Resisting the Moon: A Royal Shifters Novel (4 page)

I looked down at his hand, where he held a piece of black cloth. “What’s that for?”

Grinning wide, he walked behind me and tied it around my eyes. I couldn’t see a thing. “We’re going to spar like this today. One day, you might have to fight using only a few of your senses. I want to see how well you’ll do.”

“Great,” I grumbled. Everything grew quiet, except for the birds chirping and the wind blowing through the trees. I know I looked like an idiot standing there twiddling my thumbs. A minute passed and then another. “When are we going to start?” I asked, lifting my hands in the air. There was no reply.

I was about to rip my blindfold off when my legs were swiped out from underneath me, and I fell hard to the ground, the breath whooshing out of my lungs. I gasped for air and shouted, “You’re gonna pay for that, Lyall.”

Laughing, Micah tried to take me down again, but I was prepared and jumped out of the way. “Good job. You’re learning fast,” he praised.

I crouched low and waited for him to strike again. “I knew you’d be impressed. Now give me what you got.” He rushed by me and I tried to hit him and missed. Several times he did the same move, but he was too fast for me to catch.
I can do this.
Taking a deep breath, I blocked out every other sound and listened for his steps. The second I heard the whoosh of air, I went on the attack. He tried to grab me, but I side-stepped him and smacked him on the back of the head. I burst out laughing when he growled.

“Didn’t expect that, did you?” I teased.

I thought he’d throw back a cutting comment, but there was only the sound of his rapid breathing. Before I could throw another cocky comment his way, he lunged and almost knocked me down to the ground, but I caught myself and got away. His movements were more aggressive and sporadic than usual. What the hell was going on?

My thoughts made me lose focus. Micah clutched me around the waist and we toppled to the ground. I tried to fight him off, but he grabbed my wrists and held them above my head, his legs straddling my waist. I could feel his breath on my face getting hotter as his body moved closer.

“Micah, what are you doing?” He moved down over me until our chests were touching, his breath on my lips. “Stop,” I commanded. Only he didn’t. As soon as our lips connected, his power blasted into me and I couldn’t fight back; my body didn’t want to. I knew it was Sebastian. The asshole had no right!

Once he stopped kissing me, the spell broke and I could move away. Growling, I jerked my wrists out of his grasp and pushed him off as hard as I could. He grunted as his body hit the ground.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I shouted, ripping the blindfold off. I jumped to my feet and glared at him. I wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. It was a good thing I was great at acting.

Sebastian brushed the grass off of his pants and T-shirt. At first, he looked exactly like Micah, but it didn’t take long for me to realize he was wearing Micah’s clothing. Sebastian always wore top notch clothes and stayed perfectly kempt all day. Never was his hair in disarray like it was now. Taking in his appearance, I realized I liked it; I wanted to run my fingers through his messy hair.
What the fuck am I saying?

He held up his hands. “It was the only way I knew I could get you alone. Just don’t be mad at my brother.” Micah was lucky he was nowhere to be seen.

Huffing, I straightened my clothes, patience running thin. “Oh, I’m not worried about him. I’ll pay him back tomorrow. You, on the other hand, had no fucking right. Aren’t you a little long in the tooth to enjoy playing games?”

Collecting himself, Sebastian stood and blew out a heavy sigh. “I’m not playing games, Tyla. I just needed you to see.”

“See what?” I shouted.

He stepped forward. “You’re my true mate. I just never acted upon it until now.”

I snorted. “You mean you were too busy fucking around with other women to give me the time of day.” His eyes flashed but I held up my hand. “I don’t want to hear it, Sebastian. I get it, you’re a hot commodity, with women falling at your feet every step you take. So excuse me if I don’t follow suit. What I’m feeling right now is lust and nothing more. You’re not my mate . . . because I don’t want you to be.”

Eyes burning, I turned around and ran straight to my car. It was all lies, and my bluff was as thin as rice paper. My wolf wanted to be claimed by her mate; I just refused to give in. Knowing what happened to the men I fell in love with, I couldn’t go through it again. I’d made a vow and I was determined to keep it.

“What’s wrong?” Blake asked, coming up behind me.

Blake Evans was my boss and a friend of the Royal Pack, even though he had no clue we were wolves. He was an undercover cop and I was sure he’d be able to find out what we were if he had any suspicions. That was how good he was at figuring people out. I’d worked for his grandfather when he was alive and now that Blake took over the ranch, I worked for him.

“Earth to Tyla. You goin’ to answer me?”

I finished brushing down Blake’s horse, Nightshade, and wiped my eyes. My chest ached and I had no clue what I was going to do about it. “I’m fine.”

“Does it have to do with Sebastian? I heard it through the grapevine he got mighty pissed when he saw you with someone else.”

Gasping, I jerked around. “Who told you that?”

A small smile spread across his face. “I ran into Bailey at the grocery store this morning. I told her I was sorry I couldn’t be at the party last night.”

“And she just happened to tell you what was going on?”

He bit his lip. “Colin was with her. Of course, he was more than happy to let it slip.”

“Great,” I grumbled, turning back to Nightshade. “Can we please not talk about my love life?”

Laughing, he patted Nightshade’s backside. “Sure thing. I just wanted to make sure you were all right. I’d hate to have to kick some ass.”

“Thanks, boss. You know I can handle it though.” He might be exceptionally strong for a human, but he would never be able to handle a wolf.

Once I was done with Nightshade, it was time for me to go. I said my goodbyes and reluctantly headed home. I knew once the sun dipped behind the mountains, Colin would be showing up for our date; a midnight run to the lake. And everything would’ve been fine for our date if Sebastian hadn’t kissed me earlier. It’d changed everything; throwing my need to mate into high gear.

When I got to my house, I could sense Sebastian was near, but ignored it. Maybe if I ignored the signs they’d go away? Yeah, right.

Night came all too quickly, and of course, Colin showed up on time. When I answered the door, he smiled. “You ready?”

A blast of power swept over me; Sebastian was angry. I glanced up at Colin, but he didn’t seem to notice, only smiling wider. Okay, so maybe he did know and was eating it up. I was surprised neither of them had pissed on me yet.

“Let’s go,” I said, shutting the door behind me.

My house was hidden behind a mass of trees, making it easy to shift and run deep into the woods. He followed me around to the back, where we took off our clothes and draped them over the porch banister. Once he shifted into his massive white wolf, he took off into the woods.

I hung back, trying to sense where Sebastian was. He was gone; I couldn’t feel him anymore. Colin’s howl sounded off in the distance so I quickly shifted and raced after him. It felt good to run free.

We reached the lake and shifted back, the moon glowing across the water. Colin sat down on the ground and patted the space beside him. “Sit down with me.”

I sat down and kept my gaze on the lake, waiting for the moment I’d feel Sebastian’s power. Colin turned his body toward me. He’d been in the pack for a month but I’d never really spoken to him. “How do you like being in Wyoming?” I asked.

He glanced out at the mountains in the distance and shrugged. “It’s different. Don’t get me wrong, I love being with my family, but having so many unmated alphas in one pack is an absolute nightmare.”

I snorted. “You’re telling me.”

Smirking, he leaned back on his elbows, stretching out his body. I had to admit, he had a nice one. “So, how come a beautiful woman like you hasn’t found a mate yet?”

“I don’t know,” I laughed. “Why haven’t you?”

“Looking in all the wrong places, I guess. That’ll change soon.”

I didn’t want to comment, so I just sat there, smiling uncomfortably. Why had I asked him out? My wolf stirred impatiently inside. She didn’t want to be with Colin. Her tastes preferred a different royal.

“I heard you work on a ranch, training horses and such. Do you like it?”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I smiled. Now
that
was a subject I was comfortable with. “Love it. I can’t imagine doing anything else. My goal in life was to be a veterinarian, but my family didn’t have the money to send me to college. I could probably go now, but I’m more than happy where I’m at.”

Colin nodded in understanding. “I didn’t go to college either, but Zayne taught me how to design and build houses. We made pretty decent money up in Canada. I’m hoping to start expanding our business down into the states soon.”

Zayne was one of Sebastian’s brothers, but I’d only met him for a brief moment when he’d arrived in town with Colin and others from what used to be the Royal pack. Zayne was identical to Sebastian and Micah, but he didn’t talk nearly as much. I think I’d only heard him say two things since he’d been in the pack.

“Builders are always needed around here,” I mentioned.

His lips pulled back into a grin. “I know. I’ve been hired to work at Three Bar Ranch for maintenance repairs.”

Eyes wide, I gaped at him. Surely, he had the name of the ranch wrong. “You know that’s where I work, right?”

“Yep. I wasn’t going to tell you, but I thought better of it and decided to mention it before I showed up over there tomorrow.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“No problem. Want to go for a swim before we head back?” he asked, smirking mischievously.

Instead of replying, I jumped off the ground and raced toward the water. “First one there wins.”

His power flared behind me as he drew near, chuckling the entire time. I was almost to the water’s edge when his arms snaked around my waist and pulled me back as we both dove in. His hold loosened and I swam away.

The moment I surfaced, I broke out in laughter. “I won!”

Colin wiped the water out of his eyes. “Don’t think so, sweetheart. My arm hit before any other part of your body.”

“You’re really going to use that bullshit excuse? I can’t wait to tell everyone what a sore loser you are.”

His eyes flashed and he chuckled. “We’ll see about that.” He stalked toward me, kicking water in the air as he approached. Squealing, I took off further into the lake, treading as fast as I could. His hand brushed my foot, before he grabbed my ankle, pulling me back toward him. “Who’s the faster one now?” he teased, wrapping his arms around my waist.

He was so close, I felt his breath on my face. Even if he kissed me, I knew it wouldn’t feel anything like Sebastian’s kiss from earlier. “Colin,” I whispered regretfully.

“You don’t have to say it, Tyla. I know I’m not the one you want. Although, I have to say, it kills me not to kiss you right now.”

Sighing, I hung my head. “I didn’t want to lead you on, but I was hoping my feelings would change. They haven’t, and I’m sorry. The last thing you need is to get on Sebastian’s bad side.”

He chuckled. “I think I already am. I’m not worried about it.”

He should be though.