Free Moon Thrall by Donna Grant Page A

her left and ducked when he tried to grab her.
    The next thing she knew, Court was standing beside her. Her fingers itched to touch his tawny fur. He looked up at her with his yellow eyes, silently asking if she were all right.
    She nodded, amazed at how huge he was. Court was easily twice the size of a normal wolf. He stood almost as tall as her chest, all danger and fury to anyone who looked her way.
    The fighting had stopped in the club, but the music still played. Skye inched closer to Court as she looked up and saw Solomon, Myles, and Kane standing at the door.
    By the way their eyes flashed yellow, they too were ready to shift and take on some vampires.
    Court put his head under her hand and took a step. Skye understood. She walked with him to the door as his lips peeled back to show his sharp teeth and he issued a low, rumbling growl to the vampires.
    As soon as Skye was out of the club, Solomon wrapped an arm around her. “You’re all right now.”
    “They knew I would be there,” she said.
    Solomon didn’t stop walking. He hurried her away from the Viper’s Nest with Myles on her other side. Kane was behind them, and Court loped ahead.
    “They didn’t get you,” Myles said. “Focus on that.”
    Skye looked down at her hand that still held the knife. It was because of Court. He had been there, but the vampires prevented him from getting to her. If she hadn’t had the knife, they would have gotten her.
    By the time Gator Bait came into view, Court veered off to the left with Kane following him. Solomon and Myles ushered her around the back of the bar and through the kitchen to Myles’s office. Addison and Riley were already there.
    “She’s in shock,” Addison told Myles.
    Riley put a glass in Skye’s hand. “Drink this. All of it. Now.”
    Skye didn’t look at what was inside. She tossed back the contents and swallowed. Then she spent the next few moments coughing as the bourbon burned its way down her throat.
    “Now look at me,” Riley said as she leaned over to look into Skye’s face. “How do you feel?”
    Images of the hissing vampires hitting Court with their fangs out flashed in her mind.
    “Skye?”
    She blinked as she recognized Court’s voice. He was kneeling in front of her. As she looked into his face, she’d never felt so relieved in her life. She threw her arms around his neck and held him.
    His arms enfolded her in a fierce hug. “It’s all right. You did good.”
    “They knew I would be there,” she repeated.
    Court leaned back and cupped his hands around her face. “I know.”
    “I’ll clean the blade,” Kane said and tried to take the knife from her.
    Skye pulled her hand away, daring him to reach for it again.
    Kane smiled. “I’ll return it to you.”
    The night had gotten to her in ways she hadn’t known were possible. She knew a few basic moves to fend off an attacker that she’d learned through a website, but she had never been tested like she was tonight.
    She breathed through her mouth as she grew nauseous. Skye handed the knife to Kane.
    “She’s losing color,” Riley said.
    Skye was soon wrapped in a blanket. She didn’t understand why until she started to shiver. That’s when she recognized that Riley was right. She was in shock. She knew because she’d experienced it one other time in her life.
    Court adjusted the blanket and gave her a comforting smile.
    How could he do that after what had happened? How could he pretend that someone hadn’t betrayed him?
    “Who else knew we would be there?” she asked.
    Court sighed. “An old friend.”
     

CHAPTER TEN

    Court was livid. The anger was boiling over, souring his stomach like acid. Of all the people who might betray him, he’d never counted Scott as one of them.
    Now he knew the truth.
    Skye’s dark gaze watched him with confusion and worry. He hated that she was more anxious than when she’d left the bar earlier. Tonight was supposed to make her safe from the vamps once and for all. At least