Midnight Moonrising

by K. S. Haigwood

  As he put me down, I realized that we had an audience, a big one from the sound of it. Catcalls, shouts and whistles echoed off the walls of the room and I felt heat rise to my cheeks as I smiled against his mouth.

  “You matter to me,” I said as I tried unsuccessfully to catch my breath.

  Instead of responding with words, Phoenix’s fingers dove into my hair and he crushed his mouth down on mine, taking possession and owning the right to call me his. His whole body trembled as he held me, touched me, kissed me, and I wondered if the man that was in my arms was possibly even more afraid than I was.

  Did I love him? Was it really love or was Phoenix’s theory about love correct?

  “Yes, moron, you love him,” my wolf said. It was the first time she had spoken to me since the Dana incident, so it caught me off guard a bit. “Even I can see that, and I’m not a hearts and flowers kind of girl, though I do enjoy chocolate. You should tell him to buy us chocolate.”

  “No, you’re more like a Kibbles n’ Bits kinda girl, aren’t you?”

  “Ha! Did you just make a joke? Funny. It’s about time you got your sense of humor back. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to turn into a piece of white bread: stale, plain and dry as hell.”

  I ignored her and deepened the kiss. It was quite annoying to have a conversation with another voice in my head when I was trying to enjoy the feel of Phoenix’s lips on mine. My guess was that was her intention all along, to annoy me.

  Phoenix breathlessly pulled away and leaned his cheek against mine. “I was counting the seconds until you kissed me again, Mena. Do you have any idea what you do to me? I was counting the damn seconds.”

  “Well, if you hadn’t ignored me after our shower, you might not have had to count so high.”

  He snickered as his lips brushed across mine once more. “I was only thinking, Lupacchiotto. It’s nothing for you to worry about,” he said, but there was a touch of doubt in his voice, as if he was unsure how I would take what he was keeping from me.

  I resisted when he tried to pull me to the podium. His face was puzzled when he turned back to look at me. “You want me to trust you, but it’s obvious you’re keeping something from me,” I whisper-shouted, my eyes cutting over briefly to look at the crowd staring up at us.

  He raised an eyebrow, but the corner of his lip twitched, like this scene had been planned all along and I was playing my part perfectly. Bastard! “I’ll tell you now,” was all he said, and then he held out his hand for me to join him in front of the podium.

  “Phoenix.” I warned him with my eyes, but he reached out and grabbed my hand then pulled me against his unyielding body, holding me firmly in place by a hand at the small of my back. I instantly became putty in his hands when his fingers came up to caress the side of my neck. Whatever he was about to do didn’t matter to me anymore, because all I could think about was the memory of our naked bodies tangled together in his bed only an hour before.

  “Relax, Mena. It’ll be fine. They will love you. I promise.”

  I stepped out of his embrace so I could collect my thoughts and looked out across the room, suddenly anxious about what Phoenix’s clan’s reactions would be about a werewolf pack leader being on their home turf. Several members had seceded from my pack, but Phoenix had been his clan’s leader for over a century, and I doubted any of them would leave just because they didn’t agree with their master’s plans. He hadn’t said anything about any of them disagreeing with him, but, then again, he hadn’t shared anything with me about his clan and he knew all the current affairs about my pack.

  That would need to be remedied, and soon.

  He looked powerful and beautiful as he looked out across the faces of his people. I hoped to look as in control as he did someday.

  “Most of you know why I gathered you here,” Phoenix started, “and some of you have even had the honor of meeting Mena, Montgomery’s new werewolf pack leader. If you haven’t heard, let me inform you now, Mena’s pack and my clan have merged. We are no longer enemies, but strong allies. Eight of Mena’s pack have rebelled against her and have even taken the life of one of their own. These eight are our enemies and must be captured and executed immediately. They are a danger and a threat to us,” he turned to look at me, “because Mena is one of us. You will treat Mena with the same respect that you do me, and anyone who doesn’t see it the way I do will be dealt with using utmost severity.” He held out his hand to me and I took it with trembling fingers. “Please, welcome Mena Hoke as my new second in command.”

  “What the fuck did he just say?”

  My wolf must have been just as stunned, because she didn’t respond.

  The room erupted with cheers and whistles, startling me, and even in my shocked state of mind, I knew I needed to look for someone. My eyes scanned the crowd and I found him on the first row: Jaxon, his face a sullen mask as he stared up at me, clapping slowly. Phoenix had demoted him and put me in his place.

  “What is he thinking?” I screamed through my mind.

  Tension filled my body as the silence persisted, and then, “He’s thinking that he wants you to make him Beta over my pack. That is not going to happen, Mena.”

  Chapter 35

  Mena

  I slammed the door of Phoenix’s chambers behind me as I followed him into his room. “Why did you do that?” I shouted.

  He briefly glanced at me over his shoulder, but didn’t stop walking toward his closet. “I thought you would be thrilled. Why all the hostility?”

  “Why all the hostility? You just put me above Jaxon! He can’t be happy about this.”

  “You were always above Jaxon, Lupacchiotto. You are a leader; he is not. His actions of late have proven the fact.”

  “Do I look happy?” Even though the walk-in closet was spacious, my voice seemed a lot louder than it had in the massive expanse of his living chamber.

  I stopped suddenly and stared for the first time at the huge closet. It was beautiful, but that wasn’t what had thrown me into yet another state of shock.

  Phoenix shuffled through a long rack of clothing and selected a pair of leather pants, a white tank top and a black leather jacket then held them out to me, a slight smirk playing across that beautiful mouth of his.

  “What is this?” I asked in a small voice as I took them, deathly afraid of what he would say.

  The corner of his lip twitched as he studied the items on the hangers as if it was obvious what they were. “Clothes,” he said simply.

  I forced myself to look at the long rack of clothing—all women’s, and I was guessing all in my size—and then a wooden shelf caught my attention out of my periphery—shoes, all women’s, and I was guessing all in my size.

  “Dear God, what is this man thinking?”

  I got no answer from my wolf. I supposed she was still plotting the most painful way to kill Phoenix, because, if she was right about him wanting me to make him Beta over my pack, that would definitely be something that would really, really piss her off.

  “Have you failed to tell me that you’re a cross-dresser?” I said, and prayed that was true. I would have a hell of a lot better time accepting that than what I feared he was going to say.

  He chuckled. “No. They’re all yours, Mena.”

  I thrust the hangers toward him as he walked around me and out of the closet. Clenching my jaw, I struggled not to scream. This was going a bit too far. “You can’t move me in with you.”

  “Grab a pair of boots from your selection. The dresser beside the shoe rack is yours, too. It’s stocked with socks and…” I could hear the grin in his voice as he finished, “…other things.”

  My eyes slammed shut and I began counting to ten in my head. One… two… three… I dreaded opening any of the dresser drawers for fear of what I would find. Four… five… six… My wolf wouldn’t have to kill him, because I was going to. Seven… eight… nine… Was he trying to make my life more difficult?

  “Mena, you need to get dressed
if you’re coming with me. They are waiting, and we are already running behind schedule.”

  Ten… I drew in a deep breath and opened my eyes to glare at the dresser. I could kill him later, after we talked to the witches.

  Luckily, the first drawer I opened didn’t horrify me. It was the sock drawer. I grabbed a pair of black socks and shoved the drawer closed, then marched out of the closet and directly into the master bathroom, refusing to ever look and see what ‘other things’ meant to him.

  Chapter 36

  Phoenix

  He knew she was upset with him again, and as much as he wanted to give her time to accept what he’d done on her own, he knew it wouldn’t happen; it was, after all, Mena he was dealing with, not a nun.

  “You’re angry,” he said.

  “Oh, you caught that, did ya?” she snapped.

  He glanced over at her. “You look stunning in leather.”

  Crossing her arms over her chest, she huffed and looked out the passenger window of the car.

  Silent treatment. With anybody else, he would have already choked the words from the person’s throat, but getting the cold shoulder from Mena felt like he was being stabbed in the head with an ice pick.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I honestly thought you would be happy that I gave you the position. If you don’t want it, I can undo it, easy as that.”

  More silence. Damn.

  He sighed as he took the left turn. “Are you mad at me because of the clothes? Because I just thought it would be easier than you running to your house and packing a bag every other night. If it makes you that unhappy, I’ll have them picked up and given to the needy.”

  There was a long moment of more excruciating silence, but finally she looked at him. His heart shot up in his throat at the sight of the tears shimmering in her eyes. He pulled the car to the shoulder of the road.

  “God, Mena, I never thought any of this would upset you. I was only trying to make your life easier. I know you have enough—”

  “Easier? You think making me a leader over your clan will make my life easier? You think moving me in with you—without even discussing it with me first, no less—will make my life easier? No, you were only thinking of yourself, Phoenix. Have you stopped to think how Alex is going to react to me living with you? He doesn’t know anything about vampires and werewolves or the plan you and my wolf have cooked up to share me with him. Let me tell you something about humans, they don’t share very well, especially someone they are interested in on an intimate level. When he finds out what you and the wolf are doing, he’s going to walk. Do you think my wolf is going to let us be together when he does? If that’s what you think, you don’t know her very well. And as for you declaring me your second in command, my wolf thinks you only did it to guilt me into making you my Beta. She’s not going to let that happen. Ev-er.”

  Phoenix chewed on his fist to keep from shouting how absurd she was at her. He took a full minute to calm down before he spoke. If all this didn’t work out, what her wolf thought of him would be the least of her worries, because they would all be dead. Christ, how he wanted to tell her everything, but instead, he swallowed the urge for now, convinced there would be a better time and place. “I guess you have it all figured out, don’t you?” He shoved the gearshift in first gear and stomped on the accelerator, sending a spray of gravel from the shoulder through the air until the rubber of the tires caught asphalt and sent them flying toward Mena’s house.

  Alex

  “They’re here,” Roel said from the window of Mena’s living room, and let the curtain fall back into place.

  The familiar sound of a hammer being pulled back on a handgun had Alex’s head whipping around to look at Heath. “You’re not going to shoot her, are you?”

  Heath chuckled. “I don’t have a death wish, cop. I was checking it for you. Here.” Heath held the gun out to Alex, butt first, but Alex hesitated before taking it. “It’s loaded, so be careful. I’d hate for you to accidently shoot a pinky toe off or something.”

  Alex studied the weapon in his hand. It wasn’t any brand he’d ever seen, and the weight was lighter than any he’d ever held before. “What is this, a toy?”

  Brad snickered. “If you want to test out your theory, you can aim at Daryn.”

  “Shut up, asshole,” Daryn said moodily.

  Brad lost his smile. “Who even invited you, asshat?”

  Alex frowned. “Look, I really don’t need this. I have my own.”

  The house fell eerily silent, and he looked around the room at the faces staring at him.

  “Um… don’t use yours,” Roel said, making busy work to check his own weapons. “If you have to shoot anybody, you don’t want that shit tracing back to you, do you? That one is Heath’s extra, and it’s custom made, not registered, if you know what I mean.”

  “I am a cop, you know. If I need to shoot someone, I can if it’s justified.” Alex pulled the hammer back to inspect the bullet. It was silver in color and definitely custom made, too. Who the hell are these people? “Why do I get the feeling that there is a huge, obvious secret that I’m missing?”

  Brad shrugged. “I know of no secret.” He glanced around at the others. “What about any of you?”

  “Nope,” Heath said.

  “I know nothing,” Roel said.

  Alex’s eyes fell on Daryn, but the guy just looked at him, his thoughts unreadable in his expression.

  Alex sighed. “Well, then I suppose I’ll find out when all of you do, since we’re all ignorant.”

  The door opened, and a smiling girl clad in black leather and weapons ran up to him then threw her arms around his neck. It took him a few seconds for his brain to register that the girl was Mena. Holy shit, she is hot!

  She pulled away enough so she could rise up on her toes and press her lips to his in an innocent kiss.

  A growl escaped his throat when she tried to move away. “Where’re you going?” His fingers snaked around to the back of her neck, and he pulled her back to him, crushing his mouth to hers, taking full possession and advantage of the woman in his arms. If she was going to go public with her feelings for him, he was damn sure going to make sure the public knew his feelings for her were mutual.

  Alex vaguely heard someone clear their throat, but he ignored it. Whoever it was or whatever their problem was could wait.

  Mena moaned against his lips and hooked her fingers through the belt loops on his jeans, pulling him closer and molding their bodies together.

  The throat clearing grew louder, but Mena was the one to break the kiss.

  “I missed you,” she whispered breathlessly against his lips.

  Dear God, if this woman was playing games, he couldn’t see it. Oh, how he’d dreamed of hearing those words come out of her mouth.

  “I missed you, too.” Keeping eye contact with her, Alex raised the back of her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss there.

  “Anyone else ready to go find some werewol—humph!” Daryn groaned, but Roel was standing beside the guy with a smile from ear to ear when Alex looked up.

  “Did someone give the detective a weapon? I have more in the trunk if anybody is short on weapons or ammo,” Phoenix said.

  It seemed like the guy was intentionally not looking at him for some reason. Oh, that’s right, he thought. Mena said he wanted there to be something between them, but she wasn’t interested in him on an intimate level. That was too bad.

  Alex smiled. “Roel gave me one of the mutant guns. What are we going to kill? Rabbits or something? It’s about all this Nerf gun is going to be good for.”

  Phoenix’s eyebrows popped up, but all he said was, “Or something.” He did a check of weapons on his thighs, triceps, back and waist, and then he turned to walk back out the door. Before he left, he glanced over his shoulder, and said, “Someone babysit the cop. He’s not my responsibility.”

  Chapter 37

  Phoenix

  Maybe I should just give up, Phoenix th
ought as he loaded his belt with another clip full of silver bullets. Even knowing it wasn’t really Mena kissing Rhodes, it still took every bit of willpower he had in him not to punch the guy in the face. Of course, that would probably kill the bastard and then Mena’s wolf would kill him. It wasn’t a total loss. Except for the fact that if she killed him, she would be killing herself, Jaxon, Roel, Brad and Heath, too. Yeah, maybe provoking the bitch wasn’t the best idea, at least not until they figured out her name and Mena said it.

  It figures the only girl I let myself get attached to has to be shared with another guy.

  He shook his head at the thought. He cared about her; he knew for a fact he did, so much in fact that he would risk his life and stoop to being around that crazy bitch werewolf that was stuck inside her. He’d never done something as extreme as that before for anyone, especially someone he only had tepid feelings for. Was it love? he asked himself, and then grimaced. He didn’t want to be in love. He didn’t have time for it. That was a distraction he couldn’t afford. He’d witnessed countless fools over his lifetime go plum stupid over that very thing, and stupid was something Phoenix was not.

  “What’s the plan, Phoenix?” Roel said as Phoenix shut the trunk a little too roughly. Roel’s eyebrows perked up, but he didn’t comment on the topic of his temper or what was going on in his headspace.

  Phoenix huffed as he tried to shrug off his bad mood. “We’re just going to wing it. Those witches are unpredictable. It’s not wise to plan anything when they are involved.” He needed to get control of himself, and fast. Nobody except Mena and her wolf would understand why his mood was foul anyway, and he didn’t want either of them being able to throw any stupid decisions he might make on a whim back in his face later. Focus. Focus.