Kissed By Moonlight

by Adrianne Brooks

  * * * *

  “Why?” I seethed. “Why would they go back there, knowing it’s where we were taken?”

  I’d left Asrai with Sonya back at BB’s with strict instructions to head to my apartment if they didn’t hear back from us in a few hours. Sonya let us use her Camaro, and once again I found myself in the passenger seat while Gabriel broke every traffic law known to man.

  The only reason why Gabriel wasn’t driving stark naked is because Sonya had an extra set of fatigues in the backseat. Whereas they had been roomy on Sonya, they barely fit him. But at least the funny section was no longer the only thing standing between me and Gabriel’s dangly bits.

  His foot pumped the gas, but for the first time I wasn’t silently praying for him to slow down. Instead, I was bouncing in my seat and wishing that Sonya’s Camaro was just a little bit faster. I don’t know why I was so invested in the safety of the Pack. As far as I knew I’d never met any of them, and what interaction I had with them had been overshadowed by violence. I shouldn’t care what happened to them…but I did.

  I felt responsible for them, and besides that, I knew how important they all were to Gabriel. That alone would have been enough to turn me into an ally of the Pack no matter our rocky start.

  “Lumière was so essential to the Pack because it doubled as a bunker. A safe house for Weres. There are rooms hidden throughout the building that have been built specifically to hold us during the night of the change.” I thought of his inner office, and was glad that I’d never managed to see the inside of a room that doubled as his prison once a month. “With so many of us living and working in the city it was the only solution to keep us from running wild through the streets. Now that Lumière is under speculation, the next, and only, option is the park. It’s big enough for all of them and has enough wildlife to keep their wolves from wandering back into the city in search of fresh meat.” His jaw tightened. “Going back was a risk, but it was one they were probably willing to take.”

  “This is all my fault,” I moaned.

  “Not all of it. Just some.”

  I looked over at him and saw a dimple flash in his cheek. “You can make it up to me later.”

  I swallowed nervously and looked away.

  The speedometer hit 90 mph and continued to climb.

  Once we were near enough to the park, Gabriel killed the lights and parked on the side of the street. We couldn’t afford to let the Huntsmen hear or see us coming. I still had no idea how many of them there were and suddenly I wished we’d stayed with Sonya long enough to get some intel.

  I got out of the car at the same time Gabriel did, and it wasn’t until I’d gone a few yards that I realized he wasn’t behind me.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He was leaning back against the hood of Sonya’s car, arms folded across his chest. He beckoned me back and I came, eyes narrowing at the look on his face.

  “Phaedra,” he said, soft, sweet. There was regret in the way he said my name, and I shook my head adamantly.

  “I’m coming with you.”

  “You can’t.”

  “You can’t stop me.”

  “Sure I can.” He sounded so annoyingly confident that I bristled.

  “How?”

  “You like Superman?”

  I shrugged, “He lacks the boyish charm of Spiderman, but he’s all right.”

  “I’m like Superman.”

  I rolled my eyes. “This should be good. And who am I? Lois Lane?”

  A solemn shake of his head, and then his hands were tangling in my hair. “You’re kryptonite.”

  The admission was made against my lips and my resistance packed its bags and left the vicinity. When his tongue demanded interest, my head tipped back and I gave it to him. It felt like forever since he’d touched me like this, and the feel of his mouth, his breath, his hands, was like coming home. Like I hadn’t known how to breathe right until he taught me.

  The kiss stole my thoughts and heart and it was only as he pulled away that I was able to find both again.

  “Stay here,” he said, leaning his forehead against my own.

  I swallowed, my chest aching. “What happens if you don’t come back?” My throat got tight at the thought. He finally managed to tug himself away with a sigh.

  “If I don’t come back, go back for Asrai and call the other Alphas. Tell them you’re my mate and ask for sanctuary for you and the girl. They’ll protect you until…”

  “Until what?”

  He shrugged and for the first time began to look more helpless than brave. “Until the Sidhe come and they can’t protect you anymore.”

  I’d boasted about our chances of survival when I’d thought Gabriel would be there to help fight against the Mad Sidhe. Without him I was no longer so sure, and I felt nerves spring to life in the pit of my stomach.

  “What will happen to Asrai if the Riders find her?”

  “They’ll kill her.”

  “And me?”

  He swallowed and looked down. “They’ll probably kill you too. For being my mate. Or they may just turn you into a Rider. For fun.”

  Expressionless, I stared at him until he met my eyes again. “Then I guess that means you better come back.”

  Straightening, he nodded. “I guess it does.”

  Tossing me the keys, he stripped out of his borrowed clothes. Shifting before I had time to ogle any of the good stuff, he took off down the road, the moonlight casting his fur in shades of purest black.

  Then, there was nothing left for me to do but wait.

 

  You choose your allies with care and your enemies with abandon. It should probably be the other way around.

  —Leo Valentine

  Chapter Seventeen