Bad Moon Rising (Cole and Dana)

by Chambers, V. J.

  It would simplify things.

  Maybe if he and Dana had a chance to sort stuff out without the pressures of all this wolf crap, he could know how he felt about her, how she felt about him.

  Of course, he’d basically decided not to hang onto any hope of things working out between them.

  But this way, maybe there was a chance.

  “Don’t worry,” said Avery. “I won’t tell her.”

  Earl clapped him on the back. “Good man.”

  * * *

  Avery didn’t see Dana again until later. The siege was still going on, but since they were waiting until the day when Jimmy would meet with Cole, there wasn’t much to do. Still, he spent most of his time outside the gate, peering down at the main house, where all those people were locked up, refusing to come out.

  He wasn’t avoiding Dana, not exactly. But he knew that she was going to be devastated at the loss of Cole.

  She shouldn’t be, of course. She should despise that bastard.

  When he finally did see her, he was back in headquarters, and she was outside the door to her apartment, a plastic grocery bag dangling from her hand.

  He couldn’t walk by her and ignore her, so he stopped. “Hey.”

  She’d just unlocked her apartment door and was halfway inside. She turned. “Oh. Brooks. Hey.”

  “How are you?”

  “Okay,” she said. “How are you?”

  He shrugged.

  There were a few moments of awkward silence.

  “You want to come in?” she asked.

  He hesitated. If he talked to her, was he going to be tempted to spill everything? He didn’t like lying to her. He shrugged. “Uh, okay.”

  She led him into the apartment, dropping the shopping bag on the breakfast bar. “I went by the childrens’ home today. The kids are really hyper. I think they’re scared. I brought them some letters from their sisters, and I asked the people there if I could get the kids to write back, but they said they’d have to check with Lowell. Apparently, they’re worried about them sending coded messages back and forth.”

  Avery shut the door and wandered in after her. “Well, that’s stupid. They’re kids.”

  “That’s what I said.” She sighed.

  He went over to the breakfast bar. “You stopped by the store?”

  “I did.”

  He picked up the bag. “What did you buy?”

  She started for him. “I’d rather you didn’t look at that.”

  He opened the bag anyway. He set it down again, like it had burned him. “Condoms.”

  She rubbed her face. “Jesus, Brooks, I told you not to look.”

  “So, you really are sleeping with him.”

  “We’re mated, Brooks. It’s hard not to.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t make you feel good to think about it.”

  “Oh come on. You didn’t need to be mated to him before to sleep with him. That’s not what it’s about.”

  She looked at the floor. “No, I guess not.”

  Avery felt helpless. Usually, this topic made him angry, but not now. Maybe it was because he knew that Cole’s days were numbered. He wasn’t sure. Whatever the case, instead of lashing out, he only wanted to understand. “What is it about, Gray? Do you even know?”

  She fidgeted. “I think I do. I didn’t used to, but I think I understand now.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “And…”

  She looked at the floor. At the shopping bag. Anywhere but at him. “It’s hard to talk about.”

  “Can you try?”

  She walked across the room and flung herself down on the couch.

  “Does he have an enormous dick or something?” Actually, Avery remembered that he’d seen Cole naked. He hadn’t thought there was anything particularly remarkable about the guy’s physique, but then he never had.

  She picked up a pillow off the couch and put it in her lap. “It’s not about stuff like that.”

  “So what is it about?” He crossed to sit down opposite her.

  She twisted the pillow. “It’s just that… I don’t have to… hold things in with him.”

  “Hold what things?” He was curious now.

  “Things. Sexual things.”

  “So, it’s about sex.”

  She glared at him. “It’s always been about sex, Brooks. You think I was attracted to him because he was a great conversationalist?”

  He cocked his head at her. “So, you have better sex with him than you do with me?”

  “Not better,” she said. “Different.”

  This conversation should have been making him uncomfortable, but he found that he was more interested in trying to figure out what she was trying to say than in feeling inadequate or hurt. “What? Does he tie you up or spank you or something?”

  She blushed.

  He leaned forward. “Seriously? That’s what this is about? You want to be freakier in the bedroom?”

  She put the pillow over her face.

  He couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Gray, you could have just said something.”

  “No, I couldn’t.” Her voice was muffled by the pillow. “We don’t have that kind of sex.”

  “Well…” He was still grinning. “Because I always figured you for a vanilla-style, missionary-position kind of girl.”

  She moved the pillow away from her face. “I am.”

  “Clearly not, if you’re willing to bang serial killers just to get a little kink.”

  She stood up, red faced. “You know what? Maybe you should leave.”

  He was still finding this too funny to stop smiling.

  She went to the door.

  He got up and went after her. “Wait. Gray.”

  “No, I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Well, that’s part of the issue, don’t you think?”

  She started to open the door.

  He wedged himself against it, stopping her. “Seriously, hold on.”

  She let go of the knob, her hand falling to her side in defeat. “What’s the point? You can’t touch me without it hurting me. And you made it very clear when were trying before that you didn’t like hurting me. So, there was no point in even mentioning any of the things I sort of… liked or whatever. Because I knew you didn’t—”

  “Wait a second,” he said. “There is a big difference between you in excruciating pain, nearly vomiting from me touching you, and spanking.”

  “Look, it’s not really spanking.”

  He raised an eyebrow, lowering his voice. “You don’t want to be spanked?”

  She blushed again, even harder. “I…”

  Damn it, now he was hard. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He thought of Dana and Cole together.

  Instant deflation.

  He wasn’t smiling anymore. “Look, I’ll go. But, you know, if we ever got the chance to try again, maybe we could work on communicating better?”

  She bit her lip. “You would want to… spank me?”

  Jesus Christ, he was hard again. He closed the distance between the two of them, put his hand behind her head and kissed her forcefully, pushing his tongue into her mouth.

  She flinched from him, but she didn’t struggle. She even put her hands on his chest and kissed back.

  He let go. “Yes,” he whispered.

  And then he left. Because he wanted her, and he couldn’t have her.

  * * *

  Dana tried to roll over in bed, but ran into Cole. Her eyes snapped open, and she sat up in bed.

  He gazed up at her with half-lidded eyes. “You’re still here.”

  “Yeah,” she said, looking around the room. “What time is it?”

  “I don’t know,” said Cole. “I thought you didn’t want to sleep in the same bed.”

  “Well, I figured it didn’t matter last night, because of what today is.” She shoved the covers aside. Where had she left her pants? Her phone was in them, and she wanted to see what time it was.

  “Wh
ere are you going?”

  “To see what time it is,” she called over her shoulder.

  “Come back to bed,” he said.

  “What if we’re supposed to be at the farm already?”

  “Dana, I’m not meeting Jimmy until this evening. You know this. Now come back to bed. We have hours.”

  He was right, of course. She still couldn’t help but be nervous about the whole thing.

  Cole pulled the covers aside, raising his eyebrows.

  She crawled back under them.

  He wrapped his arms around her. “That’s better.”

  She snuggled close. It was nice.

  “Why should it matter that today is the day I’m going to see Jimmy?” His voice rumbled in his chest. She was close, and she could hear it. It made her want to hold onto him tighter.

  Because this is your last day. They’re going to lock you back up after this.

  But she couldn’t tell him that. “I don’t know.”

  He ran his knuckles over her spine. “You think he’s going to kill me.”

  She didn’t deny it. It wasn’t what she was worried about, but it would do.

  “He’s not,” said Cole. “I’m half his age. He’s recovering from a wound. It’s not even going to be a contest.”

  “Are you sure you even want to do it?”

  “It’s the deal, Dana. I don’t do it, they lock me back up.”

  She felt cold all over. She was lying to him. She was sleeping with him, using him for sex, and she was letting him believe that the SF was dealing fairly with him when they were doing no such thing. It wasn’t right, was it?

  “Hey,” he murmured, kissing her forehead. “It’s going to be okay.”

  She nodded. “I know.”

  “But you’re still worried.”

  “Yeah.”

  He kissed her lips. “I kind of like that you’re worried about me. I guess that’s weird, but I’m not used to it, and it’s a nice feeling.”

  That made it even harder. Things with Cole were different than they had been, she had to admit it. There was still a lot of push and pull to their sex life, Cole’s dark voice in her ear as he ordered her to do deliciously naughty things. But there was also a certain level of tenderness that hadn’t been there before.

  Cole was different somehow.

  She couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

  It threw her. Sometimes, it seemed impossible that he could have been the same man that killed all of those people.

  But of course he was. And no matter how sweet he’d gotten when he was naked with her, it didn’t change all the things he’d done.

  However, it was making everything infinitely more confusing. She had no idea what she was going to do once he was locked back up. She’d already told Avery that she wanted Cole confined here in the south if possible. She didn’t want him to be close, not like before. She’d never be able to keep herself away from him.

  Avery had given her a funny look when she said it, something unreadable, almost guilty. But then he’d told her being close to Cole probably wouldn’t be an issue.

  After Cole was back in a cell, she was going to throw herself into finding some way to break the bond between them. She hadn’t found the answer when she was the unmated alpha of Cole’s old pack, but she would find it now.

  Once the tie between them was broken, she felt like she’d be able to be free of him now.

  Before, she’d been drawn to him because being with him was the only outlet for her wildness. But now she was fairly sure she’d find ways to let it out. She wouldn’t need him.

  Cole gently shoved her onto her back and eased himself over her. “You need to be distracted from all that worry, beautiful.”

  She grinned up at him. “Oh yeah?”

  “I can guarantee that I’ll wipe it from your mind.” His lips moved on her neck, and then he began trailing kisses down her collarbone.

  She sighed, closing her eyes.

  “Mmm,” he breathed against her skin, “I could handle waking up like this more often.”

  She cringed.

  He must have noticed the tension in her body, because he stopped and lifted his head. “Sorry, I know you want to pretend that this is just a fling that you’re going to get over.”

  “Cole…”

  “You should admit that you’re crazy about me.”

  “Stop it,” she said.

  He lowered his head again, this time planting his lips on her nipple. “I’m crazy about you, you know.”

  She shivered. That was distracting. “You only think you are. You can’t be crazy about me.”

  “Why not?” He sucked her nipple into his mouth.

  She moaned. “Because you’re a killer, and you’re disturbed, and you have limited emotional capacity.”

  He raised his head again. “Hey. Take that back.”

  “You’re going to deny that?”

  “Maybe.” He sighed. “Look, Dana, I don’t get everything that I’m supposed to get. But the more I’m around you, the more I feel things. And I think if you gave me a chance, maybe I’d stop being so limited, you know?”

  “That’s a nice thought,” she said. “But I learned in Girl 101 that you can’t change a man, and I know better.”

  He laughed. “Well, maybe it wouldn’t be you doing the changing. Maybe I’d be changing myself.”

  “Then change yourself,” she said. “What do you need me for?”

  He considered her, his expression thoughtful.

  She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. She felt too guilty about the fact that maybe he did have a shot to change, but it wasn’t going to mean anything, because he was going back in a cell as soon as he took care of Jimmy. She pursed her lips. “Shouldn’t you be attending to my nipples again? They’re feeling a little neglected and cheated.”

  “Are you ordering me around?”

  She grinned. “Maybe.”

  “You’re getting uppity, Dana Gray,” he said, seizing her wrists and forcing them above her head. “You need to watch that.”

  She squealed, wriggling against him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Cole squared his shoulders in the growing twilight. He took a deep breath. “Where’s Jimmy?”

  The guard who stood outside the main house eyed him coolly. “He wants you to meet him in the south field.”

  Cole nodded once.

  The guard shook his head. “Your mother didn’t think you’d actually go through with this. Challenging your own father. Trying to kill him. She thought you’d come back to us. But you’re serious, aren’t you?”

  Cole flinched without meaning to.

  “You deserve what you get,” said the guard.

  Cole pushed past the guard and headed towards the south field.

  They grew tomatoes and squash in that field, if Cole remembered correctly. He remembered hours spent there as a kid, crawling through the spaces between the crops, pushing a bucket ahead of him, pulling the ripe vegetables from the vines. As a kid, he’d made it into a game. He’d pretended that he had to get as many of the vegetables as he could or else he’d be laser-gunned to death by an evil commander.

  He knew about laser guns from the kids at school.

  He cast a glance over his shoulder at the main house.

  This was where he’d grown up. Not all his memories of this place were bad memories.

  Sure, it seemed like the bad memories crowded out the good ones.

  Did his mother even care about him or had the guard only said that to try to get under his skin? He’d been on the farm when he was trying to save Dana. His mother could have sought him out.

  But she didn’t.

  Of course, he hadn’t tried very hard to find her either.

  Caring about her had caused him to sacrifice Tasha.

  He never wanted to be that vulnerable ever again.

  He picked up the pace, sprinting now.

  He pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it aside.

>   He leaped, shifting into wolf form in midair.

  And he sped towards the south field as fast as he could.

  * * *

  Avery clutched a bullhorn. Dana was at his side, and the two of them brought up the rear of the SF forces.

  A crackle. The walkie-talkie attached to his hip bleated, “Randall’s clear.”

  Earl’s voice came through the walkie-talkie. “All right, start your approach on the house.”

  They stalked through the gathering darkness, creeping closer and closer.

  But there didn’t seem to be any reason for stealth. The wolves on the farm were all locked up tight in their house. None of them were out.

  The house loomed in front of them. It was dark. None of the windows glowed with light.

  The wolves were there, weren’t they?

  “Brooks?” Earl’s voice in the walkie.

  He hit a button on it. “Yeah?”

  “You got eyes on the house?”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Start making the announcement, then. Let’s see what they do.”

  Avery raised the bullhorn to his lips. His amplified voice cut through the evening air. “This is not an assault. The SF is gathered outside. Now is the time to exit the building. If you exit in human form, no harm will come to you. Any wolves will be tranquilized on sight. Repeat, this is not an assault. Now is the time to exit the building.”

  Ahead of them, the SF forces closed in on the house, moving closer with every step.

  * * *

  Cole heard the sound of a bullhorn. He stopped short, confused. There was no reason for them to start doing anything yet. Jimmy wasn’t out of the picture yet.

  He thought they’d been clear about the plan.

  He turned in a circle, trying to decide if he should go back. He didn’t feel good about this.

  A stab of fear went through his body, raising the hackles on his back.

  He growled.

  But nothing would be accomplished by going back. This was about him and Jimmy. He needed to face his father, and his father needed to pay for the things that he’d done.

  Cole was going forward.

  He began to move again, rushing through the darkness, heading towards the south field.

  * * *

  “They’re not coming out,” said Dana, looking at Avery worriedly.