His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 20

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1:08 pm

Chapter 20

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I had made a mistake.

I knew it before we reached the trees.

Jax walked several paces ahead of me, one hand pressed against his ribs where Tiernan’s warriors had hurt him during the capture.

He should have been grateful.

Instead, he was smiling.

“Keep moving,” I said.

He glanced over his shoulder.

“You’re awfully demanding for someone who just saved my life.”

“I didn’t save your life.”

“No?”

“I saved mine.”

His smile widened.

At least he understood that much.

The old service entrance behind the packhouse had been sealed years ago, but sealed did not mean forgotten.

Not to me.

I had grown up in Moonhaven. Trained here. Sat through emergency drills here. Learned every entrance, storage room, cellar, and evacuation route while Kade was still learning how to carry the weight of his father’s title.

No one questioned me when I walked through the packhouse.

Why would they?

I was Sloane Sinclair.

Kade Blackwell’s closest friend.

His intended Luna until yesterday.

The woman who had spent years helping run Moonhaven.

I belonged everywhere.

That had made getting into the cellars easy.

Getting him out had been messier.

The two guards had recognized me immediately. One had even asked how Abby was doing.

For one second, I had almost turned around.

Almost.

Then I had remembered Jax behind the cell door.

What he knew.

My name.

The money.

The instructions.

The fact that I had told him exactly which girl to take.

If Kade questioned him, everything ended.

So I had smiled.

Waited until the first guard turned his back.

And done what I had to do.

They were alive.

I had checked.

That mattered.

At least I told myself it did.

Now Jax was free, the guards would wake eventually, and all he had to do was disappear.

Then this could still be contained.

“Once we cross the creek, you keep going north,” I told him. “Do not come back to Moonhaven.”

He laughed.

I stopped walking.

“What?”

He turned.

1:08 pm

His face looked worse than it had in the cave. One cye was swollen. Dried blood marked the corner of his mouth. The scratches Abby had given him still cut across his cheek.

“I said leave.”

“I heard you.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

“Because you still think you’re giving orders.”

My stomach tightened.

“You were paid.”

“I was.”

“To take the girl and keep her hidden.”

“And I did.”

“You got caught.”

“Not part of the agreement.”

“You were careless.”

His expression changed.

“Careless?”

He stepped toward me.

“You gave me a girl who fights like a feral cat and forgot to mention half the fucking pack would tear the forest apart looking for her.”

“I told you she was important.”

“No. You told me she was inconvenient.”

Heat rose beneath my skin.

“I never used that word.”

“You didn’t have to.”

He started walking again.

I followed because letting him out of my sight suddenly felt dangerous.

V

1:08 pm

“You have your money,” I said. “Take it and disappear.”

“Maybe I want more.”

I stopped.

He kept walking another few steps before turning around.

“For what?”

He shrugged.

“Compensation.”

“You’re not getting another cent.”

“Then maybe I make it somewhere else.”

A cold feeling moved through me.

“What does that mean?”

His eyes sharpened.

He knew.

He had finally understood that he had something I needed.

And he was enjoying it.

“That girl.”

My heart beat once, hard.

“What about her?”

“She must be somebody.”

“She isn’t.”

He laughed.

I hated the sound.

“I saw your Alpha when he came into that cave.”

My jaw tightened.

“He would have killed me with his bare hands if she hadn’t moved.”

“Any Alpha would react that way to one of his pack members being kidnapped.”

1:08 pm

He shook his head.

“I’ve seen Alphas lose warriors. Seen them lose women too.”

His smile returned.

“That wasn’t pack loyalty.”

“Shut up.”

“He carried her out himself.”

“I said shut up.”

“Wouldn’t let anyone touch her.”

I stepped toward him.

His gaze dropped briefly to my hands.

Then back to my face.

“Interesting.”

“What?”

“You don’t like hearing it.”

I could feel my wolf rising.

I forced her down.

This man wanted a reaction.

I would not give him one.

“You’re leaving Moonhaven,” I said. “Tonight. You will never say Abby’s name again.”

“Abby.”

My claws pushed painfully against my fingertips.

His grin widened.

“Pretty name.”

“Enough.”

1:08 pm

“Pretty girl too.”

I moved before I thought.

One second I was standing several feet away.

The next, my hand was around his throat.

I slammed him against a tree.

“Do not talk about her.”

For the first time, his smile disappeared.

Good.

Then he grabbed my wrist.

Hard.

“You really are jealous.”

I dug my claws into his neck.

His eyes narrowed.

“She must be important to the Alpha.”

I froze.

Only for a second.

But he felt it.

His expression changed.

Not amusement anymore.

Interest.

Real interest.

“Maybe more important than you thought.”

“She is nobody.”

“Then why did you pay me to take her?”

My grip tightened.

“Because I wanted her gone.”

#surved sy arm

Trumbled back one step

He rubbed the marks I had felt on his throb

Then he looked toward the direction of Moonturvern

“You know, there are people who pay very well for information.*

Every part of me went cold,

“What people?”

He gave me a slow smile.

“People.”

“What people?”

“Rogues talk.”

I stared at him.

He continued.

“Pack movements. Borders. Alpha families. Valuable wolves.”

“Abby isn’t valuable.”

“Your Alpha seems to disagree.”

My pulse began pounding.

He didn’t know.

He couldn’t know.

I barely knew what everyone had been whispering about since Tiernan arrived.

Young she-wolves.

Pale wolves.

Someone searching.

Thad heard enough conversations ma

1:09 pm

And now this idiot had seen Kade nearly lose control over Abby.

“No.”

His eyebrows rose.

“No what?”

“You say nothing about her.”

“Why?”

“I’m warning you.”

He laughed.

“You?”

“Yes”

“You’re the one who needs me quiet.”

His words landed exactly where he intended.

I hated him for seeing it.

“If I tell your Alpha who paid me,” he continued, “what happens to you?”

I said nothing.

“Does he forgive you?”

My wolf growled.

“Does he still make you Luna?”

My nails dug into my palms.

“He already ended that.”

The words escaped before I could stop them.

Jax stared at me.

Then understanding spread across his face.

“Oh.”

I wanted to rip that expression off him.

1:09 pm

“Oh, this is better than I thought.”

“Shut up.

“He chose her.”

“He didn’t choose anyone.”

“But not you.”

I struck him.

My fist caught his mouth.

His head snapped sideways.

Blood appeared immediately.

For one satisfying second, neither of us moved.

Then he laughed.

Blood stained his teeth.

“You kidnapped a girl because your man wanted her.”

“I said shut up.”

“And it still didn’t work.”

I hit him again.

This time he caught my arm.

I twisted free and drove my knee toward his stomach.

He blocked it.

I clawed his shoulder.

He cursed and shoved me backward.

I recovered quickly.

I was stronger than most women in Moonhaven.

I had trained beside warriors since I was old enough to shift.

This was one rogue.

One injured rogue.

1:09 pm

could handle him.

I lunged again..

He moved faster than I expected.

His fist struck my ribs.

Pain exploded through my side.

I gasped.

He hit me again.

Harder.

I stumbled into a tree.

For a moment, the forest tilted.

He grabbed the front of my coat.

“You hired me.”

His face was inches from mine.

“You don’t own me.”

I drove my claws across his cheek.

He roared and threw me.

My shoulder struck the ground first.

Pain shot down my arm.

I rolled onto my back just as he came toward me.

I kicked his knee.

He staggered.

I scrambled up.

He caught me before I made it two steps.

His fist connected with my face.

White light burst across my vision.

1:09 pm

I fell.

This time I didn’t get back up immediately.

Blood filled my mouth

Jax stood over me, breathing hard.

“You should have let me leave.”

I spat blood onto the ground.

“I was trying to.”

“No. You were trying to control me.”

He wiped his bleeding cheek.