looked it up and there’s no law against interspecies mating, I figured why not give them a chance?” She met his gaze again. “Someone deserves to get lucky tonight.”

“Greer…” He tried once more to pull her to him, but she evaded his grasp.

“You don’t owe me anything. We met four days ago. Just because we have some amazing chemistry doesn’t mean we’re meant to be. You’ve got your mission and I’ve got my life to get back to.”

She stepped around him and opened the door a crack before she looked at him over her shoulder. “I hope when it’s all said and done, getting your revenge keeps you warm at night.”

Then she stepped back inside the house, but it didn’t warm the chill of her heart.

18

Greer sat in the back seat as Jill drove, letting Dereck sit in the front. The two of them were just a couple of chatty-Cathy’s as they got to know each other. When she’d walked back into the house and Jill had seen her face, Greer knew her best friend was about to find Xander and rip into him.

Greer had shot her a pleading look and invited her and Dereck to stay with her. Luke had tried to tag along, but Clyde had shut that down quick.

When they’d walked outside to the car, Xander had been nowhere to be found.

Jill and Dereck kept trying to draw her into the conversation, but Greer ignored them. She was too furious and hurt to think about anything but what an idiot Xander was.

He was willing to take on Pax and Dakota alone and possibly die all so that he could get his precious revenge? It was idiotic, to say the least, but she wasn’t going to berate him or try to change his mind. Whatever made her think she had the power to show him that this crazy thing between them didn’t happen often, no matter what romance novels and movies portrayed. There was such a thing as soul mates, but they were rare and could be lost easily if they weren’t recognized.

She’d gone from scared of forever with Sam to picturing a future with a man she barely knew. She’d officially lost her damn mind.

Well, Greer was done fighting for something between them. If he couldn’t pull his head out of his ass, then she was over it.

Jill was pulling through the stop sign on Moonbeam when suddenly, high beams flashed through the right-side window just before something slammed into the car. She screamed in terror as the sound of crunching metal and broken glass echoed in the tiny space.

Greer’s whole body jerked as she was thrown to the right then the left. The seat belt tightened across her chest, making it a struggle to breathe.

When the car finally stopped moving, Greer’s head spun. She heard Dereck whispering to Jill.

“Go. Shift. Get help.”

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