Silver Moon (Hot Moon Rising #6)

by Merryn Dexter

  Silver Moon (Hot Moon Rising #6)

  Title Page

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Chapter One

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by fines and federal imprisonment.

  Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in, or encourage, the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Silver Moon

  Copyright  2016 by Merryn Dexter

  ISBN: 978-1-68361-049-6

  Cover art by Mina Carter

  Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

  Look for us online at:

  www.decadentpublishing.com

  Dear Reader

  I am so pleased to be working again with the amazing Decadent Publishing team – dreams really do come true! My imagination is fired up so I hope to be able to bring you many more stories in partnership with them.

  I would be thrilled to hear from you about this book, Hot Moon Rising, Wiccan Haus, the Black Hills Wolves, soup recipes, holidays, or anything else that crosses your mind. I’m a military spouse currently resident in Belgium and working from home so always happy for a distraction!

  You can email me at merryn.dexter@yahoo.com or find me on Facebook or Twitter @MerrynDexter . I also have a website www.merryndexter.com and a blog www.merryndexter.blogspot.be

  Best Wishes

  Merryn x

  The Hot Moon Rising Series

  Wolf Moon by Desiree Holt

  Venus Moon by Desiree Holt

  Blood Moon by Desiree Holt

  Hidden Moon by Afton Locke

  Moonlight Danger by Tina Donahue

  Silver Moon by Merryn Dexter

  Coming Soon

  Hunger Moon by Merryn Dexter

  Also by Merryn Dexter

  A Mate’s Healing Touch

  A Mate’s Redeeming Touch

  Soul of Flame

  Mating Dance

  Silver Moon

  She was in the wrong place at the wrong time

  Following the death of her widowed father, schoolteacher Silver Ellis transfers to Central Florida, looking for a new start. Naïve and unworldly, she soon realizes she’s made a mistake. She doesn’t fit in. A foolish attempt to do the right thing leaves Silver on the wrong end of a murderer’s gun. Only the intervention of Palmetto County Detective Jesse Farrell saves her life. Jesse needs to keep her hidden and he knows just the place

  He only knows how to destroy in order to save

  Kirk Matheson is the last line of defense for the Moonlight Pack. He’s fought hard and dirty to help save the remnants of their small pack. He will do whatever it takes to keep them safe. Of the pack, but not part of them, he is struggling to settle in the pack’s new location.

  Witness protection has never been like this!

  Silver finds herself in the custody of Kirk, the biggest, meanest man she’s ever met. He attracts her almost as much as he scares her. Once she starts to uncover his secrets, she’s intrigued. Maybe there is more to him than meets the eye.

  Kirk is outraged when his alpha insists her takes Silver under his protection. The pretty, curvy human invades his space, driving him crazy with her delicate scent and sweet nature. The sooner he can get rid of her the better, right?

  When Silver starts to show an interest, Kirk conceives the perfect plan. He can slake his painful lust for her and, by showing her the monster beneath his skin, make sure she never comes near him again. Her natural passions take him by surprise, sparking a fierce addiction he might never be able to slake.

  He’ll sacrifice it all to save her

  Betrayal and corruption put Silver in mortal danger. Kirk will destroy everything he’s saved to rescue the human female he cannot live without.

  Dedication

  For M. Who brings a little bit of magic into my life every day

  Silver Moon

  Hot Moon Rising Book 6

  By

  Merryn Dexter

  Moonlight Wolf Pack

  Charlie Aquino (human) – Detective for the sheriff’s gang task force for Palmetto County Sheriff’s Department. His partner is Jesse Farrell.

  - Mate: Liana Cosa

  Liana Cosa Aquino – Refugee from a different pack. She works part-time as a waitress at Moonlight Diner.

  - Mate: Charlie Aquino

  Alexa Martin Farrell – Left her pack over a disagreement with her alpha. She moved to Florida and helped the pack find a small community of cottages in Moonlight, Florida. She works as an Internet researcher and gets jobs through her online website. She also does research for The Defenders.

  - Mate: Jesse Farrell

  Jesse Farrell (human) – Detective for the sheriff’s gang task force for Palmetto County Sheriff’s Department. His partner is Charlie Aquino.

  - Mate: Alexa Martin (who saved him when on assignment he was attacked by a gang)

  Shelley Fields – Owns a farm and orchard with her mother, Eileen, growing fruits and vegetables. She helps out at the Moonlight Diner temporarily because the owner, Don, is sick. She could possibly stay on, though, because she loves serving the pack and helping charities. She was the prom queen in Homeland High.

  - Mate: Alan Shifflett

  Riesa Marlowe (human) – A psychic who helped locate Hannah Raines.

  - Mate: Derek Sawyer

  Hannah Raines Molina – She was kidnapped and saved by Jesse and Charlie with the help of Riesa Marlowe, a psychic. Works as Alexa Martin’s research assistant.

  - Mate: Rand Molina

  Rand Molina - Derek’s second-in-command in the Moonlight pack. Partners with Derek Sawyer at The Defenders, a private security agency.

  - Mate: Hannah Raines

  Derek Sawyer – Alpha of a small pack. Most of their original clan was destroyed when developers took the land they were living on and many of their pack were killed by hunters. They hid in an abandoned orange grove until Alexa offered them the bungalows in exchange for their help. He and the others have embraced Jesse and Alexa and Charlie and Liana and given the female shifters a new sense of belonging.

  - Partners with Rand Molina at The Defenders Agency, a private security and bodyguard agency.

  - Mate: Riesa Marlowe

  Alan Shifflett - When shifted, Alan appears with snaggled teeth and missing patches of hair. He’s prone to violent outbursts. His teeth tear his lips, leaving wounds when he shifts. His father owns Moonlight Diner, which he is currently managing. He is also a programmer.

  - Mate: Shelley Fields

  The Defenders Agency - A private security and bodyguard agency formed by Rand and Derek once they were established in the little enclave of cottages. It provides good income for the pack. A
majority of the pack is involved in the cases they take.

  Jesse and Charlie are their contacts with the sheriff’s department and also refer many cases to them.

  Chapter One

  Silver Ellis studied the lowered heads of her class bent over the math test she had set for them. The empty space in the second row gnawed at her. Where is Tina? Today marked the fourth day she’d missed class in the past fortnight. A disturbing new trend from one of her brightest and most promising students. Tina loved school. Soaked up every bit of new knowledge like an eager sponge. She was a bright spot in Silver’s otherwise disappointing experience at Johnson Middle School. Moving had proved a mistake—an instinctive response to the blinding grief of losing her father.

  Six months. I said I would give it six months. The lie sat heavy in her gut. She’d been there for three months and knew, once the semester finished, she would move on. Her quiet existence hadn’t prepared Silver for the shocking poverty and gang violence overshadowing the area.

  Her dreams of making a difference to the local children dissolved in the face of harsh reality. She was a stranger, a naïve fool raised in relative comfort, and the quiet security of a small town. She knew nothing about the struggles these children faced even to make it to class. Absent parents, tight budgets, and poor welfare support. Younger siblings that needed minding while their mothers staggered between a series of underpaid manual jobs, trying to scrape together enough money to keep corrupt landlords at bay.

  The children in her class ranged from hollow-eyed disinterest to belligerent defiance. Tina’s natural enthusiasm rubbed off on a couple of them, but most barely tolerated Miss Ellis with her old-fashioned skirts, pussy-cat bow blouses, and sensible shoes.

  “One more minute, finish up what you’re writing,” she called out to a chorus of sighs and muttered curses. The level of profanity peppering everyday exchanges with her group of ten year olds still stunned her. She’d taken to writing down some of the more outlandish insults in her notebook. An online urban dictionary had proved most enlightening—and disturbing. “And that’s time. Don’t forget to write your names on the top of your test papers and place them on the corner of my desk on your way out.”

  The bell rang, signaling the end of class. Chairs scraped back and the students formed a mini stampede toward freedom, tossing their papers haphazardly on her desk as they passed. Bending to gather a few stray pages from the floor, Silver raised her eyes when a pair of battered tennis shoes stopped in front of her. Suppressing a qualm of fear, she met the fierce glare of her most recalcitrant student. Nina would be the star of every subject if she ever bothered to apply her considerable intelligence. Silver didn’t know what had happened to the girl to make her so bitter—didn’t want to know if she was completely honest with herself. Coward.

  “What is it, Nina?” Silver smiled in encouragement. A tiny frisson of hope skittered through her nervousness. Maybe the girl actually had a question about the test.

  “Why the fuck do you keep bothering with this crap? Math isn’t gonna help any of these stupid-ass fools.” Rage glittered in the girl’s dark eyes. Silver pushed quickly to her feet, not wishing to present such a vulnerable target.

  “Math is vital to every aspect of life, Nina. A good education can open a world of opportunity to you. You have so much ability, there is no reason you couldn’t go to college when the time comes; you just need to apply yourself a little.” Silver couldn’t help the pleading tone in her voice. She wanted so much to help.

  “Education didn’t do you no good. How else did you end up in this shithole place? School is a waste of time. I know what my options are for making money, and a fancy college diploma won’t help me.” The girl leaned forward, making Silver shrink back from the fury shaking her too-thin frame. “Don’t need a diploma to turn tricks,” she hissed through clenched teeth. “Don’t need a diploma to get in good with a banger.”

  Tears thickened in Silver’s throat. Ten years old and this child was already so certain her worth would only ever be counted in sexual terms. “Nina, oh honey….” The sympathetic hand she extended was slapped away, the sting nothing in comparison to the pain in her heart.

  “Don’t. Don’t you pity me, bitch!” A fleck of spittle gathered at the corner of the girl’s lips. “You don’t belong here. Take that prissy-ass attitude of yours somewhere else.” Nina spun on her heel and stormed from the room, leaving an oppressive cloud of anger in her wake.

  Silver sank into her chair, staring at the crumpled test papers in her hand. Doodles, elaborately decorated curse words, and a few scribbled answers stared back at her. What the hell am I doing here?

  A soft knock disturbed her pity party, and she glanced over at the fierce-looking woman leaning against the doorframe. Marney Williams adjusted the huge, battered purse over her shoulder and tapped her wrist. “Come on, girl. It’s twofers at Joe’s Tavern and you look even more in need of a bellyful of cocktails than I do.”

  Silver studied the pile of tests on her desk, the words of refusal dying on her lips. No one would care whether the tests were marked, apart from her. She didn’t drink on a school night, one of the many rules she’d set herself. She’d didn’t exactly knock the booze back on the weekends either, though. Didn’t do much of anything really since her father passed the previous year, leaving her rattling around the house on her own. Spreading her wings, moving on, and starting a new life had been the plan. Instead, she stayed home in her little apartment, living vicariously through the books she read and the shows on her television. Marney clutched her throat, making exaggerated noises until Silver shook her head and stuffed the folded test papers in the large rucksack she used as her work bag.

  Grabbing her sensible black overcoat from behind the door, she hurried down the corridor in the wake of the other teacher’s clacking high-heeled boots. The oversized cream sweater Marney wore slid down, revealing a shapely mocha-colored shoulder. Her painted-on jeans were tucked into black leather boots. Silver tugged her coat closer over her long tweed skirt and high-necked blouse. The flat heels of the lace-up shoes clumped on the tiled floor. Twenty-five going on fifty-five. Shrugging off the unflattering self-comparison with her colleague, Silver rushed to catch up with her friend. Maybe if she spent a bit more of her free time in the company of the confident woman, instead of holed-up in her little apartment, some of Marney’s style might rub off on her. She tried to picture her plump little body poured into tight denim and winced. Maybe not.

  ***

  The bar was busy, the post-work crowd sucking back beers and cocktails in an attempt to wash away the trials of the day in alcohol’s soothing embrace. Silver sipped the sickly-sweet concoction in front of her and forced a smile at the boorish man crammed too close onto the seat next to her. The high-backed booth hemmed them in, offering little hope of escape from his attentions. Marney cooed and flirted with his much better-looking friend on the opposite side of the table. She’d begun to suspect her colleague had an ulterior motive for inviting her the moment she made a beeline for the two men. Sitting down first had been a big mistake. Her repeated attempts to shuffle away from Pete, her date, were now thwarted by the wall. Fingers brushed her shoulder again, and she sat forward, shrugging off his unwelcome touch. His hand moved from her shoulder to her hair, bound at the base of her neck in a thick bun. He yanked the thick band holding it in place, and she winced in pain when the elastic caught in the thick mass. She slapped him away then gathered the glossy, brown length and knotted it up before it could cascade down her back.

  “Relax, baby. You’ve hardly touched your drink,” Pete slurred, blowing whisky fumes against her cheek. He’d already knocked back several beers, each with a chaser, and a faint sheen of sweat speckled his receding hairline.

  “I’m fine,” she gritted out, crossing her legs to avoid the hand wandering toward her thigh.

  “Jeez, you’re a cold fish,” he muttered, pushing out of the booth to weave unsteadily toward the bar.

  Leaping
at the chance to escape, Silver stood up and pulled on her coat. Marney stopped flirting with her date long enough to frown at her. “Where are you going, Silver?”

  “I’ve got some work to do; thanks for a nice evening.” The smile on her face felt forced, as did the cheerful tone she adopted. She shouldered her rucksack, making it clear she intended to leave.

  Marney frowned again, a flash of anger in her eyes. “You can’t go yet. Tim and Pete want to take us to dinner.” She emphasized the us, and Silver ducked her head in apology, avoiding the pressure she could read in her friend’s disappointed gaze.

  “I really need to go, I’m sorry.” Her parents had raised her to always be polite and considerate, which was all well and good if everyone else was equally polite and considerate. When dealing with forceful personalities, it was her natural instinct to give in to their demands. It made her the perfect victim for those of a less altruistic nature. She was tired and bored, and if she didn’t make a stand now, there would no doubt be an awkward, probably unpleasant, end to the evening when Pete made it clear he expected some form of reimbursement for dinner. Shuddering at the thought of wrestling with him in the backseat of a cab, Silver found just enough backbone to smile and scuttle away from the table.