Page 135 of Moon Claimed

He wasn’t my enemy.I disagreed.

Then why does he smell like spice?

I don’t know. He may not have been the father or uncle I believed him to be, but he wasn’t evil.

Was anyone truly evil?

Ragna wasn’t evil, though others looking in might have made that judgement. Rhona wasn’t evil, though she’d done a terrible thing. I wasn’t evil, though my lies grew bigger by the day.

Gathering my memories of that night, I pushed everything at my wolf, showing her what happened. Seemed stupid not to share these things when we were in the same mind and body.

You were very angry,she said.

Part of me stillwasangry at Sascha over the loss of a family member I didn’t get a chance to know. Even though I didn’t blame him. Talk about messed up.

My anger was directed inwardly, too, and at Herc for bringing the gun.

You’re angry at your mother,she whispered.

I didn’t answer.

Most of all,she added.

I don’t want to talk about Ragna. Can I have the senses now?

She handed over control without a word, and we started back, a delicious tiredness filling our legs.

Spice.

I wrinkled our nose, trying to get rid of Herc’s smell.

That’s not Herc.She dropped us to the forest floor.

Our ears twitched at the sound of movement behind us.Spice.Growing stronger. Fast.

Too fast!

Go,I urged.

My wolf burst upward, moving from stationary to a full sprint in seconds. We raced around the Sandstone quarry and through Thana Reserve toward the road.

The wolf was heavier—a male, but nowhere near the weight of Sascha which meant our speeds were matched too closely for comfort.

Forcing ourselves to maintain the sprint that was by no means comfortable for our endurance-inclined body, we stuck to the road for a time.

Claws on gravel.He’d reached the road too.

We abandoned the route in favour of the bush. We were more agile than him in denser terrain.

We’ll follow the river, she panted.We’ll be lighter on the loose pebbles and the way is easier.

He’s gaining.How far away from the car are we?

We can’t keep up this sprint the whole way back. He’ll struggle to manage it, too, but we’ve been running for hours already.

No shit.

Should we call for Sascha’s help?I could tug at the bond again or howl. Except after what Rhona did in Clay, asking him for help felt… icky. I’d made my stance on anything between us clear. I couldn’t just mess with that whenever my life was in danger.