Chapter 22

The Blue Moon alpha was known to be a reclusive, greedy man. Known to have scammed his way into power, I remembered my father always speaking poorly of how he chose to handle pack politics and encounters with the law. He also rarely made public appearances, and when he did, he was notoriously cold and creepy — tonight was no exception.

The crowd parted once again as the Blue Moon alpha strode through as though he was in a high society event, not the parking lot of a seedy hotel. His long blue coat brushed along the ground, and his men formed a V-shaped flank behind him. If he wasn’t so scrawny, he might have been intimidating.

“What are you doing here? Have you come to congratulate me?” Lorenzo said in a much more formal tone, but I could tell he was itching to be sarcastic. The Blue Moon alpha was known as a slimy creature, and Lorenzo clearly intended to treat him as such. Besides, he had nothing to be scared of; Lorenzo towered over the other alpha and was easily double his strength and size.

“I don’t have time for your games boy, I’m here to take what’s mine,” the alpha said and at that he turned his attention to me. Lorenzo must have noticed because he stepped in front of me protectively.

“That girl is in debt to the Blue Moon pack and to me,” the alpha shouted and people gasped. “You owe me your father’s money Eleanor Wright, and when I found out you all but killed my debt collector, I thought I’d pay you a visit myself.”

I was so stunned I almost fell over. My father owed money to the Blue Moon alpha? What business did he have with him? My head swam with questions that I didn’t have time to answer and before I knew it I blurted out:

“What are you talking about? My family doesn’t owe you anything,” I shouted before quickly shutting my mouth in surprise. What the hell was I doing talking back to an alpha?

“She may be good at ballet Sinclair but she’s not very bright is she?” The Blue Moon alpha replied in a cruel tone, and I heard a small growl rumble in Lorenzo’s chest.

“Leave her alone, any business you have to settle you can settle with me,” Lorenzo said cooly and the Blue Moon alpha laughed.

“Save it. That girl is coming with me as collateral to work off her debt, starting by being my personal assistant,” the Blue Moon alpha shouted loud enough for the onlookers to hear, but his eyes never left me as he gave me a slow once-over, a menacing grin plastered on his face. Then he snapped his fingers and in a flash the Blue Moon guards lunged towards us.

Lorenzo pushed me back into the arms of the crowd, which while they didn’t seem safe, they were a lot safer than the other pack. I watched in awe as Lorenzo and the Black Moon guards took on the Blue Moon cronies, throwing merciless punches and tackling each other to the ground. Lorenzo was taking on two of them at once but seemed to be holding his own. I wanted to help, but it was only then that I noticed the Blue Moon alpha wasn’t in the mix. The coward probably never learned how to fight, or was too busy keeping his coat clean.

Then the hair on the back of my neck stood up and before I could react I felt hands close around my chest and throat. I struggled against the grip but was slowly dragged through the crowd by the Blue Moon alpha.

“Thanks for the distraction sweetheart, I’m looking forward to getting to know you more intimately,” he said lowly in my ear and a shiver ran down my spine. I tried to pull his arms away but he was deceptively strong. Panic welled up inside me and I did the only thing I could.

“Lorenzo!” I shouted as loudly as I could, my scream echoing like an alarm over the chaos. I saw him look up immediately searching for me, and when our eyes locked he threw the enemies off of him and released another earth-shattering roar. The Blue Moon alpha was thrown back in shock, and his grip loosened enough for me to wiggle away so I could run to Lorenzo.

“Enough! Eleanor is my luna and she’s not going anywhere with you, name your price and I’ll pay double,” Lorenzo said in a tone so certain that not even the other alpha could deny him. The crowd trembled and whispered as the tension built between the two pack leaders — nobody knew what this would lead to.

Finally, after a beat of consideration the Blue Moon alpha let out a breathy laugh and shook his head. Clearly everyone could be bought.

“You drive a hard bargain Sinclair. Your little luna owes me $65,000, so whenever you’re ready to cough up $130,000–”

“Done,” Lorenzo said, cutting off the other alpha. Onlookers gasped as the Black Moon driver stepped out of the car with a checkbook, filled it out, then handed it to Lorenzo to sign. Lorenzo took the pen graciously and signed the check without looking, maintaining eye contact with his opponent the whole time. The driver then handed the check to the Blue Moon alpha, who gave it a once-over and then pocketed it.

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you Sinclair, but keep an eye on this one, I may still have a debt to settle with her yet,” the Blue Moon alpha said in a voice that could have only been interpreted as threatening. Then, he and his guards disappeared back into the night.

Without another word, Lorenzo nodded to his men who cleared a path towards the limousine. He then carefully grabbed my hand and led me to the car and we left the crowd in stunned silence. There were a few impressed whispers and a lot of staring, but two things were for certain, Black Moon had triumphed with everyone watching, and I was Lorenzo’s new luna.