Page 73 of Wolf Hunted (Rejected Moons 1)

When he comes, it’s with a low growl in his throat that seems to bubble up slowly—quiet, but forceful. Then he rolls off of me so that he’s lying on his back beside me, staring up at the sky.

The idea of moving is laughable right now. I lie still, trying to connect with the various parts of my body, letting the feeling come back to them.

My wrists are sore from where he held them. My hip aches from my leg being pinned up the way it was. I think he might have drawn blood at my breast.

All these pains are delicious. I feel marked.

Victor rejected me. He doesn’t want to have any claim on my body. And Nate—Nate never thought of me as his. He was always using me as a means to an end.

But Milo—Milo wants me. Milo claims me.

He seems to have recovered a bit because he rolls back toward me and presses slow kisses against my skin. He traverses my body slowly, lingering at the places he was most rough—my breasts, my hip, each of my wrists.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “I got so carried away. Are you all right?”

“I liked it,” I assure him. “It was good.”

“Yeah?”

“Really good. I like it like that.”

He crawls up my body and kisses me deeply.

I feel safe. Protected. Cared for.

It’s not something I’ve allowed myself to feel very often. It’s not something I ever imagined I could get from a lover.

He runs his hand slowly up and down my back. “I’ve got you,” he murmurs. “I’ve got you, Emmy. You’re safe with me.”

And I know it’s true. Whatever else is out there in the world that wants to kill me—and it’s clear now that there are plenty of things that want to kill me—Milo will always have my back. Milo will always be a place of safety for me.

Chapter 47

MILO

EmlynandIsleepin shifts.

At least, we try to.

The truth is that we’re both so keyed up about everything that it’s hard to sleep at all. When it’s supposed to be my turn to sleep, I spend more time going over and over the things those mysterious Moon Casters said to us. Re-examining their strange clothes and the sigils on their faces in my mind. Trying to figure out who they could be, since they’re like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

When I’m up and Emlyn is supposed to be sleeping, I do my best to keep quiet so that she can get the rest she needs, but it doesn’t really seem to work. Every time I look over at her, her pale eyes are open, glinting in the light of the waning moon.

And I think,those Moon Casters were so powerful during a waning moon. What would they be like if they caught us when the moon was full?

And I think,maybe that’s why they let us go. Maybe they’re biding their time, and they don’t even care about catching us until the full moon. Maybe that’s when they’ll do whatever they have planned.

And in the meantime…I think of Nate’s flyer. If that thing is out there, I’m guessing that Emlyn’s pack drew multiple copies. I’m guessing that a lot of people have that picture now. And all of them will be hunting her.

By the time the sun lifts over the horizon, I’m feeling pretty resolved on what needs to be done.

I’m expecting to have trouble convincing Emlyn of it. After all, theyareher pack. They were her family all her life. But to my surprise, she’s the one who brings it up first.

“I think I have to fight my pack,” she says over a breakfast of fish from the creek.

“You do?”

She mistakes my surprise. “You don’t have to come with me,” she says. “I know it isn’t your fight.”

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