Page 1 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

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EMLYN

“We’renotgoingtotrust this guy, are we?” Nate whispers in my ear.

I glance over at Milo, hoping he hasn’t heard. But he’s not looking at us. His jaw is clenched so tightly that I’m worried he must be grinding his teeth into oblivion.Then I look at Wilder. The newcomer. The stranger. He’s tall and slender, his hair stick straight and so sleek it almost shines. If you had to spot the person in this group who wasn’t a wolf, you would pick him every time.

At least Nate is making an effort to cope with this turn of events. I feel like Milo isn’t trying at all.

“I don’t trust him,” I whisper back to Nate. “This isn’t about trusting him. But you know that I’ve been trying to find a coven of Moon Casters since before you and I met. Now I have the chance to.”

Nate frowns and says nothing.

“He saved us from my pack, Nate,” I say reprovingly. “He didn’t have to do that, you know. We were losing that fight. We’re probably only all still alive because he stepped in.”

Nate looks at me shrewdly. “So you do trust him.”

“I trust him not to kill us,” I admit. “Because if he wanted us dead, all he had to do was step aside, and Victor and the rest of my old pack would have done it for him.” I shiver slightly, remembering that fight, and the way my alpha mate bond pulled me toward Victor, made me ache to rip off my clothes for him even as he was trying to kill me. “I don’t trust himcompletely,” I add, shaking off thoughts of the fight. “But I don’t need to do that. It’s not like I’m confiding my innermost secrets in the guy. It’s not like—”

“Get down!” Wilder yells suddenly.

I drop to my belly immediately—and, to my surprise, Milo does too. He might not like or trust Wilder, but there was something in him that responded immediately to that order.Maybe it’s a Moon Caster thing?It didn’t feel like an alpha’s command. Do Moon Casters have some other way of giving orders effectively?

A split second later—he does have excellent reflexes—Nate throws himself to the ground too.

It’s just in time.Somethingpasses over our heads. I’m not looking up, of course, so I don’t see anything, but it feels like a giant bird has just flown over me, so close that I’m surprised I haven’t been whipped by its feathers. Did we get dive-bombed by an eagle or something?

No.

I see them now. Two of them. Figures in dark cloaks.

I can’t see their faces. I can’t see whether they have the strange markings that look like they carved the shape of goblets into their own skin. But there’s something about them that makes me sure these are the same people Milo and I encountered when we were alone in the woods. Maybe not the same individuals, but belonging to the same group.

Wilder throws out his hands, and this time, the rush of air moves away from us. In the distance, our enemies stagger slightly.

I think about what Milo has taught me about defensive magic. About shielding.

It’s so hard to stay calm when you’re under attack. It’s so hard to relax and let the power of the moon flow through you, which is what Milo told me I needed to do. I can’t even feel the moon out there. And maybe that’s because it’s day, and maybe it’s because it’s the waning moon—but maybe it’s just because I’m only half Moon Caster myself, and no one ever raised me to understand this part of my life and my power.

Still, I try. I close my eyes and do my best to let lunar power fill me up.

And I do feel something. A kind of warmth, maybe, starting at my core and spreading outward to my extremities.

I focus on Wilder.

This doesn’t come naturally at all. I’ve used my moon magic to defend myself, and to try to protect my mates. Nate and Milo feel as close to me as a part of my own self. But Wilder—he’s a stranger. It feelswrongto use my power for his benefit. It feels like working for someone who doesn’t give a damn about me.

He can get me to a coven. He can help me find answers.

I project my shield outward. He is someone that I need to protect.

As I reach out for him, I feel my power grow, like a river running into another river that joins it and makes it flow faster and stronger. I gasp at the sensation.

“Keep going,” Milo says through clenched teeth, and I realize he’s the one helping me. Whatever he might think about the idea of trusting Wilder, of going back to meet Wilder’s coven, he’s working with me to do this. He’s on my side.

“He’s shielded,” a stranger’s voice spits. It’s high-pitched and cold.

“He’s got hybrids,” another voice says.

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