Moonlight's Peril (Moonlight Series Book 1) by Ashlynn Monroe

out.” Trax rushed off.
    Joy shook. Chessa whined. She pressed up against Joy’s warm body. They stood and a moment of comradery passed before Joy burst off, veering away from the direction Trax had gone. Chessa followed.
    ****
    Law watched downwind of the large pack. They were a rough looking group. He’d made the right choice keeping his people out of a fight. Tobias was breaking the truce; they wanted war. Unrest was the last thing Law wanted. His people were peaceful. The idea of Bianca caught in the middle of a territorial conflict crushed the breath from him.
    The sound of a young female’s happy bark brought his attention away from the bigger group. A small band of females stayed away from the males. Law sniffed the air. The girl’s scent was familiar. Bianca. Chessa. He’d found her child, but the sight of the young wolf was unbelievable. Chessa was a bitten. His mind whirled. There was no Archer bloodline. The father hadn’t turned. This left him with one of two possibilities, either Bianca was of the blood or the child’s father wasn’t Lucas.
    Law fought the urge to run down to the girl. He’d never survive. Bianca would never know her daughter was alive. Rational thinking didn’t make him any happier to stay hidden. A male lingered. He watched Chessa. Law didn’t like the male wolf to focus so intently on Bianca’s daughter. Fear the girl would be raped as a wolf made breathing hard. Every instinct inside demanded he rescue Chessa. He’d made a vow. Seeing the child as one of his kind brought a surge of protectiveness he wasn’t prepared for. Seeing Chessa with Tobias’s people was tantamount to watching someone kidnap a pup from the compound, only more personal. This was Bianca’s pup and his protection extended to the child as if she were his daughter. Law’s teeth clamped tight.
    How long can she stay safe and innocent with that pack? For now, she was alive, and he had to satisfy himself with the knowledge Bianca could rest a little easier. He looked for the injured female. With so many wolf scents, he couldn’t detect which one belonged to her. He smelled blood, but fight-injuries on several males obscured the female.
    Frustrated, he laid low. When the area appeared safe, he resigned himself to failure. Law ran toward the caves. His pack kept the deep caverns at the top of the bluff hidden and secret. They were just off Law’s land, where it was unlikely Tobias would suspect they’d hide, but still good territory and secluded. The land was a game perserve which meant no hunters. For the first time, he wanted the run to be over so he could be a man again. The wolf was simpler, but ever since he’d met Bianca, complicated appealed to him.

Thirteen
     
    Bianca woke at dawn. She showered and dressed before Pastor George arrived, early, as she suspected he would. She opened the door as soon as he knocked. “Hi, Pastor.” She couldn’t look him in the eyes. Werewolf. Oh gosh, he’s a werewolf. “Come on in.”
    “Good morning.” He followed her to the kitchen.
    How do I ask my pastor to make a confession? Anxiousness gave her nervous giggles. They sat down at her second-hand table. Pastor opened the donuts and Bianca poured him a cup of coffee from the waiting carafe. Once she gathered the courage to look at him she couldn’t stop staring at his face.
    “Is something the matter,” he asked.
    “Um, actually, yeah kind of.” This is so awful.
    He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. “Whatever it is, please let me help you.”
    You’re such a good man—wolf—pastor. “Pastor?”
    “Yes.” His eyebrow rose.
    “Law Foster told me that if anything bad happened last night, I should come and find you.”
    Pastor George’s eyes widened. “What else did Law tell you? Why did he think something bad might happen last night?”
    “I’m under his protection, I guess, and well I know everything now like why you’re a vegetarian.”
    She could’ve sworn she saw his eyes