Page 76 of Rejected Moons (Rejected Moons 3)

“That’s crazy. I can’t do that.”

“Do you want the first time my shield is really tested to be against an enemy?” I say.

He sighs. “You know I don’t.”

“Then throw it. You won’t aim for my head. An enemy would go for the kill.”

“Fine,” he says. “Butfocus.I’d really rather this didn’t hit you.”

I nod.

He draws back his arm to throw—

“What the fuck?”

The rock falls out of his hand. I whirl around at the sound of the voice, but I know who it is before I see him. I would know his voice anywhere.

Nate.

He’s staring at us, his mouth hanging open, and then he strides forward and positions himself between me and Milo.

“Were you going to throw arockat her?” he demands as if he has any right to act protective over me.

I push him out of the way and go over to stand beside Milo. “What the fuck are you doing here, Nate?” I demand. “We already told you, we don’t want anything to do with you.”

“You want to hear what I have to say,” he says. “Your old pack—they’re tracking you. They have been watching you and know about Milo.”

“I fucking know they’re tracking me. Did you think I missed that when I was chained up on a beach?”

“I mean they’ve got your scent right now,” Nate says. “They’re already on their way. I got here first because I ran faster than they’re running. But they won’t be far behind me.”

“Fuck,” Milo breathes. “We’re going to have to face them right now. The sun’s almost right overhead. The moon’s never less visible than now.”

“You’re going to fight them?” Nate asks.

“Just get lost,” I say.

“I’m going to fight them with you,” he says.

“The hell you are.”

“Em—”

“Do you really think that we’d trust you, Nate? After what you tried to pull? Do you really think we’re going to rely on you in a fight? You’re crazy. There’s absolutely no way.”

“I’m not asking you to trust me,” he says.

“We’re not going into a fight with you—”

“Look, you can’t stop me,” he says. “You can’t stop me from fighting against them unless you want to fightme. And frankly, you don’t have time for that because they’re coming now. The fight is going to happennow.Do you want to spend the time before they arrive bickering with me, or do you want to get ready for them?”

“We could try to run,” Milo says, but he doesn’t sound like he means it.

“We shouldn’t,” I say. “We want this fight. And, okay, this isn’t the way we pictured it going down, but we did want it to happen. I say we stand our ground.”

Nate glances at me, and I can see that he knows he’s the element that’s making me feel unsure of what I’m saying.

No need for that, Nate. You chose to be here. And you’re right. We don’t have time to kill you. We don’t have time to run you off. Not right now.

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