Page 32 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

She shifts in mid-stride and skids to a halt before me. “They’re coming,” she gasps. “They’re right on our heels.”

“I know. Take my hand.”

She does.

“Reach for the moon.” I have no idea if she knows how to do this. “We’re going to drive them back together.”

The wolf wheels around and takes a point position in front of us, snarling, as the first of the Ravagers appear on the landing.

The moon’s power fills me again.

Emlyn’s hand is tight in mine.

And I let out a gasp because I’m feeling something I’ve never felt before.

The power of the moon crashes through me like a wave. Emlyn lets out a soft cry beside me—I know she feels it too. We are in sync in a way I’ve never been with Regine. We’ve unlocked a different level of magic, and it’s overwhelming.

The Ravagers are frozen where they are.

They’re starting to fall back.

“Send them off,” I breathe. It feels like magic is leaving my body through my lungs when I speak, I’m so full of it.

I’m aware of every inch of Emlyn’s body beside me as if she were an extension of myself. I have never been so completely attuned to another person.

Fuck, I can even feel the wolf within her. It’s weird.

It’s hot.

The Ravagers are leaving.

Emlyn’s mate follows them down the stairs, snarling. I hear the sound of him even when the crashing and yelling of the Ravagers is finally gone.

I don’t want to release Emlyn’s hand, but I do.

She’s staring at me as if she’s never seen me before.

And in that moment, I know that the time has come for me to leave my coven behind.

I’ve found somewhere I belong much more naturally than I ever could here.

18

NATE

“Themooniswaxing,”Wilder says, staring up at it with his hands on his hips.

Emlyn is lying on her back with her head on my shoulder, so I feel it as she turns her attention to the moon too. “That’s good,” she says. “Better for us.”

“Do you think we can go back into the city now?” Wilder asks.

“I’m not wild about the idea,” I say. I’m not exactly eager to face Ravagers again. And they rarely leave the city, because they need fresh meat, and because cities are the natural habitat of humans—which is what they are, at their core.

Of course, Moon Casters are also human at their core. It makes sense that Wilder is uncomfortable out in the woods. But as for me, I’m in my element here.

Milo, who’s stoking the fire, doesn’t look up when he answers. “Maybe it’s time for us to talk about going back, Nate,” he says. “We’ve been out here for a week now. The Ravagers have probably gone back to their tunnels.”

“I’m sure they have,” I say. “I’m also sure they’ll come back out at the first sign of a meal.” These three don’t know what it’s like. I’m the only one who was almostkilledback there. I’m the only one with scars on my arms and my back from human teeth. So, no, I don’t want to go back yet just because Wilder is feeling homesick. Not until we have a plan.

---