Page 24 of Forsaken By Night

“Everything you see is available to you twenty-four seven,” Katina said as they walked past an empty pool table. “It’s usually busier here, but it’s the new moon, so everyone is off feeding and fu—”

“Ah, there you are.” Hunter’s deep voice boomed through the room, and Tehya spun, heart racing in anticipation of seeing Lobo.

She’d barely laid eyes on him before he was crossing to her in quick, long strides. He’d showered, his damp hair raked back and wildly unruly, and he wore a pair of well-fitting worn jeans made for slim hips and powerful thighs. Fresh bandages crisscrossed his shoulders and disappeared under a black tank top that showed off every ropy muscle. Every female hormone danced in appreciation as he hauled her into his arms.

“You okay?” He buried his face in her neck and held her so tight she couldn’t escape if she’d wanted to. Which she didn’t.

“I’m fine.” She inhaled, taking in the comforting scent of him. God, she loved how he smelled. Like trees and moss, with a subtle hint of musk. “I’ve been worried aboutyou.”

He pulled back and glanced over at the doorway, where Hunter was talking with Katina, Riker, and someone Katina referred to as Jaggar. Then, without warning, Lobo took her by the arm and spirited her into the connecting room packed with arcade games and another large-screen TV. Where the hell did they get all of this stuff anyway?

“What are you doing?”

In answer, he pushed her up against the side of the classic Pac-Man game, the long, lean length of his body covering hers. “I don’t know what’s going to happen after this, but I want you to be happy.”

“Then why do you sound so sad?” In his eyes, hooded and shadowed, she saw the reason, and it speared her in the heart. “This sounds like a good-bye. It is, isn’t it?”

He dropped his face to hers so their foreheads touched, reminding her of all the times he’d done that when she was a wolf. He’d been so free with his affection, and it seemed that nothing had changed. Which made what he said next all the more awful. “I think it has to be. For now.”

What a load of bullshit. “I won’t live here without you,” she swore. “You can’t make me.” She didn’t give a crap that she sounded childish. At this point, she’d suck on a pacifier if that’s what it took to change his mind.

“It’s for the best,” he said, spewing more bullshit. But it was bullshit he wasn’t going to back down from, and she knew it.

Desperation made her, well, desperate, and she clung to his biceps, clutching him as if doing so would stop this from happening. “I’ll turn back into a wolf. Somehow, I’ll figure out how. We can be like it was before.”

A heartbreaking sound of misery rattled in his throat. “Neither of us wants that, and you know it. You need the kind of life that only MoonBound can give you.”

“These are the people who threatened to kill you, Lobo.” She cast a furtive glance at Hunter, who was idly bouncing a Ping-Pong ball in his palm as he talked with a growing group of people who were extremely well armed. “They hurt you and then abandoned you. How can you say that I should stay here?”

He stroked his hand over her hair the way he’d petted her fur when he wanted to calm her down. It made her mad that it worked.

“What happened was a long time ago.” His voice was calm. Controlled. Too controlled. She could smell the emotion in him. The conflict. “Hunter was different then. The clan was different. Trust me, it’s safe for you here. And with everything going on in the human world, belonging to a clan is what you need.”

Wrong. He was so wrong. She wasn’t a pet to be passed around. “I won’t stay here, Lobo. Not without you.”

“Damn it, Tehya.” Cracks in his tight control made his voice pitch low. “You need to stay.”

“I’m not a dog,” she ground out.

“If you were, this wouldn’t be an issue. You’re a vampire. Vampires aren’t safe on their own. That’s why clans work so well. It doesn’t have to be forever. But right now, you need to stay here.”

Never. She was about to say as much when Baddon, Takis, Aiden, and a male she didn’t recognize rushed into the room, their expressions grim. Baddon looked like he’d been chewing on an electric fence. She’d done that once. Not recommended.

She and Lobo joined the group as Baddon spoke up. “Su’Neena is gone.”

“What do you mean, gone?” Hunter stopped bouncing the Ping-Pong ball. “Did you search the compound?”

Baddon gave a curt nod. “I’ve got people still searching, but I’d bet my left nut the search won’t turn up anything. I checked her quarters—looks like she left in a rush.”

“She knows.” Lobo cursed. “She knows I’m here, and she probably suspects that I’ve told the truth about her.”

“Excuse me,” Tehya interrupted, “but who is Su’Neena?”

A muscle in Lobo’s jaw twitched with anger. “She’s responsible for me getting kicked out of the clan. And she tried to murder me a couple of times.”

This time it was Hunter who cursed, his hand closing on the little ball so hard it crumpled. Too bad it wasn’t this Su’Neena person’s skull.

“Send out a search party,” Hunter growled. “Hurry. If she makes it to ShadowSpawn before we catch her, she’ll be lost to us.”

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