Red Moon (Colors of the Moon #2)

Chapter 28

The pack border was just one step away from me. One more step and I would be off the Red Moon land. It was that easy. Maybe even almost too tempting to resist.

As if sensing the shimmering temptation, Blake snagged my upper arm and hauled me behind him. He positioned me so all I could see was his irritating back. Damn mate bond.

"Stay behind me until I say it's safe enough." He didn't even look at me as he gave me the order; he just continued to stare into the distance.

"I'll tell you where you can shove the order, or better yet let me show you." Shyrin was fighting hard against my instinct to fulfill my threat. "Let's not forget whose fault all of this is. If you'd told me about it sooner, the entire war could have been avoided. I would have gone to Black Moon and —"

"No, because I wouldn't have allowed you to leave."

I grabbed a hold of his T-shirt, my mind exploding in images of it actually being his neck. The tighter my grip became the better I felt.

"Who said I would've asked your permission?"

He squared his shoulders, telling me he wasn't as composed as he would like everyone to think. The mere thought of me leaving was bothering him. The whole love business really screwed things over for everyone.

"Love birds, why don't you leave this for later?" Jaida snapped from right next to us.

It reminded me that we weren't alone. Then again I didn't care who heard us, so to me it didn't matter. However, I knew Blake disliked discussing such private matters in front of others, so I decided to shut my trap for now. But only for now.

With a silent sigh I let go of Blake's shirt and relaxed my muscles. I had more important things to focus on. Like the fact that my only friend back in Black Moon had found his mate and never told me about her. I wanted to beat the crap out of him for keeping such a huge secret from me.

However, there was still the delicate situation of his mate now being dead. My chest was squeezing even thinking about how he was holding up. Hunter was the last person who deserved to lose his mate.

"Remember your promise." I said in the general direction of everyone, but it was meant especially for Blake.

I made him and everyone else promise not to engage in a fight before I had a chance to talk to Hunter. It was my hope that we could resolve this without it breaking into a full-blown war.

Who would have ever thought that I, Ren Archer, would try to stop a fight? Only a month ago I would have been the loudest person rooting for a good fight and now look at me. The whole Luna thing seemed to be contagious.

I wasn't sure how many warriors were gathered around us, but it was more than enough. They were all here to defend our pack, if I didn't manage to convince Hunter to stop. It was encouraging to know how much my mate believed in me; note the sarcasm.

The moment the approaching footsteps reached my ears, I forgot about everything else. This was it. My heart began to pound in my chest, waiting for them to reach us. I couldn't believe I would get to see my closest friend after all of this time.

As I strained my ears, I could tell that some of the werewolves approaching us were in wolf forms, while others in their human forms. They were ready for battle.

One by one the figures of the warriors on our side stiffened, preparing to defend our pack. They could all sense the approaching danger. However, because of their promise to me, they all remained stuck to their places, waiting to see what would happen.

A few minutes later at least fifty Black Moon warriors finally reached us; the werewolves I had grown up with. The warriors who had stood beside me in the face of danger.