Angela Knight - Over The Moon

He wanted to rip out the fucker's throat.

The air filled with the ripe scent of blood. Lucas realized his nails had lengthened into claws, digging into the other man's skin. What the hell am I doing ? he thought, shaken.

Get a grip, Rollings ! He sucked in a deep breath, fighting to control the wolf clawing for the surface. Not now. Not here .

"Lucas Rollings, my name is Elena Livingston, and I seek your protection."

Lucas's eyes widened as he looked up from his captive to meet the woman's green gaze. Her face was almost bloodless except for the bruise slowly purpling on her cheek, but her eyes were level and determined.

She's formally asking me to become her champion . Ray had told Lucas that his size and attitude would make him an Alpha male among the Direkind, which meant the elderly, females, and children might ask him to defend them. Lucas had memorized the highly stylized etiquette of an Alpha champion, but he'd never expected to actually use it.

"Elena!" Stephen stared at her, incredulous. "What do think you're doing?"

She ignored him like a queen. "This male has threatened and abused me, and I beg your protection." There was no pleading in her gaze, just steady courage. Her face was delicately boned, nose straight and slim, mouth full, pink-lipped. And those eyes…

"Elena!" With a powerful wrench, the blond tore free of Lucas's hold. His voice dropped to a deadly whisper. "If you involve this mongrel, I'll kill him."

Lucas whirled to face his opponent, feeling his muscles coil into knots as he fought the need to Change and kill. Instead he throttled down his rage and gritted the ceremonial words, "Elena Livingston, I will defend you with my last breath."

"You are a fool." Stephen lunged at him. Lucas blocked his swinging fist and hit the Direwolf hard enough to rock his head back. The Shifter snarled, baring lengthening fangs.

Was he stupid enough to Change in the middle of the Harrisville Police Department parking lot? In broad daylight?

"No, Stephen!" Elena snapped. "Not here!"

"Hey!" Feet slapped the pavement. Lucas threw a look over his shoulder and mentally cursed as four uniformed cops ran toward them. That's all this situation needed to truly go to hell—humans seeing something they shouldn't.

Stephen froze, his cold eyes flicking toward the officers. Impotent fury flashed over his face before he took a step back. "We will settle this," he hissed.

Lucas glared back. "Not tonight."

"What's going on, Lieutenant?" The officers fanned out and surrounded them, studying Stephen with narrow-eyed hostility. "This guy giving you trouble?"

"Yeah. He just assaulted this woman right in front of me." Lucas turned toward Elena. Just the sight of her bruised cheek was enough to make his outraged instincts snarl. "Do you want to press charges?" Say yes . He wanted to lock his rival up for a few hours—long enough to find out what the hell was going on and figure out what to do about it.

"Elena!" Stephen growled. "If you do this, you're going to pay for it."

She didn't even flinch. "Yes, I want to press charges. I want him to go to jail."

"Oh, you stupid little bitch."

"That's enough!" Lucas grabbed Stephen by the shoulder and whirled him around. For a moment, he was tempted to slam the man's head into the hood of the Hummer. Instead he jerked a set of handcuffs from his pocket. He hoped the other officers didn't notice his hand was shaking with the intensity of his rage.

The werewolf stiffened, obviously considering fighting him before thinking better of it and allowing himself to be cuffed. Evidently he wasn't insane enough to violate the Direkind taboo against using their abilities in the presence of humans.

Still, Lucas could literally smell his fury, pungent and acrid against the springtime scents of the flowers in the department's flowerbeds.

"You all right, ma'am?" one of the officers asked Elena. "You want to go to the hospital?"

"I don't think that's necessary."

Lucas met her gaze again—and felt again the heat surging between them. Trying to ignore it, he turned to hustle Stephen toward the department's entrance.

He'd never felt like this before. What the hell was happening to him?

Elena followed Stephen and Lieutenant Lucas Rollings through the police department's corridors. Her cheek ached, and she could feel her lower lip swelling. Minor injuries, particularly compared to what Stephen no doubt had in mind. The bruises would heal as soon as she transformed. But for the time being, they were just what she needed to make sure her would-be husband spent the night in jail. The longer they could keep him locked up, the better.

For one thing, she was willing to bet Stephen would challenge her new champion the first chance he got. Though Elena suspected it was inevitable, the idea filled her with a surprising dread.

She remembered the moment when Lucas had looked at her. Elena had known her share of men over the years, and yet she'd never felt such stark, instant attraction. His eyes had stared into hers, dark and male and elemental, recognition and hunger flaming up in them.

What's more, something ancient and female in her had purred in response. It was just the Burning Moon , Elena told herself firmly. Just pheromones and biology .

It doesn't mean anything.

While one of the uniformed officers booked Stephen, Lucas escorted her up a set of stairs to the detectives' division. Like those she'd seen in cop shows, it was a big, open room, filled with desks, filing cabinets, computers, and ringing phones. Unlike the television version, however, the light was much brighter, and dark blue cubicles surrounded the desks. Several detectives worked on paperwork, questioned suspects or witnesses, or talked on the phone.

"I just have a few questions," Lucas told her, gesturing her to a chair beside one of the desks. Elena settled into it as he sat down behind the desk and booted up his computer.

She watched him, taking in the sight of those big hands moving over the keyboard with speed and competence. Stirring in her chair, she remembered his claws growing, pressing into Stephen's throat, muscle flexing in his strong jaw. His powerful shoulders had bunched under the dark blue fabric of his suit coat, and his muscular backside had worked with the effort of keeping his enemy pinned.

Elena crossed her legs and swallowed.

He glanced at her as he opened a program file. Just one quick, dark glance, yet she felt it in the pit of her stomach. She recrossed her legs.

Lucas was definitely handsome, but not in the polished, Chosen mold. Instead, there was something a bit rougher in the width and angle of his cheekbones and the long hawk swoop of his nose. His upper lip had an intriguingly sensual curve, and his lower was suggestively full. It looked bitable, that lip. Tempting.

His eyes were dark, deep-set under thick, dark brows, and his short black hair curled as though inviting female fingers to set it to rights. When he asked her for her identification, his voice was deep, with a masculine rumble that seemed to suggest whispered intimacies in the dark.

Get a grip, Elena , she told herself. It's your Burning Moon . Her body was deep in its yearly rut, producing a flood of hormones that urged her to mate while driving every male around her to a dangerous sexual pitch. Even humans felt it, though they had no idea they were reacting to the pheromones she produced.

Lucas, however, knew perfectly well what was going on. A blend of masculine awareness and acute discomfort lit those dark eyes of his, as if his Direwolf instincts battled his sense of duty.

Some primitive part of her enjoyed that. The rest of her was appalled.