LUNA DIANA

8

lor

stripped naked,

er than she. He yanked off one boot, then another, at the lake’s edge. It wasn’t the first time she'd watched him peel out of his clot

—but it would never be. Lifting her chin, she resolved to make the huma

, his ears perked up as he watched her. But the boy d

urface, attempting to draw him to her. Though he’d tried to conceal himself in the woods, she'd seen him. And heard him with her sensitive hearing when he stepped on dried oak lea

uline but not as wild as her own kind—lupusgarou. A human

hes as quickly as she could now. Wanting to get her plan into motion, bef

human boy for her own? Ragnar, the gray alpha pack leader, wanted her, that’s why. Her stomach clenched with t

well on his way. A survivor, living on his own, that’s what intrigued

with this boy’s. They had the same dark hair and eyes, which maybe explained why the human had attracted her. She wanted Caleb with all her heart, but cra

, but she admired him most when he swam. Her gaze dropped l

ent a tingling of gooseflesh across her skin. If her drawers hadn’t been crotchless, they’d

mmer-warmed lake. She slipped out of her last petticoat, then her drawers. Without a stitch of clothes on, she st

e'd change into the wolf and bite him. And transfe

nnamon curls, she fanned them over

moon forever. His mother, father, and little sister had died during the winter, and none of his kind lived wi

ed into t

aught sig

dened and his mo

er as she wanted. His eyes inspected every bit of her, but then he turned and s

nger and confusion. Didn’

n. But by the time she reached the lake halfway, he’d jerked on his breeches and boots, not

, she stared

r pack hollered, his voic

Her heart nearly stopped wh

ed. As a wolf, he was heavy set, broad-shouldered and thick-necked, the leader by virtue of his size, powerful jaws, and wicked killer

t sight of him? How could she be so naïve as to t

do you want, Ragnar?” she growled back, unable

out at

s head towar

ckened. She swam back to her clothes, determ

r that Caleb might have seen her lusting after a human. Three years older than she, he still vied for his place within the pack. A strap of leather tied back his coffee-c

er and feared scaring away his prey. She raised a brow. This

ed Ragnar from considering the woods or who might have disappea

he way Caleb closed in on her, only keeping a few feet from her until she was dresse

d, and normally she wouldn’t have permitted it either. So what w

quickly enough. Caleb surged forward and grabbed her wrist. In the same instant,

” she sc

s surely as if she’d ripped out his throat herself. Wanting to s

ighter and hurried her

’t do an

ker than she’d ever seen them. Anger smoldered

aded, trying to s

he wrenched her back to his s

be Ragnar

he tightened his grip again. “You have no choice. And

God, how she wanted him to save

r knees. Ragnar had murdered the young man and sho

the ground and hurri

to say the hurtful words, but the anger she harbored simmered red-hot, like molten lava beneath the

They'll always be my family. Somethi

you felt some

? Maybe if I'd been older, stronger, but now he won’t wait to have you.” He shook his head. “Dammit, Diana, as far as the human was concerned, he wouldn’t have wanted you! Can’t you see that? If he’d seen you

y as she desired his attentions, but feared them, too. Feared them because of what Ragnar would do to Caleb if Ragn

l his putrid fe

r waiting for her approval—just pure lust, conquering, and decisive. And s

t drifted to her on the breeze. Panic sliced through her. Rag

owed with hate. He growled, and immediately Caleb released her. She stepped back,

convince her how stupid she was fo

e from her throat evaporated. The image of him trying to take her when she was

stood on end from the nape of his neck to the tip

d fighting Ragnar herself, she knew neither would work. C

weat in the summer sun. Any other day, she loved to see every bit of his handsome physique—his muscled thighs, the dark patch of

olf, his snout elongated. A thick brown pelt as rich as a mink’s covered his long legs a

red wolf pack’s lives. She couldn’t save him now…only maybe herself. Yet when Ragnar lunged for Caleb, she dashed between them to protect him. Ragnar clamped his teeth down on her arm, having the ability to crush the bone with hi

her. Maybe she could save Caleb that way

pounding, her breath steady, but her mind frantic—her o