Page 56 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

Those already undressed started shifting.

Bennett turned me toward him.

“We’ll stay here while the others run,” he said.

“Why bother coming if you’re not going to run?” I asked.

“Baby steps. We’ll run next time.”

We?

The clearing slowly emptied. I looked around, grateful for the moonlight but not the location.

“What’s the point of staying?” I asked.

“Staying proves you have a place here.”

I snorted. “You’re as blind as Mom and Dad. If you had used your eyes, you would have seen that no one was happy about your announcement just now. Staying isn’t going to prove anything.”

But staying would give people the opportunity they needed.

“I did use my eyes. And you’re right. People weren’t happy. That doesn’t mean they want to hurt you, though, Wrenly.”

“Not the people here, maybe,” I said under my breath.

When going around with Mom, I’d noticed a few key people missing. Olivia and the office girls, along with Storm and her crew. The numbers weren’t in my favor. Having Miranda nearby would have helped, but I hadn’t seen her either.

Bennett caught my arms and gave them what he probably thought was a reassuring squeeze.

“We’re staying just in case Dad needs?—”

Harsh snarling broke out deeper in the trees. A yip followed.

Bennett’s attention immediately shifted in that direction. The way he tensed wasn’t reassuring.

I reached for his hand. He glanced at me. I could see his concern and hesitation as his gaze swept over my face. Whatever was happening wasn’t good. I opened my mouth to tell him I could run to the car, but I was up in his arms a second later.

He ran through the trees, and the sounds of snarls grew louder as we approached a pair of fighting wolves.

It’d been so long since I’d seen Dad in his fur that I almost didn’t recognize him.

His opponent darted in for a nip to his flank, but Dad spun around with a snarl and went for him instead.

The other wolf pivoted, rolled, and sprang to his feet, dodging the attack fluidly.

Before I could worry that Dad was outmatched, one of the three wolves watching the pair shifted to his human form.

“No interfering in a challenge,” the man said.

I glanced at Bennett. His smile was chilling as he set me down.

“I was about to remind you of the same,” he said. “Let’s both act as witnesses.”

“Are you sure you want to witness this challenge and not your mother’s?”

I knew from Grandma that anyone in the pack could challenge the Alpha to take his position as Alpha. The only reason to challenge a pack member who wasn’t the alpha was to take their position in the pack. In Mom’s case, it would be her position as the Alpha’s mate.

My heart skipped a beat, and the men smirked knowingly at me.

Don’t let them smell your fear, Wrenly. That’s what they want.

Bennett’s hand settled on my shoulder.

“Who is dumb enough to challenge my mother? Everyone knows my parents are devoted to each other,” Bennett said.

“As the Luna, your mom is responsible for guiding the next Alpha in his or her choice of a mate, a mate who will strengthen our pack, not weaken it.”

Bennett’s laugh wasn’t filled with humor.

“Then you’re challenging the wrong people. Who I choose as a mate is up to me, not my parents,” Bennett said.

“Fine. Then I challenge you for the right to ascend.”

The man shifted back into his wolf form and sprang toward Bennett. Bennett stepped in front of me, knocking the wolf aside. I retreated a step, then another as Bennett shifted to his fur, too.

The other two wolves watched me, rather than either of the fighting pairs.

“Let the chase begin,” I said under my breath before I pivoted and ran.

Running on paths was fine. Running over obstacles was a lot harder. Almost four weeks of paved runs hadn’t softened me, though. The muscle memory from my days of being chased down alleys and parkouring off trash was still there.

I cleared fallen tree trunks, hurdled over brush, and ran like my life depended on it. Because it did.

Spotting a large pine ahead with dead lower branches, I adjusted my path and, without slowing, caught a lower limb. I climbed hard and fast through the branches, scraping my palms and legs in my scramble. The pain didn’t slow me down. Neither did the blood. The sap kept my grip from slipping.

When I heard a sharp crack below me, followed by a thud and cursing, I knew I’d climbed as high as I dared and stopped.

I looked down and saw a man on the ground, lying on his back and dazedly staring up at me as he tried to draw in a breath.

His partner was still on the tree limbs, trying to reach me.

“I’m lighter than you by at least fifty pounds,” I said.

The rest of my warning died as the branch he grabbed broke. He lost his balance and fell, taking out several branches on the way down to join his friend.

I grimaced as he landed.

The first man to fall shifted to his fur and howled. An answering howl came from nearby. I looked off in that direction then up at the sky, trying to determine what direction it’d come from. Bennett’s or the river?

“What’s the point of climbing up there?” the second man who’d fallen asked.

I looked down at him.

“What’s the point of chasing me?”

“You don’t belong here.”

“Yeah, I’m more of a pizza and movie streaming person than a run through the woods and climb a tree person, but I guess that’s life. It’s full of surprises.”

“You’re as mouthy as Storm said.”

“Oh, I’m mouthier. I just don’t know you well enough to give it any real effort.”

He slowly got to his feet as something approached.

Please be Bennett.

The wolf didn’t look like anyone in my family and stopped a healthy distance from me before shifting. It was Milena.

“You were supposed to chase her to the river.”

“Yeah, well, she climbed a tree.”

“And they’re too heavy. Are you willing to risk everything to climb up here and get me, Milena?”

Her gaze flicked to me, showing all her hate.

“Listen, you’re all barking up the wrong tree here.

Literally. I wasn’t given any choice about being Bennett’s potential mate.

If you don’t like it, convince him to let me go.

Going after me isn’t going to fix the problem.

It’ll make it worse. He likes throwing things when he’s mad.

And you killing me is going to make him mad, not horny and desperate for a new mate. ”

“We won’t know until we try,” Milena said.

“By all means.” I gestured to the branches below me.

She didn’t move, though. By attacking me now, she’d leave her scent on the tree and me, which would ensure Bennett’s hate, and she knew it.

Another howl rang out.

Both men swore. Milena looked from me to the direction from which she’d appeared.

“Plan B,” she said. “Regroup in the clearing.”

She shifted and sprinted back in the direction she’d come.

The men grumbled but shifted and ran off in the opposite direction.

Like any smart human, I kept my ass in the tree and my eyes on the ground, watching for a sneak attack. It didn’t happen, though.

After several muscle-cramping minutes balanced in the tree, I watched Bennett approach in his fur. He sniffed where the two men had fallen, then looked up at me.

“Don’t shift,” I called. “I’ll climb down to you. They’re regrouping in the clearing, so I suggest that we avoid that and head for the car.”

As I spoke, I started the arduous trip back to Earth.

“After they realized they couldn’t get me down, Milena showed up. They were supposed to drive me to the river so whoever was waiting there could take care of me without leaving their scents all over.”

Bennett growled below me.

“Hey, don’t blame the messenger. Blame yourself for all of this.

I told you this was going to happen. You could have claimed any of them as your potential mate and made everyone’s lives easier.

Did you honestly think that a pack of shifters would openly welcome a human as their future alpha’s mate? ”

During my tirade, I focused on where to place my feet and carefully lowered my weight each time. My hands were aching, and my arms were shaking by the time I reached the last branch.

The hands that gripped my waist were both a blessing and a curse.

“I told you not to shift,” I said, knowing he was now completely naked behind me. I squeezed my eyes closed just before he spun me around.

“Look at me, Wrenly.”

“No thank you.”

He growled again, grabbed my chin, and kissed me. The gentleness of it made my heart race faster than his demanding kisses. I tried to fight the need to melt…to soften my mouth and welcome his touch, but it was impossible.

Heart thundering and chest aching, I parted my lips and kissed him back.

He cupped my face, keeping the kiss light and gentle, as he explored. It was so perfect that I didn’t realize my arms had circled around his neck until he broke away to look down at me.

“No one can ever take your place, Wrenly. It’s been you for over a decade. It’ll be you for the rest of my life.”

I closed my eyes again.

“I like you better when you don’t talk.”

“Liar,” he said tenderly.

He took my hands, flipping them over to look at the sap-covered scrapes, which made him sigh and kiss my forehead before he threaded his fingers through mine.

“I’m walking back like this. You can peek if you want.”

“Shut up, Bennett,” I said, opening my eyes to avoid tripping as he led me through the trees.

My gaze didn’t stay on the ground, though. It kept traveling the length of him, admiring the width of his shoulders, his lean back, and his ass. Was I a pervert? If I wasn’t yet, I would be by the time we reached the car.

I was so busy being distracted that I didn’t realize where he was leading us until I heard the faint echo of raised voices. Tearing my gaze from Bennett’s backside, I focused on the trees and spied the clearing ahead.

I tried tugging my hand free of Bennett’s, but he didn’t ease up.

With absolutely no willingness, I entered the clearing a step behind Bennett to see a divided crowd. More than half stood behind Mom and Dad, who were facing off with the remaining pack members.

“Wrenly has been a Wulf for the last thirteen years. She has always had our love and our protection. As the future Luna of this pack, she also deserves your respect,” Mom said.

“She’s unworthy,” Olivia said.

“It’s our right to challenge,” Milena said.

Mom’s face was scratched, but she otherwise looked okay. By okay, I meant uninjured. Her mood was another story. She looked two heartbeats away from murder.

“She’s human,” Mom said. “It’s against our laws to harm humans unless in the preservation of another life. Wrenly isn’t harming anyone.”

“She’s harming our pack,” a man said. “How can a human lead our pack?”

“A human won’t. Bennett will,” Dad said.

“Our laws state we can challenge for a position,” Milena said. “I challenge Wrenly for her position as Bennett’s mate. The law is there to preserve the strength of the pack. If you can’t uphold our laws, you and your mate aren’t fit to lead.”

“Fine,” I called. “But I get a knife since I don’t have claws.”

Everyone’s attention shifted to me. The half who were arguing for their right to challenge looked stunned.

Bennett and Mom both shot me a look of frustration.

“What? This is the path you set us on the moment you decided I was your mate.” I shrugged. “We reap what we sow.”

I looked at the pack members. “Who has a knife?”

“This is a pack run. Why would we have knives?” Olivia asked.

“I have a few in my truck. Hold on,” a man from Mom and Dad’s side said. He shifted and bolted for the parking lot.

“I invoke position preservation,” Mom said.

“You can’t. You’re related.”

“Not by blood,” Mom said.

“What’s position preservation?” I asked Bennett as they argued about relationships by choice.

“It’s where another unrelated pack member accepts a challenge on behalf of an injured or sick pack member. It’s meant to keep challenges fair and show strength through support when physical strength doesn’t exist.”

“Even though she’s not blood related or legally your daughter, you’ve always treated her like one. And as Bennett just pointed out, she’s not injured or sick. She’s human ,” Milena said.

“This is how you show your loyalty?” Dad said. “The Wulfs have helped each family here over the years. We’ve prospered together. If you think you can do better without us, so be it. I won’t just step down… We’ll leave the pack.”

Leaving the pack meant all the financial support would go too. The people supporting my parents started to argue again with the people trying to evict me.

The man returned while everyone was still yelling at each other.

I accepted the knives from him, briefly testing the grips and weights before handing back all but one.

“Wrenly, I’m not going to let?—”

Bennett’s words were cut off when Miranda appeared beside me.

“It’s for your own good, Wrenly,” she said, stealing the knife from my hand.

Pain bloomed across my forearm before I even saw her move.