Moon Glamour by Aimee Easterling (books to read to be successful TXT) 📕

I shivered, but none of the glowing tendrils winked out. Not even mine.

“How long will it take for the bonds to regress?” Tank asked. He sounded like the lawyer he was, seeking loopholes.

Lupe shook her head, shrugging uncertainty. “A month? Two months?”

“Then we’ll hunt solo for the rest of the year,” Tank decided. “Keep contact to a minimum. Then reconvene once you consider it safe.”

But his voice trailed off as if he’d just now remembered that my experience with pack was rocky and tortured. He cocked his head at me, clearly prepared to backpedal if I bowed out of the upcoming venture.

And I could, I realized with a jolt. While I still needed to dig up sufficient cash to fund Harper’s schooling, the territory issue was no longer pressing. I had a feeling Jasmine wouldn’t threaten us the way her brother had. After all, I’d helped her become alpha. She was a better person than Rowan on his best day and her worst.

So, no, I had no real reason to stick to this hunt. I had no pack to be endangered by the fae. No personal stake at all in this struggle.

And yet....

When we’d first met, I thought every one of these Samhain Shifters was a threat to me. Now, the bigger threat felt like it came from letting them go.

So I let my wolf speak through me. “I’m in,” we said together. “Let’s find those fae.”

Chapter 41

Unfortunately, flashing red and blue lights put a kibosh on further fae hunting. A cop car rolled up the driveway with sirens blaring, which was handy since it gave us time to shuffle the most severely wounded out of sight.

The most severely wounded...and the dead. Two alphas wouldn’t be going home to their packs tonight, and four McCallisters hadn’t lived to see their clan’s regime change. If the officers produced a search warrant....

But it turned out blood and mayhem weren’t the reason the police had come.

“That’s my sister!” Harper was out of the car before it fully stopped, running toward me the way she had before she grew into her teenage self possession. I grabbed her shoulders, pulling her in so hard that her elbow bit into my stomach. Neither of us cared about smears of dirt and blood.

I just hoped the police officers didn’t possess werewolf eyesight. Or that they assumed we were in the midst of costumed Halloween revelry. It was hard to focus on the bigger picture when my sister was so distressed.

“Are you okay?” I murmured into her hair. “What happened?”

Her answer came out in a rush of words that made little sense. “I didn’t mean to. I texted Dad to say I was okay and he asked me where I was and....” Her voice broke.

Then a flashlight blinded me. Harper hiccuped a sob as she was wrested out of my grip by what smelled like a female human. “Ma’am, please step away from the child.” The woman’s voice grew muffled, as if she was speaking into a mic. “Is this the one who absconded with your daughter?”

Daughter? Was Nick here? The reason for Harper’s crying?

Beneath my shirt, fur rose on the back of my neck. Of all the times for my wolf to try to claw free of my humanity....

Then Tank’s voice soothed as it passed me. “This is a misunderstanding. I represent Athena D’Argent.”

I blinked as the flashlight lowered. Saw through blurry eyes as Tank passed over his card to the second officer, a man.

Behind the cops a car door slammed. Then Nick himself was tromping toward us. He’d waited for the police to squash all signs of danger before emerging, despite the fact his daughter had already raced ahead into the night.

At that realization, my wolf tried to make another break for it. But this time I was ready for her. Words will win this.

She growled then subsided. The two of us were starting to learn each others’ strengths and weaknesses. This moment was mine.

My relief at regaining control of our shared body was short-lived. Because Nick met my gaze, his face smug. “Athena had no legal right to take my daughter out of my custody,” he asserted. “She didn’t even consult with me before doing so. I consider that a kidnapping attempt.”

By human law, he was right. I couldn’t explain why Tank had sent werewolves to protect Harper. Concerns about fae glamour were unlikely to hold up in court.

Only...Tank turned toward Harper and raised his eyebrows. My sister nodded, dropping into a crouch so she could dig through her backpack.

“But you’re not my father.” Harper’s voice was clear as she rose back to her feet. She was almost as tall as Nick, I noticed for the first time. And despite boasting his red hair and his slender frame, Harper had a very different sort of heart.

Because Nick drank to drown his cowardice, but Harper was the furthest thing from a coward. She was standing up to her own father, risking everything she currently possessed in hope of a better future.

“Not your father?” Nick snorted. His gaze dropped to the single sheet of paper my sister was clutching. “What do you think you have there?”

Rather than handing the paper to Nick, Harper passed it over to the female police officer. Tank was closer than me, and I could tell the moment he read whatever was written on it. Because he broke out into the truest, most beautiful smile imaginable. My gut lurched as my wolf turned a stomach flip.

One millisecond later, Tank’s hand rose to shield his face. An attempt not to scare the humans. And his voice was even as he inserted himself into the disagreement yet again. “In my professional opinion, this birth certificate appears to be genuine.”

Birth certificate? My mother wasn’t the type to cheat on her partner and she and Nick had been together for years before Harper was born, even if they weren’t legally married. So