Page 10 of Moon Claimed

“He intended to kill me. Do you know what my death would do to you?”

Ugh.

Considering Rhona had plans to tear Sascha Greyson apart, perhaps I should take notice of this. “What?”

“It would break you.”

Herc’s words came back to me.Your death won’t kill her.

“But my death would kill you,” I mused.

Sascha clenched his jaw. “You hate me that much?”

My upper lip curled. “I don’t hatemyselfthat much. It is good to have the insurance with your killing tendencies.”

Black edged in on the honey. “He would have killed you too, Andie. Maybe not immediately, but in time, once he witnessed your reaction. I trust my wolf’s instincts implicitly. Hercules Thana was dangerous for you. Leaving him alive wasn’t an option. Not with the power he holds in this valley.”

I’d never wanted a protector. I never wanted any of this. “You’re doing so well looking after me, Sascha. Sign me up.”

He flinched. “I will prove myself to you. I will undo the hurt I’ve caused. I swear this to you.”

His hurt was a cool rain on the furious inferno filling my heart.

Nothing I said would get through to this beast.

His eyes searched my face. “You should know a mating call between a Luther and human is unusual. Unheard of in our pack and in others I’ve reached out to. So far as I can tell, you didn’t complete your side of the scent meet. I think it’s because you don’t possess the strength of our senses.”

Good.Something was going my way at last.

“Without it, you can’t make your final decision, and the mating process cannot end.”

My face hardened. “Again. I don’t acknowledge your rituals.”

His jaw clenched. “This isn’t going away, Andie. If an answer exists, we’ll need each other to figure it out.”

Yeah. Snort. I was sure that would work just fine with whatever he had planned for the next meet.

I turned my back on him to slam the boot closed. “How about we skip to the end? You’re unworthy, Sascha Greyson. There’s not a chance in hell I’d ever choose you.”

4

I paced inside Herc’s office, breaths shallow. This was the first time I’d faced the stewards since the day at the lake. They knew I didn’t belong in this position. And like Rhona, they didn’t even know the truth.

I shook my hands out, exhale shaking.

The point of visiting my old apartment was to decompress. After the run in with Sascha, I was a mess.

I couldn’tbea mess.

This was crucial.

Yet trying to not be a mess was just making memoreof a mess.

Fuck.

The door opened, and Rhona stepped in. “Everyone’s here. It’s your turn.”

No.