Shades of Moonlight by Stephanie Julian Page A

there.
    “You didn’t think I’d be stupid enough not to think you’d bring backup, did you?”
    The guy stood on the other side of the truck, his hand around Mara’s throat. He must have pulled her from the truck in the time it’d taken Race to turn.
    They stood on either side of the hood and, though Race wasn’t looking directly at Mara, he could see her in his peripheral vision. She had her hands clasped in front of her and she looked terrified.
    Race felt his wolf flex his claws inside his skin. He wanted so badly to shift and tear the guy’s throat out.
    But he couldn’t risk Mara.
    “And you didn’t think I’d be stupid enough to bring the kid.” Race looked the guy in the eyes and silently promised retribution. With a silent apology to Mara, he added, “You can keep the girl. We don’t need her.”
    The guy snarled. “I want my son.” His hand tightened around Mara’s throat. “I’m sure I can make more but he’s mine and I want him.”
    The guy sounded like a toddler who’d had his favorite toy taken away. Vaffanculo , he hoped like hell Quinn was close because Race was about to make a goddam mess of this guy and there were going to be witnesses.
    “Sorry. Not yours anymore.”
    Deliberately crossing his arms over his chest, he made sure his fingers were visible to Mara. If he was lucky, the douchebag wouldn’t know he was signing to her.
    If he did… Well, Race was going to kill the bastard anyway. It’d just be a little faster than he’d planned.
    He tapped his fingers against his biceps, waiting until he saw Mara sign “Okay”, though she made it look as if she were just twisting her fingers together in agitation.
    The Mal asshole’s face twisted with an evil smile that made him look like a comic-book villain. Race was going to wipe that look off his face permanently.
    “Don’t be too sure about that.”
    Race took a deep breath between one second and the next because instinct told him the guy was about to do something stupid.
    And his instincts had yet to let him down.
    A millisecond after he signed “Duck” to Mara, he saw two other men appear at the side of the car.
    Taking a leap of faith and hoping that his trust in Quinn wasn’t misplaced, Race leaped across the car hood for the man holding Mara.
    A split second after she ducked, Race hit the guy square in the chest and took him to the ground. Mara rolled away as Race wrestled with the Mal . The fight was short and dirty. And Race had no doubt who the winner would be.
    The guy fought like someone who didn’t know how to fight. And didn’t have as much to lose as Race.
    Only his life.
    When he heard the snap of bone and the guy went slack beneath him, Race immediately turned to look for Mara.
    She sat, breathing hard, only a few feet away. She met his gaze immediately, her eyes wide but not terrified. He didn’t know what he would have done if she’d been afraid of him.
    “Are you okay?”
    She nodded then looked over his shoulder.
    Behind him, he heard the sounds of fighting and realized his backup had arrived in time.
    Race hadn’t noticed. Now he turned and saw a huge gray wolf standing over an unmoving body while another guy with long, dark hair and arms almost the size of Race’s smashed his fist into another man’s face. As that guy crumpled, the wolf trotted over and lifted his leg to piss on him.
    Race got to his feet then extended a hand to Mara, who took it and let him pull her up. Immediately he tucked her into his side, trying not to clinch her too hard, just to make sure she was really here and unharmed.
    “I take it you’re Race?” The man Quinn stood beside held out his hand and Race took it without hesitation. “Gabriel Borelli.”
    “Thanks for coming.”
    “No problem. I like to kick Mal ass and I was in the neighborhood.” Gabriel turned to Mara and held out his hand. “I understand you have a very special little boy.”
    Mara took his hand, even though she’d clearly been startled by