Lover's Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novella Read Free Page A

waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and stalked toward the open doors.
    Let Nikan stew on that. She wasn’t going to allow anyone to intimidate her because of his strength. She completely understood pack rules and her place in the hierarchy, but that didn’t mean she had less worth or didn’t deserve to be treated with respect.
    * * *
    As the last lecturer finally stopped talking, Nikan allowed a fraction of relief to slide into his veins. There were almost one hundred individuals in the giant hotel conference room. Esperanze hadn’t been wrong about the various types of paranormal creatures. Shifters of all varieties, fae, more than a handful of demons and even some humans. But vamps definitely outnumbered everyone else.
    From what he’d assessed, only a few of the vampires were of the vamp warrior class. He could tell because of the power they put off. Like energy pulsing through the air, it could be felt by all supernaturals. Right now he only sensed three with high levels of power. It made him feel a little better, but not much. He didn’t like Esperanze being so near all these other creatures, and he knew why.
    His inner wolf wanted to protect her, keep her safe, and until they mated—hell,
if
they mated—the need inside him wouldn’t go away. The most primal part of him needed to mark her, to let the world know she was his. Until that happened, he knew the edginess pumping through him wouldn’t ease.
    Esperanze lightly clutched his forearm as they stood. Some of her annoyance had faded during the speeches, and for that he was thankful. He knew because of the touch. She did it all the time, and he guessed she wasn’t even aware of it. But she often made skin-to-skin contact with him, and it soothed his wolf more than he’d ever imagined possible. While it might calm him, just the feel of her long, elegant fingers resting on his arm made him think about what it would be like to have those fingers curled around another part of his body.
    “There are a few people I want to talk to before we leave. Do you want to wait for me or would you mind meeting them?” Her question was so damn polite, it rankled him. What did she think, that he’d actually leave her?
    He placed his hand over hers. “I’m not leaving your side.”
    Her cheeks flushed that delicate shade of pink that made him want to groan. Unable to stop himself he reached out and tucked a dark strand of hair behind her ear. When his knuckles grazed her cheekbone, she sucked in a breath. That exotic, coconut scent of hers intensified, and he almost jerked back.
    Was she turned on?
    Before he could contemplate what the scent meant, it registered that a vaguely familiar female voice had said his name.
    “Nikan!”
    He turned at the sound, surprised to see Maya Morgan striding toward him. Tall, blond, built like an athlete, she practically launched herself at him, pulling him into a tight embrace. He hadn’t seen her in almost forty years. After hugging her, he stepped back and tried to put a little distance between them but she splayed her fingers across his chest. “What are you doing here?”
    He nodded at Esperanze, who was giving him the oddest look. “This is my packmate, Esperanze. She was invited to this conference. I’m her guard for the weekend.”
    Esperanze’s eyes narrowed at him with pure anger for a fraction of a second. It was gone so quick he could almost pretend he’d imagined it, but he knew what he’d seen. Just as quickly she smiled politely at the other lupine shifter. “Nice to meet you.”
    Maya nodded once then slightly sniffed the air as she looked between them. The action was slight but he knew what she was trying to ascertain. Her question solidified it. “Are you two mated?”
    Before he could answer, Esperanze shook her head. “No. If you two will excuse me, I see someone I’d like to speak to.”
    Nikan wanted to go after her, but Maya grabbed onto his arm and jumped into a diatribe of questions. She