Dark of the Moon

by Shannon West

  He jerked awake hours later and saw by the clock on the end table that it was ten after five in the morning. He felt like something had awakened him, but what? About that time, he heard a sound that froze the marrow in his bones. It sounded almost like a bloodcurdling scream. What the hell was that? Then, he heard it again, sounding closer this time, and almost like a woman shrieking in terror.

  He jumped up and ran to the window to look out, and thought he saw some movement of something big near the tree line going toward the back of the house. He ran to the kitchen to look out that window and caught a glimpse of what appeared to be three large mountain lions running into the woods. One of them stopped at the edge of the woods to look back at him.

  Hell, that couldn’t be right. There were no mountain lions in this part of the country anymore—that was what the sheriff said, and he’d never heard of anything like that around here either, but it was so damn dark out there that his eyes might have been playing tricks on him.

  Besides that, whatever it was he’d seen was too big for mountain lions. These things were huge. He wondered if some cats could have escaped from some zoo somewhere. Or could it have been bears? Not much more comforting, but at least it might make sense.

  Hawke should be home soon and he’d ask him about it. Of course, he wouldn’t be pleased, because he had told Jace to stay away from doors and windows, but he hadn’t gone outside, at least.

  One thing was for sure, Jace knew that he wouldn’t be going back to sleep. He might as well make some coffee and wait for Hawke to get home.

  About thirty minutes later, he heard the sound of Hawke’s vehicle coming up the driveway. He hadn’t turned any lights on so he went over to the kitchen window to make sure that it was Hawke pulling in. It was just getting daylight and Jace could see the backyard clearly now. He watched Hawke get out of the vehicle and turn toward the barn. When he opened the doors, there sat Jace’s truck. What the hell? Had his truck been there the whole time, and if it had, why hadn’t Hawke told him?

  Hawke went inside the barn for a few minutes as Jace stood fuming. Hawke had been lying to him. He felt cold all over as he watched Hawke close the door and turn toward the house. Jace stepped back from the window, shaking with anger.

  Hawke opened the door and stepped inside, seeing Jace and smelling the coffee simultaneously. He smiled and said, “That coffee sure smells good. What are you doing up so early?”

  “More to the point, what is my goddamn truck doing in your barn? Has it been there the whole time? And if it has, why didn’t you see fit to tell me that? Why are you trying to keep me here? You better tell me what’s going on!”

  Hawke glared at him a long moment before he answered. “Maybe you better your roll and get hold of yourself. No, as I believe I told you, the truck was taken to be worked on at the local garage. It came back in yesterday and the mechanic said it was ready to go. Mostly because of your head injury, I haven’t told you yet, because I knew you’d be champing at the bits to leave, and the doc said it wouldn’t be a good idea. I don’t want you going home and suing the county over some lingering injury because you got yourself in a hurry.”

  Jace was furious, but he took a deep breath and tried to answer calmly. “Oh really? And I’m an idiot so I can’t make that decision for myself! I’m not going to sue anybody! But I’m a grown man and I can take care of myself.”

  The sheriff folded his arms and continued to regard him. “There were other reasons, too. I don’t have time to get into them right now, because I have to go to the office early today, but we’ll talk when I get back. I should be gone two or three hours, at the most.”

  Jace said nothing, but the mutinous look remained on his face.

  Hawke gave him a suspicious look. “I promise you, Jace, that I’ll explain everything when I get back. Just don’t go anywhere till I can. Okay?”

  “Sure.” Like hell. As soon as he left, Jace was going to be out of there. He always hid a key up under the seat and he doubted that they’d found it. Lying motherfucker. He’d been right all along. You can’t trust anybody. He didn’t know what the sheriff’s game was yet, or what the hell was going on in this town, but he was getting the hell out of there.

  Hawke stared intently down at Jace for a minute and said, “I don’t have time for breakfast this morning. I’ve got an early meeting, but you stay put until I get back? All right?”

  “I said I would,” he snapped. “I’ll see you later.” Jace walked over to the sofa and sat down, picking up the remote. He was trying to act as normal as possible, even though he was outraged over Hawke’s deception, but he didn’t want the sheriff to suspect that he planned to leave as soon as he knew Hawke would be in town.

  The idea did occur to him that Hawke might have just been attracted to him and wanted an excuse for him to stay a few more days, but that didn’t make much sense either. If that was the case, why not just tell him that, or ask him to go out, or hell, make plans to get together after he left to go back to the city? Hawke knew he had a job he had to get back to.

  Hawke had been puttering around in the kitchen and now walked over to him, holding out a glass of orange juice. “Have some of this juice at least, Jace. It’s frozen, but tastes pretty good.”

  Really? Did the man think he was that stupid? Obviously he did. There were probably drugs in that glass. Jace took the glass and pretended to take a sip. “It’s good. Thanks, Hawke.”

  “You’re welcome.” He glanced toward the TV and pretended to watch for a few seconds. “Well, guess I’ll be going. I won’t be gone long, okay?”

  “Sure.” Jace smiled up at him, wishing he’d hurry up already so he could leave too.

  Finally he did, shooting Jace nervous glances. He tried to give him more juice to drink but Jace smiled and pointed to the full glass on the table beside him.

  “I’ll drink the rest later. Thanks, Sheriff.”

  “You’re welcome. It’ll be good for you.”

  “Okay,” he replied meekly. Like hell. The only question was what the hell was going on in Blackwater Falls?

  Jace didn’t move for almost thirty minutes after the sheriff left, in case he was lurking around outside, watching the house. When he decided he’d waited long enough, Jace went out to the barn and swung open the doors. He found his spare key right where he thought it was, and the truck cranked on the first turn of the switch.

  Jace backed out of the barn and sped down the driveway, headed for his motel room in Huntsville. He didn’t intend to stay there, just grab his clothes and get the hell back home. His boss would have to send someone else up here to get the information, but he’d sure as hell warn them of something weird going on before they came.

  He wasn’t exactly sure how to get back down the mountain from wherever the sheriff’s house was, but he followed the driveway and turned in what he thought was the direction of Huntsville, and away from the little town of Blackwater Falls. He soon came to a cross road and while he sat there trying to decide which way to go, a car whizzed past him, and he followed it out. Sure enough it led back down the mountain, and Jace sped as fast as he thought he could get away with going down the twisting roads.

  He thought about Hawke all the way back to Huntsville, unable to get him off his mind. He’d really liked the guy, had felt a companionship with him, almost a bonding. What an idiot he’d been to let his guard down. The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that the sheriff had only been playing him, just pretending to be attracted. He must have been trying to distract him from whatever was going on in town.

  Jace was angry with Hawke and with himself for allowing himself to actually think Hawke might have been interested.

  Arriving at the motel, he grabbed his suitcase, left the key in the room with a note that promised he’d send payment for the extra days when he got back home. What else could he do? He had no idea where the sheriff had put his wallet, so he’d had to leave it behind. He roared out of the parking lot, anxious to get home and b
ack to normal. He had only made it a few miles when he looked up into the rearview mirror and saw the blue lights. Fuck. What now? He pulled over in the parking lot of a large strip mall, waiting.

  The officer walked up to his truck and said, “I need to see your license, son.”

  “I…uh...don’t have it. What was I doing, officer?”

  Looking down at Jace, the officer said, “Well, there’s a lookout on you and I’m gonna have to take you to the station with me. Lock your vehicle and come get in the backseat of my car.”

  “What? What do you mean, there’s a lookout on me? Officer, I haven’t done anything.”

  “That’s not for me to decide, son. You’re gonna have to come with me to get it straightened out, so get in the backseat and don’t make yourself any trouble.”

  Jace couldn’t believe this was happening as he climbed into the backseat of the police car. It had to be that motherfucker Hawke Sutherland who was behind this. Well, by God, he had a story to tell, too, that would beat anything that asshole had to say.

  The deputy pulled up to a building that looked like a jail, and Jace got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Come on, boy, let’s go,” the officer said, holding open the door for him. They hadn’t put him in cuffs. That had to be a good sign, right?

  Jace climbed out of the backseat and the deputy escorted him into the building, stopping at an office on the right just inside the door. He told the receptionist, “Tell the sheriff I’ve got that young guy we had the lookout on.”

  Jace heard a voice from the other side of the door. “Bring him on in here.”

  He stood just inside the door while the Madison County sheriff looked him up and down, suspiciously. He was a man of about forty-five, with that buzz cut so many policemen seemed to favor. He looked unfriendly and hard as nails, and Jace felt himself sweating, even though he hadn’t done anything.

  “Have a seat there, son.”

  Jace sat down. “Look, Sheriff, I don’t know what this is all about, but if it has anything to do with Sheriff Sutherland and Blackwater Falls, I’ve got plenty to tell you.”

  The older man cocked his head. “Really? Like what?”

  “Well, first of all, I think something crazy is going on up there and that sheriff is in on it. I came up there on Federal business. For the census bureau. And I was attacked by a mountain lion the first night I was there. I woke up in the sheriff’s house. He drugged me. Or at least I think he did, and he kept me prisoner for three days. I just found my truck this morning where he hid it, and I was finally able to escape.”

  “Mm-hm. You did say you were attacked by a mountain lion, right?”

  “Yes sir. It was a big one, but not as big as the other one.”

  “The other one?”

  “Yeah. When the first one knocked me down, I hit my head on the pavement and must have blacked out. I woke up in a clearing in the woods with this huge one lying next to me with his paw on my chest. Then the sheriff showed up and he-he took me to his house. He kept me prisoner there for three days, like I said.”

  The sheriff leaned forward. “Son, I don’t know what kind of drugs you’re doing, but that’s the craziest story I’ve heard in a long time. Now we’ve already contacted Sheriff Sutherland, and he’s on his way to get you. He’s explained everything to us, so you can just save your breath.” He looked up at the deputy, standing in the doorway. “Take this young man down to a holding cell until Hawke Sutherland gets here.”

  “No!” Jace cried out as the other officer came toward him. “Please listen to me!”

  The officer took out pepper spray and held it up threateningly. “Now we can do this the hard way or we can do this the easy way, boy. Which is it going to be?”

  ****

  Hawke clapped the sheriff of Madison County on the back and shook his hand. “Thanks for being so understanding about all this, Tim. His mama’s real worried about him, and I need to get him home so we can get him back on his meds.”

  “No need to thank me, Hawke. We’ve all got our crazy relations to put up with. You should meet my wife’s brother. Now there’s a nut case.”

  Hawke shook his head. “I know, but it’s a shame. He’s a sweet kid, but just a little mixed up in the head. I appreciate you keeping this all unofficial. I promise you it won’t happen anymore.”

  The sheriff waved and Hawke headed down the hallway with the key to the holding cells. Damn straight this wouldn’t happen anymore. If he had to lock Jace in one of his own cells and whip his ass, he had to make sure he didn’t run again. It wasn’t even personal—the most important edict his pride adhered to was secrecy. They all relied on it and he had an obligation to them. He had no choice in the matter and unfortunately, neither did Jace.

  Hawke stormed down the hall and in a few minutes he was standing in front of the cell holding Jace. He stared in at him for a long moment, as Jace got slowly up from the cot inside the cell. His eyes were huge in his pale face. Nervously, he tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. The place reeked of old sweat, sour fear and body odor. He didn’t like the idea of Jace spending another minute inside it, but Hawke needed to make a point.

  “You just had to try me, didn’t you, Jace?” he asked, his voice tight and angry. “I asked you to give me one more night before I explained, but hell no. You just had to go and take off.”

  Jace looked nervous. Hawke could almost see the little wheels spinning in that brain of his. He stepped closer to the bars of the cells.

  “Um, Sheriff Sutherland…Hawke…please let me go,” Jace said meekly.

  That right there let Hawke know it was all an act. There wasn’t a meek bone in Jace’s body.

  “I-I promise you I won’t say anything to anybody about whatever the hell is going on up there in your little town. Just please tell them to give me back my truck, and I’ll go home and never come back. Really.” He stepped up closer to the bars of the cell and opened his eyes wide, probably trying to look pitiful and innocent. “I promise.”

  Hawke wasn’t buying it.

  Without another word, Hawke opened the cell door, grabbed Jace’s arm and led him down the corridor, throwing the key to the cell on the receptionist’s desk and giving her a little nod. Jace was dragging his feet a bit as they walked toward Hawke’s SUV. “Um, where are we going? Please, Sheriff, don’t do this.”

  “You can drop the act, Jace. I’m not that stupid.”

  Jace looked surprised and then pulled desperately at his grip on his arm, trying to wrench away. “You could have sure fooled me!”

  Once he saw that he couldn’t break Hawke’s grip, he tried to simply fall to the ground, letting his knees sag. Maybe he hoped that his sudden dead weight would pull Hawke off balance and be enough to make him loosen his hold, but it didn’t work that way. He’d underestimated just how strong Hawke really was.

  Hawke jerked him back to his feet and put an arm around his waist, picking him up off his feet and hauling him the last few steps to the SUV. Hawke was growling low in his chest as he pulled open the back door and shoved Jace into the back seat. He grabbed his wrists in one hand and pulled his cuffs out with the other hand, fastening them onto Jace’s wrists. Picking him up bodily, he put him in the seat and strapped him into his seat belt. Jace tried to head butt him, but failing that, he settled for glaring up at him, spitting mad, his hands cuffed behind his back and his chest heaving for breath. Hawke slammed the door and came back around to the front seat.

  Concentrating on traffic, he didn’t say anything more, worried about how the fuck he was supposed to explain everything. How the hell did you tell somebody they were never going to be allowed to go back to their former life, and oh yeah, by the way, there’s one more small thing I need to tell you. Hardly worth mentioning, really, but I’m a cougar-shifter.

  They finally turned off toward Blackwater Falls and headed up the mountain road. All the way up the road, Jace kept up a steady stream of cussing, calling him names that would have given a sailor pause. Hawk
e ignored him and turned up the radio just to piss him off, blasting his favorite country station. When Jace turned his name calling to country music, informing Hawke just how lame he thought it was, Hawke turned it up even louder.

  He was pretty damned angry himself at this point, though he didn’t exactly know why. Yeah, it pissed him off that Jace had run from him, but really, he didn’t blame him. The boy had no idea what he’d stumbled into, and Hawke had dragged his feet about telling him, wanting to wait until the cycle was over, and he could think straighter.

  Maybe it was because of the cycle still being so close, or maybe it was the constant cussing coming from the back seat, but whatever it was, Jace was pissing him off. Hawke knew he wasn’t being reasonable, and he just didn’t give a shit. His cat was still close to the surface and his temper was frayed. Jace was his mate, damn it, and he needed to remove any doubt from his mind on that score. He felt like pulling over on the side of the road and jerking him out of the backseat. As soon as the thought hit his mind, his cat reared up in total agreement, and he yelled out, “Fuck yes, why not?”

  He wrenched the steering wheel to the side and pulled off into a little forestry road so fast the truck almost turned over and Jace’s cursing died in the sputters coming from his throat. Hawke heard his sudden intake of breath as they bounced to a stop. He was scared, huh? Good, dammit. He needed to be.

  He jammed the truck in gear, wrenched open the door and hauled him out of the back seat, slamming him back against the bumper. “Did you just call me a motherfucker?” he yelled down at him.

  Though probably terrified from the look in his eyes, Jace stared up at him defiantly. “What if I did? Fuck you!” he said, but the words had little volume and even less heat.

  “Well, that’s just not going to happen, Jace.”

  “Oh yeah? Well, don’t knock it ‘til you try it,” he fired back, staring defiantly up at him. Hawke choked out a surprised laugh.