Page 46 of Taken by Moonlight

“Clearing the way. Never mind them. Pay attention to me and when I tell you,run.”

As the limo glided to a halt, something growled in the shadows to our right. Hair stood up on my nape and what surfaced was the ancient, instinctive fear of a woman faced with a ferociouscarnivore.

Alex pulled at my arm. “Come on,Peyton.”

Earl Brown stepped out of the shadows into the light in front of me, preventing us from moving forward. “Peyton. You owe us. You insulted me and my brother for refusing to sleep withus.”

His aura didn’t glow, only had that thin line of green, turned dark green. The absence of any light meant an aura of a shifter who had nothing inside him but hatred andviolence.

Alex’s aura went from calm blue to black, flickering with red. He tensed for afight.

“Peyton, turn around and go back inside. Lock yourself in the office next to the kitchen and do not emerge until we call out for you,” Alex told me in a lowvoice.

Alex stepped to my right, blocking Earl from my view. I calledout.

“Earl, I have the money. It’s all yours and will be transferred first thing Tuesdaymorning.”

Earl’s nostril’s flared. “I can smell the stink of Dante and his betas all over you. You slept with them and you refused me. That’s a plain insult, bitch. You come with me, nice and slow now, so we can fuck you and I’ll forgiveyou.”

I bristled. Werewolf or not, no one had the right to tell me what to do with my body. Especially not a bully like EarlBrown.

Alex tried to tug me backward. “Peyton, go back into the club,” hewarned.

I started to back away as Alexordered.

Earl laughed, and it was an ugly, low sound. His beady eyes suddenly glowed golden, and I had a badfeeling.

Brown snarled. “I won’t mark you much. Not enough to disrupt that psi talent of yours that everyone keepsmentioning.”

I barely had time to puzzle over his cryptic words when Earl Brown ran forward, shifting in mid-air. Frozen, I tried to get my feet to move, move,move!

It was if I remained glued to the ground. My heart raced and panic raced through me, but I could not move, just stare as the wolf ran forward, ready to rip meapart.

Alex leapt in front of me to take the blow, not shifting, not defending himself with anything more than raised fists. He growled, blocking myview.

A wolf I recognized as Gabriel and another muscled gray wolf with black banding his snout appeared in thealleyway.

Snarls sounded as the Gabriel and the other wolf tackled Earl Brown just before Earl the wolf reachedAlex.

Alex was at my side, hustling me past the fighting wolves into the limo.Where wasDante?

Four small gray wolves raced into the alleyway. Alex swore. “Damnit, there’s Calvin and the rest of Earl’s cousins. Now Guy and Gabriel areoutnumbered.”

The six Brown wolves emerged from the alleyway, fighting with the alpha, whom I guessed was Guy the bouncer. From the shadows, a large black wolfemerged.

Dante. He weighed easily two hundred pounds and had the proud bearing of analpha.

As he ran forward, another wolf emerged from behind him, ready toattack.

I pulled back, whimpering. Nothing must happen to Dante. The thought of that sexy, powerful alpha being tornapart…

“Dante! Behind you!” Iscreamed.

The black wolf whirled, tore at his attacker, who howled and ran away. Then Dante joined the fight with theBrowns.

Howling, tails tucked between their legs, the six Browns raced off, vanishing into thenight.

Still in wolf form, Gabriel snarled and then raced into the limo, leaping on theseat.