Moon Madness

by Mina Carter

  Which meant he could claim her as his mate now, if he wanted to. But did he want to? More importantly, would she accept the claim if he did? It wasn't guaranteed she would. She was an Alpha female, even if she didn't know it herself. The Roakestown pack past and present had deliberately kept the knowledge from her in an effort to control her.

  Cade's lips quirked. Under control! There was no way to control an Alpha female, not if you planned to keep your hide in one piece anyway. It was more a case of hang on and enjoy the ride. And hell what a ride!

  Movement against him drew his attention, the subtle shifting of his companion's limbs warned him she was waking up.

  "Heya.” He smiled as she lifted her head, a sleepy expression on her face. She raised a hand and raked her tousled hair out of her face with a delicate hand to look at him.

  "Heya yourself.” Her eyes met his, sultry and dark. Through the worst of her need now, she had the look of a woman well satisfied. So she should, after the last few hours.

  "Feel better?” A pang of regret filled him at what he was going to have to say next. The words he knew were going to shatter the contented look on her face, and bring back the hunted one he'd caught a glimpse of earlier when he'd caught up with her outside the store downtown.

  "Uh-huh,” she nodded. “But horny again.” She wriggled against him, drawing lazy circles on his chest with her fingertip.

  Cade caught her hand to lace his fingers with hers. “We don't have time, I wish we did, but we don't.” Already his cock was stirring to life just at the thought, there was nothing he'd like more than to just flip her over and sink into her wet heat again. Lose himself in her for the rest of his life. He blinked in surprise at the thought. He wasn't the commitment type. So what gave? He shook his head and carried on. “Jimmy knows where you are."

  "What?"

  Fear and adrenalin hit Penny's system like a plane at Mach one. She shot off the sofa in a panic as though to flee straight away. Then she stopped, turning one way then the other in confusion. She couldn't just run, change to the wolf and flee into the night. She needed to pack, organize.

  "Shit,” she cursed and ran her hands through her hair, distress evident in her eyes and the jerkiness of her movements. “Why didn't you say something straight away?” she demanded, grabbing some clean clothes from the laundry basket she'd dropped on the single chair earlier and starting to drag them on. She'd meant to iron them last night but hadn't had time with everything else she needed to get done before her heat phase. Luckily, most of her clothes were easy care, they barely needed ironing.

  She paused for a second then shook her head at her own thoughts. She'd just been told the wolf equivalent of the Godfather knew where she was, after she'd refused his offer of becoming his mate, and she was worried about a few wrinkles in her clothes? She needed a reality check and fast!

  Cade shrugged, still sprawled full length on the sofa, hands behind his head and seemingly unbothered about his nakedness. “You were in no shape to go anywhere, and we had time. I figure I'm about ten hours ahead of them, but we need to leave within the hour. Think you can manage that?"

  Penny nodded. To stay out of Jimmy's clutches she'd leave everything and go now. At a push, all she needed to do was grab her bag off the side in the kitchen as she left. Her whole life was in that bag—documents, license—there was no way she could leave without it.

  "Hell, yeah, we can leave now.” She grabbed her battered sneakers and shoved her feet into them. She paused for a second as she laced them, looking up at him with curiosity on her face.

  "Why are you helping me?” she asked in confusion. “You've been outside the pack for years, why get involved? Jimmy would've left you alone if you had. But now, we're both dead if he catches up with us. Why would you risk it?"

  He rolled off the sofa to avoid her gaze. As a tactic, it worked well. Penny's attention was immediately hijacked by the grace of his movements, the sleek glide of powerful muscles under his skin. He grabbed his boxers and jeans from the floor where they'd been dropped hours before and pulled them on before he answered.

  "I know Jimmy's type. And I was in the neighborhood, so it wasn't any skin off my nose to warn you,” he said nonchalantly. He left the top button of his jeans undone as he scouted about, looking for the rest of his clothing. Penny flicked him his t-shirt from off the counter, one eyebrow arching.

  "You were in the neighborhood? Right, like I believe that.” She folded her arms over her chest, an act that just drew his interested gaze to her cleavage. “In case you hadn't noticed, this place is in the middle of bloody nowhere, which is why I picked it. So, ‘just happened to be in the neighborhood’ doesn't wash.” The silence stretched between them as she waited, watching him, giving him ‘the look,’ the pointed one she'd inherited from her mother.

  He sighed, caving in. “Okay, I wasn't in the neighborhood.” He paused to pull his shirt on, then headed across the floor to pick up his shoes. He leaned against the windowsill to pull them on. His eyes were serious as he looked back at her. “Jimmy's a nasty piece of work, I couldn't just do nothing. I won't let him get...” he paused, his expression shuttering, as though he'd given away too much.

  "Won't let him get...?” she prompted, but his expression was unyielding. Instinctively, she knew she wouldn't get anything else out of him on the subject. There was nothing as stubborn as a wolf at times. Then something he'd said registered, and she frowned. “So, what happened earlier?"

  "Earlier?” He leaned down to look out of the window.

  "Yeah. You were leaving? Said you didn't want to watch me with someone else."

  "Yeah, I didn't. What about it?” he asked, his attention still focused outside.

  Penny worried her lower lip, a habit she had when nervous or thinking. Why was she so concerned about this? Did it even matter? “Well, you were going to leave earlier, and you didn't say anything about Jimmy then...” she pointed out.

  Cade stilled, his hand on the window frame. “Ah...” His voice was wary, cautious. “Would you believe me if I said I'd have waited outside until your lover had gone, then come back and told you?"

  Penny felt her expression freeze. “Nope."

  He sighed. “Nah, neither would I. I'd probably have knee-capped the guy as soon as he arrived. Okay, I admit it, it was a ploy. I wanted you to come to me, make the choice about this.” He motioned toward the counter, the sofa, the floor, every place they'd visited in their passion filled tour around the room.

  "A choice? You think that was a choice?” Penny blinked in surprise as she felt her temper begin to rise. “You storm in here, destroy the plans I had in place to deal with this, and leave me with no alternative but to screw your damn brains out. And you tell me you wanted me to make a choice.” She all but yelled, her voice getting higher and higher pitched.

  "Penny, are you expecting anyone?” he interrupted, still looking out the window.

  "I was going to spend the weekend chained up naked in the basement,” she pointed out, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Not really the dress code for a dinner party is it? Not unless I want to announce to all and sundry I'm a damn werewolf! And since I'm trying to avoid that, no I'm not expecting anyone. Why?"

  Cade turned from the window, the expression in his eyes making her catch her breath. Something was wrong, very, very wrong. “Because three SUVs just pulled up outside. They're here."

  "Oh shit,” Penny breathed, fear filling her eyes.

  "Exactly.” Cade grabbed her arm and pushed her ahead of him. “Out the back, now. If we're lucky we can change and go across country, lose them that way.” He hustled her through the kitchen. Adrenalin surged through Penny's system, bringing the wolf nearly to the surface, ready to change as soon as they got outside. She gathered the wolf under her skin as Cade opened the door, all but running into his back as he stopped.

  "Hello Penny, thought you could outrun me?"

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  Chapter 4

  Penny fro
ze at the sound of the voice. It was the voice that haunted her nightmares. Low with a hint of menace, there was only one person who sounded like that. James Dexter, aka Big Jimmy, Alpha of the Roakestown Pack.

  "Hello Jimmy,” she replied, poking Cade in the side to make him move.

  He did, albeit grudgingly, Penny needing a further firm push to make him realize she meant it. He moved less than a foot, his legs spread as he looked around the small backyard. A low growl emanated from low in his chest as, buried within, the hackles of his wolf rose. They were penned in. Jimmy leaned against the side of Penny's car and his enforcers formed a semi-circle blocking their escape.

  "You've been a naughty girl, Penny. I really thought you were more sensible than this,” he chided, talking to her as though she were a small child who'd misbehaved. Tall and heavily built, he was a powerful wolf and a strong man, even if some of his muscle was beginning to turn to fat. For a wolf, that was just window dressing.

  "Yeah well, you just can't tell with some people,” she replied flippantly. He hadn't looked at them yet as he was concentrating on rolling a smoke, his pudgy fingers working at the small white cylinder.

  "Let us go Jimmy, we're no threat to you,” she tried. “You don't need to ever see us again."

  He looked up, and Penny knew they were lost. His eyes were flat, so dark they were almost black. And filled with hate and determination.

  "You really think it's that easy, Penny?” He pushed off from the car as his eyes flicked to Cade. He leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Oh, no, beautiful, that's not how it works. No one walks away from me. Ever.” Penny swallowed, trying not to flinch away.

  "That's as far as you go buddy, touch her and loose a hand.” Cade's voice deepened into a snarl. A warning that his wolf was close to the surface.

  Jimmy ignored him, his eyes fixed on Penny. A look that undressed her as it wandered down her body and back up again. It made her feel sick, dirty inside.

  "Deal with the pup,” he ordered the men at his side, who smiled nastily and reached into their pockets. Tasers. One of the only things guaranteed to put a wolf down and proof of just how far Jimmy and his thugs had deviated from pack honor codes. No wolf used a taser on another, it just wasn't done.

  Penny screamed as the first one fired, catching Cade in mid leap, the lone wolf already beginning the change. In human form against five enforcers he had no chance, but as a wolf, an Alpha to the enforcer's Betas, the odds were slightly, but not much, better. But the tasers leveled the playing field, as more and more fired. Cade yelped as thousands of volts of electricity poured into his changing body.

  "No,” Penny screamed, punching and kicking as Jimmy grabbed her, trying to fight past him to get to Cade. “Leave him alone,” she demanded, landing heavy blows on the Alpha's chest and shoulders as he struggled to hold onto her. When that failed, his hard hands holding her despite her struggles, she turned and sank her teeth deep into the fleshy part of his hand.

  "You bitch.” He snatched his hand back and shook it. Then his other fist descended, hitting Penny hard across the face and sending her into darkness.

  * * * *

  Penny slid in and out of the darkness, waking sharply and in pain only to be soothed back into blessed unconsciousness by the hum of an engine. She was in a moving vehicle. Cade was near her, and they were in terrible danger. But even the threat she could feel hanging over them like the sword of Damocles couldn't keep her awake for long. She slipped back into the darkness each time.

  Finally she woke, sharper headed, fighting the pull of sleep. She grimaced, feeling a dull ache in the side of her face. The reverberation of the vehicle seemingly trying to inscribe the pattern of the hard floor into the sensitive skin of her cheek. She winced and lifted her head, blinking into the blackness. Where were they? Obviously the back of a truck or something. She opened her eyes to blackness, struggling a little as panic started to worm its way in. Alarm that only deepened when she realized she was tied up, her arms secured behind her back and something tight wound around her ankles.

  The fog burned out of her brain. Jimmy must have hit her hard—hard enough that even her werewolf physiology was taking a while to counter the damage. Usually she healed most things within minutes. She shook her head and pulled on her bonds. They didn't move, not an inch of give in them, and she could feel a tingling against her skin she recognized. The ropes were warded.

  "Lycaon,” she tried, careful to keep her voice under the hum of the engine. Nothing happened. Damn it! Jimmy must have changed the keyword. She dropped her forehead to the cold metal, the vibrations shaking through her skull and making her teeth chatter.

  "Cade? Are you all right?” She could feel a large male body next to her and knew from the scent it was Cade. An unmistakable scent she knew as well as her own, the musk of his wolf under the unique scent of his skin and the citrus and sandalwood of his aftershave.

  And blood. Old blood.

  She moaned in distress. He was injured, she didn't know how badly but it was obviously bad enough to be bleeding. At least he was breathing. She could hear the steady rhythm as he breathed in and out. Although, was that a slight rattle? She worried her lower lip, thoughts of cracked ribs and punctured lungs filling her mind. What if he needed her help? She struggled against the ropes, trying to free herself, desperate to get to him.

  All she succeeded in doing was rubbing her wrists raw and wearing herself out. She closed her eyes as the blackness swam up again and gave herself a firm talking to. Logic dictated if Cade was going to die from his injuries, he'd have done it whilst she was unconscious. Now, his breathing appeared to be settled, and his wolf had had time to work on the worst of the damage. There wasn't anything she could do in any case. She wasn't a doctor, or would a vet be more appropriate for a werewolf?

  Exhausted, she shuffled closer to Cade, careful not to lean against him in case she hurt him or did any more damage. The heat of his larger body was comforting, his scent wrapping around her. Resting her cheek on the cold metal again, Penny dropped into an uncomfortable sleep.

  * * * *

  "He's going to die you know. Tonight. I'm gonna kill him."

  Penny ignored the low voice that sounded over her shoulder, keeping her face blank and clear of emotion. Even when a sharp tug on chain attached to the collar around her throat jerked her back against Jimmy's legs as he sat, holding ‘court’ in the large common room of the old farmhouse that served as the Roakestown pack's base of operations.

  "Slowly, I think. Make you watch. Would you like that, Penny? Watch your new lover kill your old one?” he taunted, his voice a soft whisper.

  She ignored him, didn't say anything. She'd been stuck here, sitting at his feet wearing a collar and chain like some kind of dog since she'd been roughly woken and hauled from the back of the truck hours ago. It had taken four of them to get the collar and chain on her, and although her body was a mass of bruises and other hurts now, it felt good, damned good, not to have just let them chain her up. And she wasn't finished yet, as Jimmy was going to find out at some point soon. Because if she got near enough, and got the half-second window she needed to change in, she planned on ripping his throat out.

  An act that might kill her.

  In fact, it probably would kill her, in one way or another. Even fully shifted, Penny's wolf would be no match for Jimmy's. And she wasn't stupid enough to challenge him, to try and take him in a legal fight. An honorable fight. No, she'd need the element of surprise to get the drop on him. Even if she did somehow survive that, she was a dead wolf anyway. Pack law would demand her life.

  "You listening to me, Penny?” Jimmy asked, seeming to be a little put out at the lack of response from his captive. “Hmm, perhaps that just isn't sexy enough for you, not kinky enough. Is that what it is Penny, you want something kinkier?” His tone was contemplative. “Yeah, we need something big, something really big for tonight's festivities. It's not often we get to execute a feral."

  Penny kept her silence and
suppressed the start that shot through her. He was claiming Cade was feral now, was he? Clever, very clever, but then Jimmy always had been. Right from taking over the Roakestown pack to this. No other pack would get involved or even look into the situation if they thought Cade had turned feral. It was each pack's responsibility to deal with the feral wolves in their area. Before they started hunting and killing. Since a feral wolf's favorite prey was humans, it tended to draw the attention of human authorities. And there wasn't a pack out there who wanted human scientists looking too closely at any wolf kills or, worse, werewolf remains.

  She sat still, thoughts and plans whirling around in her head as she assessed the wolves milling around in the common room. The pack was in even worse shape than when she'd left. Sad empty-eyed females waited soundlessly on the men, mostly the bruisers Jimmy had brought with him when he'd killed Jonathan, the old Alpha, and had taken over the pack. In fact, she thought with a frown as she looked around, she didn't see many, if any, of the original pack males. What had he done with them all?

  That wasn't the worst of it, though. As she watched, one guy reached out and groped the young girl handing him a beer, his handling so rough Penny winced in sympathy. That had to have hurt. But the girl didn't even flinch, nothing in her face or body language to say she'd even noticed. Penny's temper simmered higher. She recognized the girl. It was little Mary Beth, only just eighteen, and as innocent and naive as they came. Or she had been. Now she had the blank look of a victim who'd given up hope.

  "Yeah, something kinkier.” Jimmy's voice held a new edge, an unhealthy interest and amusement that had chills chasing down Penny's spine. Whatever he was thinking, it wasn't going to be good.

  She was right.

  "I think a little show, eh, Penny love? Show him what he's missing out on. How about watching your new lover fuck you senseless. What do you say Penny? That kinky enough for you?"