Page 52 of Wolf Hunted (Rejected Moons 1)

I can’t help smiling at that thought.

Then I turn my attention back to Nate. “So you want to go to the bar?” I ask, repeating what he told me over breakfast.

He nods. “Do you know of it? Paul’s place?”

“Only the men in my pack would have been allowed to go,” I say. “I’ve heard of it, I think. But why are we going there now? I don’t want a drink.”

He raises his eyebrows at me. “Have you everhada drink? If you’re not allowed to go to Paul’s—”

“No, I haven’t,” I say. “But I know enough to know that I don’t want my senses impaired. For all I know, we might find the coven today. I don’t want to go in at less than my best.”

“We’ve got our best chance at finding them if we start at the bar,” Nate says, zipping his backpack and cinching it around his waist. “Paul hears all the gossip. If anyone has had a run-in with a Moon Caster recently, he’ll be able to tell us about it.”

“Sounds good.” I pull on my own backpack and look around one last time. “All right, let’s get going.”

We make our way down the stairs and out onto the street. After last night’s action, everything seems almost suspiciously quiet.

I know there’s nothing to be suspicious of. This is normal. The city streets are always quiet.

I don’t know why I feel so uneasy today.

“The bar is this way,” Nate says, and he turns and leads me away from the building in which we spent the night.

I follow. “How far is it?” I ask.

“Not too far,” he says. “We’ll be there by midday, I think. Even if we travel slowly.”

“Are we going to travel slowly?” It’s certainly not my first choice. I want to find the coven. I want to get the answers I’ve been looking for. I’m not interested in any more delays.

Nate looks over his shoulder. “We can go as fast as you want,” he says.

“You know I’m perfectly capable of keeping up with you.”

“All right, then.”

“Why are you being weird today?”

“I’m not being weird.”

“Yeah, you are,” I say. “You’re being standoffish.” This is the explanation for my uneasiness. “Are you upset with me? Is it about last night?”

“You’re getting all worked up over nothing,” he says. “Areyouupset about last night? I should have known that it wasn’t a good idea to get physical more than once with the same woman.”

I roll my eyes. I’m not going to do this with him. If he wants to pretend that I’m the one who’s acting weird, we can talk later. When he’s ready to be a normal person.

I stride past him, which is stupid because I don’t know which way we’re going. I just want to disrespect him a little, I guess.

As I pass him, I hear a scream.

I stop in my tracks.

The unpleasantness between us forgotten, Nate and I turn to face each other. His eyes are wide. I’m sure mine are too.

That scream sounded human. Not Ravager, buthuman-human.

“Run or go see?” Nate says.

A second scream. It sounds like someone’s in pain.

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