Page 87 of Taken by Moonlight

Iflushed.

“That, of course, is not an option.” Dantescowled.

Everyone murmured, “Of coursenot.”

“So we will fight instead. Gabriel has set up extra patrols and the new security system is operational on our perimeter. I’ve been on conference calls with the Shifter Council, and their lead investigators are examining details of the incident at the Crossroads club, as well as this latest threat, to bring charges against theBrowns.”

Murmurs sounded, not all of them good. Seemed as if the pack didn’t place much faith in the council, who could bebureaucrats.

“What if the bad men invade ourhome?”

This question, said in a paper thin voice, got Dante’s attention. It came from a girl about ten years old, with straight blond hair and a too-thin body clad in a Hello Kitty t-shirt and denimshorts.

He went straight to the girl, bent down to see her on eye level. Even from my vantage point, I could tell she cried. My heart broke for the child, who struggled to be brave, but her voice trembled when she spoke to thealpha.

“Will I have to go live in that smelly, nasty tent again, if the bad men win? Will they steal meaway?”

Dante’s jaw tightened. I could tell he clenched his teeth and struggled to leash his temper. Not because of the child’s question, but from what she’d suffered. Felicia had told me the girl and her parents were refugees from a shifter camp east of theborder.

There were shifters from other countries who had lived in the big cities, like New York, who were thrown out because they were eyed as dangerous. Not only had they been evicted from their homes, they were interred in camps until an alpha from a known, respected pack claimedthem.

Oh, there weren’t many cases. Only one hundred. Last time I’d heard, the camps were cleaned out and closed because good, powerful alphas had taken them allin.

Thanks toDante.

Dante had granted asylum to twenty of those shifters and urged his alpha friends to do thesame.

“No one’s going to throw us off our land, Cherise. This is your home now. You will never have to live on the streets again, I promise. No matter what I mustdo.”

She glanced at her worried parents. “And mom and dad? Can they stay here aswell?”

Dante’s mouth compressed. “No one is separating you from your parents, Cherise. They will stay withyou.”

He hugged Cherise tight, and my throat closed up. No matter what else Dante was – scamp, arrogant and authoritative, sometimes overbearing, he loved hispeople.

Treated them with respect andkindness.

He was a goodleader.

And me… I was a stranger here, who did not belong. A human who was causing them problems, forcing them to enter into a vicious battle where some of them coulddie.

Dante patted Cherise’s head, and wiped away her tears. She beamed at him and I saw a ribbon of approving purple ripple through the pack’sauras.

He returned to the dais, his shoulders thrown back, carriage erect and proud. Gold flashed through his aura, the gold of the alphawolf.

“I wanted to assure you that the Browns will not win. We will fight and bevictorious.”

Cheers rose from the pack, and several raised their hands in the air, claws emerging from their fingertips. Theyhowled.

“We will fight ‘em tonight if we must,” one manshouted.

“Not tonight.” Dante shook hishead.

“Tonight, we run.” He glanced at the window. “With the fullmoon.”

Idid not run,ofcourse.

But Iwatched.