Midnight Moonrising

by K. S. Haigwood

  “Anything that any of us experience will affect all of us in some way.”

  “So I can’t kick your ass without feeling every blow I deliver?”

  “That’s right,” Phoenix replied, “and when you get laid, we’ll all know about that, too.”

  Roel gave a short, derisive laugh. “You did this so you would know when the wolf is fucking Rhodes, didn’t you?”

  “Actually, that’s not something I care to be aware about at all, Roel. I know it will happen; the wolf is adamant about making him hers. Agreeing to that was the only way Mena and I could be together.”

  “But you thought, if there was no way she could kill you without killing herself that you would get Mena all to yourself.”

  “The thought did cross my mind.”

  “You are so selfish—”

  “Tell me what you would have done differently!” Phoenix demanded.

  “As a werewolf, I damn sure wouldn’t have a vampire as my girlfriend! If she even nips your lip while kissing you, we’re all as good as dead. You aren’t going to have to worry about the wolf keeping you from her; there’s no way Mena’s pack is going to let you get anywhere near her from now on, and the only reason I’m not kicking your ass is because it would hurt her!”

  “A bite won’t hurt me if she isn’t at least half shifted, Roel; you know that, and as soon as that bitch wolf knows that, you know she will be extra careful where she puts her canines. Nobody is going to keep me from her; you’d be dumb to try it.”

  “What are you going to do, kill me? We’ve already established how that’s all going to end for the six of us involved—”

  Simultaneously, Roel and Phoenix’s heads jerked back, and they both covered their noses as crimson stained their skin.

  With wide eyes, Phoenix looked at his blood-soaked fingers. “Where is Mena?”

  “Interrogating Dana,” Roel said, but before he even got the words out of his mouth, Phoenix was running for the door.

  Phoenix

  Mena was going to be pissed! Phoenix thought as he and Roel ran for the others. Why Mena was bleeding quickly surpassed his worry of the ass-chewing he was bound to get from her later.

  An invisible hand punched him in the gut, and Roel grunted from behind him.

  “Yeah, this was a fucking brilliant idea, Phoenix,” Roel growled. “I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about any of us or the wolf killing you. I’m pretty sure Mena’s going to do it herself.”

  “This could have all been prevented if her pack had told her to name the damn wolf, so don’t blame me for everything when your hands aren’t even clean, Pup. I won’t be the only one who has disappointed her by the end of the day.”

  Roel threw out his hand to keep the door closed when Phoenix grabbed the doorknob of the cell room. “We can’t tell her about the wolf’s name, not until we figure out what it is—”

  Phoenix glared at him. “Why the hell not?”

  “When the wolf finds out we are trying to figure out her name, she’ll take over Mena and run away so we can’t find them.”

  Phoenix’s eyes narrowed as he thought about that. “She’s going to leave me for this anyway.”

  Roel shook his head. “I’ll make you a deal; if you keep this a secret and help us figure out the wolf’s name, we will help you make this shit plan of yours sound good to Mena later.”

  Phoenix hissed and quickly looked at his forearm as a long gash appeared and blood poured freely from the wound. He didn’t bother giving Roel’s arm a look before he jerked the door open and stormed through it. “Deal,” he growled over his shoulder.

  Blood was everywhere, and Phoenix had to slow his pace and stop breathing altogether to keep from getting overwhelmed by it.

  Lea’s eyes were wide as she stared at him in horror from her hunkered position in the corner. He motioned with his hand toward the door, and she jumped to her feet and ran as fast as her mortal legs would allow. She didn’t need to see this.

  Brad and Heath were standing as close to the silver bars of the cage as they could, without actually touching it, shouting at Mena to open the cage door, blood pouring from their nostrils and arms just as it was Roel and him. It was obvious from their terrified expressions that they had figured out something was terribly off with the scene playing out before them.

  Roel was right; linking them all together was a horrible idea—no, he’d said it was a shit plan. It was that, too.

  Shit plan or not, he had to focus on the problem at hand. Mena and the traitor were circling each other in the ten-by-ten cage, and by the vertical burn marks on Dana’s face, it was clear Mena had shoved the girl’s face into the silver bars more than once. He wanted to take the time to have a proud moment, but he really needed to stop this before the girl got a lucky stab in with that silver-coated blade she had gripped in her right hand.

  “She’s got the only key!” Heath shouted to Phoenix.

  “She won’t listen to us!” Brad said. “You gotta get her out of there!”

  Phoenix dug in his pocket and retrieved a ring of keys then quickly opened the cage door and rushed inside. Dodging one of Dana’s wild swings, he grabbed her wrist and spun her around until her back was up against his chest, her arm bent at an odd angle between them. Still gripping that wrist tight, he jerked until her arm dislocated from her shoulder and she screamed in agony. The silver blade slipped from her fingers and clattered to the cement flooring.

  Glaring at the silver eyes of Mena’s wolf over Dana’s shoulder, Phoenix said in a low and dangerous voice, “What the hell are you trying to do, get yourself killed?”

  Mena shrugged nonchalantly. “I was giving her the challenge she asked for. It’s not exactly fair for her or fun for me if she’s tied to a chair when she dies.” Her expression turned confused when she saw the blood on his face and arm. “Did you get into a fight?”

  His gaze shifted to Roel as he answered her. “Not exactly.”

  She looked at Roel and then to Heath and Brad, immediately noticing their injuries. “What happened to the four of you?” Her eyes darted back to Phoenix and she scowled as her fists came up to rest on her hips. “Have you been fighting with my pack—?”

  Phoenix shoved Dana down on the chair and began shackling her to it. The girl didn’t resist. Guess she was smarter than he thought she was. After he finished, he pointed at her as he glared at Mena. “You are going to do this the unfair and unfun way, because we are getting tired of you letting her get jabs in!”

  She raised an eyebrow as she studied him. “Are you suggesting that I had anything to do with the reason why all of you look like you’ve been in a bar fight? I’ve been locked in this cage with that tramp for the last ten minutes.”

  “Look at yourself, Mena,” Roel said. “Our injuries are the same as—” Roel’s sentence was cut short when Dana began cackling.

  They all turned their heads and watched her as she brayed.

  “The bitch has lost her damn mind,” Heath said.

  “Will you make her stop that, Mena?” Brad said. “I can’t hit a girl. I’d kill one in wolf form, but I can’t hit one, not like this.”

  Mena punched Dana in the mouth, knocking her head back, but she only laughed harder. “What’s so funny?”

  “You are!” Dana said, and burst out with laughter again.

  “The fact that I’m about to torture you until your immortal shell is lifeless is funny to you? I find that hilarious, too, but I’ll save my titters for later, after I’ve poured your ashes into the Alabama River.”

  Dana became quiet and looked up at Mena through her lashes. “You’re supposed to be an Alpha and you don’t even know what your own pack and this vampire have done to you. That is what is so fucking funny, Pack Leader,” she sneered.

  Mena blinked in confusion, but she didn’t risk a glance at Phoenix who uncomfortably shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “What are you talking about, girl?”

  Dana sighed. “Look at them,” she s
aid, and Mena did. “I bet if you picked that dagger up and shoved it through your heart, you’d all die. Looks to me like you’re all linked together by a nexus spell, and he will only have to kill the weakest link in order to kill you all. I wonder whose bright idea that was,” she said, and grinned as she turned her head to look at Phoenix.

  “He will?” Brad said. “Don’t you mean she will? As in Jessica?”

  Phoenix swallowed as he made eye contact with her. Brad’s question seemed important to him, but Mena—or her wolf, rather—wasn’t hearing anything right now. Shit! “Mena, we need to talk—”

  Mena’s eyes flashed silver and she growled, low and menacingly.

  He held his palms out toward her. “Hear me out—”

  There was no slow shifting this time as she gave Phoenix a murderous glare. Mena dropped to her hands and knees and a massive silver wolf burst from her human body, crouched low and ready to pounce on him.

  His eyes widened in fear, and then he was swiftly jerked from the cage by Roel.

  “Talk later, dummy,” Roel said. “She’s not going to listen to you right now.”

  Heath slammed the cage door, locked it, then jerked the key free just as the wolf’s claws came through the bars, barely missing his arm.

  The wolf snarled at the four men, baring her razor sharp teeth.

  “You can’t kill him, Mena,” Roel said, and silver eyes fell on him. “Dana is right. If any of us die, we all die, including you. We did it to protect you, because we would all die to protect our Alpha. He pointed to Dana and the girl’s smile faltered. “She’s the enemy, not us!”

  After a long, agonizing moment, the wolf finally turned and stalked toward Dana.

  Dana’s eyes grew wide, but she barely had time to open her mouth to scream before Mena’s claws were sinking deep into her flesh and her teeth into her throat.

  To Phoenix, it looked more like the wolf was showing them what would happen to them once they unlocked the door. Maybe leaving her in there until they figured out the wolf’s name wasn’t a bad idea, he thought. Meridia had said there was no going back after the nexus spell took effect, but the witch had lied to him before; she could do anything if the money bag was heavy enough.

  “She’s not going to be satisfied with that kill,” Roel muttered under his breath to Phoenix. “I pray she values her own life more than she does ours.”

  “Amen,” Phoenix said as he watched Mena rip Dana apart, one limb at a time.

  “Are you going to let her out?” Heath said.

  Phoenix’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he took it out to read the text message.

  I’m still at the law firm but Mena isn’t answering her phone. I fell asleep and woke up feeling sick. Should I go inside and look for her?

  Phoenix knew very well why Rhodes felt sick, and he huffed as he glanced up at the wolf. Dana was in pieces, scattered all over the cell and the wolf was staring at him with a blood-red face and rage in those silver eyes.

  “Your boyfriend wants to know if he should go inside the law firm building and look for you. Should I take a picture of you like this and tell him what you are or are you going to cooperate with us?”

  After a moment, the wolf’s eyes turned to a pale green and her body began to shift back to human form.

  Mena stood upright and walked to the cage door, naked. “I need a shower, and then I would like to go home. We’re not staying here any longer.”

  “Mena, it’s not safe to stay at your house. Jessica knows…” Brad said, but her calm gaze settled on him and he stopped talking.

  “Then I will stay with Alex. Tell him to come pick me up now. I don’t trust any of you anymore.”

  Phoenix let out an exasperated sigh. “Don’t be angry with them. This was all my doing. They didn’t even know—”

  Mena turned around to look at the floor, then went to retrieve her shredded jeans. She reached inside the pocket, pulled out her cell phone and began typing out a text to Rhodes.

  “Wait—Mena, don’t text him,” Phoenix pleaded as he reached through the bars and placed a hand over her bloody ones. “Meridia requested that we bring you with us tonight. Maybe she can do something to reverse the nexus spell. Rhodes is coming, too. You can leave with him after we meet with the witches. I won’t stop you.”

  Mena pressed her lips together then nodded. “Fine. Let me out.”

  Phoenix eyed her stony expression, and let the regret he was feeling show in his own features as he unlocked the cage door and let her out.

  Without looking at any of the men, Mena walked out of the cage and left the room, leaving them all standing there looking like jackasses.

  Phoenix sighed heavily as he responded to Rhodes’ text message.

  Mena was feeling sick, too. Roel brought her to my house. Must be a bug going around or something. Get some rest and meet us at her residence at 7:00 p.m.

  He hit send, then walked to his chamber.

  Chapter 33

  Mena

  So much for being happy, I thought as I closed myself inside Phoenix’s bathroom and started a bath, adding a generous amount of the bubble bath Lea had stocked for me.

  Looking in the mirror wasn’t going to happen, not until I got all of Dana’s blood off my body. I couldn’t imagine my dreams would be pleasant for a long while, either. Even though I wanted to tell myself that my wolf was the one who had done all the killing, I knew it was a lie.

  I had wanted her dead, and I hadn’t tried to stop the wolf from taking every drastic measure she had in destroying someone who had wronged us.

  What kind of person did that make me? A bad one? Of course it did. The remorse was threatening to choke me while my wolf was gloating inside my head about her first kill. Wait—Marc had been our first and Chris had been our second, so I guess Dana would make our third. Regardless, Marc and Chris’ deaths had only happened because I was trying to defend myself, while Dana had been murdered, slaughtered, ripped apart; it was cold-blooded murder and I knew it. Her blood was still on my hands. That’s what was eating me alive on the inside. I knew there would be more. My wolf was itching for more. How many more would it take to drive me over the edge?

  “Shut down my emotions, please,” I said to her through my thoughts. “I don’t want to feel anything right now.”

  She didn’t respond with words, but I could feel the grief and anxiety slowly slip away from my body and mind. I sighed in relief as I sank down farther into the hot water and bubbles.

  A soft knock sounded from the door, but I didn’t tell Phoenix to come in. I knew him well enough—an invitation wouldn’t be required. I didn’t have anything to say to him that I hadn’t already said, but the door was opening, so I assumed he felt our conversation wasn’t over.

  I didn’t even care anymore.

  To my surprise, he shut the door and pulled the t-shirt over his head. I didn’t freak out, but I was curious.

  “What are you doing?” I said as I stared in admiration at that perfect torso.

  Letting the black fabric slip from his fingers, he didn’t answer me as he unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. I was prepared to find him wearing boxers or maybe even boxer briefs but, boy, did I get a shock when that denim fell down around his ankles.

  My brow popped up as my lips twitched at the corner. “Commando, eh?”

  He shrugged as he kicked the shoes and jeans from his feet. After taking his socks off, he walked to the bathtub and just stood there, looking down at me. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by me that he hadn’t said a word since he came into the room. There was something else that hadn’t gone unnoticed by me, a big something, and it was right at my eye level.

  It could have been the hot water that caused my cheeks to flush, but why lie to myself?

  Despite being in the room with a naked woman, he wasn’t erect, not even a little bit. Did he have that much control or did he not find me attractive anymore? I wondered why he would even come into the bathroom and strip in front of me if he didn’t inte
nd to seduce me. This man was so confusing.

  Since two things were really obvious, one being he had no interest in talking yet, and the second being that he wanted to get in the bathtub with me, I did what any smart girl would do in my situation and raised up so he could step in behind me.

  That was all the invitation he needed, and after he got settled in behind me, one leg stretched out on either side of me, he took a folded washcloth from the built-in shelf in the wall, dipped it in the steaming water, lathered it with the body wash that smelled like sandalwood, and then began to cleanse my skin with it. I loved the fragrance—it smelled just like him, but there was also a sweeter smell that came from his skin, a smell that I knew could never be bottled and sold. It was like a pheromone to me. I was addicted to his scent.

  I thought about being a smartass and saying something like ‘I’m fully capable of washing my own body,’ or ‘I’m supposed to be mad at you,’ but all that passed through my lips was a moan of approval when he dropped the cloth and his magic fingers began kneading the muscles in my neck, shoulders and back.

  I realized in that moment that he was giving me what I needed. He was always trying to give me what I needed: security, safety, encouragement, helping me find my courage, helping me solve my problems, helping me defeat my inner demons—or wolf, in my case—and just being there for me. He had always been there for me. It had backfired and we had bumped heads more times than I cared to mention, but he was always there, helping me through everything and giving me what I needed. And this time wasn’t any different. I had just taken the life of one of my pack members and he somehow knew that I was hurting inside and needed him to just be there for me.

  “Thank you, Phoenix,” I said, and picked up the washcloth that was floating in the water, so I could wash my face before he saw the tear tracks streaked through the dried blood on my cheeks. I’m sure he probably already knew that I was crying from the thickness of my voice, and even if he didn’t know, he was about to. My body started trembling and my shoulders shook as I gave a heaving breath, and then the uncontrollable sobbing began.