Unleash The Moon (The Preternaturals Book 6)

by Zoe Winters

  Noah breathed in the night air and closed his eyes. He focused on the night sounds, the smell of the rabbits nearby, and allowed the shift to come over him. He felt his soul pulled out of his body. It hovered there a moment, then jumped back into the wolf form.

  He chased rabbits in the field, unsure if he chased them for dinner or fun. Their tiny heartbeats were so quick as they ran and hopped to escape claws and sharp teeth. Finally, he stopped toying with them and killed and ate several in succession.

  When he felt satisfied, he sprinted the mile down to the lake. Sydney splashed in the water, laughing and shrieking while wolves swam near her. Even the beta had kept his wolf form, and Noah thought he knew why. In the wolf form, she wouldn’t be a temptation. They wouldn’t want to do things that Noah would rip them apart for. In the wolf form, only other werewolves inspired their desire. It was the same even with Noah. Although she was his mate, when he was the wolf, his mind went to a different zone. It was all hunting and playing and guarding. In those moments he was her protector and friend, not her lover.

  It was sometimes hard to maintain a semblance of human-like thoughts while he was the wolf. Right now, the thing that guaranteed Sydney’s safety from the other wolves was Noah’s mark on her throat. It left a scent the wolves could pick up. It marked her as pack. Friend. Non-food.

  He shifted to his human form and joined her in the water. She turned shy when he reached her, but he just kissed his mark on her throat.

  “You okay out here?”

  “I’m fine. I can’t believe I’m in a lake with a pack of wolves and not getting eaten up.”

  Milo shifted back to his human form. “I’m going to head back and rest.”

  “Sure,” Noah said, “You had a long day.” He turned to Sydney. “Do you want to go back?”

  “Gross, no. That farmhouse is terrible. I don’t want to step foot inside it until I absolutely have to.”

  He laughed.

  After a while, the pack got out of the lake and made their way back to the farmhouse. Sydney blurred past them. She was already dressed and sitting on the front porch when they got back. Little show off. Most of the wolves seemed to feel the same as she did about the farmhouse, as they spent the rest of the night under the full moon, too.

  Noah laid with Sydney in the middle of a field, staring up at the stars. He tried not to let it show how much this affected him. It wasn’t that he was never outside when he’d been held captive, but he’d been outside in a yard far too small for a wolf’s tastes, with giant high-security fences around the perimeter. Here they had miles and miles of openness and freedom.

  “I could live here,” Noah said.

  She punched him in the arm. “You could live anywhere. And also, oh hell no.”

  He laughed. “I don’t mean the house. I mean the land.”

  “You could live at the train station. You could live here. You can probably live in Cary Town, too. You seem crazy versatile like that.”

  “It’s true, it doesn’t take much to make me happy. Just you and a place to run.”

  He nodded off curled beside her and didn’t wake until the sun was in the sky. At first, he panicked, but then he felt their bond. Of course she hadn’t combusted in the sun. The others never would have allowed it, even with Noah passed out.

  He found her in the closet she’d slept in the day before. Noah shifted again and curled back up with her to wait for the sun to go down.

  ***

  Noah woke when Sydney did.

  “I think the sun’s up. I can kind of feel it,” she said.

  Noah shifted and stretched. “I’ll check.” He slipped out of the closet. The sun blazed in the sky.

  He popped his head back in. “I can’t believe you can be awake now. The sun has about an hour yet before it’s safe.”

  She grumbled. “I want to get on the road and go home. It’s so stupid that I’m waking up when I can’t go anywhere.”

  “Once we settle some place safer, it’ll be different. We’ll make it sun-proof so when you wake you don’t have to hide.”

  “Have you thought about what kind of place we might live in?” she asked, from the shadows.

  “I thought I’d consult you on that. You know more about the area now than I do.”

  “I was thinking we could convert the Cary Town Luxury Apartments. My dad owned the penthouse. It’s deserted now, but the penthouse is still set up to be vampire-friendly, and it would give us a separate space from the rest of the pack. Plus before it was apartments, it was an old hotel, so it has some similarities to what the pack is used to.”

  “Yeah, okay. I can deal with that. How far is it from your dad’s compound?”

  “About four miles, I think.”

  It was better than being right on top of her family. He didn’t want to be negative about it, but Noah was sure the vampire king wouldn’t approve of this match.

  Noah returned to the cramped closet, careful not to let sunlight spill in. It was easier in his wolf form but she needed to feed. Her heart rate picked up at his proximity.

  There wasn’t another vampire alive that Noah would allow to feed on him. His dad would throw a fit. Noah should probably worry about the vampire king and how he’d take it, but he was more worried about his dad.

  It had been a big enough issue when his mom had been brought into the pack as Cole’s mate. Sure, she’d started out human, but they’d smelled vampire blood on her. It was in her veins even though she hadn’t been a vampire. All they could figure was that her mother had been some vampire’s thrall and he’d perhaps fed her his blood to heal her while she’d been pregnant with Jane. Somehow that blood had made its way into the developing fetus.

  The pack had accepted her, and even more so once she’d become a demon and was physically stronger, but the fact remained that wolves weren’t fans of vampires, and Jane hadn’t needed to drink Cole’s blood.

  The new pack was cool about it, but they’d just met them and hadn’t been in a position to judge mate choices.

  A thrill went down Noah’s spine as Sydney licked the side of his neck. From another wolf it would perhaps be a sign of affection. From a human it would be a prelude to sex. From a vampire, it was like licking a piece of chocolate before you bit into it.

  “Why do you think your blood makes me so strong?” Sydney asked. There was a tremor in her voice as she held back the urge to bite. She was getting so strong she was nearly his match, something he never would have thought possible when they were in the facility together and she’d been so vulnerable.

  “Noah?”

  “Beats me. I’m just glad it does.” All those years she’d been weak and sickly, and his blood had held the cure to make her whole. If Cole wanted to make a thing of that… well Noah hadn’t seen his old man in two decades. He’d gotten used to feeling orphaned. There wasn’t much left to lose if his family rejected him.

  Noah hissed as Sydney bit him and began to feed. His erection pressed against his pants, but they didn’t have time for that. And he knew she didn’t want to do it in this closet she hated. Her bite had started to create a physical response that was perhaps more disturbing than letting a vampire use him as dinner.

  She ran her tongue over his throat to take the last drops of blood that trailed down. “D-did I take too much?”

  “No. I’m fine,” he said.

  “Well, you’re quiet. And you aren’t…”

  “It’s a dirty closet, and I need to hunt. Then we need to get on the road.” He shifted to face her. Even in the dark he saw her features clearly, the insecurity and fear. He planted a kiss on her cheek. “I’m just thinking. Everything is okay.”

  “Does this bother you? That I have to feed from you like this?”

  “No. It doesn’t bother me.” He wasn’t about to mention that it might bother his dad or the pack back home. Or how they were going to deal with the fall out from the joke fate had decided to play by putting them together. “I need to hunt.”

  Noah
didn’t want to leave her. He wanted to reassure her that they’d be fine, but he wasn’t feeling it because the closer they got to getting back on the road to go home, the more his anxiety mounted. He couldn’t tell Sydney because he didn’t want her to worry, and he couldn’t share with the pack because they needed to see him as their strong unstoppable leader. They might forgive the outburst about his imprisonment, but they wouldn’t be able to deal with the instability of him showing erratic weakness every other day.

  He hunted alone again and kept away from the others. He told himself it was to think, but he was brooding. He felt himself mentally going back to the cell, that space where he was alone and it was just him and his thoughts and his dreams.

  Milo approached and tried to run with him, but Noah growled and snapped until he ran off. He’d be lucky if the pack was even still at the farmhouse when he returned with his behavior.

  But when he got back, they were ready to go with their bikes lined up. The sun had set half an hour before, and Sydney was with them. She was the social lubricant that made this work. They felt comfortable and chatty with her. As the alpha’s mate there was less pressure on her. She needed to be strong—and she was—but she didn’t have to be as strong as Noah did. Or as distant.

  He regretted telling them the truth about his history. Maybe he’d imagined it, but he felt sure they judged him, thought him inferior, questioned following him altogether. Maybe they followed for Sydney, and Noah was just the sideshow.

  When she saw him, she excused herself and strode over. She looked like Shira. Maybe it was that she wore Shira’s clothes, but she moved like her—with confidence and power. And right now Noah felt again like the visiting wolf with no home and no roots—like it was her pack, not his. Maybe it should be.

  The urge came over him to shift again. He wanted to challenge her for the pack. Noah shook the thoughts from his head. He must be mad. Challenge her for the pack? What the hell? They were BOTH the alphas. Of course it was her pack. Of course she moved like an alpha. She was an alpha. If he couldn’t keep up with that, it was his own failing. He couldn’t take it out on her. He wasn’t going to hurt his mate.

  When she reached him, he shrugged out of her embrace and avoided her kiss. Her features betrayed hurt at his rebuff.

  “Noah? Is everything okay? Are we okay?”

  Why couldn’t he reassure her? He’d run off earlier leaving her wondering what the hell was wrong with him, and now he was pulling away. But the thoughts he’d just had. In his head he’d shifted and ripped her apart to lead a pack of wolves he didn’t even know that well. She was his fucking mate. Every part of his DNA had known she was his from the time they were babies. Even if he hadn’t known what that feeling meant, even if he’d just known he was meant to protect her and be her friend. And now? What was happening to him?

  What if he hurt her? What if he lost control and did something crazy because he couldn’t shut this shit off?

  “Noah?”

  He growled. “It’s fine, Sydney. Let’s go. You know the way back home. We’ll follow you.” He smelled her tears but couldn’t bring himself to comfort her.

  “Did… did I do something to upset you?”

  “Let’s just get settled. We have bigger things to worry about right now. If the magic users go to Cary Town our families could be in danger. They may be planning something or on their way now. We don’t have time.”

  She went back to her bike, deflated. The mood of the pack shifted in a wave as she passed them, as if they’d become emotionally entwined with her. Noah felt their resentment. Because he’d made her cry. Fuck them. It was better to make her cry than to make her bleed, and until he could trust himself not to want to hurt her for stupid things—scratch that—not to want to hurt her ever, they’d have to deal with her general unhappiness.

  He ignored the accusation in their eyes and cranked his bike. Then they all followed Sydney home.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sydney barely knew the way back, and yet something inside her directed her there like an internal GPS. There wasn’t space in her brain to navigate; everything was Noah. It was a mistake to claim him. It was a mistake to let him mark her. So they’d been friends when they were kids. So what? He was wrong about them. If they were meant to be together, whatever was happening between them now wouldn’t be happening.

  Did he resent her strength? Did he find her feeding on him disgusting? Had he found his real mate in their new pack and now regretted the link with her? Maybe he was just now beginning to understand how impossible a mixed relationship could be. It wasn’t just working around sleep schedules and diets. It was… everything. She belonged with another vampire. He belonged with a wolf. Nature was as it was for a reason.

  Tears blurred her vision, and she was grateful for the helmet and wind and the privacy. None of the other wolves would see or smell her tears. She needed this space to think. She blinked the tears away.

  She couldn’t even imagine what her father would say. She’d been so foolish thinking if she claimed Noah it would make a difference. It wouldn’t make a difference. He’d kill her mate and then ground her for the next three centuries. Then she’d be back to living in a teenage holding pattern. Would her strength stay without Noah’s blood or would she go back to the way she’d been before?

  All she’d been to Noah was nostalgia. It was embarrassing. Of course he’d latch onto her given the circumstances he’d lived in for years. Of course he’d confuse his feelings and think she was his mate. He hadn’t lived like a normal wolf. He didn’t even know how to be a wolf. And now he clearly regretted everything. The wall that had gone up around him the last time she’d fed… and that distance…

  Before they’d left, she’d seen something in his eyes, like he wanted to kill her. A mate’s first instinct was supposed to be to protect, not whatever it was she’d seen before he’d brushed her off.

  They rode straight through the night, pushing the limits of speed the bikes were capable of. Sydney was sure they could move much faster without the bikes, but they couldn’t bring anything that way. Everyone had been asked to leave most of their belongings behind. It was unreasonable to ask them to give up literally everything they owned.

  Even though Sydney only stopped twice to refuel, it was a surprise when they reached Cary Town. The sun would be up soon, and although she could sense it coming, she didn’t feel tired.

  The Cary Town Luxury Apartments were a far cry from luxury now. The building looked condemned. Sydney pulled into the parking lot and got off the bike. The other wolves followed suit. She’d forgotten they were there for most of the trip. She’d been too busy wrapped up in her pity party, but now she was alert. She didn’t sense any extra magic that would indicate the magic users from the city had beat them here, but they’d need to be on high alert until the sun went down again and they could get magic protections put on the place.

  Sydney took a deep breath and took the helmet off. Any idiot would be able to tell she’d been crying. Crying made her puffy, and even vampire healing didn’t seem to erase the evidence any faster than on a human. The universe seemed determined to display her misery to the world.

  “It’s not much, but we’ll fix it up. Your dad can get us set up with electricity and water and computer tech stuff, right, Noah?”

  “Yeah,” he said, noncommittally.

  He was almost back to the way he’d been when she’d first seen him in the cell next to hers, before she’d known he was Noah. He seemed just as dangerous and unreadable now as he had then.

  “Room keys are going to be behind the front desk. They have the old-fashioned keys. They never switched to key cards before the place was deserted, so getting into rooms shouldn’t be a problem. Noah and I will be in the penthouse.”

  The wolves followed her into the lobby. If she imagined really hard she could remember what the place had been like when she was a small child. Everything had been deep cherry paneled and gleaming and golden and sparkling with a large cr
ystal chandelier in the center of the lobby. The walls were lined with mirrors from about halfway up the wall to the high ceilings. The floor had been such shiny tile you could see your reflection in it as you walked.

  Cobwebs and dust covered everything now. Nothing was gleaming. Everything looked dull and in disrepair. Sydney caught a glimpse of herself in the clouded dirty mirror. Her demon form looked back out at her, so strong it almost overpowered the human side completely now.

  Noah hadn’t said a word since they left, and he still wasn’t talking. Sydney ignored the tension and went to the front desk. She pulled a map from the drawer and put it on the counter. The wolves gathered around.

  “Is this okay, guys? I mean, obviously it needs a lot of work, but it’s got everything we need. Plenty of rooms for everyone. There’s a big kitchen and a restaurant we can use for meals when we get it fixed up. There are conference rooms we can have pack meetings in. There’s a gym and a pool as well as a pool on the rooftop. It’s got everything. It’ll just need a LOT of work to get back to how it was. And I know some magic people who might be able to help it along.” It would need magic if it was ever going to go back to its former glory. Assuming Dayne and Greta and Tam and Anna agreed to help.

  The pack tensed at that.

  “No… they’re friends,” she said. But the wolves didn’t seem convinced. With the exception of the witch that had given them the enchanted music, magic users were persona non grata with them.

  Sydney took the penthouse key from the peg on the wall. “We’ll have to take the stairs until the elevator is operational,” she said unnecessarily. Not that any of them had trouble with stairs. Sydney could move so fast now, six flights of stairs were more like six stairs, and wolf fitness was beyond elite human athlete level. Nobody needed elevators.