Ethan (Moonlight Wolves Book 5)

by Sarah J. Stone

  “We have to get to Hann.”

  “We have to make sure he tells the whole pack, and all the shifters in Maine, to steer clear of that area.” Hazel nodded, grabbing her jacket and putting it back on. “And maybe then he’ll be able to tell us what the hell is going on with Lorelei. I’m assuming he knows all about her confession to Matthew. But why didn’t he tell anyone? And why didn’t he text me to give me a heads-up? I was freaking out and Matthew definitely noticed.”

  “We’ll figure this out,” Ethan murmured, pulling Hazel into a hug.

  He wrapped his arms around her, kissing the top of her head in a moment of relaxation. He knew that they should be running over to Hann’s house to warn him, but all he wanted to do was lay beside Hazel on his living room couch and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

  Hazel pulled away and out of his grasp much too soon, walking toward the front door to go figure out what the hell was going on.

  The cold air hit Ethan like a ton of bricks as she left his grasp, leaving him cold and facing the dark reality he lived in yet again.

  “I’m aware you all have a lot of questions,” Hann said as he motioned them to sit down at his kitchen table, where he and his bodyguard, Ross, were sitting.

  Hazel and Ethan had just burst through the doors, asking questions loudly and wondering what was going on. Well, more like Hazel was. Ethan was just a few steps behind her, trying to stay as neutral in the situation as possible. He didn’t want to piss off Hann. He needed to learn from Hann, and if the alpha became mad at him for bursting through his front door demanding answers, it would become a bit of an awkward relationship.

  “Boss, I’m going to run and tell the boys to spread the word about the warrant,” Ross told his alpha as he got up to leave the house after Hann nodded his agreement. In her rage and questioning, Hazel had also mentioned how Matthew was going to get a warrant for the area of town near Lorelei’s house. “Thankfully, we’ve already spread the word, so it won’t be too long before everyone knows to steer clear of that area.”

  “Of course,” Hann responded, nodding as Ross left the house.

  “So, you knew about Lorelei, then?” Hazel asked her alpha as she and Ethan realized that they must have spread the idea that the area around Lorelei’s house and the woods should be free of wolves and shifters prior to Lorelei even going to the police precinct.

  “It seems Lorelei got a similar letter to us,” Hann responded, pulling a letter out of his pocket and gently laying it on the kitchen table in front of Ethan and Hazel.

  Ethan didn’t know what to say other than stare at the envelope in surprise. One look at Hazel, and he could see that she was feeling the same surprise as him. The last thing Ethan thought Hann would say was that Lorelei got a letter from the shifter who murdered Camilla Phillips.

  But there was a letter, with the name Lorelei written in big cursive letters on the front side of the envelope. No address or last name anywhere on the envelope. Just Lorelei’s name.

  “She got this in the mail this morning?” Ethan asked, a queasy feeling growing in his stomach as he realized what that meant.

  “Yes,” Hann sighed and nodded.

  “That means . . .,” Ethan broke off, shaking his head.

  “That means the killer walked up to her house and put this in her mailbox without anyone noticing,” Hann finished for him, the same queasiness becoming clear on his face.

  This situation was just getting worse and worse as the days went on. Ethan hated it. And he hated the shifter that had done this and was now toying with them.

  “We didn’t want to worry anyone else,” Hann began, directing his attention to both Hazel and Ethan and refusing to look at the undeniable presence of the letter. “And we would’ve told you, Hazel, to give you some sort of heads up, but it was too late. And we would much rather there not be any physical evidence of obstruction of justice on our cell phones, just in case the police get a warrant for that. Also, we thought that maybe a shocked and surprised you would be much better, and more realistic.”

  “So, this wasn’t some ploy to get the police to start thinking it was a drifter that they’re never going to find?” Hazel asked, her gaze jumping away from the letter and up into Hann’s eyes.

  Ethan finally realized why Hazel was so upset over the whole thing. She thought that Hann was trying to throw the police off of the trail. She thought that he was trying to make it seem like it was some drifter–and therefore, make the idea that the killer would never be found a very real possibility. The shifter would never be found. At least, the police would never find the killer. That didn’t mean the Moonlight Maine Pack would never find out who did this. And when they did, they would get justice for Camilla.

  He just wished she would get justice on a loud and big level. He wished her town would be able to sleep at night again. He wished this had never happened.

  “It wasn’t meant to have a hidden agenda, no,” Hann clarified, running his hands through his wavy, graying hair. “What Lorelei saw was true. Read this letter, and you’ll realize why we decided Lorelei should go to the police.”

  The infamous letter. Ethan picked up the letter and pulled it out of its envelope, his palms becoming sweaty and his heartbeat quickening as he imagined just what the contents of the letter held.

  “‘My dear Lorelei,’ Ethan began, reading the letter out loud. ‘How it’s been so long. I desperately missed our moment in the woods that night, and I hope that we’ll see each other soon again. In case you were wondering, it was indeed I who killed that innocent human girl. Camilla Phillips? That is her name, no? How precious she was, and how horribly sad I am that I didn’t get to know her.

  But do you know what I find most fun? You’ve kept your mind shut about me. Did you think it was because I was just a kid strolling in the woods? Did you think I was no one, and it was just the dark playing with your head? Or, did you recognize me? Did you want to help me? Do you want to be friends, lovely? Love, your friend–and hopefully, something more, soon.’

  This person is demented,” Ethan declared as he put the letter back in the envelope. He couldn’t believe what he had just read out to everyone.

  “And they’ve been watching us,” Hazel stated, shaking her head. Ethan could see her hands shaking slightly as she played with them in her lap. “All of a sudden, this shifter knows Camilla’s name. Knows Lorelei’s. He, or she’s, been watching us and learning.”

  “That is the most disturbing part, yes,” Hann nodded sadly. “We wanted to go to the police in case the killer decided to also begin to mess with the humans. Has Matthew gotten any letters like the ones that we have?”

  “Not that I know of, no,” Hazel responded. “He would’ve told me if he did, and he’s not acting any different.”

  Ethan tensed up in annoyance. He didn’t really care for Matthew–and that was the politest way of saying it. Ethan hated that Hazel worked with her ex, and he wished that he hadn’t basically pushed her into being with him at all hours of the day so that she could gain information about the case. He was worried that she would fall back under whatever spell he had put her under.

  Ethan inwardly cursed at himself. Now wasn’t the time nor the place to become annoyed with his current flame’s ex-boyfriend. They were talking about a killer shifter and a murdered human, for crying out loud.

  “Do you really think this shifter would resort to messing with the humans, who don’t even know about shifters or wolves?” Ethan jumped into the conversation, asking Hann.

  “I think this shifter is deranged and will do anything to bring destruction to our lives,” Hann stated. “And if that means outing us to the local police, that’s what it means. We need to be prepared for anything, friends. I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse from here.”

  Ethan felt the chills run up his spine for the hundredth time that day. Hann was right. Ethan could feel it in his bones. It was definitely going to get worse before it got better. Ethan didn’t know how much
more of this toying that he could take. He wanted to find this demented shifter and bring justice to Camilla Phillips.

  As soon as possible.

  Chapter 13

  Hazel was stressed out. The last thing she wanted to do was go into the precinct at two in the morning to meet up with Matthew and talk about the case. She knew that Matthew would be ecstatic about what Lorelei had told them. She had seen enough of a glimmer in his eye after her interview with him for her to know that he was feeling hope.

  And Hazel really didn’t want to ruin that hope.

  She wasn’t feeling any hope. She was feeling used and abused, and she wanted to find the shifter that was responsible for this mess. The thought that the town of Jerome would never find the killer? That killed her inside. She wished they could reassure the people in town somehow, though they never could.

  “What are we going to do?” Hazel whispered to Ethan.

  They were both sitting on Ethan’s couch, having returned to his house only a few minutes earlier. They both seemed to fall into the comfy cushions when they first walked in, utterly exhausted over the whole day. Hazel felt like the last twelve hours had been spread out over a week. It didn’t feel like a day–it felt much longer. They hadn’t talked much on the car ride back to Ethan’s. There really wasn’t much to say, other than to confess they were in a whole lot of trouble.

  “At least I have you,” Ethan stated, pulling Hazel to him and into his arms where she rested her head on his chest.

  His words went through her heart like it was a lightning bolt. Her cheeks heated up from awkwardness, which she hated. She hid her face in his chest as he kissed the top of her head in the sweetest way, making her blush intensify.

  He did things to her. Not just in the sexual way. In the sweetest way. She thought about him constantly now, and she found herself thinking of fun things they could do together that didn’t involve just sex. Not that the sex was bad at all. It was the best sex she had ever had, and it wasn’t like she’d been lacking in the good sex department.

  There was just something about Ethan. Something she couldn’t explain. He made her crazy and bold, and she felt beautiful and sexy around him. The way he caved at her feet and begged to please her made her feel like a goddess. She knew the way she pleased him made him feel like a god, too.

  They just completed each other in an unexplainable way. She didn’t know how she felt about it, and she almost wished she didn’t have these feelings for him. She wished she could just use him for the great sex that he gave her, along with the screaming orgasms that she craved on a daily basis now. She didn’t know if she would be able to go back to just basic sex with someone after she had tasted a god like Ethan.

  Even now, as she was thinking that he could very possibly be the best boyfriend she would ever have, if she ever had the guts to ask him out in that romantic way, she was thinking of pulling his clothes off so she could admire his naked body. It was like he was sculpted by an Italian artist, his chiseled abs like rock.

  “What are you thinking?” Ethan murmured in her ear, humming some tune as he trailed his fingers up and down her arm absentmindedly.

  “Just the different ways you make me scream in pleasure,” she whispered to him. In a moment, she was no longer lying with her head on his chest. Now, she was straddling him where he sat on his couch, gently lowering herself on his lap and feeling how hard his desire was in an instant.

  She loved that she could turn him on so fast.

  “My, aren’t you my little seductress?” Ethan whispered as he pulled her face to his, kissing her lips with that passion that she knew she would never find with anyone else.

  “Baby, I’m anything you want me to be,” Hazel responded between kisses, slowly lowering her hand down his body in a teasing tickle until she began to caress his hard desire for her.

  Ethan responded with a low growl, sending waves of satisfaction through Hazel as she heard how pleased her man was.

  Because that’s what Ethan was. Her man. And she was his girl.

  There was so much she didn’t know in the world, especially because of the murder of Camilla Phillips and the evil shifters and humans who could be responsible. She was confused, and she didn’t know what to do. But when it came to her and Ethan, everything was suddenly clear.

  She was his. And he was hers.

  “You drive me crazy,” Ethan murmured as he nipped her ear, his growl slowly growing louder as she unzipped his pants. “You know that, right?”

  Hazel smiled as she leaned away from Ethan and pulled her top off in a quick motion, while she gave him her most seductive smile. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and she felt the cold air hit her breasts, causing a slight chill envelope her.

  Goosebumps began to line her arms and chest as Ethan caressed her breasts, and she welcomed them. She loved how he gave her goosebumps. The chills. Explosions all over her body. She loved the way he made her feel just from the light touch of his tongue.

  Hazel giggled as Ethan threw her off of him, helping her land with her back on the couch. She stared up at him as he gazed down at her body, his eyes glimmering with possession and lust. He slowly began to undress her, making her long for his touch again as she laid beneath him, completely naked.

  Ethan’s lips met hers again, the passion still there and intensified from his desire. She could feel how hard he was as he pressed up against her naked body, making her thrill as she longed for the pleasure that would soon rock her body, making her scream his name.

  She loved the look he got in his eyes as she screamed his name.

  Ethan began to slowly lower his kisses down her face and neck, caressing her nipples with his tongue as he kissed all over her chest. She began to twitch underneath him with delight as his kisses began to inch lower and lower on her body.

  When he arched her knees up slightly and began to kiss lower and lower, her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she began to moan; explosions being set off in her body from the satisfaction he was giving her from just his tongue.

  She knew that no one else would ever let her feel that pleased again. Only Ethan.

  Only her Ethan.

  The next morning was a struggle for Hazel. She didn’t want to go to work and put on a mask to hide her true thoughts from Matthew. No matter how much she used to hate him during and after their relationship, his heart was in the right place when it came to his job. She was watching this murder investigation eat him alive. And she knew more than she was letting on. If he found out about what really happened, he would never forgive her.

  She didn’t know if she would ever be able to forgive herself. She peeled herself out of bed and got herself ready for the day. She dreaded it more than anything else in her life. But she had to show up, and she had to be there for Matthew. Even if that meant watching him self-destruct as he never found out who really killed Camilla Phillips.

  The rain outside soaked Hazel to the core as she ran to her car. Her mood dampened, she made it to the precinct to find Matthew waiting for her in his office with a cup of coffee and a chocolate donut, her favorite, which he hurriedly handed to her.

  He wore a smile that made her stop in her tracks.

  Something was wrong. And something had definitely happened to make him smile like this. She didn’t see a cigarette in sight.

  “Guess who came in for an interview this morning?” he asked her before she could even say anything, shoving her down in the seat across from his desk as he handed her the coffee and donut.

  Hazel glanced at him warily, wondering what the proper protocol for a mentally insane detective would be.

  “Who?” she asked him, wet from the rain and glum from the whole case. “The headless horseman here to tell his final tale?”

  “Nope.” Just like Matthew to ignore her dumb joke. “One Hudson Schmidt.”

  Hazel yelped from surprise and from the hot cup of coffee that just burnt her tongue as she tried to sip it. She put the coffee and donut down on his desk as Matthew smi
led and walked around to sit across from her in his seat. He was giddy with joy. Hazel was full of confusion.

  Hudson Schmidt. The boy next door, who didn’t live next door, and who used to be a bad boy, but who evidently changed his life around when he went to boarding school for shitty kids. Also, the rumored older lover of the murder victim. He had come in earlier in the week, after days of not being interviewed, but Matthew had shoved him aside and said that he wasn’t anything to worry about.

  Now, it seemed that everything had changed since Hazel last saw him. And she was just a little confused.

  “Why do you have that look in your eye?” she questioned him, her heartbeat quickening in her chest as she remembered who the real killer was: a shifter. “I thought you believed he wasn’t someone who did anything? Or at least didn’t kill the girl.”

  “I didn’t. That was until we found a knife with a long blade on the edge of the forest this morning, right where Lorelei James thought she saw a guy walking the night Camilla Phillips was murdered.”

  Hazel held her breath as she realized just what he said to her: the murder weapon was finally found.

  “You found the murder weapon?” Hazel breathlessly asked him.

  “Not only did we find the murder weapon–we found prints on the murder weapon.”

  Hazel felt her throat constrict. Something wasn’t right. Something really wasn’t right, but she couldn’t put her finger on what, exactly, was wrong.

  “Whose?” Hazel asked, almost scared to even hear the answer.

  “One Hudson Schmidt’s.”

  Hazel felt like her heart dropped in her chest. Things weren’t adding up. They weren’t making sense. There was no way Hudson Schmidt’s prints should be on the knife. A shifter, or a rogue, was responsible for Camilla’s brutal death, and Hazel had the many notes to prove it. Was the knife planted? Did the shifter steal the knife from Hudson, keeping all of his prints intact?