Page 8 of Moon Claimed

3

I parked Ella F outside the riverside apartment. The short time spent living in town and making my own way atThe Densbefore werewolves existed haunted me.

Stewards were at dawn training, and this was officially the first chance I’d had to get out of the manor. People were always around, asking questions, clamouring for my thoughts, wanting something.

I just needed one hour of alone time. Especially with the Tuesday night gathering tonight. If I didn’t decompress somehow, I’d end up shaving my head or something.

I walked up the stairs and down the hall, then stood in the doorway, studying the small, open-plan space.

Yep.Really fucking bittersweet.

And I just needed to get over it.

First step, moving out.

Wade and Cameron transferred my clothes to the manor after Herc’s death, but everything else was here. Setting the flattened boxes on the table, I set to work.

Stripping the bed, I shoved the load in the washing machine and made up the boxes. Everything would fit in Ella F—the only new additions were the cleaning and cooking supplies. I couldn’t quite bear to leave them behind after having forked out the money for them.

Habit was still a big bitchhole.

Packing felt the same as emptying the house after Mum’s death.

Like I was touching someone else’s stuff.

This Andie played saxophone at a bar and had normal problems—well, mostly normal. I glanced at the saxophone case on the two-seater couch. After the will reading, I gave it to Wade to ditch here.

That was part of old Andie’s life too. She’d played it for her mother.

Tearing my gaze from the instrument, I boxed my few books and threadbare towels.

The floor creaked.

Heart leaping into my throat, I whirled to find a man in the doorway.Him.How the fuck did he have the audacity to show his face here?

Sascha Greyson, dressed in jeans and a forest-green flannel shirt, looked at me from across the room.

“You aren’t this stupid,” I told him.

He took a breath.

Oh? Hewas.

“Get out. This is an unsanctioned meeting.”

The Luther stepped into the room instead. “And when the marshals ask why I came to your apartment, will you tell them what nearly happened on that bed two weeks ago?”

His face between my legs.

Not that anythingdidhappen, but what went down was without doubt the most erotic experience of my life. Every time I relived it, I felt like a disgusting piece of shit.

I set the full box on the dusty kitchen table. “That’s a mighty bluff. The truth would be just as bad for your people as mine.”

“My people know everything,” the werewolf said without missing a beat.

There was a reason I didn’t try to best him with words. “You could try it, I suppose.”

“You know I won’t.”