Page 23 of Bitten by Bloodmoon (Mateless Shifters #2)

He looks away for a moment, like he’s trying to say something but unsure.

Finally, he says, “Now isn’t the time to make the decision, but you don’t have to stay a Moonlight pack member forever.

Their magic is more complicated. It might take more to break the bonds you have and take away the runes on your body, but it can be done.

You can always become a Bloodmoon pack member. ”

“I’m not sure I’m ready to go through another initiation again anytime soon.”

He frowns. “You didn’t even see what happened with Kael, did you?”

“What happened? Is he okay?”

“Yes, he’s perfectly fine. Ask him yourself.”

“I will.”

“Good. Now, do you want to go celebrate with everyone, or do you want me to take you back to the house?”

I contemplate for a moment. “I want to see Kael.” I need to make sure he’s okay.

“Can I carry you?”

I frown. “No.”

He sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. “The party is over a mile away. You can see Kael much faster if I carry you.”

I huff. “Fine.”

No sooner has the word left my mouth than Nyx scoops me in his arms and runs. It feels like a split second between when he scooped me up and put me down.

My jaw comes unhinged as I stare at him. I still can’t get over how fast he is.

He cocks his arrogant head before nodding in the direction of the lights and music. We start walking through the edge of the treeline when I gasp for a whole other reason.

Beautiful music filled with laughter floats out to meet me at the edge of the dance floor. Flickering lights hang from the trees. I spot the band on the far side. A bar on the other. And everyone else is on the dance floor together—wolf shifters and vampires.

Kael is easy to spot. He’s being lifted over the shoulders of several pack members, as if he had just won an important game.

Brax and Sylara are dancing together. Her dress shimmers brightly with every spin.

Riven is talking animatedly to someone on the edge of the dance floor, nothing but smiles.

And Talonis… “Is that a vampire Talonis is dancing with?”

Nyx nods.

“How? How are they getting along so well? How did you do it?”

“Neither wolf shifter nor vampire can resist a good party. The curse doesn’t give us a lot to celebrate, so when we have a chance to, everyone pushes their own hardships aside and just has fun.”

I know I’m missing something, something important that Nyx isn’t telling me. But if it had anything to do with our deal, he’d be doubled over in pain right now or about to vomit. So whatever it is, it can’t be that important.

Before I can ask more questions, Nyx is swept away onto the dance floor. A mix of both shifters and vampires is dancing with him.

The second he’s whisked into the crowd, Talonis appears next to me.

“Are you my guard for the night?” I ask him.

“More like a protector. You don’t need a guard. You’re free to leave if you want.”

I don’t respond to that when we both know that isn’t true.

Nyx smiles, genuinely smiles, and I soften toward him for a split second.

For a second, he’s not the asshole alpha who tauntingly calls me love or naive snow wolf.

He’s not the vicious vampire lord that kills so easily.

He’s not the monster who killed one of my closest friends or invades my head whenever he feels like it.

He’s just a man dancing with his friends.

“I don’t need a protector either.” I move through the dance floor to find Kael. The second he spots me, he quickly untangles himself from the woman he was dancing with, grabs my hand, and yanks me to him.

I giggle as he pulls me into an embrace like we’re lovers and then spins me before dipping me like you see in the movies. When he yanks me back to his body, I ask, “How does it feel to be a Bloodmoon member?”

His eyes sparkle as he looks at me. “It feels like I’m right where I belong.”

The dance floor vanishes when I’m with Kael. All my troubles. All the mate and curse talk. All of my own trauma is gone. It’s just me and my best friend.

“Do you ever wonder what would have happened if we had stayed with the Wintermoon pack instead of running?”

“We didn’t have a choice. My father’s alpha command—”

“I know. I just mean, if we had gone back…”

“Then we would have witnessed their deaths firsthand. And probably died right alongside them.”

“Or maybe I would have been able to shift and saved you. Saved some of them. Maybe I would have saved you all the grief and pain and trauma you’ve had to go through since.”

I shake my head before resting it on his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter. I’m just glad you’re here now.”

He spins us around, holding me tight to his body. “I don’t want you to suffer any more. I don’t want you to have to be the one to break the curse. I don’t want you to have to be mated or marked by either of these bastard alphas. I don’t want you in danger.”

“I can handle it. I’m strong enough. And I’m done letting either of them control me. The deal I made ensures that Nyx can’t control me. And breaking my bond with Ambrose ensures that he can’t.”

“But you still carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. You still think you’re the only one capable of breaking the curse, when for us wolf shifters, it’s not even that bad. Who cares that we can’t find our true mates? From what I’ve seen of mates, they are overrated anyway.”

“We can’t reproduce either. Without it broken, there will be no more wolf shifters. We’ll die out.”

“Maybe that’s for the best. All I know is I don’t need to know who my mate is when I’m perfectly happy being with my best friend.”

I don’t know what to say to him. I understand where he’s coming from.

I don’t need to find my mate or the love of my life either.

I’d be perfectly happy spending the rest of my life with Kael, but he doesn’t realize that that could never happen.

Too many know that I’m the key to breaking the curse.

I’d be hunted forever. We’d always be running.

Not to mention, if I can break the curse, I feel a responsibility to do that.

To end the suffering of at least one species.

To try to prevent a war and more destruction.

“I don’t understand. Why initiate into the Bloodmoon pack if you just want me to run away with you?”

“So Nyx can’t kill me when I do this.” Kael dips me again, but this time his lips come down hard and heavy against mine in a claiming kiss.