by R K Close
SPARK
Burning Moon Series
By
R.K. CLOSE
Table of Contents
Title Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
Author Note
About the Author
More Books by This Author
Acknowledgments
Dedication
SPECIAL OFFER
Copyright
1
Look for a special offer for a free copy of the prequel to this series at the end of this book.
LIAM
The night was for hunting.
The sound of dried leaves crunching beneath small animals as they scurry to find shelter after catching my scent competed with the sound of crickets chirping their night song.
Light from the moon bathed the forest in cool blue shades. At night the temperature would dip below freezing, but that never concerned me. I always ran hot.
A certain smell filled my nostrils. This was what I’d been seeking—the hunt was on. It made me feel more alive than anything in my human existence ever had.
My heart pounded fast and hard, and I felt as if the sound could be heard by every creature for miles around. Four strong legs drove me forward, closer to the prey—our prey. But it is mine first. I was alpha.
Soon, I could hear another heartbeat racing faster than my own. Even the fallen branches and twigs cracking under my paws couldn’t drown out the panicked thumping of the deer’s heart as it made a desperate effort to flee.
Finally, the moment came. I leaped, making one final contact with a fallen tree to propel my body into the air. I collided with the deer, causing the frightened animal to miss a crucial step that sent it crashing to the ground. I was on it before it could recover. Sharp teeth sank deep into the animal’s flesh—my teeth.
EARLY MORNING LIGHT woke me. That, and the feeling of sharp objects poking into my backside. The sun had not risen over the mountains yet, and I could see my breath as it formed, passing clouds in front of my face. Even though my body temperature ran hotter than an ordinary human, I had begun to shiver. Being naked hadn’t helped.
I stood and brushed off the leaves and pine needles that clung to my damp body. Scanning the surrounding woods, I searched for my brothers. When I didn’t see them, I started the cold walk toward the place we’d stashed our clothing the evening before.
Something about discovering I was a wolf-shifter freed me of the modesty I’d once had. I’d been caught naked before, but fortunately, it wasn’t by any of the locals. I always figured we could have confessed to being nudists if we’d had to. While the notion was odd, it wouldn’t have been unforgivable.
The good people of Flagstaff might actually accept that concept over the idea of werewolves living among them. Especially, being so close to the town of Sedona. That town had nudist, spiritualist, and a few self-proclaimed witches.
I heard one of my brothers long before I saw him emerge from the forest. Some of the benefits of being a shifter—heightened strength, speed, and hearing.
Seth fell into step beside me, and we walked in silence, attempting to shake off the deep sleep that followed shifting forms.
We reached the small cave—it wasn’t large enough to crawl more than three or four feet inside—and pulled out three bundles of clothing and personal items. The freezing temperature was an excellent motivation for dressing quickly.
When I had my jeans and flannel shirt on, I sat on a fallen log to pull on my hiking boots. Seth still hadn’t bothered to button his shirt or zip his pants. Instead, he’d checked his phone, like it wasn’t freezing, or he had no sense of urgency.
Only a few minutes had passed before Cole came running toward us in all his naked glory. Cole, my youngest brother, always had a ton of energy, and struggled with slow and easy. The look on his face warned me that it wasn’t just his usual enthusiasm for life. Something was wrong.
“We got trouble,” Cole said, as he reached us and took the pile of clothes Seth handed him.
Cole was shorter and stockier than Seth and me. His sandy blond hair was short on the sides but a bit longer on top. When he was younger, it used to hang over his eyes, and he was forever combing it back with his fingers.
“What’s wrong?” Seth asked. I scanned the forest, alert to any signs of trouble.
“I stumbled across two dead campers about a mile back up the trail.” Cole looked shook up, but finding dead people could do that to a person. Cole was also a firefighter and EMT, like Seth and me.
“Did you...” Seth started to ask.
Cole looked confused for a second until he realized what Seth was implying, then he looked indignant. “No. Of course not. It wasn’t me. I just found them.”
Seth and I exchanged a glance. We all knew that we only retained flashes of memory while in wolf form. It was the fear of hurting someone that sent us far into the mountains when we needed to shift. It was an itch that had to be scratched. I’d taken a life once, but I tried not to think about that if I could help it.
Cole dressed more quickly than Seth or I had, and was soon leading us to where he’d found the bodies.
“How’d they die?” I asked as we made our way through the woods.
“I can’t be sure. I didn’t do more than check for a pulse, even though I knew they were gone. Figured since I’m a firefighter the police would wonder why I didn’t check. There’s also something else odd about it.” Cole glanced sideways at me.
“What?” I asked.
“You’ll have to see for yourself. Or smell,” Cole mumbled, before turning his attention ahead. He didn’t speak again until we saw a red tent in the distance. “That’s it.”
We were about a hundred yards away from the campsite, but that was close enough for me to know what Cole was talking about. There was the smell of death, but not just the campers. There was something else.
“What the hell is that?” I asked as we drew closer.
“It’s not that bad,” Seth said. “Nothing I’ve ever smelled before, though.”
Cole and I stopped to gawk at Seth. “Not that bad?” Cole asked. “That smell is not right. No way.”
“It’s different, that’s all. I don’t know what you girls are getting your panties in a wad over,” Seth defended.
I had a bad feeling about the smell, but I kept it to myself. We reached the edge of the camp, and I took in the scene before me. A small camp table was knocked over on its side, and a few items were strewn across the ground. The tent seemed to be intact. “Did you check for anyone else?” I asked.
“Yes, I used a stick to pull the tent flap back, and then searched the perimeter. Nothing.”
I nodded and walked carefully to the first body. It was a young woman, mid to late twenties, with long brown hair. She wore a blue down coat, and a beanie of the same color was lying a few feet away. Her eyes stared blankly at the morning sky, while her long brown hair was strewn all around her and partially across her face.
“Look at her neck,” Cole said.
I carefully moved the strands of hair away. There was some dried blood on her neck, but only two bruised puncture wounds could be seen. I did notice that the front of her jacket looked as though it had been sliced up, but there was no blood or obvious injury. Possibly someone grabbed her by the coat
. The location of the tears would support that theory, but who has the strength to put their fingers through nylon like that?
“What could that smell be, Liam?” Cole asked.
I glanced at the male a few feet away. By the angle of his arm, it had been broken before he died. He also had a wound on his throat, but the damage was more evident than the woman.
It seemed to me that they died, most likely, six or seven hours ago. It bothered me that they died in the same proximity my brothers and I were. Something other than us was hunting last night.
The Coconino National Forest was 1.8 million acres of territory, but this particular patch of woods was ours. We chose it because of its remote location and the fact that people rarely used this part of the mountain range. These unlucky folks were way off the grid, but occasionally people wanted to be away from it all.
I spotted a book of matches next to the tent and bent to pick it up. After dusting it off, I handed it to Seth. He turned it over in his fingers and then passed it to Cole.
“The Burning Moon Bar,” Cole read, then looked up at me. “They must have been in town at some point. Look at their gear. This was carried in from a car. That means their vehicle must be in the same parking area as ours.”
Seth gives me a grim look. “We should walk away, right?”
I shook my head. “I don’t believe we can. Think about it. We were roaming all over these woods last night. If we don’t report this, we could find the finger pointing at us. Whoever or whatever did this isn’t a shifter, but they aren’t human either. The safest thing to do is report it. I’ll say that we came across the bodies and then hiked back to the truck for better cell service.”
I looked at them, and they nodded. This wasn’t the situation I had in mind, but it was the reason I kept our camping gear in the truck so we could support the well-known belief that we camped together often.
I held out my hand, and Cole passed me the matchbook case, which I slipped into my pocket, then headed for the parking lot. Cole and Seth followed.
Ordinarily, we’d be laughing and cutting up by now, but this morning was somber and gray, matching our moods and out of respect for the two people whose lives were cut short.
When we reached the clearing that passed for a trailhead parking lot, I found a small blue car with two dangling hearts hanging from the rearview mirror. The vehicle had California plates, most likely they were tourists passing through, or college students attending Northern Arizona University.
They must have arrived sometime after us the evening before. I made the call that would bring the sheriff and open a can of worms I wished we could avoid. Whatever did this, I hoped it had already left town, even though I was curious about what else was out there, besides shifters like us. Not that we needed any mysteries to solve. Our own past was full of unanswered questions.
2
A plethora of people continued to arrive, crowding the small dirt parking lot. Each new arrival seemed to stretch my nerves even tighter. The sheriff was first to come, followed by, most likely, every deputy in town. The crime scene crew showed up and headed into the woods, dressed in white jumpers covering their regular clothing, and carrying boxes that held their supplies and cameras.
When the coroner arrived, I’d hoped that would be the end of the show. Seth, Cole, and I had sorted out our stories before anyone arrived. I knew it was standard procedure for the sheriff to question witnesses individually, even if the sheriff had known us personally for years.
The sheriff’s office worked alongside the fire department on many scenes, so we were on a first name basis with many of the deputies, which helped to validate our story. We were known as avid campers and hikers who enjoyed spending time outdoors, so our reason for being on the mountain wasn’t suspicious. The sheriff seemed to accept our explanation without issue.
Cole, Seth, and I stood around my truck and watched the comings and goings of people who had been called out to do their grim jobs. There was an unhealthy level of excitement that I didn’t appreciate. Two young people had died for no good reason...most likely by something unnatural.
Unnatural. What did that say about us, I wondered?
“I think they bought it,” Seth said, under his breath.
I nodded. We needed to get back to town soon. Other firefighters had been called to cover our shifts until we could return. It wasn’t that bad since the firefighters would receive extra pay for the inconvenience and they wouldn’t have to work an entire twenty-four-hour shift, but it was a great excuse to leave as soon as possible.
My brothers and I were lucky. The fire department policy didn’t allow family members to run on the same crew, but since it was a small town, they had turned a blind eye when I pulled Seth and then later, Cole onto my shift. It wasn’t like the department had officially granted permission, but they hadn’t brought it up with me in over a year.
I was beginning to think we’d make it out of this unscathed when the news van pulled into the crowded parking lot. That was the last thing we needed.
“Don’t speak to any reporters. We’re under no obligation to be interviewed by any of the news stations,” I said quietly.
“Won’t they be suspicious?” Cole asked, glancing over at the van.
“No, plenty of people are camera shy. We don’t need an excuse. They don’t have a right to interview us. Just stick to your guns and don’t give in. Hopefully, they won’t bother.”
Seth whistled, and I turned to follow his gaze. Two women had just climbed out of the van. One was getting equipment out of the back. She wore jeans, sneakers, and a flannel jacket. She had curly dark hair and a friendly face.
But it was the other woman who made my gut clench and my heart pound in my ears. I could feel perspiration on my neck and forehead. Her long blonde hair shone like a halo of gold in an otherwise colorless scene. She wore a straight tight skirt, and a matching blazer that didn’t look warm enough for the weather.
My reaction to the pretty blonde reporter was immediate and powerful. I was a man, I’d always appreciated an attractive woman, but my response to her was over the top. I wondered why? I tried to hide my discomfort from my brothers.
She was checking her face in the side mirror of the van—not a good sign. She was planning to report the news on camera.
“Damn it,” I said turning away.
“Nice,” Seth said, drawing out the word. “Are you sure we can’t do an interview?”
“She’s pretty hot, if you ask me,” Cole volunteered.
“I didn’t,” I barked.
My brother’s infatuation with the woman was grating on my last nerve. Someone like her could expose us, or so I’d told myself.
“I’ve seen her on the news. She’s feisty, just like I like ‘em,” Seth said, watching her interview the sheriff.
“Stay away from her,” I growled. Both Cole and Seth turned to gape at me.
I hadn’t meant for it to come out like that. The situation had me on edge.
“Easy there, big brother. I won’t play in your sandbox. All you had to do was say you liked her,” Seth teased.
“I don’t like her. I don’t even know her. She could cause a lot of trouble for us. Don’t do anything stupid, like date her,” I said, trying to cover my initial reaction. It had caught me off guard, and I glanced over at the reporter again.
Seth and Cole exchanged smug glances before turning their knowing gazes back on me.
“Sure, Liam. Anything you say,” Seth taunted.
I rolled my eyes and shook my head at his suggestion that I was interested in the curvy blonde. It was nerves, nothing more.
“I thought you were going to bite my head off.” Seth chuckled, and Cole grinned. I ignored them and looked away just in time to see the sheriff pointing us out to the reporter.
“Here she comes,” Cole said under his breath.
“Get into the truck,” I ordered. “Now,” I said when they hesitated.
“Damn, Liam. You’re always a buzz-k
ill,” Seth grumbled, before heading for the truck. Cole followed him. They both threw curious glances over their shoulder as they went.
Turning, I faced the woman who was trying to make her way across the parking lot, nearly killing herself in those tall, pointy shoes. It was painful to watch.
Before she reached me, I yelled to the sheriff, “We’re taking off. You know where to find us if you need to.”
The sheriff waved, and I turned toward the truck. I caught the look of panic on her face as she realized I was leaving.
“Excuse me, Captain McKenzie?” I stopped dead in my tracks. Her voice sounded like honey, making me think of soft silk being pulled over my skin. I hadn’t meant to stop. I’d meant to ignore her and drive away.
Slowly, I turned around. She was even more beautiful up close. Not the sort of typical beauty you see on the cover of magazines, but breathtaking in her own way. A sudden desire to possess her, body, mind, and soul, rushed through my awareness. What was wrong with me?
Her soft pale skin screamed to be touched, and I wanted to feel it. Her blonde hair hung in loose waves around her face and shoulders. Was it as soft as it looked? I shook my head, trying to chase away the images from my mind. If I believed in witches, I’d be convinced she’d cast a spell on me.
She had jogged the last few yards. Impressive—in those shoes. I was beginning to appreciate the way the heels showed off the muscular curve of her calves. Her heartbeat was fast, and I could smell desire on her. Which meant she found me attractive as well. Damn it all to hell.
“I’m leaving, Miss. What do you want?” My reaction to her made my words sound angry. I could tell my response caught her off guard. For the briefest moment, she looked hurt. Just as quickly she covered her initial expression with a professional smile. It was like a mask dropped into place.
I felt wrong about my behavior toward her, but I knew it was for the best.
3
Jessica
The sheriff pointed out the firefighters who had found the bodies. “That’s them, over there. Captain Liam McKenzie and his brothers, Seth and Cole—all firefighters with Flagstaff Fire Department.”
