Harlequin Nocturne January 2014 Bundle: The Vampire HunterMoon Rising

by Michele Hauf

  “He wore silver?” Karl cocked his brow. “How are you alive?”

  CeCe’s nostrils flared. First judgment, now disbelief. She opened her mouth to defend herself.

  “She lies. She killed no one.” Marc stepped out of the alleyway. He was naked from the waist up.

  CeCe’s throat closed. She swallowed or tried to, her mind spinning.

  Why was he still here? Why didn’t he leave?

  The werewolves around her closed ranks, formed a wall between her and Marc. She walked forward and shoved against them with flat palms, not hard enough to push them out of the way—just a test to see how determined they were to keep her in place.

  They didn’t move, not even an inch.

  “So I see.” Karl’s voice shifted to the left, telling her though she couldn’t see that he was moving closer to Marc.

  Frustrated, she balled her fists and tightened her jaw. She considered shoving her way past the wolves, but to do so would be a blatant disregard of the alpha’s wishes. Karl had, without words, given them their orders, and by their actions, hers.

  To disobey was unthinkable.

  She ground her teeth together and peered over the shortest were’s shoulder.

  “What do you know of what has happened here, vampire? Of the wolf found dead? Of the blood on my destined mate’s neck?”

  Marc flinched, but his face stayed impassive. His gaze locked onto CeCe. She hadn’t told him who she was, her place in the pack.

  Why would she? He was a vampire, a stranger. She was a wolf. They were nothing to each other, could be nothing.

  Her mouth dry, she licked her lips.

  “I’m here, vampire, and I’m talking to you.” Karl took a step sideways, blocking her view of Marc. “Are you taking responsibility? Should we haul you back for judgment?”

  “Pack law has no jurisdiction here or over me. You know that.” Marc’s voice was calm and cold.

  “That doesn’t sound like a denial. In fact, it sounds like an admission of guilt. What do you think, Neil?”

  One of the wolves in front of CeCe nodded. His hand moved to his back pocket. She had no idea what he might have concealed there, but she knew it couldn’t be good, not for Marc.

  As he reached, he stepped to the side, creating an opening in the wall of werewolves that surrounded her. She sprinted through it and into the space separating Karl and Marc.

  “He’s the liar. I did kill—”

  Karl spun. He backhanded her. She fell to the ground.

  Blood spurted from her lip. She pressed the back of her hand to the spot and stared at it. Anger and regret swirled inside her. Karl had hit her. Her human half fumed, but her wolf saw things differently.

  He was the alpha and she’d stepped out of line, disobeyed what she’d known were his wishes. There was no excuse for that. She’d deserved the slap...deserved more. It’s what her father would have said, but CeCe found she no longer believed that, not completely.

  Her wolf and human halves circled each other, fought for the right to react, how to react. She flexed and unflexed her hands. Closed her eyes and bore the pain of the split inside her.

  The wolf snarled...Karl had treated her as he would any other member of the pack, as she deserved.

  Her human half screamed...he’d hit her, belittled her. She was tired of being third class in this pack, tired of being property.

  As if sensing her struggle, Karl turned and leveled a gaze her direction that would in the past have caused her to curl into a ball.

  As it was, she had to force herself to lower her gaze, remind herself of everything her wolf already knew. She closed her eyes and counted, prayed for the rage to pass quickly.

  A chorus of growls sounded behind her. She opened her eyes. Marc had moved. He was standing six inches from Karl now, his fangs fully extended.

  “Wolf. Is this how you treat those destined to you?” His skin shone white under the streetlight, and his pupils had narrowed to slits so small they were nothing but pinpricks.

  A shiver danced up CeCe’s back.

  Her own situation forgotten, she leaped to her feet. “Keep her back.” Karl roared, making a sweeping motion with one hand as if he would knock her aside like a gnat.

  But CeCe couldn’t let him. Not now. Not with Marc putting himself at risk.

  “He lies,” she yelled. “Would you believe a vampire over me? I did kill a vampire. He did wear silver caps. He is who you want, not—” she made a dismissive motion with one hand “—this whoever, whatever he may be.”

  Marc didn’t move. He gave no indication he heard her claim or felt her insult, but the three wolves, who had stood around her, moved forward and grabbed him by the arms.

  To her surprise, he let them.

  Karl pulled her to her feet. He wiped the blood from her mouth with his thumb. “I’m sorry.”

  She raised her eyes.

  “I should have thought before striking you in front of a vampire. They have no control when fresh blood is drawn.”

  Strangely shaken by Karl’s words, she glanced at Marc, wondered if it was true, if the vampire’s sudden change had been caused solely by the scent of her blood. Marc stared back, silent and unreadable.

  Karl wiped his thumb on his pants, then turned his back on her, but Marc continued to watch her. Unable to meet his gaze, she began walking toward the alley. “The vampire, the one I killed, is back here.” Her voice was shaking. She kept moving, hoping no one but her noticed.

  As she passed Marc, she stopped. His tattoo was fully visible, was as she had guessed an exact duplicate of the design on the stake, if the stake’s design hadn’t been cut into two pieces. Noticing her interest, a question formed in his eyes.

  “CeCe?” Karl’s fingers wrapped around her wrist. She shifted her attention away from Marc and onto the empty street in front of her. Karl pulled her back so she was walking beside him. Then he motioned for the other wolves, with Marc, to follow.

  “This vampire in the alley. He’s the one I told you about.”

  She could feel Marc’s gaze on her back. Her shoulders squared, and she lowered her voice. “I met him in the woods, then followed him here tonight. Once I was in the alley, he attacked, but I...fought him off.”

  “And the vampire behind us?”

  She lifted her shoulders. “I told you, I’ve never seen him before.” A quick decision, choosing to pretend to know nothing of Marc rather than say he’d tried to help her. Truth or lie, neither came without risk, but the entire truth, that she had jumped in to save Marc, couldn’t be shared. No werewolf would understand what had driven her to do that. She didn’t understand it herself, except that Marc had done the same for her and she owed him.

  It was the only answer she could bring herself to accept.

  Karl snarled. Unsure if he believed her or not, or what Marc might say when he heard her lies, she walked faster. Once she gave the pack the dead vampire with his silver-capped teeth, this would be over. Her life could go back to what it was meant to be, destined to be.

  The thought, something she had accepted for so long, didn’t bring with it any joy—just resolve....

  The alpha moved like a jungle cat beside her. Any female in the pack would have fought her for her future with him.

  But she knew he’d accepted her as his future mate because of what her father had told him, promised him. Mate with a genetic wolf and gain genetic children who are born werewolf, stronger than a wolf that had endured the bite.

  Was it true? She didn’t know, and until today, she hadn’t cared.

  They entered the alley. The Dumpster was halfway down. A light shone from the diner’s bathroom windows, indicating that someone was inside.

  “There.” She pointed to the ground below the windows where a body-sized lump lay.

/>   Karl indicated for her to wait, then strode forward. He placed a foot on the dead vampire and pushed. The form tumbled over and collapsed into nothing but a pile of rags.

  “But...” CeCe faced Marc. His body was tight, his muscles coiled, and his attention was on Karl.

  The alpha picked up the strips of cloth and tossed them back down. “Vampire? Silver caps? What game are you playing, CeCe?”

  Still watching Marc, she didn’t reply.

  “What would she gain from this game, alpha? It looks to me she has nothing to win...not with you.”

  Karl’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared, but he didn’t move forward. He held still. “A vampire attacked CeCe. A vampire killed Russell. And a vampire stands before me.” He raised his hand. “Tie him up. We’ll get his confession at dawn.”

  Dawn. Karl planned to roast Marc...perhaps inch by inch. And if sun exposure didn’t kill him as Karl expected, then what would the alpha do?

  CeCe couldn’t find out. Desperate and unsure what to do, what she could do to divert Karl from this path, she spun toward the alpha. “No—”

  To her side, Marc lurched forward. With a hiss, he pulled free of the werewolves’ grip. The three jumped, tried to grab the vampire, but he was too quick. He leaped out of their reach.

  Then he grabbed CeCe, jerked her body against his and brushed her fangs against her neck.

  “You’re a fool, alpha, to treat something this sweet with disregard. But you fool yourself more if you think I would have stopped at one simple sip.” His gaze on Karl, he dragged his fangs across her skin.

  A tremor ran through her.

  Karl dove forward, head and shoulders first, like a linebacker going for a tackle. Marc shoved CeCe to the side and let her fall on the pavement like a toy, broken and forgotten, like a possession he no longer wanted.

  Chapter 14

  The alpha’s shoulder dug into Marc’s gut. The pair flew backward until Marc’s back slammed into the brick wall behind him.

  CeCe lay on the ground where Marc had pushed her, to keep her safe, out of the battle he knew was about to rage. She rose onto all fours, then lifted her head and stared at him.

  Her gaze was hollow and lost, but he had no time to consider what her expression meant, what she was thinking. The alpha grabbed Marc by the head and pummeled his head into the wall.

  Marc’s ears rang. The side of his face went numb. He lifted his hand and grabbed the alpha by the throat, or tried to...the werewolf stepped to the side, twisted around until he was behind Marc.

  There, he dug his forearm into Marc’s throat. A move Marc guessed was effective when dealing with an adversary who needed to breathe. Unfortunately for the alpha, vampires didn’t.

  He twisted too, spun in the wolf’s unwelcome embrace, until the two were less than a foot apart...the perfect distance for what Marc had in mind. He grabbed the other male by the hair and jerked his head back. With the werewolf’s neck fully exposed, he lunged forward.

  He would rip the werewolf’s throat out—in front of his pack and his destined mate.

  “Stop!” CeCe leaped between them, shoving herself in front of the alpha, blocking his neck with her own.

  Marc’s fangs brushed her skin. Her scent enveloped him. He jerked back. Shaking with unreleased rage and adrenaline, he dropped his hold on the alpha.

  The werewolf didn’t fall. He spun and shoved CeCe to the side, into the arms of the other three males.

  Her eyes slanted, and nostrils flared, she inhaled a shaky breath. Then, with no warning, she shifted. Her hair grew; her body bent. She fell on all fours and a howl ripped from her throat. She went from woman to wolf in the space of two heartbeats. Marc had never imagined, never believed, the shift from human to wolf could be that fast.

  But he didn’t ponder the new discovery for long. He was too caught in the beauty of the creature in front of him. Her fur was silvery gray and glossy, and her eyes were gold. Her lips pulled up, revealing teeth that shone white in the night. She was menacing and strong...alluring.

  Unaware of Marc’s thoughts, she slipped from the male werewolves’ grip like water. Her paws touched the ground with a whisper of sound, and then she leaped, landing between Marc and the alpha once again.

  Her tail and head low, her lip raised, she snapped at both of them.

  For a moment, the alpha didn’t move, then slowly he held out one hand, palm up...cautious as if he too were amazed by the magic in her shift.

  CeCe approached and sniffed, but as if she was afraid of being caught, she quickly danced back. Her eyes narrowed. She shifted her gaze to Marc and inhaled again, loudly.

  He saw no recognition in her eyes. None. Beautiful, but all animal...all wolf.

  Her head tilted side to side, then without warning she moved to a sit and a second howl broke free from her throat. Then just as suddenly, she was human again. Naked and shaking, she dropped to the asphalt.

  Her skin was pale and smooth. Her muscles firm and defined. She wasn’t wolf or woman; she was magic, art, everything Marc had ever imagined beauty could be.

  She pushed her arms straight so her upper body was off the ground. “I don’t... Stop. Just stop. This is getting us nowhere,” she murmured.

  Marc moved to kneel, to pull her into his arms, to hide her nudity and offer her comfort. Apologize for pushing the wolves, being headstrong...stupid.

  Her gaze darted to him, warning.

  He glanced at the alpha, remembered what the other man had said, the claim he had made. CeCe was his mate, not Marc’s.

  Then anger and tension balling together in his stomach, he stood back and watched as the alpha moved toward her instead, stood still and pretended he didn’t care when the werewolf pulled her to her feet and handed her her clothes.

  Silence had fallen over the wolves, a solemnity that despite his own angst, Marc didn’t understand.

  “Talk.” The alpha held up both hands, giving CeCe the floor.

  She pulled in a breath. “I told you this vampire isn’t the one who attacked me. That I’ve never seen him before. Killing him will solve nothing. It will only make matters worse.”

  “You claim to have killed one vampire. Why would killing this one make anything worse?”

  “I killed—” She glanced at Marc, then tucked her hands around the alpha’s forearm and pulled him aside.

  A muscle in Marc’s jaw jumped. He stared at the wall, but his real attention was on the wolves and the words they were saying that apparently neither believed he could hear.

  “I killed that vampire because he was trying to kill me. I had no choice, but this one...we don’t know who he is or where he came from. Perhaps he was sent by others. Perhaps he’s involved in Russell’s death. Perhaps he can tell us what the vampires know of the treasure. If we let him go free, we can follow him. See where he takes us.”

  “We could find out what he knows and what he has done while holding him ourselves.” A growl underlined the alpha’s words.

  CeCe’s hands tightened on the alpha’s arm. Marc’s gaze locked on the spot where her skin touched the wolf’s.

  “We have no evidence tying this vampire to anything,” she said.

  The muscles in the alpha’s arm, the one CeCe still held, tensed.

  “We could kill him, but what if there are others? Why lose the opportunity watching him gives us?” she continued.

  “Because he heard you say you killed one of his kind. If that gets back to the others, they’ll mark you as a slayer and breaker of the law. They’ll hunt you.” The alpha shook off her hold. A bit of the anger Marc had sensed in him before CeCe’s shift returned.

  CeCe’s lips pressed together. “I’ll take that risk.”

  “It isn’t your risk to take. As alpha, it’s mine.” The male wolf turned then, dismissing
CeCe as Marc had seen him dismiss her before, and once again, CeCe didn’t argue.

  The alpha’s treatment of her and CeCe’s reaction to it gnawed at him. He longed for her to lunge at the alpha, to fight for her own voice.

  But CeCe was a wolf and the alpha her destined mate. His treatment, of her, of any and all wolves beneath him, was the way of the pack.

  The vampire balled his hands into fists so tight his knuckles popped.

  The alpha faced him. Marc returned the other male’s gaze.

  The alpha raised one brow, then grabbed CeCe by the arm and with her by his side, walked from the alley. Two of the remaining three werewolves followed. The one the alpha had called Neil stayed behind, his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze never leaving Marc.

  His attention on CeCe, studying her posture, looking for some sign he was mistaken, that she needed...wanted his interference, he ignored the wolf. He continued ignoring him until CeCe and the other werewolves had turned the corner and disappeared from view.

  She didn’t look back, not even once.

  Still not looking at the werewolf, he moved to walk past him.

  Like some third-rate bouncer stopping a gate-crasher, the werewolf’s arm shot out, blocking Marc’s forward movement.

  Marc stopped and shifted his attention down. Then slowly he let his gaze travel up the werewolf’s arm to his throat.

  He stopped there; he didn’t bother looking the man in the face. He wouldn’t pay him the honor.

  “You saw what I did to your alpha, how I bared his throat. Do you really think you will fare any better, underling?”

  The wolf lowered his arm and stepped to the side, so his body blocked Marc’s exit. “I saw my alpha let you go. Now I see a vampire with no one to protect him.”

  Meeting his gaze now, Marc laughed. “I stopped needing protection two hundred years ago, wolf.”

  “Are you denying the destined one’s intervention? Denying that you watch her like a starving dog stalking a wounded lamb? My alpha may not see it, may not want to, but my job as his second is to see what he doesn’t, act on what isn’t worthy of his attention.”