Page 9 of Taken by Moonlight

“I, I don’t know where everyone is. The staff vanished.” My laugh sounded shaky. “I guess they abandonedme.”

“They’re all in the back, getting ready for the auction.” Dante searched my face. “Didn’t they tell you to jointhem?”

I shook myhead.

He swore in a soft voice and I didn’t envy Norm for bunglingthis.

“But there’s nothing to be alarmed about. You lookterrified.”

A breathy laugh. “Oh nothing. I’m the only person here, it seems, and there’s fifty or more lusty shifters out there, looking like they want topounce.”

“They would not dare. They’re aroused, yes, but waiting for the auction. Don’t be afraid. None of them would dare touchyou.”

This last sentence uttered with a slight growl as if he were my personal savior out to defend me from thehorde.

Mouth wobbling, I looked up. “My knight in shining fur, huh? But one against forty-nine is bad odds,Dante.”

The alpha touched my cheek, his gaze tender. “We’re here for you, Peyton. The odds are nothing tous.”

“Three against forty-seven.” Gabriel spoke from the door. “Hey Peyton, youok?”

I nodded, and my gaze met Alexander’s, who also had entered the kitchen. In the stark light, brown eyes wide behind his glasses, he had the same look ofconcern.

Then I glanced up at Dante, his aristocratic, chiseled features, the firm mouth, the straight nose, now flaring as if he scented something he liked, the black lashes framing eyes like rich chocolate. In formal wear or jeans and Western boots, the werewolf carried himself with an air of authority, but beneath lingered a hint of wildness anddanger.

Andsex.

My gaze whipped over to Gabriel. An intricate tattoo with swirls and curlicues snaked down his neck, vanishing into the collar of his starched white shirt. With his blue eyes, good looks, and devilish charm, Gabriel was a ladies’man.

Not Alexander, quiet and bookish, with his guarded features and thin shoulders. He had the look of a long-suffering, dreamy poet, the soul of a true artist, not a werewolf who tore apart his enemies. Yet I had once seen Alex go after a customer and beat the male into a bloodypulp.

It had been because the guy had slapped my ass as I served him, while making a crude comment about mybreasts.

After that incident, no male ever botheredme.

These three had been quietly at the club, guarding me with their presence every night I worked. There had never been a single night since that Alex fight since where they were notthere.

This realization made me relax further, even as a warning bell clanged inside. What did they want? Were they being altruistic to the human psi who hustled tables fortips?

Or did they want something more? In my 23 years on earth, I gained a healthy cynicism aboutmotivations.

Humans orshifters.

“Why are you here tonight?” I blurted out. “What’s the auction to you? Do you plan tobid?”

Gabriel and Alex exchanged glances, while Damian smoothed back a lock of hair escaping myponytail.

“All in good time, Peyton. For now, know no one will ever harm you as long as you work in this club. We’ll ensure that.Right?”

He turned to his betas, who gave vigorousnods.

“Please Peyton, don’t be afraid of us because we are shifters,” Alex said in a soft voice. “We would never hurtyou.”

Gabriel cracked his scarred knuckles. “We’d do a tango all over the face of any shifter who tried to hurt you, Peyton. You’re safehere.”

I wanted to trust them, wanted to believe them. Giving all three a hard look, seeing their auras glow blue with flares of aggressive black and tendrils of yellow for worry, I finallyrelaxed.

“Ok. Am I supposed to go to the back rooms now to helpthem?”