Black Moon (Colors of the Moon #4)

Chapter 2

One second I was staring into a pair of unfamiliar brown eyes and in the next there was nothing but the cold winter air shimmering above me. I blinked, trying to figure out what had happened when a muffled choke screeched from somewhere beyond my feet.

I jumped into a sitting position and my eyes landed on the handsome stranger. He had his muscular hand wrapped around a she-wolf's throat; the same she-wolf who for some reason had felt a need to knock me off my feet.

Mate, Edria repeated the word in the same disbelieving whisper.

"You dare harm my mate?" His voice was nothing like the soft whisper I had first heard from him. Now, his voice was laced with a sharp edge that had Edria purring in delight.

The she-wolf's complexion turned bluer with each second that ticked by, but I found myself unable to move. All I could see were his dark eyes and the way his arm muscles flexed while he tightened his hold.

He's strong. Edria grinned inside my mind. Our mate is a strong Alpha.

"That's enough." Blake's voice cut like a whip through the silent forest. "Let her go."

"No," my mate growled. "She tried to hurt my mate."

"It was a mistake, right Maggie?"

For a second I thought that Blake had forgotten my name. When I tore my eyes away from my mate, however, I discovered that Blake wasn't looking at me. Instead, he had his eyes focused on my mate and the woman still hanging in his hold.

"She's a Red Moon warrior in training." He stopped right next to my mate, yet made no move to touch either him or the she-wolf.

For two further heartbeats my mate continued to choke the life out of the she-wolf before he loosened his grip. She crumbled to the ground in a messy heap, but the second her butt touched the cold ground, she scurried farther away.

"I'm sorry," she squealed in a high-pitch. "I... I'm a part of the border patrol and I caught her—"

The she-wolf glanced in my direction, but a low growl from my mate had her squeezing into a tight ball.

"Seriously, Maggie?" Ren stalked closer to her. "You're a Red Moon warrior in training. Act like one."

"I'm sorry Lu—I mean Ren." The she-wolf scrambled to her feet.

One glance back at my mate, however, had her sprinting away as if a rogue were chasing after her.

"I thought she had made some fucking progress, but look at her." Ren spit after the fleeing she-wolf. "I need to beat some sense into her."

"She deserves—" my mate began.

"It's okay," I finally stepped in and rose into a standing position.

My mate's brown eyes snapped over to me the second the first sound left my lips. His cold features melted into a welcoming smile and I felt my lips following his lead.

He shook off the black jacket he was wearing and diminished the distance between us. He wrapped the warm material around my shoulders, which reminded me that I was still dressed in nothing but a pair of strapless rompers.

"Thank you, Bob."

I froze the second the name left my lips. This didn't sound right. His name on my lips was supposed to send tingles down my body, yet all I felt was an empty cold. Something wasn't right.

Before I could draw in a second breath, however, Ren burst in a loud laugh. Because I had never seen the Red Moon Luna show such an open display of mirth, I didn't know how to react. I glanced to Blake to see if he knew what was wrong with his mate, but he was holding back a laugh as well.