Claiming the Moon by Loribelle Hunt Page A

about it right now, but maybe Anthony was right. Not about talking. What was the use in that? But the implication she had to get on with her life. She was surrounded by single, horny werewolves. Why not have a fling? See if she could get Clint Osborn out of her system once and for all?
    Someone pounded on the door so hard she feared it would burst open, and she rushed down the hall, checking the peephole before opening it.
    The werewolf on the other side was big, mean, and brutal when necessary, but he stared down at her with a worried expression on his face. “You okay?”
    “Yeah. Well trained, remember?” To be fair, it wasn’t only Clint who’d trained her in self-defense. She sparred with Anthony regularly. She looked out the door behind him and thought her heart would stop. “Where is he?”
    Anthony shook his head. “Gone. Pack a bag. You’re staying at HQ until we figure out what’s going on.”
    She started to shake her head in refusal, but one look at his stubborn expression, and she knew it would be a waste of time. “Give me five minutes.”
    She packed a bag quickly, tossed in her makeup bag, grabbed her laptop, and they were out the door. She locked it carefully behind her then put her things in the trunk of her car. Anthony followed her back to headquarters, which was actually a large, private estate.

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    The kick only knocked him out for a couple of minutes. He awoke, head ringing, balls aching, and pissed as hell. He wanted to batter the door down, but he knew the female werewolf would have called for assistance as soon as she locked herself inside.
    Gingerly, he got to his feet and lurched down the sidewalk to the full parking lot. He opened his car door with shaky fingers and slid inside. Hunching down, he waited, hidden in the gloom. Just in time.
    The other werewolf, the one in charge of this small pack, pulled into the parking lot with a screech. He didn’t even bother to find a parking space, just left his car, motor running and blocking three others in. If Robert had been one of them, he would have snarled at the arrogance.
    He watched the wolf-man run up the sidewalk and bang a fist on the door, watched him look around and take note that the assailant was gone. Sniff the air as if he could find him hiding in his car.
    Robert sneered. The whole damned race was arrogant. They thought a superior sense of smell and heightened vision, extra speed and strength was all it took to be at the top of the food chain. They didn’t think humans were a threat, so they ignored them except as prey. A mistake they would pay for.
    After several minutes, the two exited, got in their cars, and left. He knew they’d be returning to the mansion the male werewolf called home. Why he left his woman free to roam without protection was beyond Robert, and it should have worked to his advantage.
    He started his car and followed them out of the lot, but went in the opposite direction. He drove to a narrow dirt path, barely wide enough for his car, and turned down it. When he judged he’d gone a safe enough distance, he stopped. From the trunk, he retrieved the gear he’d need for this recon mission. The heavy black boots and night vision goggles. He hesitated over the scent inhibitor and decided to leave it. There wasn’t much of the concoction left, and he’d need it when he took her.
    Walking into the woods, he followed a deer path he’d discovered on a previous trip. It ended at the fence that marked the werewolves’ boundary line. He scaled it easily and picked his way through the underbrush to the place he could watch, hidden by the tree line. The house was well lit, but quiet. He couldn’t see movement in any of the windows, but he knew they were there. Four adult werewolves. Four wolves who would pay for his wife’s murder.
    He stayed until he heard another car arrive. One more to destroy. The need for vengeance burned through him, but he quietly melted