CHAPTER NINE
Avery rubbed his eyes. He was back out at the gate of Hunter’s Moon Farm, and he was talking with Earl Lowell, the representative from the head of the Sullivan Foundation. Earl was sucking on a cigarette and drinking coffee out of a styrofoam cup. His ample gut protruded out over his pants.
“So, you’re saying that the SF wants all of them out?” said Avery.
“Every bleedin’ one,” said Earl. “There are what? Sixty? Seventy unregistered werewolves in there? That’s bad news for everyone. The press has gotten hold of this too, and there’s government pressure. People don’t feel safe.”
“Look, I’m the representative of the Pack Liaison Branch. My partner Dana Gray is in there right now. We’re the people who have been studying these genetic werewolf packs. And I got to tell you that their biggest fear is for us to come in there and take them all in.”
“Well, why would they be afraid of that?” Earl blew smoke over his shoulder.
“Because our training process breaks their natural family bonds, and that’s invasive and terrifying to them.”
Earl shrugged. “We got to get in there and get them.”
“Yeah, okay,” said Avery. He shook his head. “The last time we went in there, they killed almost half of us.”
“There’s more of us now,” said Earl.
“Not enough,” said Avery. “Think this through, Lowell. They can barricade themselves in that house. We’re stuck shooting in windows. We get close, they’re ripping out our throats. I don’t see how this goes down.”
“I’m not saying I got all the answers, yet,” said Earl. “I’m just telling you what’s been decided. We got to get them to come out.”
Avery sighed. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He reached down to check it, thinking maybe it was Ursula, and she’d have some kind of insight. But it wasn’t. It was Cole. He held up a finger to Earl. “Hold on, that’s my man on the inside.”
“You got a man on the inside?”
“Sort of,” said Avery. He put the phone to his ear. “Randall?”
“Not Randall,” said a different male voice. “My name’s Rusty. I’m James David Hadley’s son, and I’m the closest thing to a second-in-charge around here. I convinced Cole to let me talk to you.”
“Okay,” said Avery. “What do you want to talk about?”
“I want to negotiate,” said Rusty. “I want to know what you guys want. You’re surrounding my home, you’ve killed several of my family members, and you want something. I realize there have been casualties on both sides, so I know that things are touchy on your end as well. Still, I’m hoping we can work together and try to find out a solution.”
“Good,” said Avery. This was very good. “Yes, we want to talk.”
Early furrowed his brow. “Who are you talking to?”
Avery covered the receiver. “I got someone from the Pack in there. He says he wants to negotiate.”
Earl took a drag on his cigarette. He didn’t say anything else.
Avery uncovered the receiver. “So, you were saying?”
“I was waiting for you to tell us what you want. I assume you want your partner released.”
“Yes,” said Avery. “Released and unharmed. And preferably not as a member of your pack.”
“Sorry about that,” said Rusty. “Jimmy’s impulsive sometimes. There’s no way for me to undo what he did. But when she came here, she was an alpha, so maybe if she and her mate—”
“No,” said Avery. “All right, leave that. You think you can get him to let her go?”
“Yes,” said Rusty. “I do. Once he’s cooled down a little bit. If that’s all it is, I could get this squared away in a day, maybe two. But I have a feeling that you guys didn’t just bring in reinforcements only to get back one agent. There’s more to it than that, isn’t it?”
“Unfortunately,” said Avery.
“What?”
“My superiors want to bring in every single member of your pack.”
“What? They want to put us through that training? Brainwash us? Teach us that being a wolf is dirty?”
“I don’t know about that,” said Avery. “I can work on this end. If we can promise no one has to go through the training, and that your pack structures remain intact—no kids getting taken away from their fathers and alphas—you think you could sell him on it?”
“You could guarantee that?”
“We’ve had success pacifying them before. It’s a familiar family unit, and it’s not threatening.”
“That’s the thing,” said Rusty. “Truth is, we’re not exactly… conventional here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Jimmy’s the only alpha. And his family unit is what would categorized, I guess, as polygamous.”
Avery closed his eyes, letting out a slow breath. “You mean, he’s got numerous women in there.”
“He has multiple wives, yes,” said Rusty.
“Oh,” said Avery.
“You’re not going to be able to convince them to keep our pack structure, are you?”
“I don’t… I’m not saying no, not exactly. But that’s going to be a tougher sell.”
“Okay,” said Rusty. “Okay. Look, let me talk to Jimmy. Let me try to get him to cooperate. I assume that if we don’t surrender to you, you’ll come in and take us by force.”
“I don’t want that,” said Avery. “Believe me, I don’t. If there’s any way we can avoid more bloodshed, then I want to do that.”
“Well, you and I are in agreement about that,” said Rusty. “I’ll be in touch.”
* * *
Cole shut himself back in his bedroom, swearing under his breath. Dana Gray was the worst thing that ever happened to him. He wished he’d never felt sorry for her at that party all those years ago. Was that when the obsession started? After what had happened with Tasha, and he was dead to the world?
He wasn’t sure.
But she’d haunted him for so long. He’d run from her, tried to get away from her, over and over again, and no matter what happened, he couldn’t get her out of his head.
His cock throbbed.
Cole unzipped his pants, sitting down on the bed. The base of it was red, swollen from her teeth.
Damn it.
He should have killed her when he had the chance. He’d had all the time in the world to kill her last year. He had her chained up and at his mercy. If he’d done it then, she wouldn’t be tormenting him any longer.
Of course, maybe that wasn’t true.
It wasn’t as if he didn’t still have nightmares about Tasha, after all. He’d think about the way that she’d looked at him with that fear in her eyes, begging him not to do it.
He’d done it anyway.
But it had been wrong.
It had been wrong to kill Tasha, and it would have been wrong to kill Dana, too, wouldn’t it?
She’s not my mate anymore, he told himself. I could do it now.
He could go back down there with her dinner, set the tray on the floor, grab her by the neck and snap it. Easy. Problem solved. No more fucking Dana Gray to confuse the hell out of him.
It can be quick, said another voice in his head. Not his own.
He clutched his head, struggling to take deep breaths.
Was it even him that wanted to kill or was it something else? Had Jimmy implanted some tiny, demonic aspect of his own personality in Cole’s brain? Did it flare up and make him insane?
Cole examined his penis again. He thought it was going to be bruised. Could you bruise your dick?
At any rate, he didn’t seem so damaged that anything was really wrong. He rearranged his clothes and zipped up, wincing a little.
He wasn’t going to kill Dana.
He didn’t think he was, anyway.
Honestly, he’d never meant for it to go the way it had gone down there. When she started breathing the way she had, her chest heaving in front of him, making her breasts quiver, he’d sort of los
t it. Being around her always did that to him.
When he was away from her, he always thought that it was ridiculous and that he’d be able to control himself. But he never could.
Anyway, he hadn’t set out to hurt her.
Something in the moment had angered him, though. And aroused him. He’d been turned on nearly as much by the idea of causing her discomfort as by the sensation of her mouth around him.
It had been an impulse.
But he shouldn’t have given in.
Hell, he shouldn’t have been doing anything sexual with her at all. She was in danger. She needed to be freed. It wasn’t normal to have uncontrollable sexual urges in a situation like that.
At least he knew that he wasn’t alone in those feelings. Dana felt them too.
She wanted him.
He wanted her.
And they hated each other.
He lay back on the bed, thinking of his sister Gail asking so innocently if he was married to Dana.
Married.
Cole didn’t think he’d ever be able to do something like that. He wanted to protect Dana, but some other part of him wanted to destroy her. And he wasn’t sure which one was stronger anymore.
* * *
when Cole was seventeen…
Cole huddled in the barn until it got dark. That was when Jimmy came back. And that was when Cole felt the familiar itch at the back of his neck. The change.
It wasn’t a full moon, but Cole had long known that his father could force him to shift at will. It was the way he controlled the Pack during the full moon. The minute all of them shifted to wolves, Jimmy forced them back to human.
But Jimmy had never forced him to turn into a wolf before.
This was the first time.
He made Tasha shift too.
Tasha wasn’t wearing clothes, so the change washed over her, fur overtaking her body, claws ripping out through her fingernails.
Cole’s clothes tore as he shifted. Ribbons of fabric fell down to land on the straw.
It broke the ropes as well, freeing both of them.
Once he was a wolf, the wolf brain took over. Cole hadn’t been a wolf for very long before. This was the first time he’d been in wolf form for more than a few minutes. It was strange. But it was also peaceful. Right.
For the first time, Cole could really experience everything around him. His senses were heightened. He could see better, even in the darkness. Everything seemed clearer. Sharper.
He could hear the sounds of the farm, far away, the children laughing and playing, the women scolding. He could hear the chickens clucking and pecking. He could smell them.
But then there was another smell. Stronger.
Sweeter.
More enticing.
Tasha.
He didn’t think about it. His body moved instinctively. She didn’t resist him. She seemed to accept it. To glory in it.
It was…
There was something savage about it. Mounting her like that. Forcing his way into her. Taking her.
But it wasn’t cruel or wrong or evil.
It was right.
It was natural.
And it felt…
It felt wonderful.
But when it was over, Jimmy grinned down at the two of them, and there was something in his expression that Cole didn’t like. Something so satisfied. Something almost evil.
Cole didn’t know how else to describe it.
Jimmy had something else up his sleeve.
The rest of the Pack arrived then. Just as the coital tie had finally allowed he and Tasha to separate after mating.
All of the Pack came. The children. The older women. The brides. Jimmy’s group of men. All of them.
They formed a ring around the stalls where Cole and Tasha were contained.
Tasha shifted back to human form.
She looked confused. Frightened.
Embarrassed because she wasn’t wearing any clothes.
And Cole felt everything she felt deep inside him. She was his, he realized. Whatever they’d done, it had bound them. He had to protect her. He growled at the bystanders who had gathered around, trying to get them to back off, to stop staring at her.
Jimmy laughed.
He strode over to Cole and seized him by the scruff of his neck.
“There you go, boy. You wanted this. You wanted your own pack. I let you feel it, so that you could get it out of your system. But you can’t keep this. You see, boy, you’re mine. You’ve always been mine and you always will be. You were spawned to serve me. And you will serve me. You’ll learn tonight that you must. You’ll learn tonight the consequences of defying me.”
Cole bared his teeth, growling at his father, trying to twist out of his grasp.
Jimmy laughed again. He let go of Cole.
Cole lunged for him, snapping his jaws.
But Jimmy reached into the surrounding crowd and tugged Cole’s mother forward. Rhoda looked down at him, fear in her eyes.
“Jimmy,” she murmured, “he’s only a boy, you know. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
Cole shut his mouth, but he growled at Jimmy. He didn’t like the man so close to his mother.
Jimmy raised a finger. A wickedly sharp claw sprang out of his skin. He put the claw against Rhoda’s throat.
Rhoda’s eyes grew big. “Jimmy—”
“Shut up,” Jimmy said. He turned to Cole. “I could kill her with one slash. You know that, right?”
Cole rumbled, hackles raising on the back of his neck. He wanted to leap on Jimmy and rip him to shreds. He wanted to sink his teeth into his father’s skin. To stop him forever.
But he couldn’t be sure that he’d be quick enough. What if Jimmy got his mother first?
Jimmy smiled. “You need to choose, boy. Save Tasha or save your mother.”
Cole didn’t understand.
“You and Tasha are mated now,” said Jimmy. “You’re an alpha. You can take her and start your own pack. But if you do that, I’m going to kill your mother.”
Rhoda let out a little whimper.
Jimmy bared his teeth at her. “No sound.”
Rhoda bit down on her lip.
Cole looked at Tasha. She stood with one arm flung over her breasts, her knees together. She looked from Cole to Jimmy to the surrounding crowd.
“If you don’t want your mother killed,” said Jimmy, “you’ll need to kill Tasha.”
What?
Cole was startled by that. So startled that he shifted back into human form. Abruptly.
He realized that he’d done it himself. His father hadn’t forced him to do it. When Jimmy said he was an alpha, he’d meant it. Cole was free of Jimmy.
Except he wasn’t free. Not at all.
He ran to Tasha and pulled her into his arms, wrapping himself around her.
She buried her face in his shoulder, clinging to him. She started to cry.
“No,” said Cole to Jimmy.
Jimmy’s claw dug into Rhoda’s neck. A drop of red appeared against the white skin of her neck.
Rhoda’s breath quickened. Tears formed in her eyes as well.
“I will do it, boy,” said Jimmy. “Look into my eyes. Tell me that you don’t believe me.”
Cole met his father’s eyes. What he saw there was pure insanity. He believed.
He didn’t want his mother killed. His mother was… all he had. She was the only person who had ever loved him.
But Tasha was… The thought of hurting Tasha made him feel like the universe was turning inside out. Hurting Tasha was wrong. It was against every natural law that existed. Tasha was part of him. She was his to protect. She was his mate.
The wolf knew. Inside him, the wolf knew.
Cole’s entire body shook. “I can’t.”
Jimmy lifted his claw. It moved fast, slashing downward.
Cole screamed.
Rhoda screamed.
There was blood. He saw it, bright and red.
For several he
art-stopping seconds, Cole thought that his mother was gone.
But then he realized that Jimmy had only slashed her face open, from her eyebrow to her chin. She was bleeding, but she was alive.
“Kill Tasha,” said Jimmy.
Cole’s trembling grew more intense.
Tasha looked up at him, her blue eyes full of fear.
Cole shut his eyes.
“You can let out a claw,” said Jimmy, his voice calm and soothing like still waters on a lake in summer. “Like me. Just concentrate. Let one out.”
And then, suddenly, Cole had.
His right hand had sprung claws, long and sharp and gleaming. Cole looked down at them. Had he meant to…
Tasha shrieked. She pushed out of his arms. “Cole, no.”
Jimmy’s voice. “It can be quick. Just tear out her throat.”
Cole understood now. He saw why Jimmy had done all of it. He’d wanted to show Cole that it was impossible to defy him. Jimmy was in charge. Jimmy would always be in charge. All the women belonged to Jimmy. Everything belonged to him. Including Cole. He was his father’s instrument, and that was all there was to it.
Cole understood why the rest of the Pack was here to witness, as well. It was a warning. They needed to see what happened if they tried to move against Jimmy’s wishes.
Jimmy was telling the brides that if they were unfaithful to him, he considered them expendable.
He was telling the women that he’d use them to manipulate anyone.
He was showing them that his dominance was the most important thing, and that he would do anything to preserve it.
Because he was the alpha.
Cole was nothing.
He stole one look back at his bleeding mother, at her ruined face.
Then he turned back to Tasha.
“You don’t have a choice,” said Jimmy. “I’ve made your choice for you, Cole. I will always choose for you. Kill her.”
Cole stepped towards her, and his body lit up with the wrongness of it. He cried out in anguish as every part of him was engulfed in pain.
Tasha scrambled away from him, shrieking.
Cole took another step.
Jimmy was right.
It was quick, after all.
CHAPTER TEN
“You’re on speaker with the guy in charge,” said Avery. It was evening, and he and Earl Lowell were sitting outside the gate of Hunter’s Moon Farm. Avery had just gotten a return call from Rusty.
Bad Moon Rising (Cole and Dana) Page 15
