Alpha Instinct: A Moon Shifter Novel Read Online Free Page A

vehicles prepared to transport the animals.”
    “Good. I’m going to get Liam.”
    Nodding, she didn’t break stride as she headed for the barn.
    He’d sent his brother to round up the rest of his pack. At least the wind had shown mercy on them and died down. Despite the slightly damp ground, he’d noticed how thick her pasture was. The recently wet weather had probably prevented her from doing contained burns earlier in the year. A fire could still lap up this foliage. And fast.
    One shift in the wind and the now small fire could spread out of control all the way to the mountains. He couldn’t let that happen. He’d come here to take care of her, and that was what he was going to do.
    As he neared the cabins on the south end of the circle, Liam and his seven men streamed out, half-dressed.
    “They’ve got fire extinguishers in the barn. Grab a couple each.” He turned on his heel after shouting the order. His guys wouldn’t need to be told twice.
    He risked a quick glance in the direction of the field as he sprinted toward the barn. Flames painted the field in a bath of orange and yellow, but it didn’t look out of control yet. When he raced inside, he found Carmen and Noel passing extinguishers to their packmates.
    Wordlessly each female took one and raced out the other end of the building. They were like a well-oiled machine.
    “Give me two and give my guys two,” he said as Carmen handed him one. Ana wasn’t anywhere to be seen, so he guessed she was already at the fire.
    Panic bubbled inside him but he forced it back down. This fire wasn’t an accident. If he had to guess, he’d say that bastard Taggart had set it. Maybe in an attempt to scare him off, or maybe as punishment for Ana. He didn’t know and he didn’t care. This type of shit wasn’t going to happen under his watch.
    Whoever had set it better pray they weren’t still hanging around. If he scented anyone who didn’t belong, they were going to pay tonight.
    His boots pounded over the grass. As he neared the fire, his spirits lifted a fraction. The women had formed a giant half circle and started dousing the blaze. It had grown to the size of a small swimming pool, but it was fairly well contained.
    As he raced around to the other side and unleashed a stream of white foam from an extinguisher, he realized Ana wasn’t there. He couldn’t see in the pitch-black, but thanks to his extrasensory abilities he could see better than humans. Though he didn’t want to leave, he set the extinguisher down and hurried away from the fire when he spotted Ana racing across the dark field. Still in her human form, she was full-out sprinting toward the fence line.
    That’s when he scented it. Someone who didn’t belong. Definitely male. And he was close.
    Danger.
    Something deep and primal inside Connor flared to life. Protect Ana. The two words sounded in his head like a gong. He had to protect his mate. At this point semantics didn’t matter. She might not be mated to him, but his inner wolf would protect her at all costs.
    His canines started to lengthen but he willed himself not to shift forms. Not until he understood the situation.
    “Ana!” he called her name as he ran after her.
    She glanced over her shoulder at him but barely paused. Now he was thirty yards from her.
    Panic surged through him. What the hell was she doing? Didn’t she smell the threat? As he covered the distance between them he spotted a pair of glowing amber eyes in the forest. The animal hovered just inside the tree line to the east. It was far enough away that it couldn’t attack Ana, but he didn’t care.
    A feral growl tore from his throat. The sound was foreign even to him.
    Twenty yards and closing.
    “Damn it, Ana! Stop!”
    To his surprise she jerked to a halt. Because of his command? He wasn’t sure. As he came up to her, she didn’t turn to look at him.
    “What the hell are you doing, woman?” he barked.
    “Adalita,” she said softly, still not glancing at