Page 61 of Moon Claimed

Hold on.

I—

I lifted a hand to my forehead, steadying myself on the rise behind me. The inferno firing my body was almost painful.

Only one person could help it go away.

Shaking, I looked at Sascha. Black eyes. He was shaking too.

“No,” I whispered.I didn’t want this.This was the mating call. The heat!

Legs folding—or more collapsing—into the kneeling position, I forced my weakened arms to assume the cleopatra position.

The words.

What were the fucking words?

My voice failed me, but I shoved the words out of my raw, aching throat. “Doore koh e baka.”

Shuddering, I crumpled on the shingled ground, unable to help myself as my head slammed into a thick root.

Frantic footsteps.

The mostintoxicatingsmell I’d ever experienced. I inhaled deeply, unable to stop myself.

Hands swept my body, turning me.

“Andie. How—?” Horrified honey eyes stared down at me, and I was too tired to look away.

His hands trembled as he gathered me in his arms.

“Beautiful wolf, what happened?” He sounded close to tears, and a fat tear of my own slipped unbidden over my temple.

I shivered as he cradled me closer. “You weren’t meant to find out.”

Black closed in on his vision and I watched him battle it back, more than aware,now, of the war raging within him. Sascha didn’t completely win. Gravel rode his voice hard. “The wolf in Water did this? This is why you hid from me and changed your mind about the meets.”

A furious growl ramped in his chest, and a wrinkle formed between my brows at the way the sound made me feel.

Safe.

In a word, with my new ears, Sascha’s voice waswondrous.

His smell. His touch. The way he sounded.

They made me realise I’d never marvelled before.

I squeezed my eyes shut, repeating, “You weren’t meant to find out.”

“You went through your first shift alone.” He sounded broken beyond words. “You could have died. You should be dead.”

That opened my weary eyes again. “Really?”

“A wolf can’t shift without their alpha in attendance. The entire pack usually calls to the new wolf to help them. But I have no link to your Luther form.” His expression blanked. “Your wolf is a sigma.”

Clever cookie. Knew he’d put two and two together. “She is.”

He squeezed me to him gently. “Do you know how lucky you are? Any other status and you’d be dead.”