In the Light of the Moon (Dark War Chronicles) by A.L. Kessler Page A

apart. “And if I refuse?”
    “Then we’re going to have problems. You can’t protect her.” Stephan
flicked his hands and claws replaced the fingers.
    Jax laughed. “Nice trick, but guess what,” he mirrored the motions with
the same results. “I can do it too.” He dropped to a fighting stance. “You
can’t take me.”
    Garret grinned stepping out from behind Stephan. “You think that you
can take both of us?”
    Jax crouched and took a deep breath. Centering his thoughts he
channeled his panther. The beast inside him snarled at the idea of someone
wanting to hurt his mate. He’d do anything to protect her. “Try me.”
    Stephan launched himself forward and swiped at Jaxon’s stomach.
Catching his claws with his own, Jax pushed Stephan back into Garret. The
panther inside him told Jax to run, that he couldn’t win this fight, but when
he turned to leave the hotel room he found a fully shifted panther was blocking
his way. “You must be Sarah.”
    He backed up, and cried out as claws pierced his stomach. He looked
down at the blood and his panther lost it. He pulled away from the claws and
spun around to see which brother they belonged to.
    Garret stood there examining the blood dripping down the claws. “Smells
normal, means you’re not an immortal. Goodie, means we can kill you.”
    Stephan snarled. “No, let him suffer.” He rushed Jax who stumbled back
and over Sarah. Shifting as he landed, he let out a roar and Sarah backed away.
He turned his gaze to the brothers and bounded towards the closest one. Stephan
caught him, but stumbled back. Jax used his momentum to take the male to the
ground and went to tear out Stephan’s throat, but was pulled away and thrown
into the wall.
    He crashed to the ground. Struggling to his feet he shook his head to
fight off the exploding pain there. He let out a growl as Garret’s claws caught
him in the side. Jax snapped at Garret as he laughed. Jax crouched but was
taken out from the side by Sarah. Her weak attempt to pin him was easily
recovered from, but her jaw locked around his foot.   The pain shot up his leg and he bit the
top of her neck, tearing her away from him. He crouched in the corner. Favoring
the front left paw, he snarled as Garret closed in.
    “Hope you said goodbye to Kass.” He laughed and went to swipe at the
downed panther, and then the phone rang.
    The entire room froze. Stephan picked up the phone, “Yes? Oh, no, I’m
sorry for that. No, no, it was just the TV.” He paused. “Why would there be a
fight in our room? No reason the get the authorities involved. Oh, fuck, you’re
kidding me.” Another pause and Steven slammed the receiver down. “Clear out.
Now, leave him. One of the other customers called the police because of the
noise.”
    Jax watched as they gathered a few things and then turned to Sarah.
Stephan knelt by her. “This is going to hurt sister, I promise that I’ll take
care of you after.” He put a hand on her head and closed his eyes. Jax watched
as the panther whined and the bones started shifting under the fur. The
familiar cracks and pops told him that she was being forced back into human
form, as the fur retreated he could see that her hair remained the same black
color of her cat. She passed out in Stephan’s arms. He grabbed a blanket and
wrapped her up in it as Garret led the way out.
    Jax closed his own eyes, calling on the human inside him. His human
form swallowed his panther, but left him shaking from the pain of the injuries.
Stumbling to his feet, he knew he’d attract unwanted attention stumbling naked
and through the hotel, so he grabbed some discarded clothes and dressed. He
searched the ruins of his clothes and found his phone. He slid open the balcony
door and stepped out into the cold night air. and jumping to the street below him.
Jax landed with a grunt, cradling his wrist to his chest he started to stumble
down the alley, ignoring the trail of blood he left.
    A shadow appeared in front of