Page 33 of Rejected Moons (Rejected Moons 3)

Fine. Whatever. Let him hand out flyers to the whole city if he wants. I still have a leg up because I know Emlyn. I know herintimately. True, we were only together for a couple of days, but we got damn close in that time. I think I can use what I know about her to help me track her down now.

I put my glass down on the bar. Maybe I do it a little harder than is strictly necessary—Paul lets out a cry of exasperation. But he’s used to it. I know that. Everyone in the city comes to Paul’s to get their drinks, so he sees the worst drunken behavior that any shifter has to display. Banging a glass down, not even breaking it—that’s nothing to Paul.

I get to my feet and head out onto the street.

Which way would she have gone?

The best thing I can do to start my search is to go back to the last place I saw her, which is easy enough. It was only a few blocks away. I retrace my steps until I reach the intersection where we separated from one another.

My stomach turns over as I approach, remembering how angry she was the last time we saw each other. Howdisgustedwith me she was for daring to lie to her to get myself out of that cage.

Well, really, what would she have done in my position?

Emlyn is smart and capable. She’s not the kind of woman to leave things to chance, or to let herself be pushed around. If she was locked in a cage, she definitely would have moved heaven and earth to get herself out of it. She would have done whatever was necessary. Telling a little lie—that would have been nothing to her.

How hypocritical of her to act like it was a big deal when I did it.

Yeah, I’m definitely making the right decision, hunting her down like this, turning her back over to her pack. I don’t owe her a damn thing. And she was going to get herself killed anyway, walking directly into a coven of Moon Casters like a crazy person. I’m sure she’s much safer with her pack than she would be doingthat.

I want to shift, but I don’t want to lose my clothes, and carrying them in my mouth would be supremely annoying. I kind of wish she were here right now, with her backpack. She might have been crazy, but that was clever. I’ll have to try to get a backpack like hers at my earliest convenience.

I sniff the air, wondering whether I can pick up on her scent without shifting.

And yes, there it is, the light, citrus flavor of her. It’s old, barely there anymore in the air, and if I wasn’t so attuned to her, I wouldn’t recognize it. But I remember keenly what it was like to be so engulfed in this scent that I thought I might drown in it, to have it all around me and never want to be let go. Her body against mine, her skin damp with sweat, that citrus aroma emanating from her while she fucked me—

Fuck, I’m getting hard just thinking about it.

I shake my head. Maybe doing this after three glasses of Paul’s liquor wasn’t the wisest choice I’ve ever made. I’m having trouble staying focused.

I’m not tracking her so that I can get laid. That’s not what this is. I’m going after her because I want to turn her in and get the reward.

And this is my advantage. I know this scent. No one else knows this scent like I do.

I turn, following it in the direction it’s most strong.

She’s behaving erratically, I realize quickly. She’s not doing what I would have done if I were her. She ducks down an alley almost immediately. It’s as if she’s hiding from something—

And then I smell it.

Wolves.

More than one of them, and they’re strangers to me.

The same ones I smelled when we were in the woods outside of town? I can’t be sure. But maybe.

Are they the members of her pack, come to claim her before I can do it? I’m not sure about that either. But the idea frustrates me. This is supposed to bemybounty. If her pack gets her back before I have a chance to do it, I’ll get nothing.

There’s still a chance I can get to her first. I don’t know what happened along this path. I don’t know if they were able to capture her or not.

I have to find out.

I follow.

Her scent is stronger now—either I’m getting close to her or she was just distressed when she ran by here and giving off more aroma. Possibly both. There’s excitement in the air, too. The wolves think they are about to catch her.

Maybe they are. Maybe I’m wasting my time.

And then—

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