Page 58 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

I blink, confused.

“You have one day,” Victor says. “Tomorrow, I kill you in front of everyone.”

He walks away, leaving me to process what’s just happened.

34

MILO

“Nochange,”Isayto Wilder as I take my seat beside him. “You can go to sleep if you want to. I don’t think Nate is going to stop scoping the place out until dawn.”

“I’m good,” Wilder says. “I don’t think I could sleep if I wanted to.”

I nod. “I probably couldn’t either.”

We’re about five miles away from Emlyn’s pack territory. I’ve just come back from examining the place. They’ve got Emlyn, all right, chained up in iron. Nate, who came with me, is still there, despite the fact that I did all I could to convince him we shouldn’t stay. It’s obvious they’re not planning to kill her tonight. Most of them are asleep, and the few of them who are still awake are drunk off their asses.

I don’t like Nate being there. If they catch his scent, it could cause all kinds of trouble.

But Nate’s strong. He’s a good fighter, and he’s a fast runner. And he knows better than to lead anyone back to our campsite if he has to flee.

In the end, that’s what made me decide that the best thing to do was to come back to Wilder. I didn’t want him to be waiting here without any news.

He’s lying on his back, staring up at the inky black sky. At the place where the moon is supposed to be.

“I hate this,” he murmurs.

“I do too,” I say.

He looks at me. “Do you blame me for it?”

“For the new moon? How could I blame you for that? You don’t control the phases of the moon.”

“Not for that,” he says. “For the fact that I can’t help try to free Emlyn until it passes. I know Nate thinks this is my fault.”

“He doesn’t think it’s your fault,” I say. “He’s just, you know…eager.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

“He definitely would have gotten himself killed trying to save her if we hadn’t stopped him.”

Wilder nods. “You know I’d go in there right now if I thought it was the best idea.”

“And you know I wouldn’t let you or the damn moon stop me if I thought she was in any immediate danger,” I say.

“How did you know they weren’t going to kill her?” he asks.

“I didn’t know,” I say. “To tell you the truth, I was mostly justhoping. But I did think that if they meant to kill her, it wouldn’t have made any sense to take her anywhere. They could have killed her on the spot when they found her.”

“You told me they kidnapped her once before,” he says.

“That was when her alpha mate was alive. He was really caught up with the idea of killing her personally, didn’t want to let anyone else have the privilege,” I explain.

“Why do you think they kidnapped her this time, then?” Wilder asks.

“I don’t know,” I say slowly. “But something must have changed for them. They have some reason for wanting to keep her alive.”

“Do you think I’m right to wait until the moon is with us again before we try to get her out?” he asks.

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