The Killing Moon

by V. J. Chambers

  She let go of him.

  He laughed. “I’m not going to become someone else because of you, beautiful. You want me because of what I am.”

  “You’ll do it again, won’t you?” she said. “You’ll make another pack.”

  “I’ll do what comes naturally.” He reached between her thighs to assault her there, tickling and teasing. “You could come with me, you know. If you let yourself go, I think you’d like it.”

  “No,” she choked. “I’m not a killer.”

  “You would have killed Hollis, wouldn’t you?”

  “That’s different.”

  He claimed her mouth, thoroughly exploring it with his tongue. As his fingers barraged her and his mouth distracted her, she couldn’t think. When he broke away, she managed, “I won’t become someone else either, you know.”

  “Are you sure you haven’t already?”

  She didn’t respond.

  He moved his hand, running it up over her belly, her breasts. “Give yourself to me.”

  Her lips parted. “Cole...”

  “We’ll talk when it’s done.”

  She swallowed.

  And then her hand darted lower. She found him there, hard and huge. She guided him to where she wanted him.

  He sighed.

  And in one swift stroke, he was buried deep inside her.

  She cried out.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  “Cole got away from the SF?” Dana said to Avery. She was wrapped in a blanket, drinking hot cocoa and sitting on the edge of an ambulance outside Cole’s house. She’d called for assistance about a half hour ago, after Cole was gone. The sun was struggling up over the horizon.

  “He used the betas,” said Avery. “The whole place is torn up.”

  “Well, the betas aren’t a problem anymore. Because of what Hollis did to me, he became their alpha. When I killed him, the bonds were broken. Everything’s all right now.” It was better if they thought that she’d been alone. It made things easier.

  “Except for the fact that Randall is still running around free,” said Avery. He looked around. “I can’t believe you didn’t see him. I was sure he was coming after you.”

  Dana shrugged. “Maybe he was. Maybe after the bond between us broke, he changed his mind. Whatever the case, I didn’t see him.” Liar, accused a voice in her head. And she was. A filthy liar. Letting Cole go only because he was an exquisite lover? That was wrong on so many levels, she didn’t know where to begin. But the crazed obsession seemed to be gone. Whether it was because their bond was broken or because making love to him had lessened the tension, she didn’t know. If Cole started killing again, she’d stop him. But she was happy enough to have him gone for now.

  Avery jammed his hands in his pockets. “Maybe. I guess he went off to meet those wolves he was talking to—the ones we heard?”

  “That seems likely,” she said. “Is headquarters really bad?”

  He nodded. “It’s gonna take some work to repair the damage.”

  She made a face. “That’s no good.”

  “Hey, what about you?” he said. “I’m going on about all of this, and you were a victim here. Hollis...”

  She looked away. “I was in wolf form. It wasn’t as bad as...”

  He sat down next to her on the edge of the ambulance. “Yeah, but it probably wasn’t good either. You’re free of Cole now, but you’re not okay.”

  “I’m...” She shrugged. She wasn’t sure what to say. She still felt the same way about Avery. He was sweet and nice and attractive. He was an intelligent choice. But she didn’t know if she could be affectionate to him when another man—a man she felt strongly about—had been giving her the fifth orgasm of her evening earlier.

  “You’re gonna need some time,” said Avery.

  She nodded, relieved. “Yes. A little time. Please.”

  “Sure thing.” He kissed her forehead.

  More Cole and Dana?

  Bad Moon Rising

  Keep reading for a sneak peak.

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  Bad Moon Rising

  “Hi there.” The teenage guy looked Dana Gray up and down, grinning widely. “What can I do for you?”

  “We have an appointment,” said Avery Brooks, wedging himself between Dana and the kid.

  Dana and Avery were at the door to an old farmhouse in Lancaster County. Behind them, flat fields of corn stretched off into the distance, stark green against a blue sky dotted with clouds.

  But the kid was still staring at Dana like there was nothing else to see.

  “I think I spoke to your mom?” said Dana gently. She was pretty used to unattached werewolf guys reacting to her like this. Especially natural pack wolves who’d never been through the SF training. “Mabel?”

  The guy laughed. “Man, why are you here to see my mom and not me?”

  “Back off,” said Avery, glaring at him.

  “It’s my job,” said Dana. “I’m Dana Gray. This is my partner Avery Brooks. We’re from the newly formed Pack Liaison Branch of the Sullivan Foundation. And I’m well aware that I’m unmated female alpha, and that you’re an unattached lone wolf, and you can smell that.”

  “Heck, yeah, I can.” The guy was looking at her like he wanted to rip her clothes off.

  “Back off,” said Avery.

  She patted Avery on the shoulder. “Hey, it’s okay. He doesn’t mean anything by it.”

  Avery was still glaring at the kid. “The hell he doesn’t.”

  The kid glanced at Avery. “I don’t know what you’re deal is, dude. If you wanted her so bad, you should have already taken her.”

  Dana cleared her throat. “I’d appreciate not being referred to something that can be ‘taken,’ if you don’t mind. Can you tell your mother we’re here?”

  The kid’s gaze flicked back to Dana. “Sorry.”

  “Not a problem.” She smiled. “Your mom?”

  “Right,” said the kid. He disappeared into the house.

  Avery turned his glare on Dana. “There’s always someone sniffing around you.”

  She shrugged. “You don’t like it, you could always just ‘take’ me, you know.”

  Avery’s jaw tightened. “You know I hate it when you joke about that shit.”

  Right. Of course. She should know better. Avery was adverse to giving in to any part of his wolf. He could mate with her and become the alpha of her pack, which wouldn’t necessarily mean that she wouldn’t still be attractive to other lone wolves. But it would mean that they’d smell it on him and give her a wider berth unless they wanted to try to get in a fight with him.

  An attractive, but slightly plump woman appeared in the hallway. She had her dark hair back in a sloppy bun. She wore an apron over jeans. “Dana Gray?”

  “You must be Mabel,” said Dana, offering her hand.

  Mabel crossed the foyer and shook it, smiling. “It’s nice to see you in the flesh, instead of talking on the phone.”

  Dana pointed at Avery. “This is my partner, Avery Brooks.”

  Avery offered his hand as well. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  “You too, there.” Mabel shook his hand. “Youse want to come into the kitchen? I got iced tea in the refrigerator.”

  “Sounds great,” said Dana.

  They followed Mabel down the hallway of the farmhouse to the kitchen—an open, but pleasantly-crowded space. Mabel apparently like sunflowers, because they were everywhere. Sunflower towels. Sunflower potholders. Wooden spoons with sunflowers wood-burned into them hanging from a rack over the sink.

  Mabel gestured for them to sit down at the kitchen table.

  Dana pulled out a chair and sat down. “Thanks again, so much, for welcoming us into your home.”

  “Of course,” said Mabel, opening t
he refrigerator and taking out a pitcher of iced tea. “I guess you haven’t been real lucky with many of the other families?”

  “More lucky than you might expect,” Dana said. “Most of them are wary, but I assure them that we want to learn from them, not take their children off to SF headquarters and strip away their pack identity. If I can convince them that we mean them no harm, they’re accommodating.”

  Mabel poured three glasses full of iced tea. “And youse really don’t mean us any harm?”

  “Definitely not,” said Dana. “The truth is that we had no idea there were so many genetic werewolves living without intervention by the Sullivan Foundation. Both Avery and I were bitten, and most of the wolves that go through our program were as well. We have ways of controlling the effects of the lupine virus, but you have your ways—and I think we could both learn from each other.”

  Mabel brought the glasses over. “Possibly. I have to admit that there are things about what the SF does that were once appealing to me, when I was younger, before I met Howard.”

  “Howard is your husband?” said Dana.

  “That’s right.”

  “And your alpha?” said Avery.

  Dana shot him a glare across the table. He wasn’t as good at this as he could be. She could swear that he was insensitive on purpose sometimes. No matter how often she went over what to say and what not to say, he seemed to ignore it. She was grateful to have him around. She’d needed a partner when she’d been reassigned from the tracker office to the Pack Liaison Branch, and Avery had volunteered. She and Avery had been partners for years, but always tracking rogue werewolves. Tracking wasn’t nearly as delicate as interviewing genetic werewolf packs.

  But Mabel only smiled. “That’s right.”

  Avery leaned back in his chair. “So, once the two of you hooked up or whatever, you lost all interest in the SF?”

  Dana cleared her throat. “Um, don’t mind Brooks. Sometimes he opens his mouth without thinking.” She gave him a pointed look.

  “That’s all right,” said Mabel. “Youse are curious, aren’t you? And I’m here to explain.” She smiled at Avery. “The thing is, when I was fifteen or sixteen, I wanted away from my family—from my dad, who used to be my alpha. But, of course, when you’re a wolf, you can’t just up and run away. Because if you leave, then once the moon goes full, you shift. And if you stay, then come full moon, the alpha—my dad—just made us shift right back to human the minute the change went through.”

  Dana nodded. “Of course. We understand.” That piece of information was probably the only reason that the Sullivan Foundation had agreed to let Dana do research instead of coming in, guns blazing, rounding up every genetic werewolf and forcing them through SF procedures. Once Dana had explained that an alpha wolf could control the shifts of his entire pack, and that the genetic werewolves were not a danger to the populace, then the SF had stopped being so twitchy about it.

  Mabel took a sip of iced tea. “Well, back then the SF seemed like the answer to all my problems. They’d teach me how to control my shifts on my own. I wouldn’t need my dad no more.”

  “But you didn’t come to the SF, because you met Howard?” said Avery.

  Mabel nodded. “That’s right. Once I fell in love with him, and the two of us mated, well, then I was an alpha in my own right, I could control my shifts, and I was free of my dad, anyway. The SF wasn’t necessary.”

  “But,” said Avery, “you’re still dependent on Howard.”

  Mabel shrugged. “A wee bit, I suppose. But he’s dependent on me too, you know. I’m an alpha too, and we have our little pack of rugrats.”

  Dana smiled. “We met one of them on the way in.”

  “Oh, Timmy?” said Mabel. “He ain’t mine. He’s my stepson. He was part of the package with Howard. But now that his father and I are mated, of course, Timmy is part of my pack.”

  Female alphas had the same power over their packs as their mates. They could force the pack members to shift, and they could call the members to them.

  Avery took a drink of iced tea. “So, being mated to this guy, it changed you.”

  Mabel laughed. “Love is a powerful thing.”

  “Yeah, but it’s not just love, is it?” said Avery. “There’s some other bond that gets formed. Something primitive and strong.”

  “I suppose so,” said Mabel.

  “And it changed the way you think. It made you think differently about certain things. It made you almost a different person,” said Avery.

  “Brooks!” Dana glared at him. “That’s rude.”

  “It’s okay,” said Mabel. “I think I know why he’s asking these questions.”

  “He’s being an ass,” said Dana.

  “I’m not,” said Avery, glaring back.

  “You’re wondering whether or not it’s going to change you if the two of you mate.” Mabel pointed back and forth at Dana and Avery. “That’s part of why youse are here, right? You’re trying to figure out what to do about your pack?”

  “The two of us mating is completely off the table,” said Dana.

  Mabel raised her eyebrows. “It is?”

  “We’re actually hoping that we can find some way for Dana to break the bond between herself and her pack,” said Avery. “Make them free wolves again.”

  “But that’s what the SF does, isn’t it?” said Mabel. “Breaks the bond?”

  “For a wolf who’s never been through our training, yes,” said Dana. “But these wolves all have been through it. They were all bitten wolves who were taught to suppress their wolves right after their first shift. For some reason, that means that going through the training again doesn’t break the bond anymore.”

  “Dana didn’t knowingly consent to being the female alpha of this pack,” said Avery. “She had no idea what she even was.”

  “Really?” said Mabel.

  “Obviously, I knew that I’d mated in wolf form,” said Dana, “but I didn’t know the implications of doing that. We had no idea that wolf packs even existed. We thought they were a fantasy of Fredrich Sullivan—some theory he made that he couldn’t find evidence for.”

  “And your mate?” said Mabel. “What happened to him? He’s obviously not connected to the pack anymore.”

  “Dead,” said Dana. It was actually a long story. She’d been forcibly mated to Hollis Moore, which had severed her connection to Cole Randall, the werewolf serial killer who’d done all of this to her in the first place. But then Cole had killed Hollis, leaving her without a mate but still with a pack.

  “Ah,” said Mabel. “And you don’t wish to mate again?”

  Dana cast a sidelong glance at Avery. That was a tough question to answer. She wasn’t opposed to the idea of mating to Avery, but he was very much against it. He felt that doing it would warp both of their minds, making them both more interested in each other than they would be naturally. He was disturbed by the idea that the wolf bond would influence them. He already felt that he was overly influenced by her status as a female alpha. He blamed any attraction he might have to her on that, and he didn’t think it was “real.”

  “It would be better to sever the ties,” said Dana. “It’s one thing to be part of a pack when you’re related to the other members. It’s another entirely when the wolves that are tied to me are complete strangers.”

  “True,” said Mabel. “Unfortunately, I can’t say that I know of any way to sever the ties.”

  Avery’s shoulders slumped. “No one knows a way. The last people that we talked to said it was impossible.”

  “But that’s not the only reason we’re here,” said Dana. “It’s something I’m trying to figure out. But I’m here because we want to talk to you about your family.”

  Mabel smiled. “That’s exactly what you said on the phone. But I have to admit I was intrigued when I heard you were an alpha. My friend Becky went a spell without a mate when her husband Jack was killed in a car accident. Of course, she didn’t have any desire to break the
bond she had with her own kids. But she did say that it was hard to get a handle on keeping them from shifting all by herself.”

  Dana nodded. “I imagine it would be. And that’s the kind of insider story that I’m looking for. Exactly that kind of thing.”

  Mabel beamed. “I got loads of those kinds of stories.” She pointed at Avery’s glass, which was empty. “More iced tea?”

  “I’m fine,” said Avery. He actually looked a little bored. He always tuned out when Dana started to ask questions about how the wolf packs operated, because it tended to be entwined in a lot of family stories—Christmas traditions, the time little Laura lost her first tooth, that kind of thing.

  “Good,” said Dana, getting out her recorder and setting it on the table. “Would you mind if I record you?”

  “I suppose not,” said Mabel.

  “Great.” Dana switched it on. “State your full name, plea—”

  Her phone rang.

  Dana fished it out of her pocket. She didn’t recognize the number. Great. It was probably him. Damn it. She hit, ‘Ignore.’ She smiled at Mabel. “I’m sorry about that. Go ahead and state your name.”

  “Mabel Ann—”

  The phone rang again.

  Dana’s jaw twitched. She held up a finger. “Hold on a minute, Mabel.”

  She was going to have to answer it. If she didn’t answer it, he’d keep calling. And she couldn’t turn her phone off, because SF policy required that all agents have their phones turned on in the case of an emergency. She’d get chewed out and reprimanded by her boss Ursula King if she switched it off.

  Dana brought the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Dana,” purred a rich, deep voice in her ear. Cole Randall. “Are you alone?”

  “No,” she said. “I’m working.”

  “Too bad,” he said. “Because I’m rock hard, and I’m thinking about peeling your clothes off inch by inch—”

  “Now’s not a great time, okay?” She forced her tone to stay even. Her body was involuntarily responding to his voice, like it always did, but no one else had to know that. “I’ll have to get back to you.”

  “You know I won’t have the same number by the time that you do,” said Cole. “I’ll have moved on. It’s unfortunate, really. It could have been incredibly… satisfying. For both of us.”