Mated to the Moon (Portal City Protectors Book 6), Georgette Clair [best classic books to read .TXT] 📗

washing over her. No amount of recounting empirical formulas and standard deviations could change her reality.

Breathe!

“Sis, look at me.”

Giules.

Fabiana forced her gaze to meet Giuliana’s vibrant-green eyes. “Help … me.”

“I’m here.” As if the world wasn’t crashing around them, wolves growling and raking at each other, Giuliana stood before Fabiana and cupped her cheeks in warm palms. “Just look at me, sis.”

“I–”

Giules shook her head. “Just focus for me. I’m going to ask a question, and all I need you to do is nod.”

Okay.

Fabiana was so thankful for her relationship with Giuliana, Zoey, and Kalinda. They were the sisters she’d never had, and they had given her the freedom to be who she was without fear.

“Now, do you want to get out?”

Get out? What?

“Fab, focus, sis. Do you want to get out? Just nod and I’ll get you out of here.”

Fabiana’s gaze traveled to the front, unbidden, searching for Adonis. He was larger than life, his dark hair wild now, but it curled around his ears in sexy wave when it was under control. His hazel eyes were molten gold, a sign his wolf was close to the surface, and his angular, model-like features twisted into a vicious snarl.

He was beautiful.

He was violent.

He was just like Primo.

Willing to use violence to get his way.

Fabiana nodded.

Even as her heart clenched and stuttered, she balled her hands into fists with the urge to stay where she was. She couldn’t let him have her, not now. Not after seeing how he got what he wanted.

I’ll break you, you little bitch. Get me what I want or you won’t like what I do to you.

Her whimper broke through, and for a moment another power overwhelmed her, licking across her senses with spicy heat. Unfamiliar with the touch, she froze, wide-eyed. Fabiana sucked in oxygen, her chest expanding and her head clearing.

That quick—just a moment of that power rolling over her and she could breathe, she could think.

Who was it?

She didn’t have time to examine it. Giuliana lifted her into the air as if Fabiana weighed nothing. They streaked towards the stairs, Giuliana leaping over a wolf who slid across the floor and slammed into the opposite wall, plaster spraying everywhere from the impact.

“Oh, you bastards. I’m going to break the face of whoever messes up my house!” Giuliana’s yell echoed, but she didn’t stop moving until she deposited Fabiana on the floor in her bedroom.

“Way to sweep a girl off her feet,” Fabiana tried to joke, but it fell flat with her grimace.

Giuliana didn’t notice, or she pointedly ignored it as she always did and played along. “You should see what I can do with my tongue.”

Fabiana laughed as Giuliana flicked said appendage around obscenely.

“That’s better, sis. Get that suit on and we can get out of here.”

The suit was one of Fabiana’s creations she’d made not long after being freed from Primo. Not that they’d told the others, not yet. She didn’t have the ability or the equipment to expand it, and she wasn’t sure it would even work for other wolves. They’d tried a few times for Giuliana, but it never quite functioned properly.

But for Fabiana, it helped her disappear.

Or, more aptly put, made her scent disappear. Not really useful in daily life, but it made Fabiana feel safe to know she wouldn’t be followed when she wanted to get away.

Quickly, Fabiana stripped her clothing, slipped into the clear body suit, and zipped it up underneath her chin. Thanks to holotech, it blended with her skin until it couldn’t be seen. Next, she sprayed around her hair and face. The spray wasn’t as effective—more like a scent tricker than blocker—but it confused the nose.

Giuliana grimaced, shaking her head. “I’m watching you do it, and it still makes Red get all crazy. She hates when you disappear.”

Red was Giuliana’s wolf, and Fabiana was studying their connection, that was so much like Pasquale and Snow, his wolf. They could talk to each other and more. The implications could be amazing for wolves everywhere, but for now, it seemed the pair were special.

“It won’t be long. Thank you for doing this.”

Giuliana snorted. “You’re my sister, and that asshole came here and started a fight with my man. Alpha dick measuring contest, I know, but it still irritates me. It’d be nice to show him the score.”

“He’s going to come get me, isn’t he?”

She sighed. “You’re his mate. It will happen eventually, but it doesn’t mean we can’t set some pretty hard ground rules right now. Adonis is … powerful. Going to war with him would be dangerous. We all know this, but we would for you.”

And it was not the right time. Not with Skuld out there, losing Carlo to the In Between with Nanshe, and so much more going on. Nor did Fabiana want to see her pack hurt because of her.

She forced herself to nod. “Right. Ground rules.”

For a moment, pity flashed in Giuliana’s eyes, but it was quickly masked by anger. “He’ll know what it is to mess with a Bianchi woman. Do you know where you want to go?”

“The only place I can.”

There it was again—the pity—but this time, she didn’t shield it with anger. Who could when the only place you had to get away from home was the very place that had broken you?

***

She knew why her brother had saved this place.

Deep inside, they were only children still hoping for their father’s love but knowing they’d never get it—he’d always hated them. The home they’d grown up in eventually became the representation of all their demons. A place they could look at, sneer, and sometimes cry. Well … Fabiana was sure maybe she was the only one to do that, but for