Page 71 of Wolf Bonded (Rejected Moons 2)

“You don’t understand,” she says, shuddering slightly. “You don’t have any idea what it feels like, being around him—”

“It’s like wanting to tear your own skin off,” says a voice.

We all turn toward it. I grab Emlyn automatically and push her behind me, and I feel Milo catch her and pull her back.

A man steps out of the trees.

I don’t recognize him. But apparently the others do.

Nate snarls and paces toward him. Behind me, I hear Emlyn whine.

“Victor,” Milo says.

So this is Victor.

He’s shorter than I am but brawny. His bare torso is scarred. His face is set in what’s probably the same expression he wears all the time—one of superiority and dislike.

“Another hybrid?” he asks, looking at me. “Are you the one who tried to kill me?”

“Seems to me like you have bigger problems than me today,” I say. “We’re just here for Emlyn. You and I don’t have to fight.”

He laughs unpleasantly. “Oh, that ship’s sailed, Moon Sucker. We’re going to fight. You’ve got no way out of it now.”

“Do you really think you can take all four of us?” Milo asks quietly. “You’re outnumbered. We don’t want to kill you.”

I want to kill him,I think. A snarl from Nate lets me know that he’s thinking along the same lines.

“I’m not outnumbered,” Victor says. “Though I know you’d like to think so.”

“There are four of us here, and only one of you,” I say. “This is your last chance to let us walk away.”

In response, Victor whistles.

I don’t know what that means. Is it some kind of wolf thing? I look at Emlyn, but she looks just as mystified.

And then I see them.

Several pairs of eyes emerging from the trees around Victor. Several long, lean wolves, prowling toward us, herding us back toward the pack’s territory.

Victor advances with them. “You really thought we’d just let you run away?” he asks, his eyes on Emlyn. “You thought we didn’t notice when you freed yourself from the tree? You thought I didn’t see you running?”

Her breathing is ragged. I can hear it. I want to grab her and run. But the wolves are forming into a circle around us.

“We got rid of those other Moon Casters easily,” Victor says. “We can certainly get rid of you.”

“What, you mean to say you killed them?” Nate asks.”

“No,” Victor said. “We didn’t have to. They tucked tail and ran. Knew they weren’t up for a fight with the pack.”

I laugh. “You’re out of your mind,” I say. “You have no idea how powerful those two were. How dangerous their kind are. They left because you didn’t have what they wanted anymore. It’s that simple. They left because we took Emlyn back.”

“Oh, please,” Victor scoffed. “Why would anyone wanther?”

“You did,” Emlyn says quietly.

The tension between them is dark and terrible.

“You of all people should know that we scared them off, Emlyn,” Victor says. “You grew up in this pack. You know all our secrets, don’t you? What was the point of infiltrating us the way you did if you weren’t going to remember anything you learned? How long have you been with these bastards, and you never thought to tell them what strong fighters we were? If they’d had any sense, they would have abandoned you.”

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