Page 84 of Taken by Moonlight

“What signs? Like ‘Will Shift forFood?’”

This time, my sense of humor annoyed him. “If you’re going to waste my time, then let’s goback.”

Gathering the picnic items, he turned his back onme.

“Hey, wait.” I struggled with my pride. “I’m sorry, Gabriel. I jest when I get scared. It’s a self-defensemechanism.”

Still, he stood there, not looking at me. “I’m here to teach you how to defend yourself with more than mocking, Peyton. Jokes don’t hold squat when you’re facing a 200 pounds of teeth andclaws.”

“I know.” I bit my lip. “I just don’t know if it’s possible. I’m human, Gabriel! I can’t dothis!”

His voice softened as he turned. “You’re a psi, Peyton, not merely human. Don’t doubt yourself before you eventry.”

Then his jaw tensed as he stared into the distance. “Dante told me and Alex that we needed to trust you, to teach you our ways. He said your psi powers made youunique.”

“What do youmean?”

Gabriel waved a hand. “Ask him later. Let’s focus on thespell.”

I took a deep breath. “Shifters turn too fast. There’s no warning, nothing I can see that will enable me to say the most potent magick spell. Maybe you can sense it among your kind. Ican’t.”

A low growl grumbled from his throat. “Stop being negative. There are triggers. Triggers you can see, and if Dante didn’t think you could do it, he never would have instructed me to tellyou.”

He stepped back and spread back his arms. “Look at me. Look at me, see me. See myaura.”

I searched his body. Normal blue aura threaded with annoyed bright red and a hint of green.Ordinary.

“Concentrate.” His voice wentsharp.

Inhaling a deep breath, I closed my eyes and centered myself. Opened myeyes.

No longer an ordinary aura, Gabriel practically glowed bright silver with the barest hint of green ringing his life force. In the next few seconds, he shifted intowolf.

My jawdropped.

He shifted back into human form. Snapped his fingers, covering his nudity with the same clothing previouslyworn.

Gabriel was fast. Too fast. Yet I had seen that change in color and energy patterns before he shifted. It wasn’t subtle. It was as clear as the glaring neon sign outside the Crossroadsclub.

“Well?” heasked.

“You shifted slowly, to give me time to see the changes. That’s not going to be the case if Earl or his dimwit brother decide to make me into anappetizer.”

Now he did smile. “Yeah, but you’re a quick learner, Peyton. You need a little practice and you’ll get it. That’s why you’re going to practice on me. I am the fastest wolf in the pack, the hunter, and the fastestshifter.”

He jabbed a thumb at his chest. “Me. Once you can stop me in my tracks, all others will beeasier.”

It took a tremendous amount of trust to hand over such lethal control to me, a human. I felt awed and humbled. And a little scared, knowing I had thispower.

Rubbing his hands together, he hunkered down. “Okay, let’s try it again. This time, watch my face. My eyes. My mouth. Wolves flash amber in their eyes right before a shift, and sometimes their upper lip lifts in a beginninggrowl.”

For the next several minutes, we practiced as I watched his aura change color right before the shift and learned to detect the facial changes. Then he held up ahand.

“Okay, now that you’ve nailed the triggers, let’s try the spell. Remember, you have to chant the words right before the shift to stop your target from turning into a wolf.” Gabriel gestured with his hands. “Let’s doit.”

I focused, watching his eyes and his aura and as the energy around him shimmered, yelled, “Morpheus Lupus VimVitae!”

Stunned, I watched the light surrounding him turn dark and then swirl with purple, honey gold and green and red, like a dysfunctional rainbow. Gabriel doubled over,gasped.