By the Red Moonlight

by Amanda Meuwissen

  “Have I found them all?” Bash husked, leaning close beside his ear with a sharp snap of his hips.

  Ethan whined again and pushed back against Bash’s thrusts. “Someday… I wanna give you one.”

  “Marking me is not something I’d allow lightly.”

  “Lightly,” Ethan panted back, “isn’t our style.”

  Bash puffed out a humored breath of air, rocking harder and squeezing Ethan’s hips with each fervent pound.

  The voice wasn’t there anymore—or maybe it was, but Ethan couldn’t pay any mind when the same thoughts raced through his mind in his own voice too.

  This. Bash. Mine.

  The rune didn’t glow because it didn’t need to. Ethan had Bash, all the way from that searing kiss to the moment when Bash spilled inside him.

  Chapter 19

  BASH COLLAPSED forward with his head pressed between Ethan’s shoulder blades. He felt sticky and hot and oh so satisfied as a growl purred from his throat. Pulling away to fall to his side, he knew full well how filthy they both were, but he didn’t care. His head buzzed in such a pleasant way, and as he glanced at Ethan’s dormant hand, he knew there was nothing to blame for this but the chemistry between them.

  Dreamily, Bash felt Ethan drift a hand down his side, finding the corded flesh of the scar beneath Bash’s ribs. Bash wondered if Ethan recognized how similar one of the drawings in his portfolio was to that scar.

  A knock sounded at the door, and Ethan groaned, followed by a shaky laugh. “Maybe that’s Bari, looking for a high-five.”

  Bash snorted, lifting with effort to look at Ethan, whose eyes still glowed yellow and fangs peeked over his lips. “Funny. Hold on!” he called to the door, swiping the sheets over his skin before throwing them over Ethan to cover him, to which Ethan wrinkled his nose but didn’t toss the covers off again.

  Snagging the handiest article of clothing, which happened to be Ethan’s sweatpants, Bash moved for the door, thankful he’d closed it earlier. “What?” he barked, pulling the door wide, only to be met by all the consequences bearing down on him in one neat package.

  Jay.

  Jay’s expression went from calm seriousness, to sharp anger, and then deep, jarring grief in seconds, as he took in the state of Bash, took in Ethan behind him, and smelled the evidence in what must have been a startling wave.

  “Jay—”

  Jay turned and stormed off down the hallway.

  “Wait!”

  Bash gave chase, barely registering Ethan snapping up in bed behind him and gathering the sheets around his body. Bash didn’t regret giving in to Ethan, he truly didn’t, but he hadn’t wanted the aftermath to turn out like this.

  “Stop. Stop.” He caught Jay at the landing just before he reached the stairs and grabbed his wrist to tug him back.

  Jay spun with a snarl. “You swore—”

  “I know—”

  “You don’t want me, I understand that, but you could have called things off officially instead of….” His nose curled in disgust as he looked back down the hallway. “Instead of humiliating me like this.”

  “That was never my intention. It just… happened.”

  “You think that’s better?”

  Bash floundered for a reply.

  “I agreed to our negotiations because I thought you were an Alpha worth trusting, someone worth merging our packs for. Now, I don’t know anything, because either you can’t keep your word—” He stepped closer to stand tall before Bash, eyes flickering with the intermittent glow of anger. “—or you’re so enthralled with this vampire, you don’t recognize what you’re doing, and I don’t know which is worse. This is exactly what his sire wants from you.”

  “Ethan isn’t actively—”

  “I don’t care. His intentions don’t matter, only the outcome. You know that, yet you’re still being reckless because you….”

  “What?”

  Jay caught his breath, deflating but still determined. “Because you think you’re in love with him.”

  “I don’t do love.” Bash laughed, flat as it may have sounded. “I told you that.”

  “You would for him. I don’t think he’s manipulating you, but his sire is. Maybe he chose Ethan for you. Maybe he chose you for Ethan. I don’t know, but I won’t be caught in the middle. I’ll help you find and defeat the sire. I’ll still fend off the other packs if they try to move against you after this, but an official union is off the table.”

  “Jay.” Bash reached for him again but smartly kept his hands to himself when Jay flinched. “My city needs this. Please.”

  “I’ll still help—”

  “No, you won’t. Not if it gets bad. I wouldn’t either without an oath between us.”

  The myriad of emotions on Jay’s face hardened. “Then I guess that’s another difference between you and me. I’m sorry if my word isn’t good enough for you. But then, yours isn’t very good either.”

  He finished his escape down the stairs, and this time, Bash didn’t try to follow.

  ETHAN FELT like dirt. He’d gotten everything he wanted, but he couldn’t enjoy it when someone else was suffering. Everything he knew about Jay Russell said the Alpha of Brookdale was a good man, and Ethan was the thief in the night who’d stolen his future.

  The sex had been amazing, but it was hard to revel in the afterglow no matter how much Bash said Ethan had nothing to be sorry about.

  “I made my choice. Now we move forward, and whatever happens next is up to Jay.”

  At least feeling rejuvenated, Ethan agreed to send a text to Leo to meet him later that night at a location Bash chose—a coffee shop. They would spring the trap. All that remained was to prepare for it.

  Currently, they sat in Nell’s workshop. Everyone in the pack knew what had happened—that Ethan had withheld feeding, that he’d fed from Bash, that they’d slept together again, and that Jay knew. There had been no high-fives, but there were supportive shoulder pats and words of encouragement.

  Bari might have still wanted to give Bash a high-five.

  Or maybe Ethan.

  Maybe both.

  “I just feel awful I didn’t realize you were starving yourself,” Bari said as they waited for Nell to finish what she was working on for the trap. “I thought you were miserable over your love triangle. It didn’t even dawn on me that you were hungry.”

  “It’s okay,” Ethan said. “I think the word for this situation is… clusterfuck.”

  Bari tittered, while Bash gave a subtler smirk. “You rest assured, Ethan, that I will play my part just like Deanna. She’s off fraternizing with her florist again, as you know, partially to keep an eye on him, since his presence seems as fated as yours, but it’s still very much a date. For my portion, while the most important thing is to secure your sire, we also need to keep relations between Centrus City and Brookdale friendly.”

  “Meaning?” Bash said in a scolding tone. “Don’t go trying to make friends, Bari. This is politically driven, and you are not politically minded. You can’t simply charm Jay and Maximus into adoring you and fix all this tension.”

  “Perhaps you couldn’t, but my charm is in a class of its own.” Bari kissed Bash on the cheek, which Ethan thought ridiculously adorable, especially since Bash rolled his eyes instead of complaining. Then Bari took Ethan’s hand and patted it gently. “You let me know if there is anything I can do for you while preparing for tonight. I know how it weighs on you, dear, but you are part of this pack now, and that means we’re family.” He pulled Ethan close for a tight hug. “Now, we can’t leave our Brookdale ambassadors all alone. I heard from Siobhan and Luke that the pair is at the Shelter with Thornton’s wife and son. I’ll simply make sure they’re well accommodated.”

  “Maximus agreed to let William and Theresa go back to the Shelter?” Ethan perked up, catching a bashful glance from Bash.

  “I may have mentioned something to him, hoping to sway his mind.”

  “Really? For me?”

  “F
or William,” Bash said, though the pull at his lips said that wasn’t the only reason. “He’s likely to grow up rather influential someday. Best to make friends instead of enemies.”

  “And on that note—” Bari gave a small bow as he headed away. “—keep me posted, and I’ll do the same. It’s going to go wonderfully tonight, Ethan. I’m sure of it.”

  Ethan didn’t know what “wonderful” looked like, given the situation. He’d messaged his uncle in good faith, saying he simply wanted to see him and to talk, but he was lying to ambush him. Even if Leo was Ethan’s sire, that thought churned angrily in his stomach.

  “Here we are.” Nell came back from where she’d been mixing something with a stone mortar and pestle. Ethan peered inside as she approached to see a dark red paste. “Hold out your hand. The left, since the right already has a spell cast.”

  When Ethan did as requested, she used the pestle to spread some of the paste over his palm. It didn’t retain the red color but blended into his skin, shimmered, then left no trace that anything had been there.

  “He tried to touch you, you said? He likely prepared something similar on his skin to draw a veil over you like he did when you were a child. But with this, you’re the one who will remove the veil from him. When you are ready, touch his skin with your palm and you will be able to sense what he truly is.”

  “Thank you,” Ethan said, though his insides felt twisted. He turned to Bash. “Do we need to head to the coffee shop now?”

  “Not yet,” Bash said. “I’d hoped to do something beforehand. You took all the serum Nell gave you before, correct?”

  “Yes.” Ethan glanced between them like that might be a trick question. “I finished it a few days ago. It was supposed to help so I can better close a person’s wounds after I feed from them, right?”

  “That’s right. It seems to have done its job too. I healed even faster earlier than my wolf constitution aided, but I want to be sure that means it is safe for you to feed from humans.” Bash looked to Nell, who nodded.

  “He should be able to feed safely, if you want to test it. Were you hoping I’d volunteer?”

  Ethan’s eyes widened.

  “No need,” Bash said—only for Ethan to tense further when he spoke on. “I have a better candidate. There will be no more waiting, Ethan, not when you get hungry. I know you aren’t hungry again yet, but that is why now is the best time for a test run.”

  “THE MAYOR?” Ethan balked as they sat at the bar in the very hotel Ethan had been staying at when he first got to town. Bash had explained, after all, that it was one of his frequented haunts for this purpose. “You want me to bite the mayor?”

  “Mr. Hedin is a good man, and for a politician, I can assure you, that is as rare as the stereotypes suggest. But it does not mean he doesn’t require a gentle nudge now and again to do the right thing.”

  “Right thing meaning looking the other way when you steal or smuggle or do other illegal activities for the pack?”

  Bash took a sip from his drink—scotch, just a finger to soothe his nerves, while Ethan had nothing. He could no longer get drunk, but Nell might be able to come up with other ways eventually since his pout suggested he wished he could. “I can neither confirm nor deny,” Bash said with a wink.

  Ethan cracked a smile, tapping his fingers on the bar top. “You really did help him get elected? Pulled in favors? Why? If he’s a good guy, that’s great, I’m glad, but I get the feeling it’s something more than that.”

  He clearly hadn’t only been a CSI because he was good in a lab; Ethan’s detective instincts would make him a good PI someday. “You’re right, there were several things. When the incumbent decided it was time to retire and candidates started lining up as replacements, I knew I needed to have vested interest in the winner. Hedin caught my eye initially because of his background as a street kid. Bit of a thief, even. Pulled himself up from the gutter to get ahead, but also to take care of his mother. All very marketable to voters and entirely genuine.

  “He wasn’t the favorite candidate initially, so I sent Siobhan to get a feel for him. She couldn’t. Not the same as the spell on your uncle, but she felt nothing from him and couldn’t explain why. I got curious. Had a hunch about what might be going on, tested it, and once I was proven correct, I put every possible resource behind making sure he won.”

  “But why?” Ethan asked. “What did you find out about him?”

  Bash let his grin twitch wider. “You’ll learn soon enough,” he said and nodded over Ethan’s shoulder.

  Mayor Robert Hedin had just walked in and headed to Bash and Ethan at the bar with a nervous hitch in his stride. He was taller than Ethan, lankier too, with angular features and a long chin, but he cleaned up well enough in a suit, even if he currently had a long coat over it, shades, and a trilby like something out of a ’50s spy movie.

  “Who’s the rookie?” Robert whispered as he took a seat beside Ethan, since Bash had purposely chosen the stool at the end.

  “New to town, but not a shifter if you’re curious.” Bash didn’t bother to lower his voice, which made Robert wince. There was no one of consequence in the bar. There was almost no one else at all. “As I’ve stated before, the getup draws more attention, not less.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Robert ripped the hat from his head to toss onto the counter with his shades. “Another, will ya?” He indicated Bash’s drink to the bartender, then glanced at Ethan, though he’d already relaxed, assuming now that Ethan was a human buffer between him and Bash. “You not drinking, Rookie?”

  “Oh, um… I don’t drink liquor anymore.”

  “What’s your story? What-Big-Eyes-You-Have over there didn’t say, but it’s usually for a favor. You’re not an ex-con or anything, are ya?”

  “Uhhh….”

  “Ah, shit, Bain. You can’t—”

  “There is nothing illegal in my request tonight, Mr. Mayor,” Bash cut him off. “Ethan is an ex-con, but a good sort. Former CSI from Glenwood and wants to get into private investigating. You know the type.”

  “Yeah?” Robert relaxed further, leaning closer to Ethan with a smile. “You know, I used to be a PI. If you’re looking for help getting a license, that’s an easy favor. Anything to keep the riffraff in check around here, right? Not that Bain or any of his… people are riffraff, I didn’t say that.” He snagged the drink the bartender placed in front of him and downed the whole thing. He tended to drink on the heavy side in Bash’s presence.

  Ethan shifted his gaze from Robert to Bash with questioning in his eyes that proved he could already feel it. Or rather, not feel it. Robert noticed after nodding to the bartender for another. He was good at observing too.

  “Not sure how you feel about me, right? Don’t sweat it, kid. I get that all the time.”

  “Sorry,” Ethan said, “it’s not you, but… well, I guess it is you.”

  Robert shrugged, eyeing Bash for direction, but Bash shook his head. Rule Number One was that Robert was to never divulge what he really was—to anyone. “Keeps my poll numbers even,” Robert said. “That all? You just need a license?”

  “That would be helpful, but um….” Ethan looked to Bash too, and Bash sipped his drink with a grin. “I’m, uhh… supposed to test something on you.”

  “Say what now?” Robert gave a nervous grin.

  Ethan glanced around, but the one guy at a table in the back wasn’t looking at them, and the bartender had gone to the other end of the counter after dropping off Robert’s drink. After closing his eyes for a moment, Ethan opened them again to show off vibrant gold and let his fangs lengthen.

  Robert nearly dropped his new drink. “Even the rookie? Wait, you said he wasn’t—”

  “A shifter. He isn’t. Robert Hedin, meet Ethan Lambert—a vampire.”

  This time Robert did drop his drink, only slightly sloshing it, before picking it back up and downing this one like the first. “Of course those also exist. You don’t need to muscle me, you know, I—”

&nbs
p; “This isn’t a shakedown, Mr. Hedin,” Bash said. “In fact, if you do me this favor, I’ll owe you one for once. And it’s a simple request, really. You don’t even need to move. After all, you’re the one who wondered about Ethan’s drink.”

  Robert blinked, then tensed all over, leaning subtly away from Ethan as he understood. “You sure the favor you want isn’t grand larceny?”

  “It won’t hurt,” Ethan said, already eyeing Robert’s wrist and the pump of blood beneath his veins, “and I won’t take much. I don’t want to hurt anyone, ever. That’s why I need to practice.”

  “It might hurt, actually,” Bash said, and Robert and Ethan both snapped their attention to him. “You can use your thrall, Ethan, but it won’t work on him. You’ll still be able to close the wound, though.” That was as much as Bash would tell.

  Reaching across Ethan to steal Bash’s drink, Robert claimed it and finished that one too. “Anything I want?” he asked Bash.

  “A favor is a favor, Mr. Mayor.”

  “Then I’m gonna hang on to this one for a rainy day. Do I need to, like… bare my throat and find a quiet corner?”

  “No, this is fine,” Ethan said, gently taking Robert’s wrist and bringing it to his mouth. He inhaled first, like judging the bouquet of an especially fragrant wine. Then he pulled his lips from his teeth and bit down.

  Robert gasped, but it wasn’t one of pain. He gasped again, like maybe he was enjoying the feel of Ethan’s fangs a little too much, lacking thrall be damned. Robert must have a few secrets yet that Bash didn’t know about.

  When Ethan pulled away with a swipe of his tongue, Robert gave another rapid blink.

  “You do parties?”

  “Mr. Hedin.”

  “Kidding.” Robert shook his head, attempting to lift either of the glasses in front of him before remembering they were empty. He motioned the bartender back, and with barely any effort, Ethan was human-looking again by the time he arrived.